Guitar Notes (18 page)

“Yeah. He’s intense.”

“I was wondering … wouldn’t he be sad if you went away to Coles?”

“If I get in, he said he’s willing to move. He’s an accountant, and he can work pretty much anywhere. Hey, thanks for the letter. I’m glad you told me about the pick. I’m sorry I grabbed it, and I’m glad you found it.”

“I didn’t want you to think I was crazy. I mean, I know you think I’m odd, but I’m not crazy.”

“Hey, I uploaded the MP3 of ‘The Pomegranate Waltz’ to our website. The harmony sounds great.”

“Can’t wait to hear it.”

“I think I hear my dad,” Lyla whispers. “I’d better go.”

“Do you want to meet at the tree house tomorrow?”

“Can’t. I could come on Sunday, though.”

“Do you mind if I go by myself tomorrow?”

“That’s what it’s for.”

“Thanks.”

“Bye.”

Tripp slips into the house and goes straight to his room. He puts on his headphones, calls up their website, and listens to their song. Their voices fit together so perfectly, it makes him, for the first time, actually like the concept of perfection.

 NOVEMBER 1. SATURDAY.

 NOVEMBER 2. SUNDAY

Tripp is in the tree house. He hears the crunch of footsteps first and then Lyla appears below.

“Hark!” He leans out the window, his face flushed and happy. “I brought chocolate and some very juicy news.”

“Yeah? Good juicy news or bad juicy news?”

“Sort of good and bad. Come up and I’ll tell you.”

“How long have you been here?” She starts climbing up.

“Two days. Just kidding. I have been trying to stay as far away from my house as possible. The air in my house is toxic.” He picks up the guitar so there is space for her to sit down.

“I need tree air, too,” she says. “Yesterday was so hard. Annie and I aren’t really talking, but we have to carpool to MYO, so we’re sort of just pretending that nothing is wrong when we’re around our parents. And at lunch today, my dad was going on and on, planning the Coles audition, and I wanted to tell him that I don’t want to go. But I can’t. It’s really tense.” Her face is full of worry. “And then when I was walking over here, I was thinking about how this whole tree house thing isn’t going to last. I mean, it’s going to get too cold and we’re not going to be able to play because our fingers will freeze and your mom will send you to Crenshaw and—”

He stops her. “First of all, we are going to have record high temperatures this fall and winter, so our fingers won’t freeze off. Second of all, I’m going to get my grades up so my mom won’t send me to Crenshaw. And third of all, you’re just going to tell your dad that you don’t want to audition for Coles. And—”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. And fourth of all, and here’s the good juicy news.…” He does a drumroll on top of the guitar. “We have a gig.” He smiles.

“What?”

“Listen.” He pulls out his phone and calls up his e-mail.

“You wrote that,” Lyla says.

“I didn’t. I swear. Ruby Darling, whoever that is, wrote it.” He hands her the phone so she can see for herself. “The bad news is that we can’t do it because it’s the day of your Coles audition. Still, I think it is amazing that she wants us.”

Lyla reads it again. “I’m going to be really mad at you if this is a joke.”

“It’s not a joke.”

Lyla grins. “Wow.”

“Indeed.”

“I think we should go for it,” she says.

“We can’t.”

“She says it’s an hour from here. The wedding starts at noon. My audition is scheduled at six.”

“Isn’t your audition in Boston?”

“No. They set up these audition spots all over the country. November twenty-second is the DC audition. I could tell my dad that I have to be somewhere during the afternoon and promise to be back in time.” She starts bouncing. “Okay. Okay. Here’s the plan. I mean the big plan. First, you’re right: we have to get your grades up. I’ve been thinking … there’s a physics test and an algebra quiz coming up. So, since you can’t play in the little room anymore, let’s use our lunchtime to study together. I’ll be your Benjamin Fick.”

“But then you’d miss out on the little room.”

“The guitar isn’t there anymore, so I don’t need the room. What we need to do is come here so we can practice for the wedding. I was thinking that I could tell my dad that I signed up for something that meets Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays after school, and then I could meet you here every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.”

Tripp smiles. “You’re a genius.”

“Thank you.”

“But how would we get to the wedding?”

“We shall take a cab! And we’ll be back in time for the audition, so I won’t get in trouble.”

“Wow. Sounds like a plan.” Lyla smiles. “Let’s sing.”

 NOVEMBER 4. TUESDAY.

 NOVEMBER 5. WEDNESDAY.

“You should like science right now,” Lyla says, pulling her sandwich out of her bag. “Forced vibration and resonance.”

“Ms. Peakly has a way of turning any material into burned toast,” Tripp says, biting into his sandwich.

A table of girls is watching them, and Lyla guesses that they will report what they’re seeing to Annie. Lyla doesn’t care. She turns her chair so that she can’t see them, rummages in her backpack, and pulls out two pencils. She hands one to him. “Okay, let’s review what happens when you strike one tuning fork.” She taps her pencil against the table and holds it up. “What happened when you did this in class?”

“We didn’t do it. Peakly lost control of the class and made us read without talking.”

“Well, if I make my tuning fork ring, then the vibrations send a chain reaction through the air all the way to your tuning fork.” Lyla makes waves with her fingers moving from her pencil to his. “Then if our tuning forks are identical, yours will ring even if you don’t hit it.”