Chapter Text
!!!!FREE GUITAR LESSONS!!!!
email ellie for more information
Despite your initial hesitation at emailing some random person who was giving suspiciously free guitar lessons, you knew you wouldn’t be able to pass without some extra one-on-one help. You needed a tutor, desperately. Why you had decided to take guitar as an elective when your major had nothing to do with music was beyond comprehension at this point, but these were the last 200 level credits you needed to move on to your higher electives for your major. No way were you taking a chance on this final.
Your email correspondence with ‘Ellie’ was brief— basically a ‘hi, I’m terrible at playing guitar and need to pass my final,’ and a ‘sure, I’m free this Saturday if you are!’ Looking back, you probably–no, you definitely –should have gotten a bit more information from her, but oh well. It was now Saturday, and here you were, on your way to either get really good at guitar, or die a slow, painful death. The chances seemed about fifty-fifty at this point.
“It’ll be fine, I promise I’ll be on standby if you need me!” Dina encouraged, grabbing your arm as you walked through the courtyard, away from campus. Red and brown leaves crunched under your feet as you groaned, shaking your arm away from her grasp.
“Right, and what would you do from, like, five blocks away if she tried to murder me? She could literally be a serial killer! I swear everyone else I meet at this school is weird as fuck,” you complained. You were new to this school from out-of-state; however, it’s now approaching the end of your first semester, and so far, the only friends you’ve made are Dina, and another person from your (completely unnecessary) guitar class—they were no help, though. They were just as bad as you.
“Okay, but the chances are so slim. The chances of you actually passing your final because you get help from a guitar legend are actually much higher,” Dina chimed, giving you an encouraging look. You side-eyed her.
“Seriously,” she said with a breathy laugh. “You’ll be fine. This Ellie girl sounds like a very nice, very non-serial-killer…esque person.”
Well that’s rich, coming from someone who also knows zero information about her.
“Whatever,” you shook your head, turning to face her. “I expect you to be by your phone and at the ready for the next…” you quickly check your phone for the time– “...however long it takes me to not fuck up my final.”
Dina laughed and gave you a satirical pat on the shoulder.
“Sure pal. I’ll be here.”
-
The pair of you split up, you heading off to Ellie's place, and Dina having vowed to do a few hours of studying at a nearby cafe. You know, in case Ellie really does turn out to be a serial killer or something.
You approached the block of student housing duplexes just outside campus limits and quickly identified the house number, anxiety growing with each step up to the porch. You pulled your phone out of your coat pocket, letting out a nervous sigh as you sent a message to Dina.
Just remember, if I die, you’re paying for the funeral
She was quick to reply:
okay, but hopefully i’ll get to write a eulogy about how you were an amazing guitar player upon your death!!!!
You laughed quietly, stuffing your phone back in your pocket as you approached the front door and gave an apprehensive knock. A simple ‘welcome’ mat scraped under your feet as you took a step back to observe the small porch—there was a small wooden storage bench to the left of the door, and a few scattered plants on the ground. It was tidy enough, so very unlikely to be a complete weirdo, right? Right…
Your knock was obviously not as faint as you thought, as you quickly heard muffled footsteps approaching the door, before it swung open to reveal a very…non-serial-killer-esque girl.
She had the most piercing jade-crested eyes, framed by a few loose strands of reddish-brown hair from her low bun. She smiled widely at you, revealing her perfect teeth. You tried not to let your mouth literally drop open.
“You must be here for the guitar lessons?” Her voice was slightly gruff, yet rich and modulated. You were so caught off guard by the woman in front of you—you’d spent so long picturing someone much worse, that this was more than a pleasant surprise. Her light gray top was tucked into baggy jeans, secured around her waist with a simple belt. Before your eyes could roam any lower, you snapped yourself out of your trance, meeting her eyes once again.
“Uh, yeah, I am,” you couldn’t help but to match her infectious smile, despite your nervousness. You slung the guitar case off your shoulder, setting it down in front of you, as if presenting it to her. “Was I that obvious?”
She laughed melodically, the sound making your heart skip a beat.
“Just a bit,” she smirked.
“You must be Ellie?” you asked, feeling the heat rising to your cheeks despite the cold breeze.
“That I am,” she said, and there were those perfect teeth again. Her eyes quickly scanned over your face, noting the faint blush on your cheeks—hopefully just assuming it was from the cold.
“Sorry, it’s freezing out there! Come in, come in,” she beckoned you inside, stepping out of your way. Warmth flooded over you as you moved past her with your guitar, the faint smell of vanilla and weed filling your nose, and you immediately recognized the song playing from upstairs.
Baby, I want some of your love,
Your love, your love, your love,
The house was smaller than it looked from the outside, but that’s not surprising for student housing. There were shelves and bookcases, filled with trinkets, books, and plants—a small, mismatched sofa and chair sat in the farthest corner of the room, next to what looks to be a desk that was being used as a dining table. Various posters and paintings littered the walls, textbooks were strewn about, and you couldn’t help but take notice of the small rainbow flag that stuck out from a hanging plant near the window.
“It’s really cute in here,” you were unable to hold back, adjusting your guitar back over your shoulder. Ellie gave you a smile, smaller than before. You felt like you were going to melt into a puddle.
Baby, can I have some of your love?
Your love, your love, your love,
“Thank you,” she says, lightly scratching the back of her neck, looking around as if to see what you were seeing. Was she nervous? Fuck , she looks really cute with her nose all scrunched up like that.
“I can’t take much credit though. More than half of this stuff is my roommate’s,” She hovered awkwardly in the doorway, looking at you now, and you found yourself shying away from her gaze. You kind of hoped the rainbow flag was hers.
“Sorry, erm, you can put your coat here, if you’d like,” she gestured to an overflowing coat rack next to the door. “Shoes on or off, it doesn’t matter much to me.” You took a glance down and noticed her lack of shoes, as well as the shoes lined up near the door, and it encouraged you to slip off your boots.
“Let me grab that for you,” Ellie insisted, taking the guitar from you as you slid it off your shoulder, allowing you to shrug off your coat with ease and throw it on the hanger.
When you turned back to face her, she had your guitar perched in front of her, green eyes studying you intently. You took it quickly, with a thank you, and threw it back over your shoulder. Ellie still just stood in the entryway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. You were utterly mesmerized by her contradictory aura of confident, yet guarded.
“So…” you broke the silence when it became apparent Ellie wasn’t going to talk first. She gave you a sheepish look, once again letting the confidence slip.
“Right, the uh, lessons,” she started, clapping her hands together once as if snapping herself out of a trance. “We can head up to my room, all my guitar stuff is in there.”
“Lead the way,” you said. She gave you another look that made your heart sink into your stomach, eyes sparkling and one side of her mouth curved up into a sideways smile. God, focus! Guitar lessons. No time to focus on really cute girls with really cute freckles and really cute crooked smiles.
Ellie bounded up the steps two at a time, and you struggled to keep up. Behind her, you could smell the scent she wore, and it was intoxicating—you took a deep breath of the deep woody aroma, trying not to be too obvious about it. The music got louder the farther you ascended.
Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, she spoke again. “So, are you needing these lessons to impress someone, or just to pass a class?”
You were starting to realize truly how little information you exchanged with her, and once again had a fleeting thought that she still could be a serial killer. Then again, usually scary people don’t have faces that look like they were painted by John Sargent himself.
“Oh, I’m just really terrible at guitar and need to pass my final,” you admitted, lightly scratching your arm in embarrassment as she looked back at you. “I should have never taken the class in the first place. I almost flunked out of middle school band class.”
Ellie chuckled at this, pushing the door to her room open, the music pouring out.
Nothing really lasts that long for me to realize, I'm still alone
And you're not with me,
She quickly pulled out her phone to turn it down as you followed her into the small room. You realized the weed smell was coming from her room as the rich, earthy scent flooded your nose. You glanced at the bong sitting in the window, and the rolling tray on her nightstand. Ellie must have caught you looking, as her eyes immediately widened.
“I’m so sorry, I probably should have asked you if you were cool with this,” she looked concerned, and now it was your turn to chuckle at her. You were no stranger to this—in fact, you often found yourself fanning the smoke detector in your dorm room when Dina got too stoned to remember to point the fan out the window.
“No, no, you’re fine,” you assured, slinging your guitar off your back and leaning it on her bed as Ellie sat in the chair by her desk. She still held a look of concern on her face, so you pulled together what little confidence you had left and strode to the windowsill, picking up the glass and inspecting it. The water was fairly clean, especially compared to Dina’s, and the bowl held freshly packed flower.
Ellie leaned back a little farther in her chair, watching you intently. You caught her gaze, offering a shy smile.
I wonder what's inside your mind, but you seem pretty occupied
So I'll leave it alone,
You pulled a lighter out from your pocket.
“May I?”