What if?

Chapter 45: Club

Nick

Their reactions are making me a lot uncomfortable now. I started to look at all of them one by one. They all look like music nerds. All of them are even holding their instruments besides me (of course), Jake and Moira. “I am sorry to disappoint all of you.” I said to all of them. I couldn't stand them without saying anything when I am here standing in an uncomfortable place. “Oh no! You are not. We are just surprised to hear it because you are the second person who said that.” Moira explained to me while looking so mesmerized. 

I don’t really get what she is talking about. So what is it then? I am the second so what? “s**t! This is making me curse a lot.” I said to myself as I noticed that I have been cursing a lot since I came in here. 

“I don’t get it. Then, why are you like this?” I asked because I cannot take it anymore. “Oh. The thing is that, after our past leader or president in the past, no one has ever said that. She was our president when I was in the first grade. She was able to become the president of the club when she was in grade six. Our former president came to this school and joined the club in her 4th year too. This is the reason why we are all surprised to hear it from you. You are both the same in music but the only thing that is different is the gender.” Moira said while smiling widely. 

“Okay. I don’t know if I will be happy after hearing all of that because their reaction was really awkward for me.”  I said to myself. “I see. Hehehe.” I said with a matching awkward laugh. I don’t really know how I am going to reply to that so I laughed a little. “So we are rooting for you. I hope you will also become successful in music. Right guys?” Moira said with matching gestures. “Yes! fighting!” all the club members said with gestures too. “Hmm. Thank you.” I said awkwardly.

“Since Nick here doesn’t know how to play an instrument, I want to personally request you Jake to accompany and teach him.” Moira said to Jake. “Eh?!” I burst after hearing what Moira said to Jake. I know that Jake will object to it. He doesn’t like me though, and why waste time teaching someone like me to play an instrument. I think he must be really thinking that it is a waste of time. 

“I understand. I will accept your request. Thank you for trusting me.” Jake said without any hesitations. “Whaa! This is really the total difference of what I expected.” I said to myself as I stared at him in shock. “Is this okay with you, Nick?” Moira asked which made me turn to look at her. “Yes, this is noted. Thank you for the warm welcome.” I said to Moira. Although it is actually only half of it is warm because the other half is hot. I have been heating a lot to where I am standing. “Follow me, I will let the both of you see where you are going to be, I mean like your place to practice your instrument.” Moira said while doing a gesture like saying come. We both followed her without any questions and hesitations. “Okay, Jake and Nick, you will be sharing an area here. I am so sorry because we don’t have that much space since we have a lot of instruments. I hope you are okay with that.” Moira said to both of us. Actually the place that she reserved for the both of us is quite wide. Enough for the both of us to even play. Unfortunately, Jake doesn’t like playing. 

She is lowkey doing this because she wants both of us to be close with each other. “It is okay with me.” Jake answered immediately. “It is also to me.” I replied to Moira. Jake is so unpredictable, I can’t even tell if what he said was true or not. Actually, not just now but also to what he said about accommodating and all that has something to do with me. 

“Okay, I will leave both of you here okay?” Moira said and left a mysterious smile before leaving the both of us. “Hey…” I was not able to finish what I was about to say when Moira came back. “By the way, If you have any questions, feel free to open it to me or to the other members of this club. Trust me, all the people here are good so don’t be afraid.” Moira said and finally left both of us. 

We are placed at the last part of the area where there are no people that can see us which is making me feel more uncomfortable. “Hey, uhmm I have not really tried playing the guitar so I think you will have a hard time teaching me.” I continued what I wanted to say to Jake a while ago. I told him this already because I don’t want him to struggle a lot and say some bad things about me. “I know.” Jake answered while and got the guitar that was beside him. “What?! This jerk!” I said to myself after I heard what he said. 

Actually, when he said that, my eyes were wide open and I wanted to punch him but I couldn’t. “Thank you, for understanding?” I said sarcastically. “s**t! I really want to punch him.” I said to myself while looking at him with killer eyes. Even when I am staring closely at him, he seems like he doesn’t care because he isn’t doing anything and is just tuning the guitar. “Some people are not just as good as others.” Jake added which made me heat up more. “Whaa! That’s quite true.” I said in disbelief. “Ughh! I can’t take this, I can feel my body heating up.” I said to myself. “Are you okay? Your face is red.” Jake said while closely looking at me. 

I pushed him a little to have a space between the both of us. “I am okay.” I replied to him. “The audacity! He even asked when in fact he is the reason why I am being like this. When in fact he is the only sole reason.” I said to myself as I touched my face and looked at him. “I am okay. I just feel a little uncomfy.” I replied to him. “Good thing. Okay let us start practicing the basic chords.” Jake said and sat on the mat that is on the floor. “O..kay.” I said awkwardly. Is he saying that I sit with him? “What are you doing? I can’t teach you if you are standing in front of me. You should sit together with me here… I mean beside me to be precise.” Jake said to me while looking at me. 

“Sorry.” I replied and sat down beside him. “Okay so I want you to look closely at the chords that I will be playing.” Jake said while looking into my eyes. Why is he doing this? He is also very close to me because we are sitting next to each other. I am not sure if it is okay for two boys to do this but this is kind of an awkward situation for me. “I will.” I answered Jake. “This is major C. And this is how it sounds.” Jake said as he played the first chord. “I see.” I said to him with joy. I can’t believe this, I am now literally learning how to play the guitar. “You are not gonna learn by just that. Get the guitar beside you and also do what I am doing.” Jake ordered and he was also a little mad when he said that. “Sorry.” I said and immediately took the guitar that was beside me. 

I am not feeling bad about what he said a while ago because I think he was right though so I will let it pass. “What you are doing is wrong. Look at my fingers, place it like this.” Jake said as he pointed his fingers that are placed on the strings of the guitar. “Your index should be here and so on. Look closely.” Jake said and tried himself to be more precise so I can get it. “Very good. Now try to play it. It might hurt at first but I want you to put your strength on your fingers so it will give the right tune.” Jake said to me. I then did what he told me to do. 

“It is not giving the same tune as you did.” I said to Jake in frustration as soon as I heard the sound coming from the guitar that I am playing. “Don’t rush. Be patient. I was like this also when I was starting. Just Try to do it 10 times.” Jake said softly. I can’t believe this, he is actually encouraging me.