Suck It And See? (Alex Turner Fanfiction)

X.

The sound vibrates as both guitars are sending it throughout the whole room. The guitarists stop playing and look at each other silently. I barely breathe, the moment is just so magical.

"Okay Alex, I guess we can end here." Nina breaks the silence. "It's the first class after all, we don't wanna rush things, do we?"

"Certainly nah." I can hear Alex is smirking. He raises from his seat and starts putting his guitar into his gig bag.

"I printed some songs, here, try them at home." Nina hands him some papers and he starts to examine them immediately.

Nina comes closer to me as her guitar case lies on the ground next to my chair.

"Still wanna get into the business, Elena?" She jokes.

"Totally." I respond far too eagerly. I can feel Alex's gaze and I blush. He plays so well he has to think me pathetic for starting this late. I bet he has been playing the guitar since he was able to hold the instrument in his hands.

"I forgot to tell you..." Nina leans over her guitar case. "I am going to town, a friend of mine needs some girly advice, she's been having hard times lately... But of course I am first driving you home."

"Nah, it's fine. I can walk." I mean it, it's just a few minutes and I really do like walking on my own. I haven't got enough of that lately as I am with Jude and Bree all the time.

I pick my backpack from the ground and say my goodbye to Nina. I walk out of the school slowly because I am clumsily attempting to detangle my headphones. The sun is going to set in any minute and yet its rays are powerful enough to blind me. I feel one of my migraines is creeping up on me so I even consider putting on my clubmasters. When a migraine comes, I need to protect myself from the outside world as well as from the bitch of a Sun.

Headphones sorted out, phone in my hand. I don't need think for a second about what I want to listen to. I need Norwegian Wood in my head again. Play.

I have my eyes on my maroon converse and John Lennon starts singing. Suddenly I realise somebody is walking besides me and I jerk in jolt. I raise my eyes to look at the person who just gave me a heart attack.

"Hey." Alex chuckles. He does enjoy scaring the shite out of people.

"Huh." That was supposed to be something like hello, but well, I am still shaking.

"Come on Eileen, what are ye listening to?" He takes a headphone out of my left ear.

"Nothing!" I tear out the headphone from his hand and try to walk faster.

"You don't wanna share your music with people? Why is that, huh?"

"Ehm, I do wanna share my music with my friends."

"Well I make friends sharing my music, that's what I do Eileen." He smiles. He is a fast walker, this is not gonna work.

"So what do you listen to?" I ask. I am always curious about people's music taste even if I don't know them. I usually tell everybody about what I like as well, but Alex surprised me.

"The Beatles, to start with... But you do know. What was that?"

"What was what?" I still do think my converse are more interesting than anything but I have to look at Alex now confused because of his question.

"How did you find me?"

Does he think I tracked him down?

"Find you?"

"Yeah, how did you know about my guitar lesson?

Oh well, he definitely thinks I tracked him down.

"I didn't know it's your lesson." Why do I sound as a guilty 4-year-old who tries to convince her mother she didn't eat all the cookies and who is holding an empty cookie jar in her hands?

He taps on his forehead as if remembering something. "Wait wait, Nina told me her 'guest daughter' is coming... That's you??

Thanks God Nina is so thoughtful, I have no idea what would this end up like if she haven't told Alex. Oh, I know actually. It would just be awkward as fuck.

"Yeah that's me. Nina's guest daughter. I am her... Living with her this year? I am umm... You know, I am an exchange student."

"Yeah I know." He smiles. "You told me."

Did I?

"Oh silly me... You told me you wanna play the guitar, didn't you? At Puzzle Pizza!" He grins as if he just got through the toughest crossword ever made.

"I was hoping Nina could learn me or something." I explain.

"What if I showed you some easy chords for starters? Or a riff? What about a riff?" He looks excited. Or maybe he's just faking it.

"You showed me?" Do people do things like this voluntarily? Or is this only a result of British politeness?

"Yup, why nah?" He pops the p as he says "yup". It sounds funny.

"Ermmm, I don't have a guitar." Where is my best-excuse-ever-used award?

"I do." He shows me his gigbag with a chuckle. My inner party ends prematurely. It's not that I don't want to learn the guitar, I just don't need to embarrass myself in front of Alex and then meet him in English class every day.

"Well... and you have time for stuff like that?" I ask.

"School starts in like fifteen hours, Eileen, I guess I do have time." I can see he finds himself funny. Why does he call me Eileen anyway?

"I am not called Eileen, you know."

"I know, El. You 'ave, hm, any particular reason for hating the name?"

"I am not saying I hate it."

"So what's wrong then Eileen?" He asks.

"OK drop it Alex."

He feels like a winner now and puffs up his chest with pride almost.

"Do you have time?"

"What would Alex do if I did? Would he magically get school keys and teach me how to play the guitar there?" I scold. I am sure he doesn't have a plan.

"Look, here we are at the Big Ass Park." He tries to sound like some sort of guide and raises his right hand to show me we are really getting close to the Mortomley Park. If I weren't stressed out because of my inability of thinking of an excuse, I would be laughing now.

"I heard the Park is acknowledged to have the most splendid benches of High Green. You don't wanna miss on that." He looks at my face amused. I bit my lips indecisively.

"Come on Eileen, you really don't wanna miss trying what a throne feels like."

"OK let's go." Apparently I am more surprised for what I just said than Alex is. We walk to other side of the road where there is a path leading inside the park.

"But you will tell me if I start being annoying! I have never played in my life so you are not gonna have it easy." I am so gonna embarrass myself.