Tess's POV
It's the sixth of September. Time flies by so quickly. I haven't seen Alexandra and Alexander since their wedding. They're in France at the moment, starting their transition to king and queen of France. I still think it's odd that that Alexa is married before I am, that she's with child before I am. She's younger than I am, and I think that's what makes me so incredulous.
The past two months have been days of wedding planning and country arranging, and honestly, Matthew and I have been so busy it does not leave any time for making out in between. It just doesn't seem like the proper time, what with attending meetings that last two to four hours, interviews, press conferences, Matthew's support group (to which he goes by himself), my working out, writing songs for Matt's new album titled "The Life". We still sleep side-by-side, every night, but our midnight balcony meetings have ceased for the moment. We end up so exhausted by ten o'clock. It's a bit disconcerting, but it's Life that comes to interfere at times.
"Hey, what do you think of this lyric?" Matt says, sprawled on the floor, his back on the floor of the music room with a guitar on his chest. I take my seat on the lounge, a pen poised to write on a notepad. He's written plenty of songs, apparently, even before we were together. There are currently four songs on the album, and we're working toward our fifth one.
Matt plays Cadd9 with the capo on the second fret, then a G, then a D, then an E Minor. He continues to play that way, and I start to sing words that seem somewhat reasonable. "Sometimes, I wish I could read your mind. Sometimes, I wish I..." I trail off there, not knowing what to say.
"How about instead of sometimes it could be some days?" Matt says. I nod and write everything down. We go on for about a minute and a half before coming up with the first verse and a chorus.
"Some days, I wish I could read your mind.
Some days, I wish I could sleep at night.
When you look in my eyes,
It's like a fire burning bright.
When will you tell me how you're really feeling?
When will you tell me what you're thinking?
Sometimes, I wish you would open up some more.
Will it always be this way between us?
Will it always be this hard?
Tell me this one imagination.
Yeah.
Just tell me the truth.
Cuz I can't see what it's doing to you.
Can't you feel it tonight?
Ask you if you're alright.
All you say is yeah."
It's titled "Yeah", and I feel like these songs are enormous inside jokes that people will never know.
"Tess," Matt says, tapping the guitar with his fingernails.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think people would listen to this album?"
I consider it and answer it realistically. "They'd have to at least be curious to see if the prince can sing," I reply. "There's no guarantee they'll like it..."
He shoots me a look, and I stick out my tongue at him. It's been nothing but playful between us, and I'm glad it's been that way. I don't think I could handle a world without humor and...Matthew. It just distracts us from the grave issues of our Life. But Life wants to be noticed, like a petulant child, nagging and bragging about how great they are. It's quite irritating actually.
"I think we have enough songs for the album," he says. "Six songs is plenty, yeah?"
"Yeah. Now we record them."
Recording proves to be harder than I first anticipated. Sometimes I'd forget a word, but after a fifty-four seconds, I get the gist of the lyrics and remember what they mean. I sing them, piece by piece, like I'm telling a story. Singing with Matt is a dream. I can't quite explain the certain thrill I feel when he's singing. It's like he pours his entire soul into the melody and the notes.
I keep falling deeper and deeper in love with him. He has no idea how much I'm into him. Every love song we sing makes me love him more.
We finish recording at about ten thirty-nine, and I yawn after recording the sixth song. "Matt, when are we going home?"
He smiles, almost shyly, and then he laughs. I frown. "Does that mean another hour here?"
"You called the palace home."
I smile, and this time, he yawns. "Your Majesties, you're free to go," the producer says. Richard, I think his name is.
Matt drives home this time, the windows open and our hair blowing carelessly. We stop at a light, and there's another car beside us. The guy driving it has his own girl in the convertible, and the guy raises an eyebrow. He revs the engine, and Matt just laughs. The light turns green and Matt speeds away, leaving everything behind us. We sing to the song playing on the radio and pretend that nothing matters.
We reach home, and I'm oblivious to the lights, to the concerned parents on the foyer until Matt and I get out of the car. I frown and brace myself for the problem. "What's wrong?" Matt says, instinctively grabbing my hand.
"It's my mother," Dad says. "She's ill, and she's getting worse. We were planning a visit."
"You guys have the option of staying here," says Mom, tugging her red hair that's loose and flowing past her shoulders. "Or you could come with us."
Matt's grip tightens on mine. "We're coming with you. At least, I am. Tess, you could stay here, if you wanted or—"
"No," I say, and he squeezes my hand. "I'm going wherever you're going." I smack my forehead. "God, that was so cliche."
"Truly poignant, love," Matt replies. "Well, I suppose we should pack. When are we leaving?"
Dad starts walking inside, and he says over his shoulder, "In two hours."
Matthew's POV
I remember Grandma Amberly vividly. She was always bright eyed, radiant, like she contained the sun. She's a lot like my mother, beautiful in that same way. When Grandfather Clarkson passed, she got really sick a few weeks later. She was devastated and heartbroken. I guess that theory where a person loses their spouse and dies shortly thereafter must be true. Only Grandma hasn't died yet because she's much stronger. She's the one that gave me my favorite violin, and it's my favorite because she's the one who gave it to me.
The thought of going back to Honduragua excites me, but at the same time, it fills me with sadness and dread. Whenever we go to Honduragua for vacation, we would would stay in our beach house with glass walls and a grand piano. But it no longer stands. It only sits in a pathetic pile of debris.
I finish packing within two minutes. I have all of my necessities with me. I open the door to Tess's room, and she's not yet done. Why does it take girls forever to get ready? It's just clothes, toothbrush. I mean, does packing really require more than five minutes?
I laugh, shaking my head and leaning against the door frame. Tess runs from her closet to the her suitcase. "You packing your entire wardrobe, love?"
She rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. Just necessities. Pants, shorts, shirts, jackets, just in case it's cold, underwear..." She turns to me and crosses her arms. "Matthew, guys don't have to worry about their hair products, bras, feminine products—"
My eyes widen. "Whoa, okay, that's enough, Tess."
She smirks and raises an eyebrow. "If you're going to live with me and be married to me for life, you'll have to deal with it."
"Hmm, maybe I should take back that ring." She pouts teasingly, and it's my turn to smirk. "Just kidding, love. Just kidding."
She just smiles and returns packing. "I remember hearing you play the violin and how...passionate you were. It was inspiring, and I was in awe of you. And I just think that's the moment when I started falling for you."
I just smile a little. It's funny how one moment can determine an entire future. "I realized I started caring about you when Maria was taken by the rebels. You just looked so sad and devastated, and it hurt me, seeing you that way."
She pauses as she zips up her suitcase. "Why do bad things keep happening?"
"It's funny how we keep asking that same question over and over again, don't you think?"
"Questions will stop being asked once they have answers."
And the truth of it is realized—these questions will never stop being asked.
Hey, guys! Hope you still liked this super boring chapter. Not exciting, I know. I've been horrible in this department as of late. Oh, well.
News: Some of you responded to my previous QOTD saying that you wanted to hear the actual songs. Sooo I made a soundcloud account for the story! Super lame, I know, but I did it anyway. Look up AcademicGirl on soundcloud dot com and you'll find the track for this chapter here :) Hope you guys like it, and tell me if you want to hear more.
QOTD: If you could go to one place, anywhere in the universe, regardless of money or means of transportation, where would it be?
Answer to previous QOTD: I quite like the "Shake It Off" music vid. I also kinda like the "Cool Kids" music video. I don't usually watch music videos, and the only memorable one for me is "Wrecking Ball". :P
Thank you soooooo much for the reviews! I literally don't have time anymore to respond to reviews, and I'm super sorry. Like, today I was planning on doing homework (cuz school is slaying me), but that's not what happened. I ended up writing for other stories, video chatting one of my best friends, watching the Teen Choice Awards and an episode of Bachelor in Paradise...So what's new with y'all?
Love ya!- AcademicGirl
