Sun Upon Dark Clouds

21: Nora’s Little Concert

Since Peace Town was a small town, it was good for walks. People could go from one place to another whenever they wanted without even feeling the pain in their ankles as they walked. Taxis were not that popular since everyone in the town preferred walking instead of paying for a transportation that would take five minutes to go to their desired destination. Though despite being a small town, Peace Town had everything that anyone would ever look for.

Among all towns that Nora had ever visited, Peace Town was the best one. Aside from being the town where she grew up in with her brother, it was always peaceful without any issues around. In short, no other town or city could ever replace her home, which would always be Peace Town.

“So, where have you been?” Coley asked as she shoved her hand in the pocket of her jeans while her other hand was holding the cajón.

“Bluegrey. That town is filled with weird people,” Nora replied as she clung on the latter’s arm. “But there was a lot of sexy people there too.”

“Really?” The brunette let out a chuckle.

A fact that she knew about the red-haired woman was that she easily gets infatuated to anyone who is hot though she was never interested in actually pursuing or dating them. Well, Nora was just like her brother—she did not have any time or more space to her list of priorities to have a serious relationship; in short, she had no time to handle another complicated person when she was already having a hard time in her situation.

“This is a good place to busk,” Coley stated.

The façade of the public library had a wide space in front, which was a perfect place to busk while some people were walking by. Fortunately, the sun was not being extra radiant today so they did not have to suffer. The brunette placed the cajón that she had been carrying the whole time on the ground and sat on it. It was like they were destined to busk on the place as there was a white monobloc chair on the corner of the building.

As Nora sat down on the monobloc next to Coley, she put down her guitar bag and pulled out her pink acoustic guitar that had Pokémon stickers on the front and back. Usually, buskers would prepare a microphone and a speaker for their voices to be heard louder and clearer; as for the case of Nora, she did not need a microphone as her voice itself was already a megaphone. Some people who had a lot of time to spare were standing from a distance as they anticipated for the two of them to start playing.

“What are you going to sing?” Coley asked as she tested the cajón by lightly tapping everywhere on the tapa with her fingers.

“Hmm,” Nora pouted as she went into deep thought by playing with the strings of her guitar. “Oh, I know!”

The red-haired woman began to strum on her guitar in a catchy tune as the brunette listened to it carefully. Coley recognized the song immediately as she lightly tapped her fingers on the tapa of the cajón that she was sitting on. Nora turned to her with a nostalgic smile on her face as the latter responded with the same smile and continued playing their instruments. Finally, the musician began to sing.

You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables

Left a small town, never looked back

I was a flight risk, with a fear of fallin'

Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts

It was as if the usual energetic Nora and the musician Nora were different people. With her sweet voice, the chestnut-eyed sang and kept her eyes closed without having to look at her fingers that were expertly strumming on the guitar. The brunette nodded her head along the beat while tapping on the cajón as she listened to the pleasant strong voice of her friend who was singing like a professional musician that she deserved to be.

As Nora began to sing the chorus, more people began to surround them and throw more cash in her guitar bag. All of the people, who were watching the two women play, could not help but feel awe at how pretty the red-haired woman’s voice was and how expertly they played their instruments. Since Nora was mostly the center of attention, the people could not understand why she was not even a famous musician under a popular music label when she was that talented.

The nostalgia that the two women were feeling at that moment made them remember that time they busked together in Arrowbreak when they just met.

“I’ll join you busk!” Coley flashed a charming smile, which caught the heart of Nora immediately upon seeing it up close.

Nora was preparing her guitar on the corner of the street since she had always enjoyed singing for a crown even though the crowd was only two people when an attractive brunette that she had never seen before suddenly approached her. Because of financial and family problems, Nora could not go to the city to apply for a music audition; which was why she decided on busking in different towns to show a few people that she had a talent for music with an imagination in her mind that a man in a suit would approach her to scout her to a music label. As imaginative as it was, Nora was just a girl with dreams.

“Why?” Nora asked with a bright smile on her face. She could not help but beam at a pretty stranger.

“I’m bored,” she shrugged.

With that, the chestnut-eyed agreed as the brunette took a big tin can on the corner to use as a drum. Nora began to play Taylor Swift’s “Mine” with her acoustic guitar as she sang with her sweet voice. Coley smiled as she heard how pretty the stranger’s voice was, making her more motivated to tap on the tin can as if it was an actual drum.

After playing three more songs, they decided to call it a day as Nora took Coley to a milkshake shop to treat her for her help. The two of them became friends immediately after that. Nora did not expect to form a friendship with someone in one of the towns that she visited, yet she did.

I can see it now

Nora slowly opened her eyes as she stopped strumming on her guitar. She was surprised when she saw that there were plenty of people watching for the whole time as they all applauded with satisfied grins on their faces. The attention and appreciation that she was receiving made the bunny-toothed grin broadly as well as she turned to the brunette who was clapping and smiling at her as well.

“Always the best,” Coley lightly shook her head as she continued to clap.

“Always the best in drumming too,” Nora replied with a smile on her face.

“Everybody, do you want another song to be sung by my gorgeous friend who is the future best musician of the world?” Coley asked the audience with enthusiasm.

“Yes!” they responded with the same enthusiasm, which made Nora laugh.

“All right, all right!” Nora excitedly uttered as her fingers moved over the fretboard. “The next song is ‘22’ by Taylor Swift!”

The audience cheered for her as Nora began to strum her guitar while Coley started to play on the cajón. It was as if she was in her own concert as she sang passionately even though they were literally in public with other people who did not care about them passing by.

***

“That felt nostalgic!”

They finally called it a day after singing five more songs. They were supposed to leave after three more songs but the people were too avid to hear her sing more that they made her sing two more songs. Even though Nora was feeling pain in her throat and fingers for that, she enjoyed it as she felt like she was actually a musician in her own concert. Performing on stage in front of a big crown was one of her dreams, after all. With Coley being there for her, she was more than grateful to her that she felt happy that she even met the brunette.

“Are you sure we’re having a milkshake?” Coley asked when they entered a small milkshake shop.

“We deserve to celebrate!” Nora grinned as she showed her the big amount of cash that they earned from busking earlier. “Also, brings back memories.”

The brunette could only laugh and let the red-haired woman do whatever she wanted as they both went to the counter to order for their drinks. After ordering with the cash that they earned, they went to sit at the table on the back of the shop.

“What do you think of Ghrae?” was the first thing that Nora asked as soon as they took their seats across each other.

“Huh?” Coley dumbly responded.

Suddenly, the thought that she had earlier in the morning about seeking for help from Ghrae’s family in exchange of telling them her whereabouts entered her mind once again.

“I know you heard me,” Nora rolled her eyes as she took a sip on her strawberry milkshake. “There’s no way that you don’t have any feelings for her.”

“Why is that?” The brunette chuckled as she drank her chocolate milkshake.

“She’s pretty, duh.”

Coley only laughed in response as she began to fall into deep thought about her question.

What do I really think about Ghrae?

Coley had a lot of thoughts about Ghrae. She thought about pursuing her at first then it changed to attacking her and stealing her money, which changed back to befriending her to show her that life has a lot more beautiful things to explore. The brunette suddenly froze as she thought about that—the main reason why she decided to stay longer with the mysterious woman instead of escaping with the known fact that she was being chased by her father’s minions. At that point, Coley wanted to punish herself harshly for being selfish for a moment.

“What? Why are you suddenly in deep thought?” Nora snapped her fingers in front of Coley, making her flinch. “You’re weird. Why are you thinking so hard about my question?”

The red-haired woman suddenly gasped dramatically with her hands on her mouth. Coley raised an eyebrow until she realized what the latter had in mind, making her roll her eyes.

“Love is not my thing, you know that. I just suddenly thought about the two-dollar cheeseburger that I bought once that had no cheese,” Coley said as she sipped on her milkshake.

“Right. There’s no way a player like you would suddenly be a simp for a girl,” Nora bluntly spoke.

“f**k you.”

***

The both of them began to walk back to Noah’s coffee shop as they laughed together while talking about the funny memories that they shared together back in Arrowbreak. Though there was not a lot of similarities that two shared, their friendship was great.

When they finally arrived at the coffee shop, the two of them looked at each other with questioning eyes when they saw an expensive looking red car parked in front of the coffee shop, which was unusual. The both of them proceeded to enter the coffee shop as the eyes of Coley immediately looked for the raven when she saw a man that she had never seen before had his arm wrapped around Ghrae’s shoulders.

For some reason, Coley felt her blood boil at the sight.