Hello readers, as always thank you so much for all of the positive feedback that you have given me on this story. I want to apologize to the fans of my other story beyond the lie. The honest truth is that I am just having so much fun writing and finding peace that it's hard for me to work on beyond the lie. I also am struggling with writer's block. Don't take this as me saying I'm discontinuing Beyond the Lie, because I am not. Expect for a new chapter to eventually be ready. I hope you will enjoy this latest chapter of finding peace, Lincoln and Anthony finally have their first jam session. We meet Anthony's family, and learn something about Chris and his past.
It was Friday afternoon and Lincoln was currently in his room getting everything ready for his jam session with Anthony. He had everything packed, his guitar which was sealed in a carrying bag, and an amp and cables that Luna let him borrow. The plan that they made was for Anthony and his father to come and pick him up to which they would go to his house and jam until dinner time where Lincoln would then have dinner with the Russos and be driven home afterwards.
Lincoln slung the guitar bag over his shoulder and walked out of his room and down the stairs with the amp in his hand. Lincoln placed everything down and checked his watch, Anthony would be here any second.
Both of the loud parents entered the living room, "Is your friend gonna be here soon son" Lynn Sr asked
"Yeah, any second now" Lincoln responded
"Great, I wanna meet Anthony's father" Lynn Sr said
"Dad there's nothing to be worried about, Anthonys a great guy"
"We know sweetie, we just like to meet the parents of your friend"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Lincoln opened it. Standing there was Anthony with his father. Mr. Russo was a middle aged man, his hair was grey with some white areas and had a clean shaven face. He wore blue jeans and a green shirt.
"Mr and Mrs. Loud, what a pleasure to meet you" he said with a thick Italian accent as he extended his arm. Both loud parents shook the man's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you too Mr Russo" ,Lynn Sr said happily
"Please call me Robert" he stated
"We really appreciate you having Lincoln over, he was very excited" said Rita
"It's no biggie, glad to have the boy over, here I wanted you to have this" he reached to the side and pulled out a bottle of wine and handed it to the parents.
"It's some of the best wine my Wife and I have ever had, I hope you enjoy it as well."
The loud parents took the wine bottle shocked, "Wow this is very generous, thank you" Lynn Sr said and accepted the gift. Mr. Russo turned to Lincoln and smiled.
"Well Lincoln, you ready to go"
"Yep" Lincoln responded
Both Lincoln and Anthonly helped carry the amp to the Russos car to which they put it in the trunk. Once everything was packed. They got into the car and drove. It was only a 10 minute drive and Anthony and Lincoln chatted on the way while Mr. Russo turned on the radio as crooners filled the car.
They eventually arrived at Anthony's house, it was a simple house, not too big or small, with a garage and two stories. Once they got out of the car, Anthony ran over and pulled the garage door open. Lincoln walked into Anthony's garage and took in everything he saw. Poster aligned the walls of many metal bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Slipknot, Ozzy Ozbourne, and many other bands. There was a fridge in the corner along with a table and many chairs. But what Lincoln was most drawn to was the drumset in the far back. Anthony had a kit of 1 snare, 1 bass drum with a double kick pedal, 3 toms, 2 floor toms, a hi-hat, and so many cymbals that each served a different purpose.
"Like what you see" Anthony said grinning
"Yeah dude, this is awesome" Lincoln replied
The two quickly got everything unloaded from the car, after a few minutes. Everything was plugged in and ready to go. Lincoln started playing a few chords to warm up and Anthony got behind his kit, applying drumming gloves to his hands. He started doing some basic grooves and Lincoln was already surprised at how skilled Anthony was. He had what Luna called chops, and was able to play very fast and easy filly with ease.
The two boys suddenly stopped playing when they saw the door that led to the rest of the home open. Out stepped a woman that Lincoln guessed was Anthony's mother. She had long curly black hair and was dressed in a casual polka dot dress.
"Anthony, did you take out the trash when you got home" she asked
"Yes mom, I did it right when I got home" Anthony responded
"Good, thank you," she said. She then realized that Lincoln was also there. "Hi Lincoln, nice to meet you" she said happily waving.
"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Russo" Lincoln said waving back
Mrs. Russo went back into the house
"Your moms nice" Lincoln said looking at Anthony
"Yeah, she's great. Although she trusted me more with doing some stuff" Anthony responded
"Hey man, she's just trying to look out for you"
Anthony shrugged, "yeah I guess you're right"
"I noticed that both of them are very Italian and your pretty Italian too" Lincoln asked curiously
"Yeah, we're pretty Italian. All of my grandparents were immigrants from Italy and they had my mom and dad in America. They both grew up in New York and eventually met each other in high school. Married when they were in their mid 20s, and then had me later on."
"So you grew up in New York"
"Yeah, almost all my life. But my dad got a job opportunity in Royal Woods that was much better than his current one, we all knew it was the right thing to do and he took it. I was really upset that I had to leave all my friends though."
There was an eerie pause, Lincoln didn't know what to say. But Anthony spoke again.
"But I met you Lincoln, and honestly. I've never had so much fun with a friend as you. I'm grateful that we moved"
Lincoln smiled at what he said and gave him the thumbs up. "Alright Anthony, let's jam."
The two friends jammed for hours on end, and the reasoning for that was because they needed to get used to playing together. While both players were good musicians in their own right, neither had played with another person. So it took a while til they got the timing down together. But when they got it going, it was great. They played their respective songs, Lincoln moved around a lot and headbanged while Anthony hit the drums with tons of power. By the time the sun was going down and Anthony's mom was calling the boys for dinner. They were both exhausted.
Mrs. Russo made a delicious pasta course. Her sauce was incredible and Lincoln had many servings. To which Mr. Russo laughed whenever Lincoln asked for another. "Growing boys need to eat," he said laughing.
Once dinner was done, Mr Russo drove Anthony home. To which Lincoln thanked him and headed inside.
As he was walking up the stairs to his room with his equipment, tired from all the playing. Luna walked past him and noticed his current state.
"Hey bro, did you enjoy your first jam" she asked grinning
"Yeah, it was great" he responded as he put the amp back in Luna and Luans room as well as his guitar in his room as he got ready for bed.
SCENE CHANGE:
It was late at night, and the Olsen house was rather quiet. Both parents were out at a business dinner and Emily was put to bed earlier. Chris Olsen was currently in his room, finishing up his last bits of homework. He knew he could have finished it much earlier, but he kept on texting with Luan. They would talk about stuff with their families, Chris would send her some music to listen to, and Luan would talk about the pranks she would pull on her siblings. One in particular he found really funny that involved her younger sister Lisa and baby powder exploding.
He suddenly heard a knock on his door and Chris knew who it was. He walked over and saw his 5 year old sister Emily standing there in her pajamas with her teddy bear in her hands with a scared look on her face.
"What's wrong Em" he asked softly
"I had a nightmare and I can't fall asleep" she said scared
Chris embraced her in a hug and she happily buried herself into his chest.
He stroked her long black hair, "Is there anything I can do to help", he asked
"C-can you play piano for me" she asked quietly
"Sure" he said simply
Chris told people he only sang, but the truth was he actually could play an instrument. Though he was a metalhead at heart, his grandfather was the one who taught him piano. He would sit on his grandfather's lap as he would teach him how to play each note with each hand. He taught him many songs by many classical musicians like Mozart and Beethoven, but also some 60s and 70s like The Beatles. He especially loved playing Paul Mcartney songs. Emily loved watching him play and regularly sat next to him on the seat. But sadly, his grandfather passed away two years ago from a stroke. Chris was so broken up over the loss of his grandfather that he stopped playing piano altogether, he usually told himself he didn't even know how to play it. But he gave an exception when Emily wanted to hear him play, he loved the pure joy he saw when she watched him play.
The two walked over to the electric piano in his room and sat down as Chris turned it on.
"Can you play my favorite" she asked
"Of course" he responded and started playing the first few notes to the song ``Vienna``by Billy Joel. Chris opened his mouth and started singing.
Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me,
Why are you still so afraid? (mmmmm)
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day (Ay)
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (Oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?
Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)
Too bad, but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right (you're right)
You got your passion, you got your pride
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true (Oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?
Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two (oooh)
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?
And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through (oooh)
Why don't you realize... Vienna waits for you?
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?
Chris finished the song with the last few notes. He turned to realize Emily had fallen asleep on his shoulder, smiling in her sleep. Anthony smiled as well and picked her up. He carried her to her room and tucked her in. He planted a kiss on her cheek and walked back to his room and continued his homework.