Page 146 of How We Began

Big Baz is a guitar whizz. In fact, he rivals Ben, however, he doesn’t manage to pull off quite the same level of sex appeal.

We played a game of guitar karaoke where I shouted out any random song that I could think of, and he continually amazed me by being able to play it.

After a while, I’d exhausted every obscure song choice I could come up with, and he just started to play his own stuff. I sat there drinking my Bud and listening whilst I doodled some Lilah triangles on a scrap of till receipt. Eventually his playing became familiar again. I picked up the tune he was playing, but I’ve no idea what it was, although it was beautiful and made me feel a little emotional.

“Does that have lyrics?”

“Yeah it does, Lil, but I can’t do it justice,” he told me with a shrug.

“What song is that, Baz?”

It was Ben. His arms sliding around me from behind and just like that, I could breathe again.

“‘The Promise,’” Baz said, looking Ben directly in the eye. “Tracy Chapman.”

“I know that one.” Ben reached for the guitar and picked out the notes. Softly he began to sing. Quiet and understated, the words are him and I and the unspoken promise between us. The blues sparkled and held mine as he sung.

When he’d finished, my mouth was so dry I could barely swallow.

Eventually I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “I think I found my favourite song.”

He flashed me his megawatt grin and the blues lit the room.

Oh god, I couldn’t breathe!

We watched one another, the tension mounting second by second.

“Oh, go on, kids. Go and have fun,” grunted Big Baz as he opened another bottle of beer.

I gave a cheer and grabbed my bag. “Thanks! You’re the best,” I kissed Baz on the cheek, giving him a thankful squeeze.

Ben and I raced to the Barnes’ house; it was closer. Dorm was just too far to go. We collapsed through the door together where we plan to stay until classes tomorrow.

20th May

25 degrees. The whole of campus has put itself on an early vacation. Even the teachers are getting more relaxed. With only two weeks of lectures left, they are on a wind down, just blasting us with more reading in preparation for exams.

“Oh yes, I’d suggest you read, blah, blah, blah’s amazing book on blah, blah, blah. You need to read at least the first two chapters. No, actually, just read the whole thing to make sure you grasp it.”

Great.

We’ve been sitting out on the lawn after lectures, drinking cold beer and staring at books that none of us really understand.

We have another school trip coming up on the 31st of May. Fancy having an outing on the last day of proper lectures. That strikes me as crazy, but who am I to complain? It will just relieve me of one more lecture to sleep through.

Ben was lying on his tummy next to me earlier, and I was attempting to concentrate on the book open in my lap. Instead, I was memorising the shape of his shoulders, the dip in the small of his back, and the slim strip of skin exposed just above his jeans.

“Lilah, are you reading?”

“Yes.”

“What are you reading?”

You.

“Um, this delightful book, regarding. Um…”

Damn it!