Dear Leo (An Area 11 FanFiction)

Chapter Eight-First Day

10th January 2015

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Am I in hospital again?

Wait, that's actually my alarm. How long's that been going for? I should really change it to a song, instead of this horrible shrieking beep.

"Urghh..." I feel around for my my phone to turn it off. It's seven. Why is it seven?!

Oh yeah, new job.

I get up and shower, then get dressed in black jeans, a Blink 182 shirt and trainers. Seven thirty. I've still got two hours until I need to leave. Next stop is breakfast. When I go to the living room/kitchen area, it's clear that Leo is still asleep, so I make myself a bowl of cereal and take it to the sofa. Knowing Leo, he won't be up for another hour or so.

"Morning!" I say cheerfully as Leo stumbles out of his room, hair messed up and eyes half closed.

"Why are you up so early?" He yawns.

"I've got work at ten, remember?" He nods as he remembers.

"Right, yeah. What time is it?" He looks at the clock. "Nine, ok." he answers his own question. "You need to leave at half nine to get there."

I clap slowly. "Well done, I didn't think it was possible for you to do maths so early in the morning!" He glares at me before going into the bathroom.

"Shut up smart ass! Now if you'll excuse me I am going to go have a massive shi-"

"TOO MUCH INFORMATION!" I yell. "DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT!"

At half nine I leave, praying I can remember the way to the shop from yesterday. I make it there without any trouble and walk through the door five minutes early. Alex greets me with a smile.

"Nice to see you again Grace. I was kind of worried you wouldn't make it on time."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"As far as I can remember, you've only come here once before, so I thought you might forget the way."

I fake being offended. "As if I'd ever get lost!" He laughs.

"I don't know you well enough yet to tell if you'd forget."

"In that case hello. My name is Grace Taylor. I'm twenty, my favourite colour is green and I have a pretty damn good memory thank you very much. You?"

"My name is Alex Andrews. I'm twenty one, my favourite colour is red and my memory is a pile of poop," he grins. "Anything else you want to know?"

I think for a moment. "What do you play?"

"Bass, piano, guitar, ukulele and I sing. Oh, and a bit of violin. You?"

"Guitar, piano, voice and a tiny bit of drums. Does the ocarina count if you can only play a couple of Zelda songs?"

The shop doesn't get too many customers, especially so soon after Christmas, so most of the time Alex and I sit around chatting and playing with the instruments. I'm really not sociable most of the time, but if you start talking about something I love, then I start actually enjoying the conversation.

"Wow, this place is pretty dead today. There's been like ten people at the most come in, I don't see anyone else coming in for a while." Alex leans over the counter to look out the window. "Do you want to try a song together? We've got nothing better to do."

"Ok. Are there any we both know?" Both of us sit in silence for a moment, thinking.

"Do you know What I've Done by Linkin Park? I can play it on piano," He asks me.

"Yeah, I know the words." He slides into a piano stool and starts to play. The eerie first notes fill the shop, and he's instantly lost in the music.

"In this farewell, there's no blood, there's no alibi. Cause I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies." I sing, leaning against the piano.

"So let mercy come," Alex joins in. "And wash away,"

"What I've done."

We finish the song and both just look at each other, grinning.

"Ok, so that was awesome!" He says. "And it brings us down to an hour left of work! Shall we play another?"

"Sure, we just need to keep an eye out for anyone coming in." My phones starts buzzing before we can play, and I pull it out my pocket.

Leo: Could you get the drumsticks x

"Leo wants drumsticks," I explain to Alex. "I'll buy them at the end of the day."

For the last hour we sit around with a guitar and play a few more songs. Before leaving, I grab the drumsticks and shove the money for them in the till. I text Leo letting him know I'm coming home, wave goodbye to Alex and leave. I successfully survived the first day at work!