Caitlyn loved Thursdays. She had two free periods back to back, right after lunch. Most days, she hung out by the lake or practiced in one of the empty dance cabins, but today, she felt like playing guitar. She let herself into a rehearsal cabin with her guitar on her back and stopped short. Jason was hunched over the piano in the corner of the room, softly playing scales.
She chuckled. "I don't think that's appropriate posture for piano-playing, Jase."
He jumped and banged his hands down on the keys and Caitlyn winced at the noise.
"Sorry. You scared me." He smiled sheepishly at her, running his hand through his hair.
Caitlyn shook her head. "Nah, I'm the sorry one. I shouldn't have startled you like that." She paused as she shrugged her guitar case off her back. "You know, sometimes I forget you play piano. I rarely see you playing anything other than guitar."
Jason smirked. "I'm a man of many talents, Caity."
"I'm sure you are," Caitlyn said, rolling her eyes. "Is this your free period?" she asked.
"Yeah. Every Thursday."
"Cool. Me too." She grinned at Jason as she opened her guitar case and pulled out her guitar. She looked down at it for a moment before smiling at him again. "Would you like to put your talents to use and tune this for me?"
Jason rolled his eyes, but sat back down on the piano bench and took the guitar out of Caitlyn's hands. "I am far too nice to you."
Caitlyn tossed her hair. "Someone has to be."
"So, Shane and Mitchie are performing at tonight's jam," Jason said as he fiddled with the guitar. "Do you know what song they're going to do?"
"Nope. I think they want to keep it a surprise." Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "It's probably some lovey-dovey bullshit."
Jason chuckled and glanced at Caitlyn. "You do know that I'm part of a band that's made their fortune by writing and singing lovey-dovey bullshit, right?"
"Psh. Not all your songs are lovey-dovey bullshit."
Jason grinned triumphantly and handed Caitlyn back the guitar. "Here you go, Caity."
She got a whiff of Jason-smell as he leaned towards her and she held her breath until he turned back to the piano. "Thanks," she said softly.
"So um, were you planning on practicing in here?" Jason asked.
Caitlyn smiled. "Sort of. But I can leave if you want to be alone in here."
"No, no. You can stay. We can…practice together if you want." He held up a few pages of sheet music. "I'm, uh, having trouble with some of these songs Nate wrote. He wanted me to work on some of the piano parts for some reason. I was thinking about asking you for help since you're sort of…a pro at piano." The tips of his ears turned pink and he put the sheet music on the piano.
Caitlyn smiled shyly. "Well, I was thinking of asking you to give me some pointers for guitar. So I think we can work something out."
"Good. Which one do you want to do first?"
Caitlyn bit her lip, trying to make a decision. "I think…piano," she said, setting the guitar down. "Scoot," she said, motioning to Jason. "I need to see the music with you." She picked up a pencil from the cup on the top of the piano and sat on the bench next to him. "So…let's see these songs."
LINE
Jason grinned as he took a seat next to Caitlyn at the Campfire Jam that night.
"Got any idea what Shane and Mitchie are going to perform?" he asked.
"Still no clue. Guess it'll be a surprise." She shrugged and smiled at him.
"So…I liked practicing with you today…" Jason started.
"Me too, Jase." She nudged his arm with her shoulder. "We should do it more often. When's your next free period?"
"I have a few free hours on Saturday and Sunday when the other JR counselor is watching them."
"Would you like to practice then?" Caitlyn asked hopefully.
"Sure. I'm free in the mornings, after breakfast. See you at the cabin?"
Caitlyn grinned. "Sounds good to me."
"Sweet," Jason said.
LINE
Caitlyn couldn't stop herself from smiling as Jason walked her back to her cabin. Halfway through the jam, Jason asked her if she was cold and then loaned her his hoodie. She was still wearing it. And he hadn't asked for it back yet. Just before they got to the steps of the cabin, Jason pulled her aside.
"So, I was thinking…"
"Yes?" Caitlyn asked, taking a small step towards him.
"I, um…would you like to…perform together at the next jam?" he asked shyly.
"What?" she exclaimed, instantly recoiling. "Jase, you know I don't like performing."
"No, you don't like performing solo. Like me." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and smiled nervously. "You don't have to answer me tonight…but, please, Caity. Think about it? I'd…I'd like to perform something with you."
Caitlyn softened at Jason's pleading tone. "Why me?" she asked.
Jason shrugged. "I like your voice."
She grinned. "You do?"
He nodded. "Yeah." He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "Just think about it." He grinned. "G'night, Caity. Sweet dreams."
LINE
Jason was playing a few scales on the piano, hoping that Caitlyn would come in soon. Yesterday he had been insanely busy with the JRs and hadn't had a chance to talk to her. He desperately wanted to know if she had made a decision about performing with him in the next jam.
The door to the cabin flew open and Jason jumped, turning around.
"Damn, Caity. You have got to stop scaring me like that."
She laughed and sat next to him. "I prefer to make an entrance."
"You don't need to kick open doors to do that, Caity."
She smiled at him. "Thank you?"
"You're welcome," Jason said. He bit his lip. "Um…did you think about—"
"Performing in the jam?" she nodded. "Yeah. I, um, I don't have a problem with it. How do you want to do it?"
"Really?" Jason asked in shock. "You're serious?"
"Mhm. The only question is, what song should we perform?"
"I don't know. Whatever we can do with a guitar and piano, I guess." He started playing a few bars of Chopin, trying to think of a song they could sing. "Which instrument would you want to play?" he asked.
"Do you mind if I play guitar?" she asked shyly. "I mean, I know it's your thing, but I think it'd be fun to mix it up."
"That'd be awesome!" he exclaimed.
"Good," Caitlyn said with a grin. She picked up the guitar and strummed the strings, playing a few chords.
"No," Jason said, reaching for her hand, correcting the placement of her fingers. "Try it like that."
"Thanks," she said softly, ducking her head. She glanced up at him through her lashes and blushed before looking away.
Jason pulled his hand away and turned his attention back to the piano. He frowned as he played a few chords of Nate's song; it just didn't sound right.
Caitlyn set the guitar down and picked up the pencil. "I don't know what Nate was thinking. That doesn't work." She erased some of the notes and scribbled in new ones before playing the bar herself.
"That's much better." Jason laughed. "Don't tell Nate I said that."
"I won't." She picked the guitar up again when her phone suddenly went off, blaring "Do You Believe in Magic" loudly.
"That's it!" Jason said excitedly.
"That's what?" Caitlyn asked as she unlocked her phone and replied to the text she just received.
"The song we should perform. It's a fun song."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes but nodded. "You should sing, too, y'know."
"What? Why?"
"Because I said you should." She paused. "Plus, I dunno, I think our voices would sound good together…" She tucked a curl behind her ear nervously as she looked up at him. "Is that okay?"
Jason chuckled. "It's okay. I'll do it."
Caitlyn gave him a bright smile, hugging him quickly with one arm. "Thank you for not making me sing on my own."
"No problem, Caity." He gave her a soft smile and leaned towards her. "Just so you know," he said softly, "I think you're a pretty good singer on your own."
She looked down at her guitar and shook her hair in front of her face, hoping to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. "Thanks…uh, you're not too bad yourself."
Jason playfully nudged her and pulled out his cell phone. "Okay, so let's see how to divide up these lyrics," he said as he pulled up the song on his phone. "Do you want a specific verse?"
Caitlyn scooted closer to Jason and tilted the phone towards her, barely lacing their fingers under the phone. "I can take the first verse. Or we could share it. I could start with the first two lines and then you could take the next two, then I can finish the verse."
Jason nodded. "I like that idea." He stole a glance at her as he scrolled through the rest of the song. "I uh, I think you should take the third verse. Because it's about dancing."
"Well then, you should take the second verse. So that the lines are split evenly."
"Okay…" Jason quickly grabbed a blank piece of sheet music and started scribbling the lyrics down. "I'll write it down for both of us and mark which lines we're singing. I'm sure Brown has the guitar and piano parts in his library. If not, I'll just print them out later today and get them to you at dinner."
"Cool beans," Caitlyn said, smiling up at him. "In the meantime…do you want more help with Nate's songs?"
Jason rolled his eyes. "He gave me three new ones at breakfast. I'm about to kill him." He shuffled through the sheet music and handed Caitlyn a handful of papers.
She quickly scanned the first page, muttering to herself as she played a few bars with one hand. "This is good. Maybe repeat this bar from the beginning." She flipped to the next page. "This is—this is your handwriting."
Jason snatched it out of her hand, blushing as he crumpled it and stuck it in his pocket. "Um…Just…just some thoughts. Of mine. That I was thinking. Nothing important."
Caitlyn gave him a look but chose to ignore it. If he really wanted to tell her, he would. "Okay, Jase. Whatever you say."
Jason sighed in relief and nudged her shoulder. "Thanks for not pushing it."
"Welcome," Caitlyn said simply. There was silence for a moment before she slapped his hand where it was resting on the keys and giggled. "You're it."
LINE
Caitlyn licked her lips nervously and looked up at Jason.
"Come on, Caity. Sing. It's just me."
She rolled her eyes. "I know. I just…I don't know."
"Caitlyn," Jason said.
She whipped her head in his direction. "You called me Caitlyn," she said accusingly.
"God, it's not like I committed a crime or anything."
"It totally is. You never call me Caitlyn."
Jason rolled his eyes and put an arm loosely around her shoulders. "I call you that because I know you'll listen to me if I do."
Caitlyn gave him an unimpressed look. "Be quiet and help me practice this."
"I can't help you if you don't sing, Caity."
She sighed heavily but nodded. Reaching up to squeeze his hand that was just barely brushing her shoulder, she smiled. "Okay. Thanks." She took a deep breath and nodded at him to start playing. She went sharp in the first verse and whined pitifully.
"This is why I don't sing on my own. I always go sharp when I'm nervous."
"Am I making you nervous?" Jason asked.
Caitlyn chuckled. "No, the thought of performing is making me nervous. I mean, I love performing. Really, I do. I love dancing, singing—the whole shebang. It's just…I've never really sung by myself before."
"You won't be completely by yourself, Caity. I got your back." He smiled at her and chucked her under the chin. "Just remember that you need to breathe while singing."
Caitlyn laughed. "I know, I know." She looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. "Okay. Let's go again. Then I'll work on guitar."
Jason nodded and started the song again.
This time, it was his turn to make a mistake.
His hand slipped from the keys and when he corrected it, his hand landed in completely the wrong place.
Caitlyn burst into giggles. "We just can't win, can we?"
"Sorry, my hands got sweaty."
Caitlyn wrinkled her nose and Jason winced. He didn't mean to say that. He wiped them on his jeans and popped his knuckles. "Okay, let's do this."
Concentrating on her breathing, Caitlyn managed to get through the song without any major problems.
"Good job, Caity," Jason said with a smile. He jerked his head at her guitar. "Go get that. We'll work on that next."
LINE
"Can we please take a break from rehearsal, Jase? I can't feel my fingers," Caitlyn said with a slight whine as she set her guitar down.
Jason laughed. "We've only been practicing for an hour today."
"Exactly. Break time." She got up and dug through her bag, looking for something. "I have two things for you."
"Caity..." Jason said. "You don't need to get me anything."
"Shut up, Jase. It's a candy bar and a soda."
"You should be practicing guitar," Jason said.
"Not all of us have the mutant ability to practice guitar for hours on end and not have our fingers bleed."
"Hey, my fingers have bled," Jason protested.
"Yeah, the day before C3's first concert," Caitlyn said absently, still digging through her bag. Where did the candy bars and cans of soda go?
"How'd you know that?" Jason asked. He had been fooling around on the piano, but stopped suddenly as he turned to face her.
"Um…interview?" she said unsurely, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Found them," she said triumphantly, holding them up.
Jason smirked. "Caity…I said that on a web chat five years ago."
"God, shut up and take your soda, okay?"
"Are you a closet Connect 3 fan, Caity?" Jason asked, his smirk growing wider by the minute.
She flushed and shook her head. "I wouldn't say that."
"Oh? What would you say, then?"
"Stop pressing this or I'll give Shane the soda."
Jason rolled his eyes, but grinned as he took the soda. "It's okay, you know. If you like the band. I know you value your rep as the indie queen." He popped the top on the soda and took a sip. "But we're not really anything without the fans. So, it's cool if you like the band."
Caitlyn sighed and picked at the nail polish on her fingers. "It was just...when I heard that you did that…well, I didn't know anyone with that amount of dedication. Like, I mean, I've danced so hard that my feet were pretty much beat to hell, but I've never bled into my jazz shoes. I just sort of admired you, I guess."
"And that's why you started to listening to us?" Jason asked.
Caitlyn shrugged. "I also sort of liked that weird blanket-scarf thing you were wearing."
Jason rolled his eyes. "I was sixteen. Give me a break. Our stylist also thought it'd be a good idea to straighten my hair."
Caitlyn got up. "I don't know. I thought it made you look cuddly." She grinned at him. "I have to go. I told Connie I'd help her with prepping dinner. She's going to let me test out some new knives. See ya tomorrow, Jase."
LINE
Jason gripped the earring box tight in his hand as he waited for Caitlyn to arrive backstage. She had left after their earlier rehearsal to go change for the jam, and she was supposed to have arrived five minutes ago. He nervously adjusted his collar and jumped when he heard Caitlyn call his name.
"H-hey, Caity." Jason gulped and scratched the back of his neck.
"Hi," she said, smiling widely. "Ready?"
"Getting there."
Caitlyn chuckled. "If you need to faint, I can try to catch you. I'm not that great at catching things, though. Just so you know."
Jason smiled. "I'll try to remember that."
She nudged his shoulder as she leaned against the wall next to him. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.
He nodded. "I uh, I got you something in town when Brown sent me the other day."
"You did?" she asked, a blush forming on her cheeks.
"Y-yeah. Um…do you want it now or after we perform?"
"Now?" she asked with a grin.
"Okay…" Jason said, taking a deep breath as he pulled the box out of his pocket and put it in her hand. Please like it. Please like it.
Caitlyn gasped as she opened the box, a shy smile crossing her face as she looked up at him. "Bird earrings?" she asked.
He nodded. "They made me think of you."
She giggled and ducked her head. "Thank you. Could you hold them for a moment?" She handed the box to him and pulled out the tiny pink rose post earrings out of her ears. "I'm going to wear these tonight."
Jason grinned as Caitlyn slipped the bird earrings in her ears. "In case I don't tell you this later, you look really nice tonight."
Caitlyn smirked. "You think?" she asked, spinning in a circle, showing off the strapless teal dress. "I'm glad my aunt made me pack it." She fingered the lace trim and laughed. "You look really nice too, you know."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." She grinned as she fingered his charcoal gray tie. "I like the color of this."
Jason gulped. Caitlyn was standing very close. She smelled incredibly nice. He took a step back. "So, um, I told Brown that we'll need the piano upstage right, slanted left. And you can sit on top of the piano lid like you did at rehearsal." He looked her up and down and smirked. "I can help you up there if you need it in that."
Caitlyn laughed. "I might, thanks." She took a deep breath as the auditorium burst into applause. "Oh, god. We're up first, aren't we?"
"Yep." He glanced down at her. "Nervous, Caity?"
"Just a little." She picked up the guitar from the stand she left it on at the end of rehearsal and bit her lip.
"We'll be fine, Caity. I promise," Jason said, reaching for her hand and kissing her knuckles. "Break a leg."
LINE
Caitlyn clutched Jason's hand as they walked onto the dark stage, smiling as Jason held her steady as she stepped up onto the bench and sat on top of the piano lid. He handed her the guitar and patted her hand before sitting down.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them when the lights went up.
Jason grinned at her and gave her a nod before starting.
LINE
The lights went down and Caitlyn sighed happily. They'd done it. The sounds of applause surrounded them and she could feel herself beaming. She slid her guitar out of the way of her lap and leaned forward.
"Good job, Man-Child," she whispered. She could barely see him under the dimmed stage lights but she could feel his breath as it hit her cheek.
"You too, Lady Caity."
She couldn't stop grinning. And she couldn't stop herself from leaning forward and pressing her lips against his.
Caitlyn pulled back almost immediately when she heard Andy clear his throat behind them.
"Guys, I need to move the piano so I can get my drums out here."
Jason cleared his throat. "Right. Right. Of course." He stood up and slid an arm around Caitlyn's waist as he helped her down. "I'm going to help Andy move the instruments. Wait backstage for me?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
She walked offstage, setting the guitar down on the stand once she got in the wing.
"Oh, god. Why did I do that? That was so presumptuous of me. I'm such a freak. This is why I shouldn't be allowed to kiss anyone."
"I don't mind you kissing me."
Caitlyn jumped and almost shrieked, covering her mouth to muffle the sound.
"Calm down, Caity. It's just me," Jason whispered.
"God, I know. But you didn't have to terrify me like that."
Jason chuckled. "Come on, let's take a walk." He grabbed her hand and grinned as he led her out the side door.
"You were really good tonight, Jase," Caitlyn said with a grin.
"And you rocked the guitar, Caity."
A slow smile overtook Caitlyn's face. "Really?"
He nodded. "I've always thought you were really good."
"You're going to have to stop being so nice to me. I'm going to get a big head."
Jason put an arm around her shoulders and led her to a picnic table. "I think you deserve to be treated nicely, Caity."
"Well, thank you." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed contentedly. "I uh, I like the earrings, too. Did you really pick them out for me?"
Jason nodded. "I knew I wanted to get something for you…I just wasn't sure what."
Caitlyn nudged his shoulder. "I really like them. New favorites."
"Oh?"
She nodded. "And um…about the kiss…"
"Yes?"
"I uh…I don't know why I did it, really." She blushed and scooted closer to him.
"You know what I think? It's because you like me."
She shoved him. "If you're going to act like that, I'm going back inside."
"Okay, okay. I'll stop," he said. "Just don't leave, okay?"
"Okay," Caitlyn said with a sigh. She leaned against his shoulder. "I sort of do, though."
"Sort of do what?" Jason asked.
"Like you. You're really great, you know that?"
"I am?"
Caitlyn nodded.
"I think you're pretty great too."
"Really?"
He nodded.
"So…from one great person to another…wanna date?"
"Really, Caity? That's how you're going to ask me out?"
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "I thought it was cute. I can always take it back, you know."
Do you believe in magic, in a young girl's heart?
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic and it'll free your soul
But it's like tryin' to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll
If you believe in magic, don't bother to choose
If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face, no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind
If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until mornin' 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me
Yeah, do you believe in magic?
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Oh, talkin' 'bout magic
(Do you believe like I believe?)
Do you believe in magic?
(Do you believe like I believe?)
Do you believe, believer?
(Do you believe like I believe?)
Do you believe in magic?
(Do you believe like I believe?)