Page 7 of Hittin' the Right Note
At this point, surrounded by all of the other teens who are there for orientation, Luke is sure Mikey’s going to find someone else cooler he’d rather spend time with. To his surprise, though, Mikey gestures for him to accompany him to a pair of seats in the back, and as they sit down Mikey’s leg touches his own.
The sparks are immediate, and again Luke blushes. He’s tempted to jerk his leg back–to show Mikey he’s not at all interested–but he doesn’t.
For his part, Mikey gives him a little smirk.
“It’s okay,” he says, so softly Luke isn’t sure he’s heard him correctly. “I don’t mind.”
Luke lets his leg rest there, and he’s surprised by how right it feels.
He thinks briefly of what would happen if anyone else saw them, or if word got back to his father and brothers–or his mother, or his aunt, or anyone else in his family–of what’s happening right now. What would they think, say, or do, if they knew their boy was getting intimate with another boy? Sure, it’s just a leg touching another leg, but he knows how they are, knows how they’re always on the lookout for any signs he might not be the type of man they’ve raised him to be.
He doesn’t take his leg away from Mikey’s.
They both sit there and listen with half an ear while the teachers tell them all about what they can expect from their summer with NACA. Luke is still very excited about the chance to really experience music, to dig into why certain songs work and others don’t, but the truth is he’s much more interested in Mikey at the moment.
He takes a chance to really study him. Luke can easily imagine him on a stage right now, captivating everyone in the audience with his undeniable charisma. He feels a little spike of jealousy at just how easily it all comes to Mikey, when it’s always a struggle for Luke to find the right words, to be able tospeak–let alone sing–without his tongue seeming to tie itself up in knots.
When, at last, the boring segment of orientation is over, they’re sent on their way, split up into small groups so they can do ice breakers and get to know one another better. Luke hates it, but he’s separated from Mikey, each of them being sent to be in a different group, despite the fact they’re both there as part of the singers contingent.
Luke ends up spending the ice-breaker time with some actors and aspiring playwrights and dancers. They’re from all over Northern Appalachia–from West Virginia, obviously, but also from other places like Pennsylvnia and Ohio and Maryland; there’s even one person from the Southern Tier of New York–and so they all bring new and varied experiences to the table. Despite himself, Luke actually finds himself enjoying learning about their lives and their upbringings.
By the time lunch has been announced, he’s even managed to make friends with a dancer named Leslie–she’s the one from southern New York–and a playwright named Jack from near Pittsburgh. At least if Mikey doesn’t want any more to do with him he might have some other friends here.
To his surprise, though, as soon as they enter the cafeteria Mikey is already there, his face breaking into a radiant smile when his eyes light on Luke.
He takes a few deep breaths to calm down, and then he sits down across from Mikey. As soon as he does he Mikey’s foot brushes against his own, while that devilish smile never leaves his lips.
“How was your group?” he asks.
“It was good,” Luke says, looking briefly to see whether Leslie and Jack are around and whether they’re pissed he abandoned them. To his relief, though, they’ve found a table of their own and are way too busy paying attention to each other to care whatLuke’s doing. “I met a couple of new people I think are pretty cool.”
He nods toward where Leslie and Jack are getting as close to kissing as they can without actually doing it. “That’s them over there.”
Mikey looks where he nodded and smirks.
“Oh yeah, those two definitely have the hots for each other.” He turns back to Luke and lowers his voice. “You know places like this are always pressure cookers for hormones. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the people here end up hooking up with each other.”
“You really think so?” Luke almost asks Mikey whetherhe’sthinking of hooking up with anyone, but he immediately decides he doesn’t want to know.
“Oh yeah,” Mikey nods sagely. “You bet your ass.”
“Huh,” Luke says, then follows up with the question he’s dying to know the answer to.
“Are you staying here or are your parents bringing you in every day?”
Some of the attendees of the Youth Artists Program stay in the dorms at Center, while others, like Luke, live close enough his parents can bring him every day. It’s a bit more inconvenient for all of them but, on the whole, it’s cheaper, which ultimately matters more.
“My parents are dropping me off,” Mikey says. “Though sometimes I drive myself. We live pretty close by.”
“Oh yeah?” Luke asks. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“Oh, well, we just moved to Wheeling,” Mikey says. “My dad moves around the state a lot for his work, and we’re staying here for my senior year of high school. I’m supposed to go to Linsly. I wasn’t thrilled about moving away from my old school, but…” He shrugged. “This program seemed to be a good fit, and I wantto learn to sing better, and they’re pretty good about connecting their alumni with people in the business, so here we are. Maybe I’ll get a contract with an agent and won’t have to go to senior year at all.”
Luke has about a dozen more questions he wants to ask, but he doesn’t want to seem nosy, so he just nods appreciatively.
They settle into a comfortable silence as they eat their brown bag lunches, and all too soon it’s almost time to go back to classes. Fortunately, however, they’re not separated again, since they’re both going to be taking voice lessons while they’re here, and Luke almost bursts with happiness. It’s just so nice to be with someone like Mikey–he’d insisted they sit together when they got to their classroom–someone who just seems togethim.
Though he’d love it if something romantic happened between the two of them, he’s okay with things just staying platonic. For now, it’s enough to just be close to Mikey and to learn more about music. In fact, it’s more than enough.
