Wednesday arrived. After school, Mylo left for the warehouse to continue the next part of the song.
Cali stopped strumming her guitar, her eyes trailing to the entrance. "Yo." She greeted.
"Hey, Cal..." Mylo paused as he noticed a small bruise near her temple.
Cali stared at Mylo in confusion before her eyes widened as she quickly realized her beanie was off her head. She quickly grabbed her beanie and head the bruise, 'Dammit, he saw it.' Cal clenched her jaw, failing to keep her composure.
Unfortunately, her mother decided to give her a morning beat up and she didn't have time to hide the bruises.
Mylo just stared, his mind churning. 'Bruises, why does she have bruises? Did she fall?'
Before he could ask, Cali spoke quickly... too quickly. "I fell down, hit my head pretty hard." A cold bead of sweat dropped down the side of her face. She prayed silently that he would buy that.
"Oh, sorry. Have you tried getting it treated." He asked, sitting gently across from her.
Cali shrugged, "It'll heal in time."
Mylo sighed, opening his bag, he brought out a first aid kid. He felt himself chuckle, remembering those times he had to patch her up after her fun explorations. Since then, he always had it in his bag.
Seeing this, Calis brows furrowed. "Hey, I'm fine really. Let's just continue."
He ignored her as he gently grabbed the beanie. Cali's hand shot out to grab his. "I said it's fine."
His gaze softened, "I won't allow my friend who is hurt and not do anything about it. That's simply not me." He said, "Beside, it won't take long, let me just patch you, then we'll continue. Okay."
She nodded dumbly, her hands leaving his. Though, for the slightest moments, she didn't want to. But of course the girl quickly ignored them.
Mylo nodded with a smile, gently removing her beanie. He observed the bruise, 'This doesn't look like a fall.' he glanced at her, 'It's not my place to pressure her, I just hope is nothing serious.' he thought, patching her up.
Gently placing the bandage, he put the beanie back on her. "See, that wasn't so bad."
"Whatever." She grumbled to the side, "Thanks."
Mylo nodded, "No problem." He removed his notes, "Well, let's begin then?"
Cali nodded. The two resumed where they left off yesterday.
***
An hour passed, and the two were taking a quick break. Mylo removed some snacks from his bag, "Uhm, you want one."
Cali raised an eyebrow, "You didn't ask when you decided to treat me, where was this before?"
Mylo blushed slightly, "Oh, sorry, it was more on instinct."
She didn't know why she felt happy when he said that. Shaking her head of the thought, she changed topics. "Been curious for a while, where'd you learn to sing like that. I'm not the best at it, but I know that kind of voice took practice." She asked. After practicing so many times together , she has to admit, he's voice was really good. Almost angelic sounding, but it didn't seem like one that was naturally gifted, more of work. She could tell.
Mylo smiled reminiscently. "Yeah, I've been singing since I was five."
Cali's brows raised in surprise, "Huh, that's quite young. Self practice."
"Yeah, it is." He shook his head at her second question, "No, not by myself. Me...me and my grandfather used to sing, quite a lot. Whenever I visited, we would go out back and just sing. He always said, 'singing isn't just about the voice Mylo, you've got to put passion, heart, cause that's music, pouring your heart into it', so that's how it is."
Leaning back, she smiled, "Hmm, your grandfather seemed like a pretty cool dude."
"Yeah, he was." A sad smile on his face, but he quickly hid it. He glanced towards her, specifically her guitar. "Where'd you learn to play the guitar."
Cali noticed the look, but she chose not to ask. It wasn't her place. She smiled, gently grabbing her guitar. The smooth, worn wood felt comfortable in her hands. It didn't look special, far from it, it looked quite old and worn out. But this was a gift, a gift she would always cherish.
"My..." She began, hesitating slightly. Still not used to this opening up, but she continued. "My father taught me, everything about it. We would just play till we were tired. Everyday. He was the best." She said reminiscing. Those days she felt...happy, alive, joyful.
A comfortable silence fell on the two. A similar past linked them, their friendship deepening, and perhaps sparking something more.
"Well, let's continue. Almost finished this part." Cali spoke.
Mylo nodded, grabbing his notes. The two returned to the song.
***
Evening rolled, the two left he warehouse. Mylo glanced at her, "Uhm, I can escort you back home if you want to." He blurted out, his face flushed with shyness.
Cali froze slightly. The chances of him seeing her mother, no, she wouldn't allow it. Especially to someone she now considered a friend. "I'm fine, I just got to grab something."
Concern on his face, he asked. "But it's quite late though."
Cali shrugged, "I'll be fine, I'm not going home straight, have to grab some stuff. Don't need to worry too much," which quickly made Mylo blush at the implication.
Cali chuckled, "Well, I guess I'll see ya later, Faro "
Nodding, "Yeah, See...ya."
Friday came, one more day left for the participants to prepare for the challenge.
Mylo and Cali looked down at the song.
"Hmm, ain't bad, aint bad at all." Cali commented
"Hmm," Mylo answered with a yawn, blinking to keep himself awake.
Cali glanced at the boy, "Woke up wrong side of bed."
Mylo stretched, "N...no, just some late studying."
Cali nodded, "For what? With the way you act, would've thought you wanted to do music like professionally."
Hesitating, he shook his head. "No, after this I'll just... continue my studies, finish and get my degree." He explained, the sentence said so much, it has become like an anthem. But with no life in it.
"Hmm, that sounds very trashy life to me. No offence."
Mylo chuckled, "Non taken."
He paused staring at the setting sun, "Shackled huh? Maybe I am." He muttered to himself.
Cali stared at the boy. A setting feeling welling up in her, disturbing her. The look on his face didn't match it, like dirt on pure white clothing, not belonging there. She couldn't quite put what this feeling was. But she left it as it is, not wanting to butt in someone's life, she just hoped he'd be fine. The two stayed in a tranquil silence, watching the setting sun.
***
"Mimi, goodluck. Oh you'll perform well." She hugged Mylo, "Caliiii, good luck as well." Before the girl could react, she was immediately smothered by the non-negotiable hug from Mary. She froze slightly, before awkwardly hugging back.
Mylo chuckled at her expression, denying Mary a hug wasn't possible unless you could react to chaos.
Jake slung an arm around him. "You've got this bro." He sent a thumbs up to him.
The two nodded. A staff member came in to their room, indicating there were next up. Mary and Jake quickly left the room for them to practice.
Mylo sighed, he reached into his bag for his mask.
Cali glanced curiously at it. "What's with the mask?"
"Something to help keep the dream still alive." He answered vaguely, though not too sure whether his father might change upon this competition, he didn't want to take the risk.
Cali nodded, then paused as a red fiery mask was handed to her. She looked up at Mylo
"U...Uhm, I was just thinking since I wore the mask, it would seem unusual if it were only me. But if you don't want to, I'll understand, didn't ask in the first place..." He mumbled.
Cali smiled, feeling the cool texture on her palms. It was much like Mylo's, but instead of an ocean blue, hers was a fiery red, like a flame. With two sockets for eyes, and opening for the nose, and mouth. "Thanks," she put it on, "Now, let's destroy the competition." She grinned
"I...I wouldn't put it like that, but let's do this."
The two heard their names and made way to the stage.