As terrible as this sounds, I have been misleading all of you. Someone asked me how old Justin was in this story quite a while back and told them ‘he’s twenty-one.’ So then everyone was like ‘then what’s the big deal with the ages? There aren’t that many years between them.’ Well I was rereading the prologue and he’s actually twenty-three. So I apologize for any confusion this may have caused. Okay now you can read the chapter.
Chapter 18: Learning to Play By Heart
Can you f**king believe that little f**ker? I could kill Trace right now! He went out with Elli. And he kissed her; he f**king kissed her! No, he took advantage of her, that’s what he did. He took advantage of her innocence. I told you he would corrupt her.
So the other day when he told me to ask her out that must have been like my warning. Either I asked her out or he would and since I didn’t he did. That mother f**ker!
The mere thought of his lips on hers just….errrr! It just makes me want to scream and rip his f**king head of his puny little body. I am not jealous though. I told you before, I don’t get jealous. Justin Timberlake does not get jealous. I mean I’ve admitted to you that I am slightly attracted to Elli but not enough to get jealous over. I just think she’s cute that’s all.
You know what I don’t get? I don’t get why Elli would agree to go out with Trace in the first place. You all see how incredibly shy she is. She can barely talk to me let alone Trace who she barely knows. So why would she agree to go out with him? Hmm….something’s fishy here…
“Hey J.” Trace claps his hand on my shoulder. If doesn’t remove his hand I’m going to break his arm. Just in the nick of time he moves away from me and plops down on one of the bar stools pulled up to the island. “Come sit down.”
I turn away from the sandwich I was in the middle of preparing to look in the direction he’s looking which is not at me. My jaw pops and eyes narrow when I see who he was directing his comment to.
Elli.
She offers me a shy smile as she moves to take a seat next to my backstabbing friend. Despite my mood I notice how cute she looks dressed in her jean Capri’s, orange polka dot t-shirt, and white flip flops. Wait a minute…is this another date? Hell no! It better not be. If this is another date I may just have to kill Trace.
“So what are you doing today?” Trace asks casually stealing a piece of turkey from my sandwich. He’s pushin’ it. “I thought you had to go to the studio.”
Yeah you wish I was going into the studio. I’m not about to leave you alone with her. “Nope. I got the day off.”
“That’s cool. We were just gonna hang out here for a while. Elli’s mom wasn’t home and she doesn’t have school today so I offered to keep her company. Isn’t that right El?”
Did he just call her El? So he has a pet name for her now? This is just f**king rich. Elli smiles but still has yet to mutter a word. I grab my lunch off the counter. “I’m gonna go eat in the music room and try to get some work done.” I can’t sit here with them and not think about killing Trace.
~*~*~*~
Well that was awkward. Justin looked really angry when he saw I was here. I wonder what I did. Maybe he’s sick of me hanging around so much. He probably thought that after the Nsync date thing he would never have to see me again and now he’s disappointed.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to come over here. It’s a teacher work day and since Liz is out with her boyfriend and my mom is at work so I had nothing to do. So when Trace called it seemed like the logical thing to do was to come hang out with him. I already made it clear to him that the other night at the movies was not a date and that I wasn’t ready to have a boyfriend. He agreed that he liked me as a friend and nothing more. So I’m a little more at ease today.
I would however be much more at ease if a certain Mr. Timberlake were not just down the hall playing his guitar. He makes me so nervous. Just when I think about him I get butterflies in my stomach. Those butterflies multiply when he walks into a room and I feel like I’m gonna hurl. I just can’t take it! I hate this crush stuff.
“Hey Elli, I just remembered I was supposed to call my mom like three hours ago.” Trace states standing from the couch and turning the television off. “I’m gonna go call her. I should be back soon. You can go hang out with Justin until I get back.”
What? No, I can’t go hang out with him. I’ll lose my lunch. I just told you I can’t take being around him. Awe man, he’s gone. He left me downstairs with him, all alone. This bites. Maybe I should just sit in here and watch TV by myself. Trace can’t be too long right? But would it be rood of me to sit in here like this in a house that is not mine when Trace told me to go hang out with Justin?
Reluctantly I pull myself off the couch and make my way towards the sound of Justin playing his guitar. I peek my head inside. He’s sitting on a plush looking chair strumming away and singing quietly. His head is bobbing and foot tapping to the beat. Anyone who sees him like this can tell how much he loves his music. He looks as if he’s in a different world. I hate to disturb him. I’ll just go back to the living room and wait for Trace to be finished.
“Can I help you?” His voice stops me as soon as my back is to the door. The stupid floor creeks. I start to walk away pretending that I didn’t hear him. “Elli, I know you can hear me.” He chuckles.
I press my now flushed face in my hands and spin back around. How embarrassing. I move my hands to my cheeks to see Justin’s smiling face staring back at mine. He waves me over with his hand and my feet, seeming to have a mind of their own, move towards him until I’m standing directly in front of him. I can feel those butterflies I was telling you about; I hope I don’t hurl all over him or something.
“What were you running out on me for?” I shrug my shoulders, still waiting for my stomach to settle. “Are you not talking to me today?”
I look up at him when he says that. Does he think I’m angry at him? I just don’t want to say anything stupid that may further embarrass me. I open my mouth to respond but quickly close it. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to tell him I’m afraid of saying something stupid. He raises his eyebrows in an expectant manor. “I am. I mean I am talking to you, not that I am not talking to you.” I knew I should have remained silent.
He nods his head amusingly and does that cute little half smirk thing he does. If there was any doubt I felt sick from butterflies before there isn’t now. He needs to stop looking at me or maybe I should just focus back on my feet. That’s a good idea; I’ll just admire my feet. In my quest to concentrate on my feet my eyes seek out his. He’s barefoot. Upon seeing this, my butterflies multiply. Why? I have no idea. I don’t even like feet. In fact I hate feet. Against my control my eyes travel up his lean, jean covered legs and stop at his silver belt buckle. I close my eyes tightly and bite down hard on my bottom lip. Is it just me or did the temperature in the room go up like twenty degrees.
“Where’s Trace?” He asks in a low voice.
I open my eyes and move my gaze to his face. His eyes aren’t as bright anymore and his jaw is clenched. I wonder if he and Trace are fighting about something. “He had to make a phone call. He told me to come hang out with you until he was finished. If your busy I can just go back in the living room and””
“Elli.” He interrupts gently. “You’re fine.” He motions toward the couch next to the chair he is in. I sit down slowly, nervously fiddling with my hands. “You know how to play?” He asks holding up his guitar.
“No. Just the piano.”
“You want to learn?”
As long as you promise not to sit too close to me or touch me. “Sure.” He smiles and moves from his seat to sit next to me. He’s sitting close to me just like I didn’t want him to. He hands me one of his many guitars and position it on my lap in the same way he has his.
“What song do you want to learn?”
“Whatever you were just working on is fine.”
He smiles that crooked grin yet again and licks his lips. He’s trying to kill me. “That wasn’t really anything, just something I was working on for my album.”
“Can I hear it?” I ask surprising myself with how smooth that came out. He shift uncomfortably and I think, I’m not sure, but I think I see his cheeks redden. Did I just make him blush? This is a switch huh? Of course I’m sure that now that I’ve realized he’s blushing and that I could possibly have been the cause of it I’m now blushing.
He clears his throat breaking me of my thoughts and adjusts his guitar. His fingers glide over the strings expertly playing a song I’m sure he knows by heart.
“I wanna be your lake, or your bay/ And any problems that you have/ I wanna wash 'em away/ I wanna be your sky/ So blue and high/ And every time you think of me/ I wanna blow your mind.”
His voice is a lot better than I originally gave him credit for. I figured he couldn’t really sing which was why he was in a boy band but he’s pretty good. Who am I kidding, he’s giving me chills. Of course that could be more than just the voice.
“I wanna be your air/ So sweet and fair/ So when you feel that you can't breathe/ Ma, I'll be there.”
How sweet are these lyrics? He sings with such passion and the way the looking at me makes me feel almost like he’s singing to me. He’s not though I’m sure but it feels like it. I remember Liz telling me once that the guys of Nsync would pull some lucky girl up to the stage at the end of every concert and sing to her. That must be why he’s so good at making me feel like mush right now.
“I wanna be your answer, all the time/ When you see how I put your life before mine/ With no question/ When all the love feels gone/ And you can't carry on/ Don't worry, girl/ I'ma take it from here/ Just as sure as the sun will shine/ Every morning, every time/ Don't worry, girl/ I'ma take it from here.”
He stops playing and singing but never removes his eyes from mine. “That’s all I have so far.” He whispers, again sending chills down my spine.
I swallow thickly and look down at his hands resting on the guitar. “It’s really good. What’s it called?”
“Take it From Here.” He answers proudly. “It’s gotta way to go but it’s coming along. You ready to try?” He asks patting the guitar that I hadn’t even realized was still in my hands.
“Okay.” I scoot away from him a bit and move the guitar to its proper position. He moves closer than he was before I tried to put more distance between us. How come that never works with him?
“We’ll start with you just strumming the cords and I’ll do the hard part okay?” I nod and he moves even closer so that his right palm is resting on the seat of the couch below me and his left hand is over mine. He instructs me to begin and I do, hesitantly. His hand guides mine over the correct keys and before I know it I’m playing the opening notes to the song he just played.
I stop when I recognize the cords and smile at him brightly. This is too cool! I’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar. “See it’s not that hard huh?” He laughs giving my side a squeeze.
(Trace’s POV)
You see this? Elli is practically sitting in Justin’s lap. This couldn’t have turned out better if I had planned it. Oh wait….I did plan it. I didn’t really have to call my mom. I just hung out on the stairs so I could spy on the two love birds.
At first I didn’t think Elli was going to leave the living room. She must have sat there for at least five minutes. Luckily she did go in and Justin is now teaching her to play the guitar. See know I can recommend that he continue to teach her which would mean they would continue to see one another. I should fix people up like this professionally. There is no way this plan of mine is going to fail. I mean just look at them all cozy in there.
Aren’t they cute?
“Hey you two.” I smile. They both pull apart quickly like they’ve just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. “Did I interrupt something?”
“No.” They both respond in unison.
“I was just teaching Elli how to play the guitar.” Justin answers getting up to take care of the guitars. Elli remains in her seat, staring at her feet. I’m sure she’s blushing.
“That’s cool.” I answer sitting down in the seat Justin previously occupied next to Elli. I make sure he notices my arm drape over the back of the couch behind her. He’s fuming. “So will you be giving her lessons regularly now?”
Justin makes eye contact with Elli silently asking her. She shrugs. “Just whenever we’re both free.”
Perfect.
TBC.....
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