Their Days of Nights

49 : Crush

Kimberly

"The Man Who Can't Be Moved!" Jessy shrieks.

Benjie nods. "Jessy leads. Three-two."

We're in their living room on this rainy Saturday night, playing his version of Name That Tune. He does a song on his guitar, and his sister and I guess the title.

The rest of their family is out of town. Their parents went to their dad's province for a weekend visit to their grandparents, and Althea tagged along. Jessy had some work thing earlier, and Benjie slept through the day, so they stayed here.

He asked me to come over and join them for pizza. Of course, I couldn't refuse. We played some games on their Wii while we waited for the delivery.

Jessy stinks at Mario Tennis, so she suggested this game instead. Her brother excitedly ran to his room and came back with an Epiphone acoustic guitar in hand.

"Uh... I know this one," I say, trying to remember which song he's playing now. It sounds so familiar. "It's by The Cure, isn't it?"

He doesn't react and keeps playing an interlude. Jessy gives up.

"Just Like Heaven?"

He tilts his head away. "Are you asking me?"

"No."

He stops plucking. "Then, that's correct."

We're tied at three.

"That's unfair," Jessy protests at her brother. "You're obviously playing her favorite songs."

"No, I'm not," he says with a scoff.

I shake my head at her. "He's not," I defensively say. "I mean, I like The Cure, but they have a lot of songs."

She shrugs. "Whatever you say, Kim."

Jessy and I are on the long stretch of their couch. He's on the short end of the L.

She leans closer to the table as he positions his fingers back on the fretboard. "Sweet Child O' Mine," she beats my timing. And she smiles sheepishly at me.

They must have done this game many times before and enjoyed it like they're enjoying it now. And I could just observe them throughout and be happy with it. They're entertaining to watch. I get it why Ryan, aka Braces, thought at first that these two are twins.

"Hmm..." Benjie grabs his phone from the table. "Wait..." He mumbles as he scrolls down on it. He's probably going through a list of songs or their chord patterns. "Aah... This one." He puts it face down on his side.

"Teardrops on My Guitar!" Jessy shouts with an accompanying hard tap on my shoulder.

I laugh for two reasons. One, her comical reaction. Two, he knows that song.

"Another point for Jessy," he says. "You got to keep up, KP."

"Wait. I'm still processing the fact that you listen to Taylor Swift."

"No, I don't," he says, keeping a straight face. "They do," he nods at his sister. "It's just secondhand sound assimilation."

"There's no such thing," I say.

He shrugs. "Whatever you say, Kim," he mimics Jessy.

The next song is easy. I recognize it right away. "How Soon Is Now," I say quickly.

"Four points," he says to me. "Okay, this could be the last one, or it evens the score."

He sighs first and plays a tune.