Chapter Three
“I really don’t like to sing but I do love to play.” Jensen strapped on his guitar and settled on the edge of the couch as the others gathered around, finding their own places in the cramped but cozy living room. “Any requests?”
“Play Freebird!” Rosey shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth.
“Just couldn’t hold it in could you?” Steve smirked before thumping his friend on the back of the head and making the sound of a ripe melon.
Jensen strummed a few riffs from an Allman Brothers tune with a chuckle.
“What brought you here to Florida anyway?” Sandy asked as she watched Jensen’s fingers strum.
“What brought you here?” Jensen asked her in return.
“Escaping my hometown. Nothing for me there. Not even family.” She shrugged. “Not that dressing up as a cartoon character is a dream come true like they advertise, but it’s better than where I was.”
Jensen was interested. “And where is this hometown of yours?”
“Santa Clara, California. Not a place to stay if you want to get ahead in the world. Full of hippies - old and young, and wannabe actors and actresses. Not really how I wanted to be categorized. So I did a few years of college and found out about this place. I think in the six months I’ve been here I’ve gotten twice as far as I would have there.”
Steve chimed in. “In a lot less sun and sand.”
“So mystery man, I’ll ask you again. What brings you here?” Sandy countered back, with her own amount of intrigue.
“Oranges.” The group collectively laughed. “I don’t know. Suppose I’m a bit of a loner myself. Entered in my own college program and was lucky enough to advance in the opportunity.”
Rosey smirked. “Look at him guys, he’s so cool and naïve. Isn’t it precious?”
“Is it that bad?” Jensen began to laugh a bit nervously.
“Don’t let the boys scare you. Long hours, lots of adjusting at first…but you won’t end up like most of the people that let this place suck out their souls.” Sandy reassured, only half-flirtatiously.
“Good to know,” Jensen thanked her with a smirk of his own.
Sandy got up and stretched her arms. “Suppose I better be getting home and going to bed. Welcome to the Club, Mickey Mouse.”
“Actually, I’m only here until I can pay for culinary school.”
“A man who knows how to cook beyond ramen or order pizza? Didn’t think they grew those in the south.” Sandy flirted.
“Not only do they grow them in the south, since I’m from Texas, my skills are gown so much bigger.” Jensen joked.
“Welcome to sunny Florida then, Texas.” She hugged everyone in the room before heading to the door. “Good night.”
“Good night.” They called back.
Rosey cackled to himself. “Looks like you have your first admirer.” He tuned his own guitar and laughed at his new roommate.
“She’s a nice girl.” Jensen strummed at the strings idly, trying to create a tune that Rosey might follow him into.
“You ready to do this?” He wrinkled his forehead in concentration once he was sure that his guitar was tuned.
“I was born ready.”
Rosey chuckled. “All right, try to keep up then.”
Steve had finished making himself a drink by this time and was sitting on the other end of the couch with his own guitar. Christian was sitting cross legged on the floor and humming along his own harmony as the three guitars picked up a comfortable rhythm. Amanda was waiting for the right time to jump in. Tom, who was just there to hear what amazing thing he was sure was going to happen, settled back on the floor on his back, his arms behind his head.
The sounds that were washing over the room were like nothing that the ones that they had made together as a group and Steve found himself smiling so wide that he mad e mental note to talk to the rest of the group about maybe inviting Jensen to play with them from time to time.
When they had finished, they waited until the last note hanging in the air completely dissipated.
“That was - “ Christian was almost shaking with the intensity of what had just happened. “That was so amazing.”
“I’ll say.” Steve agreed. “That was one of the best jam sessions I have ever had. Too bad Danneel had to miss it.”
“You sure know what you’re doing, Jensen.” Amanda agreed, patting his knee. “It’s like you know your way around a guitar. Oh, I forgot. You’re from Texas.”
“No horses. No cattle.” He began to laugh, sensing his new friend’s predictable stereotypical assumptions.
“You should meet Texas. The other Texas.”
“Pardon me?”
“Funny enough his name is also a J-name. You remind me quite a bit of him. You’d probably hate each other. Or worse fall for each other.”
Jensen paused “Hey, I’m not…”
“Oh I know. But then again, you haven’t met Jared. He can sell Cupcakes to diabetics. We never know what’s going to happen when he’s around.”
“So what brought the rest of you here,?” Jensen took his guitar form his knee and handed it to the open hands of Christian.
Steve shrugged. “It’s the happiest place in the world. But in reality, I want to move up to corporate.”
“Corporate Disney?”
“Hey, that’s where it’s at. And I don’t want to be stuffed inside a character suit for the rest of my life. There has to be more to life than this.”
“Oh there is.” Jensen assured him. “But if you aren’t happy here, why keep doing it?”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t happy. I said I wanted bigger things.”
“Gotcha.”
“Hey, can we do one more song?” Rosey asked the room. “Maybe a classic?”
“Sure,” Jensen nodded, but declined when Christian tried to give him back his guitar. “Nah, you play this one.”
“Only if you’ll sing,” Christian raised an eyebrow.
“Deal.”
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