Fourteen (A Willow Falls Story)

Present 11

Leo’s POV

   Seeing Amanda smile is one of the greatest gifts anyone could give me. When she smiles, she emanates pure joy and happiness. I can’t help but smile too. Today has been full of amazing smiles and laughs. This has been one of the best days in my life so far.  

   I couldn’t imagine a better day, surrounded by all of my friends, where all of us are laughing and having fun. Looking at these photos has been a reminder of how much my friends support me. It has given me a new understanding of how Team Grace has been through so much together. I never want this to end.

   I walk over to the now 4-present pile. I check my watch as well. It’s 1:30. The timing should be perfect. I grab a lime green bag and a bandana. As I head back over to the gang, I slightly wink at the rest of the gang.

“All right, Amanda. For this one, I’m going to need to blindfold you before you can get the present.”

She giggles, then says,” Fine, if I have to.”

   I walk to her and tie the bandana around her head.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” I ask as I give Amanda a small kiss.

"Four," she says triumphantly as I break out of it.

“Oh, we’re good. Let’s get started, gang.” I say and kiss her cheek.

   Right away, Grace and Rory dash away to the dumpster. Hiding behind it is Amanda’s drum set. When I asked Amanda’s parents about getting it, they gladly agreed. While she was sleeping the night before, we grabbed it and put it on a convenient cart.

    The two girls try to pull the cart to the ramada. After a while of them struggling, the rest of us come and help them. We get it over to the ramada, and the guys and I hoist it up to the platform.

  Rory grabs a stool, and Tara and Grace lead Amanda up to the platform. Rory sets the stool down, and I help Amanda sit down. We face her away from the drums. Conner had grabbed the bag, so he hands it to me.

I say, “All right, you can take the bandana off now.”

   She pulls it off and I hand her the slim bag. Inside is a pair of silver drumsticks.

“Now turn around,” we all say in unison.

  Amanda turns and gasps happily.

“You brought my drums! Thank you!”

   The rest of us jump off the platform and sit in the chairs. Amanda starts to jam out on her drums. I sit back and smile at her, listening to her play her heart out.

   As she finishes, we give her a standing ovation. I stand up and walk to the platform. Hopping on, I hug Amanda from behind.

"Can I try, babe?" I ask.

  She nods and gets off the stool. I sit down and grab the sticks. Her hands encompass mine and she leads them over to the set.

   Just as Amanda starts to teach me the basics, Conner gets up and knocks into the cooler, spilling some of the bottles of water inside and knocking himself down in the process. As if reading each other's minds, we make the drum sound effect right after he falls. We all giggle.

"Are you okay?" Grace asks, and walks over to help her brother get up. 

  Amanda continues with the lesson.

"Push this with your foot as you play."

"No, hold the sticks like this."

"Don't hit the drums that hard, but not too soft either."

  By the end, I'm able to do a few things, all thanks to Amanda. I can keep a steady beat, and have basically mastered the ba-dum-tss. Maybe sometime I can teach Amanda poetry!

A/N: I have been SO busy lately. Thankfully, I was able to make another chapter though. I wanted to put something more out for you. The song linked here is pretty neat. It's called "Classic" by MKTO. I was listening one of my sister's playlists and this came on while I was writing the unveiling drum part. If you know the song, you'd know what I'm talking. Plus, I forgot how awesome the song was. It even kind of went with the theme of the story. Also, I have the famous "Karma Kid Falls Down" video below. It was a big inspiration for this chapter, and the "sting", I think it's called. If you're a drummer or know if that's the name or not, comment and let me know. If you've never seen "Karma Kid Falls Down", you're missing out. AFV is an awesome show and a family tradition. Also, go check out my new story There Was A Time! I'm hoping to put a new chapter out on that story in the next week or so, but this story is priority. Hope you enjoyed! Characters are Wendy Mass's!