Chapter 4 – Synchronized Voices


The last lesson went really well. For two reasons. No, three. One was that Lloyd and I sat together again, and we chatted with some of the other guys in our class, and no-one made fun of me or insulted me! Second was that I actually got the work and I knew what I was doing. And the last one is amazing. Like actually earth-shatteringly, life-changingly brilliant. Astrid smiled at me. I'm not even kidding. She wasn't smiling at the person behind me because I sit at the back. She's actually really smart, so when I answered a question that was correct, she smiled at me, kind of like a seal of approval. Lloyd nudged me and raised his eyebrows. I elbowed him in the ribs.


After school, my dad normally picks me up (because we live further away from the school than most people do) so while Lloyd and I were waiting for him in the front playground, he turned to me and said, "Who was that chick that smiled at you in class?" with a massive Cheshire cat grin on his face.

I laughed and said, "Do you want me to elbow you again?"

"No. I just wanna know. I don't know half the people in this school. And apart from you and the guys in class, I know people for all the wrong reasons." he replied. As if on cue Snotlout and his mates appeared and as they walked out of the gates Snotlout shoved me onto the floor for no apparent reason. He then called over his shoulder, "See you tomorrow, Fishbone!" and his mates all cracked up. As they walked away Lloyd swore at them under his breath and then helped me up. "You alright?" he said.

"Yeah." I said then my dad's jeep pulled up in front of us. He slid the window down and said, "Hey, son. Who's this?"

And I said, "Hey, dad. This is Lloyd, he's new at school and I've invited him over. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Hop in." he said and both of us climbed into the car.

On the way back (which is about a twenty-five minute drive), my dad quizzed Lloyd, which had been what I was afraid of. He also embarrassed me. When we were at a red light he turned round and said, "So, Lloyd, you're the first ever friend Hiccup's had round. Congratulations!"

Lloyd was a bit stuck. "Um, thanks. I think."

Dad laughed. "I should give you a medal."

Then I chipped in. "Hey!"

"Sorry son, had to be said. Anyway, how did you two make friends?" At this point the light went green.

So I explained to dad about the shared love of music between Lloyd and myself, and we told him about the guitar thing at lunchtime but left the bullying part out because he doesn't know that.

Then my dad made another joke. I could tell he was trying to embarrass me as much as possible. "I hope your singing's better, Lloyd." he said.

Lloyd laughed and I said, "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, I'm only having a laugh, son. Your singing's not that bad." And then the car parked up outside our house. As it did I saw Astrid get out of her older sister Ingrid's car, a black Vauxhall Corsa, next door. She looked up at me and smiled again. Unfortunately both my dad and Lloyd saw. As we got out Lloyd said, "Oh, look, mate, it's that chick again." I think I went red and I saw Ingrid crack up laughing.

Then my dad joined in. "Yep. The blonde one's Astrid. Hiccup's had a crush on her since he was about ten."

I definitely went red this time and Lloyd cracked up. "Shut up, dad!" I said, embarrassed, and as Ingrid unlocked their front door she said to her sister, "Aw, sis, you have an admirer." Astrid turned and punched her sister's arm. "Shut up, Ingrid!"

Ingrid and my dad both shrugged and then we went inside our separate houses.


When you first walk into our house, the first thing you see is the stairs. Right in front of the door. Handy for when I've just had an argument with dad on the way back from somewhere and I can run up to my room. To the left of that is the lounge, which is painted blue (a contrast to the hallway which is cream) and has one of our only two ridiculously expensive items in the house, the flat screen 40 inch TV on the wall (great for watching Rangers games in HD). The other ridiculously expensive item in the house is my dad's Xbox One. I've never been into gaming, and my dad plays 18 rated games so I can't really play anyway. The second hand black leather sofa is right in front of the TV which is in the centre of the room. There's a coffee table in front of the sofa with a black rug underneath, and on the left hand side of the room by the window there's a fish tank with some goldfish we got in a clearance sale at the local pet shop. At the other end is the dining room, with our four seater table.

On the right hand side of the staircase and just round the corner is the kitchen and downstairs bathroom. I took Lloyd straight to the kitchen as that's what I usually do, and we both grabbed a Coke from the fridge and then we headed up the stairs. They go straight up onto the landing and then my room is the first room on the right. Then it's the guest room, then my dad's room, then the bathroom at the end. I opened my door to my room and said, "Welcome to my humble abode."

Lloyd looked around my room and said, "Wow. Massive Rangers fan."

I smiled. "Yeah. Supported them since I was old enough to understand football."

"And your dad does too?"

"Yep. The main thing we have in common. You not into football?"

"Oh yeah, I am. But I'm Dundee United. My origin is Dundee."

"Fair enough. So what do you think apart from that?"

"I'm liking this wall." he said, referring to my wall of rock posters.

"Oh yeah, which is your favourite?"

"Ooooh, probably the old-school bands, like AC/DC and Guns N Roses if I'm being totally honest. But I like these other ones too. Foo Fighters are cool, Fall Out Boy maybe not so much, but I like a couple of their songs. But this one," he pointed to my poster of the Automatic and their album cover for Not Accepted Anywhere. "I only know one song."

"Which one?" I asked but I already knew.

Then he started singing the main chorus line of that song. "What's that coming over the hill, is it a monster?" I joined in on the last part and we both cracked up.

"Yeah, that's their most famous song. But that album," I pointed to the poster, "is the best album ever. You should listen to it sometime." Then I showed him to the last wall of my room, with all my music equipment. He walked over and straight away picked up my electric guitar. "This is a beautiful specimen of guitar, my friend." he said, turning it round.

"Yeah, I love it too. If you're gonna have an electric guitar, it's gotta be Fender."

"Yep. I totally agree. I'm liking the black and white. I have a red and black custom version of this."

"Nice." I nodded in approval. He continued looking at my music stuff, complimenting me on my choice of acoustic guitar too. Then he carefully picked up my violin. "You play violin?" he asked.

"No, that's why it's there!" I said sarcastically. He shot me a look then smiled. "But seriously? Yes I do. I have done for about three years." I continued.

"You never told me!"

"I thought I'd let you find out for yourself." I said, then took it from him and picked up my bow. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

"Sure." he said and then sat on my bed while I quickly made sure it was in tune, and then I put my head on the cushion and played the 20-second intro to Alexander Rybak's Fairytale. Lloyd was gobsmacked. "How do you even do that?"

"That was the first song I learned. I can do others." I said and then played the intros to Into A Fantasy (ignoring the ten second bit right at the start) and Europe's Skies.

"Woah, mate; that was awesome. Who did those songs?"

"A guy called Alexander Rybak. You've probably never heard of him."

"Oh him! Yeah I know him. Oh God, I should've guessed, my mum loves him!"

I laughed. "I won't tell her."

"You'd better not. Do you sing as well?"

"Yeah, course. Which one do you want me to demo?"

"Ooooh, probably the first one."

"Okay, good choice. That was the first one I ever learned, like I said, so I know this one best. Sorry if my singing's bad." I said, and then played Fairytale all the way through, with singing and everything. He was gobsmacked again.

"Where did you learn to play?"

"Oh I had lessons. But when I learned that song my tutor said I was good enough to teach myself. So yeah. What did you think?"

"I thought that was awesome. Truly awesome. And from the lyrics, I'm guessing that song's dedicated to a certain girl?" he smiled.

I was embarrassed again. "Shut up! But yes. It's true." I said and looked out of my bedroom window. I pointed to her bedroom window. "That's her room there."

"Is it really?" he said and crossed to the window. "Are her curtains always shut?"

"Yep. But sometimes I see her shadow through the curtains, leaned against the wall sat on her windowsill, and I'd like to think she's listening to me play. But she probably isn't."

"Aw, poor you. Maybe she is, you never know."

"I doubt it. But anyway," I said and I pointed to my keyboard, and then set it up. "I play this as well. Only on the piano setting though. Do you know the song Dare I Say by Alexander Rybak?"

"I do. Perhaps too well. My mum loves that song."

"Would you mind doing the guitar-y bit of that song on my acoustic?"

"Course not." he said and picked up my guitar. He also picked up a pick from the box on my bedside table. As he did so he looked at my photo. "Is that your mum?" he asked.

I walked over to the bedside table. "Yeah. I never knew her. She was killed in a car crash when I was one." I felt a bit emotional as I said this.

"Oh my God, mate, I'm so sorry."

"S'alright. You didn't know. Anyway." I still felt emotional but stopped myself from crying and grabbed two chairs and I sat by my keyboard facing the window, and he sat to my left. I moved my one freestanding microphone towards him, and adjusted the one on my keyboard. We quickly went over which parts we'd sing, and then started (I played violin on the parts where it was needed as well.). We basically alternated between verses, with me starting. And both sang the chorus.

And that was our first duet. We then dueted on Disney Girls, then my dad called us for dinner (he'd bought a KFC Boneless Banquet, because it was the only food we knew Lloyd liked.) By that time it was late and in the end his mum came and picked him up, but we organized my visit to his house tomorrow, as his garage is his music room.


There we are, chapter 4! I do not own any of the songs or brands mentioned. The song mentioned with the posters is Monster by The Automatic.

Please review! :-)