38. Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Sloane
" H i," I say as I raise my hand in a wave. "I'm Sloane. I heard you on the radio and you said to come by and say hi. So, hi." My delivery is rapid-fire, and as soon as I get the words out, I turn on my heel to walk away.
But I hear, "Wait, what's your name?" in a soft, deep voice.
Apparently, I spoke so fast, he didn’t catch it. I turn around and can't believe the rock star with the long brown hair and beautiful smile wants to talk to me. I smile. "Sloane. Nice to meet you." I turn to reveal my friends. "This is Ray, Tameka, and my sister Bryn."
"Hey," Evan says to them, then opens the door as far as it will go. "Do you want to come in?"
I look to my friends who nod and smile. "We don't want to bother you," I say respectfully.
"No, come on in," Evan says as he steps aside and waves his arm out into the room. "We're just hanging out." He has a bashful countenance and dips his head as he talks softly. His long brown hair creates a protective curtain around his handsome face. His eyes are a light, bright blue, his face is tan, and he must be about six-foot-three because he’s taller than me.
I see two older girls who must be in their late teens or early twenties in the room sitting on the bed and worry that we might have just crashed their party. "Hey," I smile at them.
"Hey," the beautiful girl with the thick mane of curly, red hair says. "I'm Nikki and this is Ashley."
After introducing myself and my group, we sit on the floor at the foot of the bed as Evan perches on the end of the bed. "So, were you at the show?" he asks. His voice has a lazy, almost sleepy cadence.
"Unfortunately, not," I say. "But my friends brought me down here because I was so bummed I missed it." I wasn't going to tell all these cool adults why I missed the show.
"Well, that's a shame, but you have great friends," he says, then a knock sounds on the door. Evan hops up, ambles over to the door, and he invites two women to join us. These ladies look way older than us and are super friendly. They don't intimidate me like the younger women do. I look over at Bryn and she looks surprisingly okay. She catches my eye and smiles. I think she’s actually having fun.
We chat for a bit, making introductions while Evan is rooting around in the closet. When he returns, he has his acoustic guitar with him and sits back down on the end of the bed. He starts strumming his guitar unconsciously, and I notice his gaze upon me, so I smile. Evan returns the smile and says, "What's your favorite song?" His eyes search me and my friends.
Tameka says, "My favorite is ‘Bit Part.’"
I think for a moment. "Gosh, it's hard to pick just one, but I like ‘Being Around,’" I reply, then add, "And I've always loved ‘Mrs. Robinson.’ Your cover is so good." I don't want to seem like one of those lame people who mentions a cover song, so I quickly explain why the song has so much meaning to me. "I had a teacher named Ms. Robinson in second grade and she was awesome. That song always reminds me of her."
"I had a feeling you were going to say you had a teacher with that name," Evan says as he smiles sweetly.
"Really?" I would probably believe anything he told me. He nods and I say, "She made me do the introduction to the second grade Thanksgiving Day play, and I was scared to death. I only had, like, one line, and I must have practiced it a hundred times." He smiles and chuckles at this, so I continue. "I hate getting up in front of people, and I’m really shy, so I think she was trying to break me out of that."
Evan nods. "I bet she was. That's cool." He explains, "Well, not cool that you were terrified to do it, but cool that she was trying to get you over your fear." A funny, goofy laugh escapes his mouth as he strums his guitar softly, then cocks his head. "Do you still remember what you had to say?"
I think for a moment, my eyes turning up to the ceiling. I giggle at the thought. "Yeah, I think it was, 'Welcome to Ms. Robinson's Second Grade Thanksgiving play. We hope you enjoy the show.' Or something like that." I laugh at how simple it was. "I think I was more scared of being on stage by myself and having all eyes on me."
"I can see that," Evan says. "I still get nervous sometimes, but the more you do it, the less nervous you get, usually."
"I couldn't do what you do. Getting up on stage, playing an instrument, and singing songs you wrote that mean so much to you. That would be terrifying."
Evan starts strumming, and I notice right away that he's playing ‘Being Around.’ It's off their most recent album and is acoustic, so it's perfect to listen to it like this. I can't believe Evan Dando is serenading us. I feel like I'm in a dream! We're all nodding along to the music with smiles on our faces, and it's the coolest moment of my life. This is way cooler than any daydream I’ve had.
When Evan finishes, we all clap, and he smiles at me. I can't help but think we have some kind of connection. He starts playing a second song and again, I recognize it right away. He's playing Tameka's favorite, ‘Bit Part.’ I look at her, her smile is wide and her eyes are shining brightly. Tameka always sings along to this when it comes on in the car, and while we've never discussed it, I can't help but think that she thinks of her dad when this song plays. The first four lines are:
I want a bit part in your life,
A walk-on would be fine.
I just want a bit part in your life,
A bit part in your life.
I've never met her dad but know that he isn't in her life because he got pretty messed up over in Vietnam. It makes me so sad for both of them. I'm glad Evan is playing this song for her.