The Jock's Blackmail

#24: Can You Sing It Better?

Leo:
We lost...

Oh, I knew. I was there. It was the football team's second game, and they lost. The one time I actually made an effort to go watch a high school football game. I could tell it depressed Leo, a lot. Hell, I could practically feel it through his text.

Me:
I'm sorry. That really sucks.

Leo:
Yeah...and this is my last year playing too.

Well, shit.

What can I say to that?

Me:
Anything I can...do? I dunno...to make you feel a bit...better, I guess???

Me:
I'm bad at this, if you can't tell.

Leo:
Lol!! It's okay. It's the thought that counts :)

Me:
Still...

Leo:
Actually...there is something.

Me:
What's that?

Leo:
Can you sing me an upbeat song?

Me:
You want me to sing you a song??

Leo:
Yeah. Your voice can cheer me right back up!

It wasn't an unreasonable request.

Me:
I guess I can do that. Do you want to call, or...?

He called.

"Hit me with your best shot, Justine!" He exclaims in lieu of a greeting.

"Hold your horses, let me get my guitar." Putting the call on speaker I walked over to where my guitar was leaned back on its stand. "Also, I need to make sure it's tuned."

"No rush."

It didn't take long for me to prepare my guitar and when I was done, I had settled back at my desk, ready to play. "You don't have a specific song in mind?"

There was some commotion on his end as he answered, "Nope. Just as long as it's upbeat."

"Okay." I shrugged, then without saying anything else, started to strum the the intro to good ol' Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock, using my guitar's body as a drun box when I can. I heard Leo laugh in glee and start clapping along to the beat. My cheeks started hurting from smiling so big, but I couldn't really care at the moment. I got lost in the music, words that I knew by heart flowing past my lips like muscle memory.

This is what happens when you have a grandma who adores Elvis Presley so much, she has a plate collection of him, and everytime we visit she plays and teaches us how to dance to his music. It was fun. Gramps still gets jealous of his wife's infatuation for "the King."

When the song came to an end, Leo was whistling, clapping, and hooting on his end, pretending to be a crowd.

Taking on a pretense of the King's voice, I said, "Thank you...thank you very much."

That only seemed to send him into another fit of laughter. I waited for him to calm down with a giddy smile. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest, there was a familiar heat in my cheeks, and I was absolutely ecstatic that I managed to make Leo Bracci happy.

So...maybe having a crush isn't so bad after all.

"Aah...no, thank you, Justine," he said a few seconds later, mirth still evident in his voice. "I really needed tha- I'M ON THE PHONE- sorry, the family is yelling at me to stop howling like a hyena."

I nearly choked on a laugh. "Hyena?"

"Did you not just hear my hyena laughter? Because apparently everyone in my house did." There was a sarcastic edge to his words.

"Must be the phone." I shrugged, even though he couldn't see me. "You know calls sometimes make your voice sound different."

"Well then...you're missing out on some comedy gold. We really need to meet now so you could hear my hyena laugh."

He said it with mock seriousness that had me giggling again. "Good bye, Leo."

He laughed once more. "Bye, Justine. Thanks for the song."

* * *

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