You're with who?! ~ Damiano David

Chapter 4

I had gotten up the next morning early enough so that I would have time to call to make reservations to rent out the studio. I dialed the number and had their website pulled up on my laptop. Surprisingly, it took only 10 minutes to figure out when would be the best times to be there, how many times a week, etc.

After I hung up, I decided to put up a poll on the community tab of my YouTube channel.

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Hey! Which one should I cover?

All the things she said - tatu

Hey there Delilah - Plain White Ts

People watching - Conan Gray

Wonder - Shawn Mendes

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I posted the poll and closed my laptop lid. I made myself a bit of breakfast when Vic texted me.

                                               Vic

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Hey! I'm free today. You want to                                                                                                                            come over?

                                             Yea! Just send me the address.

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I walked back to my room to start getting ready. I hopped in the shower and let the scolding hot water rinse the stress away. I got out, wrapped a towel around my body, and started towards my wardrobe. I picked out an oversized dark grey t-shirt and a pair of low waisted jeans. I paired it with some white converse and went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I sat down at my vanity after that and put on light makeup and did my hair. After I finished getting ready, I grabbed my guitar and found my keys.

I walked out of my house, locking the door behind me. I put Vic's address into the GPS on my phone and pulled out of the driveway. The drive was shorter compared to the distance to the shared house.

I pulled into hopefully her driveway and parked. I locked my car and knocked on the front door. I heard many little barks and yaps from inside. Vic soon appeared at the door.

"Hi!" She greeted me.

"Hey! Oh my god who's this?" I asked her as I knelt down to the little ball of energy.

"This is Chili." She responded. I heard her chuckle as I patted the floor, gesturing for him to come.

"I'm stealing your dog." I said as I stood back up, Chili still dancing around my ankles.

"You better not!"

She led me into her living room and handed me a cup of tea. I nodded my thanks to her and we instantly fell into conversation. As we talked, I was play fighting with Chili. He nipped at my fingers and I would lightly push him aside, just for him to come back and attack my hand.

"I have a small feeling that he likes you." Victoria said between laughs.

We talked a bit more and I ended up showing her pictures of the studio that I rented out.

"That's a nice place" she said with a smile on her face.

"You think?"

"Definitely. By the way, I vote 'Hey There Delilah'."

"You saw the poll?" I was slightly shocked.

"Of course!" She said happily. "I have a mic here for recording. We could hook it up to your camera."

"Thanks Vic!" I went back out to my car and got out my guitar.

I walked back inside to find Vic already setting up a space for me to sit and record. I opened my guitar case and gingerly picked up the beautiful instrument. I looked up the tabs and chords on my phone and tweaked the previously poor tuning on my guitar. Once I had it where it needed to be, I followed the tabs listed on my phone and tried to memorize them.

An hour and a half had gone by and I was ready for a practice rundown of the song. I finished that and warmed up my vocal cords a bit. 

"I've always thought Damiano's vocal warmups were weird, but yours are nothing compared to his." Vic snickered as I finished a siren warmup.

"Oh hush!"

I went and sat down in front of the camera, Vic moving behind it. I gave her a nod as a cue to start recording. She gave me a thumbs up as I saw the little red light come on. I started to strum my guitar and fell into the melody of the music. I started singing along to the tune and I felt at peace. 

I've always felt calm when I sing in front of a camera, mostly because if I mess up I can just restart completely. I don't particularly like singing or playing in front of a live crowd because my mind goes into fight or flight mode and my heart haphazardly acts like I'm running a marathon. Looking up to face the camera better, my eyes landed on Victoria not-so-gracefully dancing as a joke. It took everything in me to keep it together.

At last, I finished the song, turned off the camera, and started wheezing.

"You like my wonderful dancing?" Vic sounded like a young child asking this question.

"No." I said in response, laughing again when she made a mock pouty face.

I opened the file on my laptop and did some sound adjustments and cut off the part where I ended the video. I set it to upload automatically at 3 p.m.

"You're a great singer. I think we'll kick Damiano out and have you replace him." Vic joked.

"Oh I would love to sing for you guys! When do I start?" I played along.

"When Damiano finds another stable job." We laughed at her remark.

I ended up staying for dinner. She had cooked bacon and we had BLTs. Even though I've always thought of it as a breakfast meal, it was a good choice for dinner. 

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It had been two days since I hung out with Vic. Today was our first day at the studio that I rented out. We had all met there at 10 a.m. I payed the man at the front desk and headed towards our designated space.

"All right." I clapped my hands together. "Let's get this show on the road."