Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:14:47 +1100
From: Kangen <sakurakangen@gmail.com>
Subject: Waiting For the Music Chapter

Hi Everyone!

Sorry AGAIN about the MASSIVE delay, I think I'll just stop promising
to pick up the pace. I know I can't keep that promise :)

However, I was *very* dissappointed with the amount of emails I got!

Apart from emails from friends who I asked to read it, I only got like
TWO EMAILS! In a MONTH! (And, thank you again Dave+Anthony, for
your kind words).

So, if you read this story, and you like it, EMAIL ME!

sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com removing the NOSPAM!

Go on, do it! Go!

REALLY big hugs for Luiz and Jon for their endorsements in their stories.

Also, please note: In Chapter 2, I referred to Rowan as Roland. I meant
Rowan.. sorry about that :)

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Please note, this copyright notice is retroactive to all stories I have
previously posted on Nifty. They are distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License,
Copyright (C) 2007.

DISCLAIMER

This story involves relationships between males aged 15-19. If you do not
approve of this, why the hell are you even reading it now? If you are a
parent reading through the Internet logs of your young child, do not
punish your child for reading these stories. He/she clearly has some
questions about his development, and it is YOUR responsibility to answer
those questions truthfully and honestly. If this material is illegal in
your area, leave now. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. You know the drill.
If you aren't supposed to be reading this, Don't (although some flames
would be lovely to publicly dissect :)).

This story and setting are based on events in my life when I was 17 years
old. Names and places have been changed to protect the privacy of
individuals. Obviously most (but not all) of the relationships are made
up. All of the ones involving me are. The real relationship I had when I
was 17 is too painful for me to want to recollect, as it ended in a
horrible tragedy due to Pancreatic Cancer. Hence most of my writing here
is based on post-Leo time frame, where I was single and looking. I have
also removed sections of my life that I have felt would have made the
story too multitracked and confusing. I am trying to keep the number of
characters to a minimum. I am also avoiding all cliches.

Finally this is set in the Australian High School System so if you don't
know how it works go look it up. I'm sick of reading about sophomores and
freshmen. We don't have that here.

Enjoy!

Note: This is my first story! So, please write to me and let me know what
you think, email:

sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com

Of course, remove the NOSPAM there

~Kangen

And so, without further adieu,

---

Waiting for the Music: Chapter 4


As I placed my bag in the corner of the rehearsal room, I heard the
dulcet tones of the Steinway grand piano in the centre of the room.
My friend Ricky was playing (something by Flor Peeters I believe), and I
sat down to listen.

Ricky was in his thirties, but he looked (and acted) like he was in his
twenties. He was an exceptional musician, and I always enjoyed listening
to him play or sing. He was a tenor, like me, so we had sat next to each
other during rehearsals for the last few years, and, over that time, we'd
become pretty good friends.

  "You're here early," I checked the time on my phone, "Well, earlier
than usual. Any reason why?"

  "I'm taking the Rehearsal today." he replied.

  "Really? Why? What happened?" I asked, enquiring about the usual
Choirmaster.

  "Knee replacement. Dave won't be back for a few months, so I'm taking
over. You won't be needed for a few hours, and I have to accompany this
stuff for the kids rehearsal, so go scoot and eat or something." He repl-
ied, all business. I guessed he was probably under a fair bit of stress.
He was, at the time, studying for a Business degree, and he probably was
stressed enough without the added responsibilities of Choirmaster. I bade
him farewell, then, and walked out towards the staircase leading back up
to the Crypt Entrance.

   "Oh, William!" I heard Ricky shouting from the rehearsal room, "Can
you sing the Responsorial Psalm on Sunday? Great. Thanks for that."

   "I didn't say yes!" I replied indignantly.

   "Oh but you would've. Now, who's going to do Sunday week?"

   "I don't care, so long as it's not me!" I replied, still mildly
annoyed, as I walked back into the Rehearsal room. I noticed Rowan
sitting quietly, reading a book by Robert Ludlum. Funny, I never really
noticed him there the first time.

   "Well," Ricky said, "What about you? Rowan, is it?"

   "Um.. yes, yes, sir.. um.. Ricky, I can do it." he barely replied, his
face slowly turning red (adorable!).

   "Great. Do you need music?"

   "Um.. yeah.. If you've got it that'd be great." More blushes.

   "Hey! Don't I get music?" I interjected.

   "You would, but you wouldn't look at the music until Sunday anyway.
You can take it if you want." said Ricky as he handed out sheets of music
to both of us. "Now fuck off and let me practice! Don't you people have
dinner to eat?"

   We all laughed as Rowan and I left, sliding the psalm sheets into our
music folders.

   While it was Choir policy not to allow school students to go out to
the CBD to buy dinner (due to duty-of-care concerns), it was a widely
ignored rule among the older students. Most of us, myself included, found
prepackaged meals bought from home to be an even greater assault to the
palate than the greasy "food" served in CBD foodcourts, and so we would
often be seen going to play excessively long games of "football", and to
miraculously return laden with empty fast food packaging. This convenient
lie was supported by the fact that a few of the students actually DID
play football in the nearby park - and hence the rest of us could use it
as an excuse.

  Once I had put away my folder, ready to go out and eat, I noticed Rowan
sitting on a small chair just next to the exit.

  "Where are you going?" he asked softly.

  "Football!" I smiled as I slipped out the door.

  A look of utter horror appeared on his face. "YOU play FOOTBALL!??" It
was probably the loudest I'd ever heard him speak (which isn't really
saying much).

  I laughed, "No, not that football, FOOTBALL! nudge nudge!"

  His look of horror turned to puzzlement. Then I realised that he'd been
at a British International College for the past few years, and wouldn't
be aware of the change in Choir policy.

  "Oh, well, basically, we're not allowed to eat in the city, cos the
pow'rs-that-be don't want to be responsible if we get mugged or beaten up
or whatever."

   He was still looking puzzled; "But what does that have to do with
football?"

   "Alibi while we go and eat in the city."

   "Oh Great!" he smiled, "because I didn't bring anything."

                 ***

   Once we arrived at the Centrepoint Food Court, I noticed many of the
places had closed since lunchtime - I guess it's more of a "lunch" place
than a dinner one. In fact, only the greasiest slop-buckets appeared to
remain open.

   Rowan began looking at some of the shops as if presented with a menu
consisting entirely of spam - that is, with general uncertainty and
distaste. I noticed one shop that looked like it served a variety of
Mexican foods, and I assumed it was the same place Andy had gotten his
lunch that day.

  "Try the Mexican over there," I said pointing, "it doesn't have much
spam in it."

  He looked at me confusedly.

  "Haven't you ever seen Monty Python?" I asked, near-flabbergasted.

  He shook his head sadly, "My mother only allowed me to watch TV since
I got back from the UK."

  "Oh." I said, suddenly feeling bad for embarrassing him.

  "Of course, I watched alot of TV while I was there!" He said, smiling,
"I guess I just haven't gotten a chance to watch that one."

  "Oh, okay," I also smiled, trying to relieve the awkwardness I was
feeling. "Try the Mexican, it isn't totally disgusting like the rest of
this slop." I said.

  He nodded and began walking resolutely to the Mexican place. I followed
him, figuring I should probably try the Mexican myself before I recommend
it to anyone else.

  I ended up overtaking him and so I ordered my food first. Rowan ended
up a few places behind in the queue.

  "I'll find us a table." I whispered to him as I passed him in the
queue. He just nodded and I took a look at what was available, table-wise

  Because most of the shops were closed, most of the tables were
available. I picked one with only two seats (I wanted Rowan all to
myself, haha!) and put my food down and began eating. It wasn't great,
but it was certainly the best of bad options.

  A few minutes later Rowan came up to the table empty handed, his face
blushing somewhat with embarrassment.

  "This is going to sound.. really awkward," He said, going a deeper red,
"but, um.. do you have two dollars I could borrow? I'm short." - He was
so cute!

  "Hey, no worries." I said, trying to put him at ease as I handed him
the coin.

  "Thanks" he mumbled as he quickly turned around and hurried back to the
queue.

  Yep, I thought to myself, I'm definitely interested in him.

===

That's it for this chapter. More on my getting to know Rowan in the next!

Hugs + Kisses,

~Kangen

and remember... emailing is the lifeblood of Nifty. Email me.

sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com removing, of course, the NOSPAM.