"You what?" Zelgadis nearly fell out of his chair. Was Rezo on something?
"Zelgadis, you need not react like that."
"But still, you said yes to that? I thought you hated the kind of music that I listen to, and would have nothing to do with it." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Well, I trust Xellos. He is an honest young man."
"But why here, of all places?"
"Because Miss Inverse's sister is sick of hearing them, and Xellos' parents won't let them practice there. So, I simply told Xellos that the band could use our garage and basement for practices. And why are you complaining Zelgadis; isn't Xellos your friend?"
"I wouldn't use those words, but yes."
"And besides, you need more of a social life, and this is a wonderful opportunity. You've always had a talent with music, right?"
"That's beside the point, Rezo. I play around on the guitar. I'm certainly no professional."
"If you look at them Zelgadis, neither are they. I don't want to hear any more argument. They will be over in two hours, so I have to get the house cleaned up a little. Zelgadis, go clear the garage so that they'll have somewhere to practice."
Grunting in frustration, Zelgadis stalked out of the house and to the garage, lifting the sliding door and letting it slam against its restraints. Though there was junk strewn everywhere, it would only take him about an hour to clean it up. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he began working.
Slowly, as the anger faded, he thought logically about the situation. Even though Xellos would be here, Lina would be too. Maybe he could watch her moves again.
"Wait, what am I thinking?" he shook his head to clear it, and continued on. She was attractive, but he had no chance. She was the girl no one could touch. And what did she care about him? She probably felt sorry for him, sorry for his scars, sympathetic to his plight.
"That's right, she doesn't want anything but to make me feel wanted. It's all just sympathy."
He finished the job in silence, considering the idea of leaving when the band arrived.
"Zel," a pleasant voice sounded from behind. Zelgadis put on his best fake smile and turned around.
"Xellos, you're early."
"Oh yeah, I guess I am. I just thought I'd talk to you in person first, and then help you with anything, if you need it."
"Luckily for you, there is no more work to do. So tell me; how did you convince Rezo to let the band use our house?"
Xellos only smiled, "That's my secret, and a true master never shares his secrets."
"That's a 'true magician' Xellos."
"Well, whatever. Anyway, the others will be here in about an hour."
"Okay." Zelgadis grunted, and then took a folding chair out of a pile at the back of the garage, set it up, and sat down, "Hard work."
"Looks like it," Xellos said as his eyes drifted across the room, "Hey, how did you like going to Explosion Array?"
"Don't you ever get bored of asking me that question, particularly since it is the sixth time since Friday. It's annoying when you ask that many times in two days."
Xellos grabbed his own folding chair and plopped down next to Zelgadis, his proximity forcing Zelgadis to shift his chair to place more distance between them. "Well Zel, I don't think you're telling me everything."
"What is there left to tell? I said I enjoyed it, and yes it was cool to go out to eat at Calvert's with the band. What else could there be?"
Xellos' smile enlarged, "I know you're not telling me something. Just a quick question: What did you think of Lina?"
Zelgadis felt the heat rise in his face. To diffuse his embarrassment he grabbed a piece of garbage still on the garage floor and threw it in the direction of the corner garbage cans, "She has talent."
A small chuckle erupted from Xellos, "Judging from your response that evening, I'd say you were admiring more than her talent."
"What? No, you're wrong Xellos."
"You think so? I don't. I saw what caught your attention."
Zelgadis growled, "Shut up, Xellos."
"That gorgeous, fiery-red hair."
"Be quiet Xellos."
"That nice, tight figure."
Zelgadis found himself blushing again, "Xellos, I'm warning you…"
"And who could not find that tight butt and nice pair of handfuls she's got attractive, right…"
Zelgadis landed a rather hard punch in the arm, "Enough Xellos!"
Flinching, his smile returned, "Hey, when you're right, you're right." He flexed the arm a little, cringing as the pain ran through his body, "You know, I think you may have a future in professional sports Zelgadis. Maybe hockey, or perhaps boxing."
"You're annoying me again."
"No wait, rugby!"
"Xellos!"
"Okay, okay. Just relax Zel; I wouldn't want to tire you out before Lina gets here."
Zelgadis looked to Xellos curiously, "Who said I'm hanging around while you guys practice?"
"Well, to be honest Zel, no one. I just thought that perhaps, with your skill at presentation and style, we could use your advice to look and sound better. Hey, why don't you go get your guitar and warm up, I'm sure the band wouldn't mind hearing you."
"No," Zelgadis firmly set down, "I don't want anyone to hear what I can do."
"Why, are you afraid Lina's going to show you up?"
"No, I already know she's a better guitarist than me."
"Well then, since you do know, where's the shame in pulling out your own strings and practicing a little with the band. It could never hurt."
Zelgadis rose, "I don't want to talk about it. The guitar is just a personal thing to me, alright?"
Silence hung over the two of them for several minutes before Zelgadis walked out of the garage to the front lawn and sat down on the grass.
Looking at his scars, images flashed in his mind: broken glass, sirens, blinding pain, the hospital, the rain, his mother and father, now only shadows.
"Hey, are you okay," Xellos' voice pried him from his thoughts, "I didn't mean to cause you any distress."
"It's alright Xellos, it's long gone now. Come on, let's go back into the garage."
Upon returning to the garage, Rezo emerged through the side door, which led directly into the dining room, with a plate of snacks in one hand and a small cooler.
"Celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, summer sausage slices, and cheese slices. In the cooler I packed some ice and cups. Zelgadis, can you get the two liter bottles of soda and the water bottles?"
Zelgadis nodded and dashed past Rezo into the house, taking a sharp right toward the kitchen. He found the bottles already pulled out and sitting on the kitchen table, so he grabbed them and went back tot the garage.
"Rezo's sure got a lot of time and energy," he told himself as he closed the door behind him, then regarding the bottle in his arms, "and resources."
"Zelgadis, bring those over here," Rezo called to him, "I have the cooler all prepared for the water bottles."
As he crossed to where Rezo had the cooler, two vehicles pulled into the driveway, a large, blue van covered in rust spots, areas where damage was painted over, and fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror. Zangulus stared at them through the windshield and waved. Zelgadis waved back and handed the water bottles to Rezo.
The second vehicle was an old Shelby, Zelgadis guessed somewhere from 65'-70', painted a glossy black and well maintained. Lina and Jiras waved from inside, and Zelgadis once again waved back.
Zelgadis watched as Lina and Jiras got out of the car, grabbing the roof of the car and pulling themselves out of the windows, then hopping down.
"Nice ride, Lina," complimented Zelgadis, "What year?"
"67'. Yeah, my sister got me a great deal on this, and I restored it with some help from Jiras."
"You restored it?" Zelgadis' jaw was almost hanging out of its hinges.
"Yeah, I have a knack for mechanical things, in addition to my musical ability."
" Now if that could only transfer into academic ability," Xellos remarked. Lina shot him a deadly look.
"Don't push your luck, Xellos, or I'll punch you one."
"Sorry Lina…Ali here beat you to it," he rubbed the sore spot in his arm, "But luckily it won't affect my singing ability."
"It had better not, or I'll knock Zelgadis silly."
Zelgadis felt a strange mischievousness come over him, and he grinned, "Promise?"
Fore a moment neither Xellos nor Lina could move or speak, Xellos' eyes now fully opened. Lina felt a blush come to her face, and she smiled confidently.
"You'd better believe it Zelgadis. Get in my way and I'll flatten you."
"No doubt," Zelgadis retorted. He could see the tension rising in her face. Boy, did she ever have a hair trigger-temper! He wondered how far he could really push her, but he dared not try and find out. If she got too angry she would beat him senseless.
"Well, why don't I help the guys unload the van, and you two can do some warm-ups," Zelgadis motioned for them to step inside the garage, "Oh yeah, there are some snacks and drinks set up for the band to have. Go nuts."
"Too late," Xellos chimed in cheerfully. Zelgadis only shook his head and hurried off to help Jiras and Zangulus, well out of Lina's reach, "Out of sight, out of mind," he told himself.
Jiras handed Zelgadis two guitar cases.
"Whatever you do, don't drop the one with the photographs on it. That is Lina's child, her pride and joy."
"I understand, I have one of my own." He looked at Lina's case and saw photographs of her at concerts with people he didn't know, laughing and having a grand time. His eyes fell upon one photograph though, a color photograph with Lina standing with four members of an old yet familiar band, giving a double peace sign to the camera, complete with autographs.
"No way," he told himself as he came into the garage.
"What's 'No way,' for?"
He looked up to Lina, "You knew Shitenoe?"
She nodded, "Toured with them two years ago. My sister and her boyfriend are president and vice-president of the official fan club, and I got to go along as a roadee with them when they went on the Reunion Tour two years ago. I did a lot of electrical work, and I learned how to improve my guitar skills from Thornfoot."
"Thornfoot, you mean the Thornfoot?"
"Of course," she took the case from him and opened it up, "Look here too."
Zelgadis looked where she was pointing; two small notches were carved into the head of the guitar on the right side.
"Double-notch…Wait, that means…"
"Yep."
"Thornfoot's practice guitar!"
"Well, it isn't his only practice guitar, but it is one of them. He gave it to me when we finished the tour, plus the money I needed to buy my own performance guitar, which you saw Friday."
"They're both impressive instruments. I know a lot of musicians who would kill for Thornfoot's guitar though."
"True."
It was then Zelgadis noticed how close the two of them had drawn toward each other. They had started at about arms length minutes earlier, and were now within two feet of one another. An uncomfortable silence grew between them, and the two stared at one another, unmoving.
"Hey Lina, you ready to do this?" Jiras called. Lina broke the stare, turning to face the band. Jiras was almost finished setting up the drum, Xellos and Zangulus checking the amplifiers and microphones, and Vrumugun tuning each guitar carefully.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a moment," Lina said, and turned back to Zelgadis, "You wouldn't happen to have any earplugs, would you?"
Zelgadis thought about it, "Well, actually, yes we do. My uncle does a lot of working in his basement workshop, and I know he keeps several packages of disposable earplugs in the kitchen. I'll be right back with them."
Zelgadis dashed off into the kitchen, where Rezo was sitting at the kitchen table, earplugs already in place and several packages lying near his hands, holding up the teacher's edition of the chemistry textbook.
"Thanks," Zelgadis told Rezo, full aware he wouldn't be heard, snatched up the packages, and left for the garage.
He ripped open the packages and threw a set to each member, and then began to put in his own.
"Good idea. This way we won't go deaf."
"What Xellos?"
"I SAID…NEVER MIND."
The practice started, Lina's powerful lead guitar knocking out a few good licks while Jiras kept a steady and controlled rhythm. Zelgadis could recognize the tune as a nice oldie, definitely a classic.
Xellos nodded to the beat, letting the band get in a few good measures, and the started to sing, something that blew Zelgadis away at its accuracy.
Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games
We got everything you want, how do we know the names
We are the people that can find whatever you may need
If you've got the money honey we've got your disease
In the jungle, welcome to the jungle want to bring you to your, sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed…*
Zelgadis couldn't help but laugh. He never thought that Xellos would be able to sing with an attitude like that, only like the anime J-pop bands that he listened to. However, he watched each of the band members, his mind judging their performance faces, their technique, and the overall musical "attitude". He wanted to see if what he'd told Lina before was true.
They finished the song, and Zelgadis clapped. The group removed their earplugs, and smiles traveled to one another.
"Not bad guys," Zelgadis praised, "But there were a few things I noticed that will help you in performance."
"But, we don't perform this piece," Zangulus spoke up.
"It doesn't matter," Zelgadis came back, "Practice habits carry over to performances. For example, Zangulus, when you play, don't stand there stiff as a board. You're face is involved, energetic; communicate that with your body as well.
"Jiras. Your energy is good, style is good, and your skills are great. One quick thing though: don't hold back. When you have the chance, wail on those drums. Don't waste the opportunity. Remember this: the audience doesn't stop when the song does if it's, they go through the wall cheering and screaming.
"Vrumugun. Your skill with the bass is masterful…"
"Thank you," his voice low, almost threatening.
"However, you need to express yourself. Smile, cry, scream in anger…do something to energize yourself. People get bored watching a guy with no movement and no energy."
"Xellos," Zelgadis said, trying not to laugh as he continued, "You have no trouble with energy, and your face is expressive, but it needs more body. Move a little more, and you'll do fine."
"How about me?" Lina placed her hands on her hips and waited.
"Lina, I'll be honest," Zelgadis started, "You need more body."
Lina blushed for a moment, and then gave Zelgadis a startled look,"What!" She moved to strike him, but Zelgadis held his hands up in defense, realizing what he just implied.
"No, wait, I meant in your playing," he plead as he dodged Lina's fist, "More body in your playing!"
Lina stopped after the first swing, "Oh."
"Trust me Lina, there's nothing wrong with your…"
Lina looked at the floor, a small blush rising in her cheeks. Zelgadis felt the heat rise in his own face, immediately wishing he hadn't tried to cover.
"Right."
"Yeah," she responded, followed by a silence so awkward that Lina felt a twinge in her stomach, "So, about the body of my playing."
"Right! Your playing," Zelgadis praised Lina silently for changing the subject, "Let me get my guitar and show you what I mean."
Zelgadis' heart raced as he rushed into the house and down the hall to his room. What the hell was he thinking? Why was he flirting? Had she actually blushed?
"Control Zelgadis," he told himself as he pulled his guitar case out of the closet, "As long as it doesn't happen again, there is no chance for problems, no room for error. She was probably just red from practicing hard, that's all. No more mistakes."
