by Lisa McManus
He finally got to me, and called out my name. Before I could answer, a groan was heard from the back of the class..
It was Beau, the rich jerk who thought he was better than everyone. He was also bigger than everyone, and knew it. I betcha in another year, his arms would be bigger than Shark’s, although I could never imagine anyone’s arms being bigger than Shark’s. “Aw man,” he groaned from the back of the class. “Not Zinsky again. He ruined our winter concert last year.”
Crap. I had hoped everyone would forget.
When we moved from middle school to high school last year, I could finally take guitar class. No one knew I used to play with my grandpa. But when the guitar Grandpa taught me to play on was stolen from my grandma’s house, it was like an arm was cut off. I used to play all the time at her house. With the guitar gone it felt like I lost Grandpa all over again, and a part of me, as well. Without Grampa I lost my nerve to play – taking guitar classes at school was out of the question. Not having a guitar to practice on didn’t help, either. I went for an agonizing year or so without playing at all. So when we came to the high school for grade nine, I took a beginner’s guitar class, forgetting my mom couldn’t even afford to rent me a guitar. I was a tad rusty, and my confidence was shot. I didn’t have Grandpa beside me anymore, guiding me along. Even though many other kids were new at playing as well, Beau zeroed in on me and my crappy playing and labeled me “Newbie Nick.”
“Quiet!” Shark bellowed. “Nick, I see you already pulled out one of our guitars.” No one except Josh knew I borrowed one all summer. If they knew, it would only give everyone something else to bug me about. At least Shark was covering my butt by not revealing my secret to the rest of the class.
“Ya,” I mumbled, keeping my head down and the case closed so he wouldn’t see the broken string.
“Great job, Nick.” He kept his gaze on me, and it was starting to make me squirm. “As for the rest of you, quietly get a guitar out of the cabinet.” There was a shuffling of chairs. Big-voiced Shark would not be muffled by a few chairs. “You all have until next week to rent your own. For this week, however, you can borrow one from the school.”
Shark approached and kneeled down in front of me. “How did your summer go, Nick?” His once menacing tone had changed. My guilt was getting the better of me, and with that came the feeling he knew my summer secret. There was no way he could know - I was sure of it.
“Uh, it was fine, I guess.” I shrugged.
“Did you practice a lot?”
“Uh, ya.” I kept the case closed, yet at that point I had a feeling it didn’t really matter. He knew my secret. I was sure of it. Visions of being expelled raced through my head, and seeing my mom’s disappointed look on her face was killing me.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” He lowered his tone even more.
I didn’t answer.
“It’s okay Nick, you can tell me. I know about it.”
Aw crap. I’m finished.
When I didn’t answer right away, he spoke. “It’s okay about the string, Nick. I have some spares.” With a wink, he got up and went over to the instrument supply cabinet.
I sagged in my chair. He didn’t know! He didn’t know! It was okay for him to know about the string; I was just relieved he didn’t know what I had really been doing this summer.
With a sharp whistle, Shark bellowed, “Everyone start tuning your guitars. If you’re new, ask the person next to you to show you how.” He kneeled down in front me, grabbed my guitar case, and then said to the class. “You might as well get to know each other starting now, as you never know,” he slowly said each word, then looked at me as he finished, “when you are going to have to ask someone for help.”
I gulped. And sweated.
“’Kay, Nick, let’s see that guitar.”
I kept my mouth shut as he got to work restringing the guitar. I did feel bad about the string. I couldn’t wait to get a job so then I would be able to afford my own strings and stuff for my own guitar. I hated feeling like a charity case.
“This is something you guys will be learning this year—restringing.” He paused while he un-wrapped the old string from the tuning peg. “So did you have a good summer?” he asked me again. Didn’t we already go over this?
“Ya, it was fine.” I tried to change the topic. “How about you? What did you do?”
The room was starting to get noisy again. Twwiirrp! He trilled his sharp whistle, and everyone immediately calmed down.
“My summer was great. I did a lot of hiking and camping and just hanging around.” The new string now secure, he gave the pegs a few turns, strumming and tuning. He tilted his head to the side, listening for the right sounds, and then whispered, “You took good care of it this summer.”
I gulped.
With pretty much the same kids in the class, it was no different than last year. We did warm-ups, then worked the same songs as last year to get those who didn’t practice much over the summer up to speed. I was able to block out the racket behind me and let my playing take me away from the teasing, from the threat of Shark knowing, and from everything else.
With ten minutes left in the class, Shark had everyone pack up a bit early. Once everyone was settled back in their seats, Shark leaned back on his desk. As he crossed his massive arms in front of his chest, the bottom half of his shark tattoo peeked out from under his sleeve. Seeing it sent a shiver down my back, yet I wasn’t scared of the guy.
“All right everyone, listen up.”
Everyone settled down then someone whispered, “Hey Nick, you weren’t so bad today.” Again, Beau.
“Beau, quiet down,” Shark’s voice snapped, and I could hear Beau grumble “what a suck-up” a few seats behind me.
I don’t know if Shark heard as he continued anyways. “This year, the school will not be hosting a winter concert to display your talents.”
No concert?
“Why, because of Newbie Nick’s performance last year?” Again, Beau. First he’s giving me a compliment, now this.
“Beau, you can leave now.” The sharp change in Shark’s voice silenced the whole room. No one even coughed. With a bit of shuffling, Beau made his way through the rows of kids in chairs. As he went by me, he made sure to brush up against my shoulder. Roughly. As if in warning.
I kept my head down. Through my long bangs I could see his uber-expensive runners as he stalked past. I stared at the hole at the end of my own shoe.
When I looked up, Shark was watching me. Was I gonna be kicked out too?
Chapter Three
Another gulp.
Thankfully, Shark kept talking. “This year, instead of the winter concert, the school is hosting a solo instrument competition.” Chatter erupted in the classroom. Josh and I looked at each other. Shark smirked and motioned everyone to settle down. “Entrants can compete in all the instrument classifications. String, wind or brass, and percussion.”
My stomach was wobbling. I couldn’t believe this. Could I do this? I didn’t think I was good enough to be competing with other people. All of a sudden I desperately missed my Grandpa; I would have given anything to have him here, patting me on the back. A guy with a name like “Newbie Nick,” who doesn’t even have his own guitar, doesn’t enter competitions.
Shark’s voice interrupted my panic. “The first prize is a trophy and $500 from Mike’s Music Store.”
What? Wow!
Josh elbowed me. He knew what an awesome chance this would be for me.
“The second prize is a wall plaque and $300 from the store.” Another elbow from Josh.
The prizes were just what I needed. They’d be perfect! Reality struck and I felt my body sag in defeat, like I had already lost the competition. I knew I had no chance of winning.
“And the third prize is $100.”
Some kid put up their hand to ask, “Is this competition to get us to a national competition or something?”
Shark shook his head. “No, this is just a
local thing. Mike Swazi of Mike’s Music Store used to go to this school when he was younger, and now that his business is going strong, he wants to give back.”
It was the same store where I had my dream guitar on layaway!
As another kid put up his hand to ask a question,, Shark glanced up at the clock. “Okay everyone, that’s it for now. Information about the competition is up on the school website for your parents to read.” The bell rang, kids started shuffling, and Shark just raised his voice and kept talking. “We only have two days left this week, so by next week, those of you who haven’t already done so need to rent a guitar for class. For this weekend you can borrow one of the classrooms’.”
And of course he looked at me.
“Nick, I need to see your guitar one last time. It will only take a minute.” I knew what he was going to talk to me about. At least he didn’t single me out in front of the class by saying so. It was bad enough being Newbie Nick without being “Charity Nick.”
Josh nudged me. “This is great, Nick! Did you hear those prizes?”
“Ya,” I shrugged, snapping shut the clasps on my guitar case. “Whatever.”
He stopped what he was doing and stared at me, wide-eyed. The girl he was chatting up moments ago forgotten. “Come on man, this is perfect! You can do it!” When I didn’t respond, he scowled at me. “See you out at the bike rack.”
Josh and I usually rode together to his house where I would leave him then head to the bus stop. Riding my bike partway home then bussing the rest of the way was no big deal, except for when it came to crappy weather. I had gotten so good this summer at hauling my guitar case on the bike, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. Sometimes my mom would drive me when she could. Otherwise it mostly it was me, my bike, and the bus.
Shark called my name, taking me out of my thoughts.
The last few kids filed out of the classroom. It was our last class of the day and I had to get to Josh at the bike racks. I liked Shark, but if anyone came back to the class, especially if it was Beau, and saw Shark and I having a talk, they would for sure think I was getting special treatment.
“You can borrow that guitar for the year if you want.” Shark leaned back on his desk, trying to act casual yet still towering over me. My mom always said I was a late bloomer, and my growth spurt would come soon enough. I was still waiting.
“Um, ya, sure. Thanks.” I glanced up at him. He was staring at me intently, as if trying figure me out. I quickly looked down, focusing on the hole in my shoe.
“Are you going to enter the competition? I think you should.” Yes, as a kids’ counselor he was supposed to be supportive and positive and all that, but this was ridiculous. For a guy who just tuned my guitar, he was somewhat tone deaf. Didn’t he know how bad I played?
“Na, I don’t think so.” I shuffled, switching my guitar—I mean the school’s guitar—to my other hand.
He was quiet for a bit then said, “I think you should give it a shot, Nick. You have nothing to lose. I know you’ve been practicing all summer. You can do this. All you have to do is try.”
I had to get out of there. I was squirming inside. The awesome prizes and the name “Newbie Nick” swirled around in my head like a tornado. I had to figure this all out. I wanted to enter—needed to enter, Not having my grandpa around to help me out was making it hard. If I wanted to play again, if I wanted to be like my grandpa, I had to get that guitar. With my busking days almost over, the competition seemed the only way.
I didn’t have the guts to do it.
I started to walk away. “I’ll think about it,” I said over my shoulder. I stopped at the door. “And, uh, thank you for loaning me the guitar. I’ll talk to my mom about renting me one this year.” He knew my mom’s situation, yet this had gone on long enough. I couldn’t keep borrowing the schools’.
Forget about competitions you won’t enter or win, I scolded myself. My fifteenth birthday couldn’t come soon enough. Then I could get a real job. I was going crazy waiting for my own guitar. My mom’s fortieth birthday was just around the corner, and the necklace sure wasn’t free. What was I going to do?
I went out to the bike racks to find Josh. I pushed my way through the kids and thought about what Shark said. Yes, all I had to do was try, but that competition was way out of my league. I wasn’t ready. The name “Newbie Nick” floated around my head, taunting me.
I was so lost in thought I almost missed seeing Josh. I raised my free hand and was about to call out his name when someone thumped me from behind, knocking the breath out of me. I stumbled and tripped trying to catch my balance, and held on to my guitar.
“What the…!?” Just as I turned, another shove tripped me and I dropped the guitar.
“Hey, Newbie Nick.” Beau was there with his pals and his older brother, Brock. Brock had his license and a fancy jeep their parents bought him. Sometimes Brock let Beau hang out with him and his friends as they cruised around town. Their folks were rich; their mom and dad were both lawyers.
“Whaddya do that for?” I scrambled to stand up.
“Yer such a suck up, Newbie. What, is Shark your daddy?” Beau sneered at me, his buddies watching.
I felt someone brush up against me. I glanced over to see Josh more pissed than I had ever seen him before. “What’s your problem, Beau? Is your brother not paying attention to you today? You don’t have anything better to do?”
“Leave it, Josh,” I muttered. I didn’t want Josh fighting my battles for me. I didn’t want “wimp” added to the growing list of things people like Beau could call me.
At Josh’s words, Beau’s face reddened then his eyes narrowed. It wasn’t hard to miss. Beau sure didn’t like Josh mentioning his brother. He advanced on Josh, as if trying to scare him. “You stay out of this, Josh.”
I didn’t know what this was, as I never started it. What was he talking about? What did he mean this?
I grabbed Josh with my other arm. “Come on, Josh. Let’s just go.” I had too much on my mind and just wanted to get out of there. I didn’t need any more problems – any more scenes – and the condition of the guitar in the case was worrying me.
With one last sneer at Josh and me, Beau walked off, his buddies following.
With the show over, kids who had stopped to watch started to leave. Ignoring Josh, I stalked to my bike. Anger rolled over in my stomach as I tossed around all the things I could have and should have said to Beau. I’m not much of a fighter, and I wasn’t about to start. However a guy can only take so much. Adults moan and joke about stress, and I was starting to get an idea of what that meant.
At my bike, I opened the guitar case. Other than a dent in the case, the guitar looked all right. I gave it a strum as it sat in the velveteen lining. The last thing I needed was to have to pay the school for a broken guitar. There would go all the money I had saved, including my dream guitar and my mom’s necklace.
“You all right, man?” Josh was standing beside me.
I snapped the case shut and stood up. As I started to rig it on the back of my bike, I mumbled, “Ya, I’m fine. Beau’s such an ass. I don’t get what his problem is.”
“He is one big problem.” Josh unlocked his bike. “He thinks he’s all tough because his brother sometimes lets him hang out with him.”
“So, I don’t get what that has to do with me.” We pushed our bikes off the school parkway, and rode them through the field to the road. Beau, his friends, and his brother were hanging around his brother’s jeep on the other side of the parking lot. At that moment, I didn’t care.
Josh pedaled and said, “Just forget about him, Nick. Did you see me talking to Amanda in guitar class? I gotta get her cell number somehow. Hey, do you know any of her friends?”
Frustrated, I said, “Duh, of course I don’t know any of them. Look, Josh, I really don’t have time for any of that stuff anyways.” I was kinda rude to Josh, and I didn’t need to be.
Beau had really pissed me off. Why do guys like him think they are s
o much better than everyone else? I tried to shake it off. There was nothing I could do about it now. I had too much going on. The competition was in the back of my mind, and the thought of Shark knowing my secret really rattled me. I was sure he knew what I had really been doing all summer.
I guess Josh missed how rude I was, as he kept going on about getting Amanda’s cell number. At least I think that was what he was going on about. I pedaled through the leaves, half-listening to him, my own problems whirling around in my head. I guess I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that next thing I knew, we were at his house.
“Okay man, talk to you later.” Josh patted me on the back. “And don’t forget about that competition.” Even though Josh can be irritating, he’s the best friend a guy could have. “With all your extra so-called practice weekends, you’ll be great! I can see that new guitar in your hands already!” Despite him not being as passionate about playing as I was, he somehow got it – understood where I was coming from..
“It’s not new.” I reminded him. The guitar on layaway in the store was second-hand.
“Ya, so what? It’s new to you, and it’s better than having nothing at all.” We stopped at the edge of his driveway. “I gotta go, I’ve got soccer practice. Don’t forget the competition!” he hollered as he pedaled up his driveway.
I realized I better hurry if I didn’t want to miss my bus. I pushed off and wobbled a moment on my bike as it struggled to balance me and my guitar. Gee, you’d think after a whole summer of balancing both, I would be a pro.
Just as my foot slipped off the bike pedal, I had a thought—maybe I was a pro, in more ways than one.
Chapter Four
“Hi, sweetie!” my mom said cheerily from the couch as my guitar and I banged through the side door. Inside I groaned. Because I love my mom I don’t tell her how much I hate it when she calls me sweetie.
“Hi.” I leaned down and gave her a limp hug and she snuck in a kiss on my cheek.
