Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
The girl was sitting in the same spot when we returned to the basement. My eyes met hers for the first time. I nodded and smiled. Her cheeks immediately turned pink.
Damn.
Vowing not to be distracted, I did my best to focus on our next set. At one point, she got up and left, and I was actually relieved because I no longer had to give a shit about how I was playing. Ironically, she was the distraction causing me to play like crap today.
Not long after she disappeared, though, Julian said he wanted to head home, and Cassius announced that he needed to study. So we ended for the day.
When I got to the top of the basement stairs, I wasn’t expecting to see his beautiful cousin sitting at the kitchen counter.
“Hi,” she said.
The sound of her gentle voice startled me. She hadn’t said anything all day.
“Hi.” I swallowed. “You’re still here…”
“I am. This is my uncle and aunt’s house. Not sure if you knew who I was.”
“Julian said you’re a cousin?”
“I’m Nicole.” She nodded. “Cassius’s dad and my mom are siblings.”
“Ah.” I cleared my throat. “I’m Atticus.”
“I know.” She smiled. “But it’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” I nodded, unsure what to do. I wanted to talk to her, but the whole thing made me nervous. What if Cassius came in and thought I was up to no good?
“You’re heading home?” she asked.
“Yup. Everyone bailed on me. Can’t exactly jam on my own.”
She stepped down off the stool. “I’ll walk you out.”
Um… “Okay.”
When we got to the front of the house, she asked, “Are you walking?”
“Yeah. I don’t live too far from here.”
“Where do you live?”
“On Maple,” I said.
“I live on Chaste. Not far from you.”
She started walking, so I followed. I guess we’re walking home together now?
“You’re really good on the drums,” she said after a moment.
“Thank you.”
“I hope you realize I’m not just saying that. The other guys—they’re playing around. But I feel like you could really do something with this. I hope you do.”
“Well, thank you. Not a lot of people tell me that. Certainly not my family. Even if they think I’m good, they’d never encourage me to go for it. My parents and sister think it’s completely stupid to pursue music seriously. They think it’s even stupider that I chose not to go to college.”
“Not everyone goes to college.” She shrugged.
“I haven’t decided what I want to study, other than music. So it kind of felt like a waste of money right out of high school if I didn’t have a clear path. Couldn’t afford Berklee College of Music, which was the only school I might’ve wanted to attend.”
“Well, college will always be there…”
“That’s the way I see it.” I sighed. “Anyway, if the music thing doesn’t pan out, I’m thinking I might become a plumber. So that would be more vocational school.”
She nodded. “They make a really good living. My uncle on my dad’s side is a plumber. You should see his house.”
“I’m hoping for a future as a musician, though. It would be nice to do what I love for a living. But that’s not always possible.”
“You have to learn to tune out the naysayers. But also, don’t tell others about your dreams. Keep them close to your heart where no one can shit on them.”
“That’s interesting…”
“My grandmother taught me that. She says there’s a lot of power in belief. And when other people get in your head, it feeds the doubt. If you don’t tell anyone, that can’t happen. They can’t ruin it for you.”
“That makes a lot of sense. I’ll try that. Although, I just told you about my dream. Does that jinx me?”
“You got lucky with me.” She winked. “Just don’t tell anyone else.”
This girl gave me a strange feeling—in a good way. Like a ghost or an angel that only I could see, even if I knew she was real. From the moment she entered my line of sight, it felt like she’d been put there for me. That was probably delusional. I didn’t understand it, except to say that no one else had ever given me this feeling.
We fell into easy conversation, talking the entire way to my house. All I wanted was to see her again, but I couldn’t entertain anything if I didn’t know her age.
“Well, this is me,” I said as we stopped in front of my house. “Thanks for the walk.”
“Yeah. It was nice talking to you.” She fidgeted, blushing a little before she walked away.
Just ask, you moron. I called after her. “Hey, I never asked. How old are you?”
She turned. Her face grew redder as she walked backwards a few steps. “Sixteen.”
Well, damn.
Talk about dreams getting crushed.
Game over.
CHAPTER 3
ATTICUS
Mimi’s new place was a small, one-level home about ten minutes from the street I grew up on in Monksville, New Jersey. She had moved out of the larger house where she’d raised her family and downsized in the three years since I’d been divorced from Nicole.