The Major Lift. Rewrite one.

Aurora.

Chris knocked on the door softly. "Hello" she called out in a voice she hoped didn't sound too invasive. There was no response, but Chris heard the loud click of the amplifier being turned off and the clatter of a guitar being hastily put down. She pushed the door open a crack and peered inside.
"It's okay, the drumming earlier was me. I think you're excellent. I just wanted to meet you" she assured the mysterious guitarist as her eyes fell on them.
They were sitting on a handsome Fender amplifier, legs clad in faded, tapered dark jeans and feet covered in maroon canvas sneakers. Their upper half wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo for a rock band Chris was unfamiliar with. It hung off of their small frame like they were a coat hanger on a stick. Their thin arms leaned their elbows on their knees and their eyes looked down at a notebook lying open on the floor. Chris saw their head snap up to look at her, their bright green eyes widening in apprehension. They had fiery red waving jaw-length hair half of which was tied back in a bun at the back of their head. A pen stuck out of it like a knitting needle and freckles littered their face across their nose like a milky way. Chris saw that they wore a long sleeve top under their t-shirt that was pushed up a little to reveal innumerable scars lining the skin there just after their watch. In the second it took Chris to enter the room, the red-head had pulled down their sleeve and picked up the notebook hastily.
"I'm Chris" she added, standing rather awkwardly by the door. The room was not too big, at one side, there was a chair and a table beside a whiteboard. A long dark blue overcoat hung over the chair and a tall hard guitar case leant against the table, open to show off a black, fuzzy interior. It was nearly covered in band stickers in various stages of wear. The guitar the redhead held was scratched up, its red paint faded and some of the wood between the first few frets was slightly gouged. It looked like it had seen better days and the only maintenance it had ever seen was to its frets and strings. Doodles littered its body, scratches of initials and a peace sign here and there. Their thin spidery fingers gripped its neck as their green eyes took in Chris's appearance and the apprehension faded from them, to be replaced by a look of mild confusion.
"I'm Aurora" the red-head said responded.
'Female name' Chris thought to herself as she said "I loved your improv", kneeling on the floor to bring herself to their level. Aurora watched her, eyebrows knitting together, puzzled. Then their thin mouth cracked in a crooked, noncommittal smile. As Chris let her eyes rove over the figure sitting before her, she tried to think of how to read them. 'Are they male, female?'  Their voice was slightly husky and deeper than most other female voices Chris had ever heard, though most of her other characteristics said female. It all combined to give Chris a confused impression. Aurora was unreadable, and Chris loved it.
"Well, I heard your drumming. You're not so bad yourself" Aurora said, nodding and giving Chris a smile that she knew was mealy a mask.
"You're an excellent guitarist, Aurora" Chris said, looking up at her from her place on the floor. Aurora gave her a smile that said 'that's very sweet of you even though I know it's not true'. They pulled the guitar across their lap and let their spindly fingers hover over the sound hole.
"I heard you too, you're a terrific drummer. Really liked your triplet loop" Aurora said, avoiding Chris' eyes and fidgeting with their sleeves, pulling then further down over the balls of their hands.
"Thanks" Chris squeaked. They were lulled into a somewhat awkward silence during which Aurora resumed plucking rhythm in a one, four, five standard in A major. Chris listened observing their technique and saw their right fingers claw around four strings at a time, slapping them between notes to create a snappy percussive line to accompany the tune. Chris began absentmindedly tapping her quads with her hands in what would be a drumming line if she were behind the kit. Aurora looked at her and sniggered with that crooked smile and shook their head, bringing the plucking to an abrupt halt.
"So Chris, what brings you wandering in to this back room? Apart from curiosity. What is it you want?" Aurora asked in a cutting tone thinly veiled by a ringing, empty kind of happiness.
"Like I said, heard you, liked it, got curious ... I ... uhhh ... my friend Blake and I, we run a band called Major Third. Our guitarist left for grad school a while ago and we've been looking around for someone new for ages. I mean I don't wanna be too forward or anything, but you might just be the answer to our prayers". Chris explained, tentatively, stammering slightly. Something deep in her gut said that she was being too forward, and that there was a real possibility that this Aurora might be scared off. The expression on Auroras face almost proved Chris correct. It fell and took on an alarmed look, as though Chris had suggested that they should go and have their eyebrows pierced or something like that.
"I've seen your flyers about campus. I laughed hard at the part where you say that you don't want any folk ot ukulele players to apply" said Aurora, smiling at Chris.
Chris laughed. "Yeah, we had a banjo player show up to auditions once and after he left, Blake slammed his fist on the table and said 'that's it! That's fuckin' it! No more folk, bluegrass or ukes!' and I went 'alright fine'. So he inked that into the flyer and made some copies. He put them about campus the next day he was so irritated". Chris explained, smiling with mirth as she replayed the memory.
"Ha ha ha hahaha! Sounds like ya' had to be there. Though that would have been funny" Aurora aggreeged. Chris was privately delighted at the sight of Aurora laughing, her eyes crinkling in genuine amusement as in the back of her own mind, tiny, faint alarm bells still rang.
"You should come along to our next audition though". Chris blurted out, hearing her mouth talk and lamenting the words it was saying. As she spoke, she saw Auroras eyes widen in sudden apprehension, saw them avert themselves and their fingers resume fidgeting with their sleeves. Chris knew she'd jumped the gun.
"I dunno ... I ... uhhh ... That was just me screwing around, that's all I do. I mean, I uuhhhh ... I gotta go. See you around Chris." Aurora stammered, getting up and taking their guitar off the amp and over to the table where its case leaned. Chris stood up and watched them fasten the well-loved instrument into its case and hoist it by its straps onto their shoulder. They shoved the small notebook into their bag and pulled on their coat, enshrouding themselves in its ample space. Their face was flushed with a flustered look that spoke of a deep dark well of neglected anguish.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ..." Chris began, advancing a little before she stopped herself.
"Nah. Don't worry. I just need to go. Good luck with the hunt for a guitarist n' all that. I'm sure someone'll show up" they babbled, making a beeline for the door. Chris stood aside and Aurora left, letting the door ease closed behind them. Chris hurried to follow and watched them head up the stairs and round the corner, their overcoat billowing behind.
Chris sighed, heavily, returning to the large studio room and retrieving her bag and sticks before following in Auroras footsteps.
But Aurora was standing outside the door of the arts building, leaning on the banister to the staircase, the guitar case leaning next to them like a close friend. Their arms were folded across their body tightly giving them a banana-like sort of look. Their head was bowed and they breathed deeply as though trying deliberately to calm down. Their head snapped up as Chris approached through and they sighed, lips stretching in an almost manic sort of smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend or push you away" Chris said, before Aurora could speak. Aurora shook their head. "It's not you, or your band" they said.
"Could you take the compliment on board at least?" Chris asked, exasperated, tilting her head and giving Aurora a playful smile.
"You're relentlessly kind, Chris" Aurora admitted, returning the smile with a slightly snide tinge.
"Take the compliment! I'm not taking it back" snapped Chris in mock anger, advancing and sticking her drumsticks back in her pocket.
"Okay! Fine. If it'll make you happy" Aurora conceded, bowing their head again, but Chris could see the blush spreading across their face and a smile stretch their mouth.
"You ever played with others? Like in gigs or recording?" Chris asked, coming to lean on the banister next to them.
"No. Can't say I'd be any great shakes at that anyway". Aurora muttered, shaking their head so her hair shook. She brushed away a flyaway from their face and Chris saw their coat sleeve fall down again, showing off a scared arm, but just like that it was gone leaving Chris to wonder if she had imagined it.
"I think you underestimate yourself" said Chris. "Well ... if you ever want to give it a shot, we'd be glad to have you. Blake and I" she explained further, patting Auroras shoulder as she got off the banister and hoisted her bag up further on her shoulder.
"So this guitarist you say you lost must have been good if you're still looking for someone" Aurora prompted, looking up at Chris through their eyelashes.
"He played like you, but if I'm honest, and I'm no great guitarist but if I'm really honest, you're more skilled. He was really into power chords and heavy distortion. Listening to you play then, I have no trouble believing that you could out play our old friend, Dylan" Chris said, looking Aurora in the eye as best she could. Aurora however was breathing fast again, they swallowed hard and looked up at Chris with shining eyes.
"You have the wrong muso, Chris. I gotta go though, got a class to get to" Aurora said, quickly and clumsily. They picked up the guitar case and left, descending the stairs and hurrying across campus and out of sight. Chris thought just for a second of going after then, jut stopped herself. Somewhere deep in her soul she was aware Aurora likely wanted to be alone. Perhaps she had been too invasive, come on too strong. She re-entered the arts building and ascended the stairs to the room where her class was scheduled to take place in about ten minutes, taking a seat beside the door with Aurora still on her mind.
The red-head would continue to occupy space in Chris' head for the rest of the day on campus. Their countenance and the way it spoke of a raw and painful history and a vulnerability that they worked so hard to hide posed question after question in Chris' mind. The way they was so flippant about their skill on the guitar, waving Chris' genuine compliments off like they were totally unfounded. Did they even know how talented they really were? The scars that she was sure she had not imagined lining the skin on Auroras arms they tried to hide in their shirt. What could possibly be making life so painful for them that the only way to cope was to mar their own skin with scars? They seemed to be hiding behind lace curtains, in a closet made of glass, in their own sequin-covered cloak. Was the queerness Chris saw in Aurora really there or was Chris' imagining it and projecting it based on some idea she held as true? Did Chris want to be their friend or did she simply want Aurora to join the band?
As her lecturer wittered on about the importance of exercise while bedfast, she thought of the possible reasons for Auroras guarded demeanour and the rather remote possibility of convincing them to audition and show of their real talent. She thought of a reality where they were to audition, the look on her bandmates face as Aurora shredded it on a Les Paul, bending and tapping the strings up and down the neck, their timing exactly spot on. A reality where the womans skill and talent was appreciated by everyone most especially herself. The lecture mostly flew past her unheeding ears and as she made her way home, she lamented not giving Aurora her number, just in case they changed their mind, or simply wanted to reach out to someone, anyone.