Unchained Melody

by S. K Munt

  ‘I’m game to nail anything!’ A jovial male voice called and suddenly, Callie felt a warm body press up against hers and slide her along the bench seat. She looked to see Reece Langtree grinning at her, tugging down on the brim of her cap. ‘Hello miss: ‘I’m too good to answer my phone.’

  ‘Actually she goes by Callie, usually.’ Marnie sat on the other side of Ryan and slid a disproportionate stack of books onto the table in front of her. Along with a Math and Science textbook, there was The Encyclopedia Of Mythology and a bunch of notebooks and another, slimmer book titled The Ancient Olympics. Callie thanked her stars that she’d taken social studies instead of ancient history! The course load looked intense!

  ‘Hello to you both too.’ Callie said, but she felt a twinge in her stomach as another name popped into her mind: Calliope. What was it about that name that tweaked at her so? Four weeks since the dance had passed and yet she could remember the altercation with Mr Bank’s girlfriend as clearly as if it had just happened. She pulled her fingers out of Ryan’s hand and it took him a while to let go, as though he’d mistaken it for a guitar pick or something.

  Mr Bank’s had been in a grouchy, despondent mood since that night, and Callie wondered if the girl had left, and then never returned. He spent more time in class making them read while he stared out the window with a listless expression. When he got over his sulk, Callie was going to ask him about the girl- if she could work up the nerve.

  ‘So what’s going on at your place this afternoon?’ Reece asked.

  ‘Huh? Oh nothing.’ Ryan nodded to Callie. ‘We’re working on a song for our gig night next Friday.’

  ‘Are You Game, right?’ Marnie supplied the answer as perkily as she responded to teacher’s when called upon.

  ‘That’s right.’ Ryan said with a bemused smile. Did he sense Marnie’s interest too?

  ‘Oh yeah, Hunter was telling me about that last week.’ Reece said, nodding thoughtfully. ‘We’re all coming.’

  Callie cleared her throat: ‘We?’ She parroted.

  Reece’s hand slid behind her, so that he was bracing himself on the back of her seat. ‘We,’ he said the word quietly into her ear, then smiled lazily over at Ryan, gesturing towards the crowd on the terrace with a swing of his arm. ‘All of us.’

  Callie and Ryan exchanged a look; his ecstatic, hers terrified, she was sure. Getting a huge crowd into Wolf’s Breath for their slot was a coup and a half, but that also meant that if Hunter ditched rehearsals, it was Callie who was going to have to sing for him in front of more people than ever! Everything inside her withered, but Ryan’s delight was so apparent that she merely smiled and and nudged Reece with her hip.

  ‘That’s great.’ She looked over at Ryan pointedly. ‘So we’ll be practicing all night then.’

  ‘Yeah that’s okay. Mum and dad are in Cairns anyway so-’

  ‘Hold up!’ Reece interrupted, raising his hand in front of Callie’s face. He then dropped it and leaned eagerly towards Ryan. ‘You have that big ‘ole place to yourself tonight? Pool and everything?’

  How Ryan managed to look nonchalant while sipping from a Just Juice popper evaded Callie. ‘It’s no biggie- the folks are always away.’

  ‘Yes!’ Reece clapped his hands together, green eyes bright with intrigue. ‘Can I come by? Maybe listen to you guys jam?’

  Callie looked at Ryan and cleared her throat, then did it again as words got clogged in there. ‘It’s not my place. But I don’t think Ryan’s parents would be thrilled to have a party-’

  ‘Sure,’ Ryan said easily, sliding his gaze back to Callie. ‘We do need to practice though, so if you hold off until about eight we could barbecue or something?’

  Callie swallowed, wondering if he was asking her permission. She didn’t know why on earth Ryan suddenly wanted Reece and his obnoxious friends at his place, but she supposed it had something to do with buttering up their future fans or... pissing Hunter off, giving their sell-out mate a taste of exclusion which suddenly, sounded like a pretty good idea to Callie too. She glanced over at Hunter’s table, to where their mate was still completely oblivious to them and smiled. ‘Sure.’ She finally said, deciding to trust Ryan on this one. Then she noticed Marnie’s excited expression and looked from her to Ryan thinking: Ohhhh… does Ry want a hook-up? Is that why he’s opening his doors? It made her feel slightly ill, but she included Marnie in her grin. ‘You’re coming right?’

  ‘I’m game.’ Marnie said softly, blushing at Ryan. And Callie looked away before she could see his expression thinking: And then there was one.

  *

  ‘Burning me like lava/ Blood’s on fire. Her eyes are aflame/ my hearts on the pyre.’ Ryan’s husky voice was caught by the microphone in front of him, and every chord he strummed on the guitar was so perfectly executed that Callie shivered before singing:

  ‘She knows it too/ her sights on you/ you’re hers for the taking and though it’s love you’ll be making…’

  ‘It’s your heart that is breaking-’

  ‘But you’re body will be aching-’

  ‘If you’re not game… if you’re not game…’ Ryan’s voice reduced the final chord to velvet and Callie almost swooned from the utter joy of hearing their voices rise and fall and intersect like an invisible dance.

  When the final note faded into the air, Ryan looked at Callie with glowing blue eyes and whispered. ‘Rocked it darling- in one.’

  Callie squealed and let her guitar strap catch the Fender as she threw her arms around Ryan. ‘Oh my...!’ She could feel his heart pounding with excitement against her own. ‘We did it, didn’t we? That sounded-’

  ‘You’re a goddess,’ Ryan’s lips brushed her cheeks and he hugged her so tightly against him that she could barely breathe. ‘Thank you Callie.’

  Callie heard the croak in his voice and she pulled back, grinning at him with teary eyes of her own. ‘You too?’ She asked, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

  ‘When I sing something that moves me?’ He asked, grinning gently. ‘Every time.’ He caught her chin with the tip of one finger, and lifted her gaze to his. ‘Your voice...’ He shook his head. Tears were caught on his thick eyelashes. He shook his head and swallowed. ‘Epic.’

  She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side. ‘It was your song, not my voice that made that music beautiful.’ She hugged herself and stepped away from his arms. They always lost their shit when an original song of Ryan or Hunter’s creation went well; there was always hugging and laughing and usually, Callie hid the tears which clogged her throat. In fact, those tears were the very reason she usually shied away from singing in front of people, because they strangled her vocal chords. If the music was too beautiful, it was like her heart couldn’t stand it and her voice couldn’t translate it clearly.

  But the band-bonding, in absence of the entire band- meaning without Hunter- felt almost too intimate a thing to share with Ryan alone, like it meant something else and it was making her aware of just how alone she and her beautiful ‘buddy’ were. Ryan had always been very affectionate with her and Hunter both- always hugging Hunter or kissing Callie on the top of her hat- he’d been like that since they were kids- but now, when he pressed his lips against her skin, she felt something other than friendliness- she felt butterflies. She glanced down at her watch. ‘Well it’s only six. We’ve got ages to get that perfect-’

  But Ryan stood from his stool and slipped his guitar strap over his head, resting it on its stand, and then reached for Callie’s own. ‘It’s already perfect.’ He said, his eyes darting towards the windows. ‘I don’t want to over rehearse it.’

  Callie’s eyes widened. ‘Are you serious? No way! Ryan didn’t you notice that I was so nervous then that I didn’t actually play a chord?’

  He chuckled. ‘And yet, how did it sound?’ He propped up her guitar and then looked at her with a challenge in his eye.

  ‘Pretty good…’ she admitted.

  ‘Exactly. You were nervous as hell, and
if that’s how you sound when you’re that nervous, then that’s how I need you to be next Friday night. Music isn’t something you should be comfortable with Callie; it’s something you should feel for the first time, every time.’

  Callie inhaled sharply, caught off-balance by Ryan’s poetic musings. ‘That’s deep. You know, for a guy who likes Marilyn Manson.’

  He laughed. ‘It sort of was, wasn’t it? Don’t even know where that came from…’

  ‘Well, I like it.’

  ‘You’ll like the No Doubt concert video more.’ Ryan took her hand and steered her under the arch which led into his wood-paneled living room. ‘We have some time to kill, so we might as well watch it.’

  ‘Cool.’ There was a large daybed in the centre of the room covered with brown suede cushions and Callie eased down onto it, glad she had worn her dad’s oversized Mighty Ducks jersey over her two-piece dance leotard so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting a wedgie in front of Ry. She bent her legs back, used the toes of her feet to inch off each of her supple black leather jazz shoes and then jerked the stirrups of her beige dance tights up her calves so her ankles could breathe. Comfortable at last, she cuddled a cushion to her chest and debated whether or not to yank the pins out of the bun under her hat, then decided against the effort.

  Ryan pressed the tape into the player and then hit a button on the remote pad built into the wall. The room began to darken as the automated shutters lining the picture windows began to buzz shut, one panel at at time as the T. V, which was almost the size of the entire wall, came to life with static snow. Callie closed her eyes against the offending glare and felt her body begin to melt into the cushion. Her dance exams were endless, and she hadn’t realized how tired she was.

  ‘I can’t wait for DVD’s to come out over here.’ Ryan confessed, hitting the fast-forward button his remote as he flopped onto the daybed beside her.

  ‘Ugh. They look so breakable.’ Callie opened her eyes, and saw the copyright warning words on the screening flashing by at four times their normal speed. ‘Why do they brag about the better sound quality? Have you ever heard a song sound better than when it’s played on a turntable?’

  Ryan paused. ‘No.’ He admitted. ‘Sometimes older is better… but not when it comes to picture quality.’

  ‘Well, I disagree; I love black and white photos. Some day, they’ll be cool again- and turntables will replace C. D players once more.’

  Ryan looked at her, his face so close to hers that their noses were practically touching. ‘You’re adorable, you know that? Even if you are mentally unstable.’

  Callie looked up at the screen, needing to not be looking into his beautiful eyes. Ryan was getting prettier with every passing day and it was getting harder not to be affected by it. But she didn’t want him to know that she’d noticed like every other girl in school, for fear that he’d write her off like every other girl in school. He didn’t let girls get close- so Callie had to be a guy. And guys did not breathe their male friends in like she was trying not to do.

  And then Ryan hit play, and Callie forgot all about him and Hunter. She closed her eyes and let the opening chords of Spiderwebs take her somewhere that was of no, and every consequence.

  *

  ‘Mmm, so many places to touch- where to start…?’ Hunter whispered on Friday night from his position against the tree in Wheel Of Fire park under a blanket of humidity caused by imminent rain.

  ‘Here!’ Meredith stilled his hand through her shirt and then guided it up, forcing him to caress the cup of her bra. Hunter pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth as his body hardened in reflex to her softness.

  Yes! His internal cry was a victorious one. He’d been dating Meredith for over a month and every weekend night he’d found himself in this exact predicament; making out with her in the park while their friends got up to similar things with each other on the playground equipment further away. As exciting as the nocturnal make-out sessions had been, and although he really did enjoy the kissing; enough was enough. His body wanted more and now. In fact he’d gone from wanting it, to needing it. How many lunch hours did he have to pass listening to her theories on why all the teachers sucked, why Home And Away was better than Neighbors and why why Godzilla was a ‘totally underrated’ movie before he got to feel a bit of skin on skin action? If he didn’t let him past her bra tonight he was pretty sure that his leaden balls were gonna fall off.

  ‘No way!’ Alannah said loudly, her voice carrying across the otherwise silent night. ‘Ryan Weaver does not have parties! His folks would lose their minds!’

  ‘It’s not a party. Just like a B. B. Q thing.’ Jed, Alannah’s boyfriend rushed to say. ‘I say we check it out. Could be fun!’

  ‘Who’s going?’

  Hunter’s eyes flew open and on auto-pilot, he broke off the kiss he’d been so invested in and began to pull Meredith away from the tree. Ryan was doing what?

  ‘Hey?’ Meredith yelped, adjusting her shirt. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Ssh,’ he said shortly, craning to hear.

  ‘Oh you know… Ryan and Callie, Reece and Marnie. I heard that Laine and Cash were going as well, but not until later because they’re having dinner-’

  ‘Who’s having a party?’ Hunter interrupted Jed, sure he had heard wrong. ‘Ryan? As in, my Ryan?’

  Jed looked at him and snorted. ‘You mean, your life-partner Ryan, right?’

  Alannah giggled. ‘Yep that totally sounded gay.’

  Hunter scowled at Jed to cover his embarrassment. ‘Whatever. What’s happening at Ry’s?’

  Jed pulled Alannah up against his side. ‘Reece is over there tonight. Apparently Callie and Ryan are going to jam for them and then have a pool-party.’

  Hunter wouldn’t have been more confused if Jed had said: ‘Callie and Ryan are in a Burlesque act tonight but we need to be wearing ruby slippers to get in.’ A strange feeling munched away at his stomach lining as he realized how much he hated the names: ‘Callie and Ryan’ being spoken without ‘and Hunter’ tacked onto the end like how it was supposed to be. They were a trio; an exclusive trio, who avoided the populace. Callie and Ryan did not host B. B. Q’s without him, and he certainly wasn’t the kind of friend who ditched them to make out at the park with his girlfriend! He felt a pang of guilt in his chest, and then a needle of jealousy. Even if he had been a bit ignorant, where did they get off throwing a party and not inviting him?

  Hunter turned to Meredith. ‘Look I’m sorry. I know you guys like to hang out here but if Callie and Ryan are having a jam session, they’re going to want me there.’ He let go of her hand and retrieved his keys from inside his pocket. ‘I’ve missed a million practices lately, so if I don’t show up, they’re going to be pissed.’

  Meredith glared at him, crossing her arms. ‘So you were invited?’

  Hunter paused, feeling his cheeks go hot. Damn it! Meredith could be so cool most of the time but sometimes she’d get in these nasty little digs- always in front of people too, like she was trying to humiliate him. He kept his expression serene as he twirled his keys on his index finger. ‘I don’t need an invite. Hanging together is implied with us Mer. That’s just how we are.’

  ‘Then can I come along?’

  Hunter wanted to say yes but things were already weird enough between Callie, Ryan and himself. If he showed up for the first time at Ryan’s place in a week dragging her along he’d be mocked if not told to beat it. ‘Another time, okay?’ Before she could pout, he winked and added: ‘I don’t want you to see our act until we’ve got our shit together- that way, you’ll be all impressed and stuff.’

  Meredith rolled her eyes, but the ferocity had left them. ‘Fine.’ She motioned to his car. ‘Hurry up. Maybe we can meet up after?’

  Hunter was afraid to exhale lest he made his exasperation obvious. He just ducked his head and said. ‘Yeah okay I’ll track you down…’ and then took off for the parking lot before she could force him to change his mind.

&n
bsp; As much as he had enjoyed feeling her up, there was one thing that felt better under his fingers than anything else in the world: his guitar strings.

  5.

  When Callie’s eyes opened, she was shocked to find herself in almost complete darkness and not in her own bed, which was the only place she was used to waking up in. She blinked up at the ceiling which was glowing several shades of grey, and listened to light rain fall outside, her lips tugging down reflexively. She hated rain! She hated anything that wasn’t bright and still. The Queensland weather was so ideal one moment, and then threatening to rip the state apart the next; blow it over, submerge it, uproot trees and wipe out power lines… whatever mood took its fancy. Eight years she’d been in Australia, and she was no more used to it than she had been when they’d first arrived.

  But the rain was light at least, and she hoped it would abate at the earlier humidity of the day. She was only just beginning to breathe in a deep calming; This-is-October-not-cyclone-season-yet breath, when she became aware of something long and warm stretched out beside her. She turned her head, and found herself staring into Ryan’s eyes.

  ‘Oh!’ She smiled as it all came back to her; she’d rolled onto her back on Ryan’s lounge, watching the No Doubt video upside down and evidently she’d drifted off. ‘Sorry! How long have I been out for?’

  ‘Over an hour.’ Ryan’s voice was soft, as though he was trying not to disturb the darkness. He wasn’t prone like her, but propped up on one elbow and stretched out on his side, staring down at her. ‘You looked so peaceful that I let it be. We’ll watch the video another time.’

  Callie was chagrined. ‘Oh no way, you watched me sleeping?’ She covered her face with her hands, well aware of how odd she looked when she slept. Her mother and father had always joked that she lay like the dead -not tossing and turning, not muttering to herself like others did, but completely still and silent. Callie knew enough herself, because she always woke up in the position she’d gone to sleep in; which was almost always on her back. Her strange nocturnal habits were one of the many reasons why she didn’t have a bunch of girlfriends, because even in the second grade, she’d known that it was weird to sleep like a corpse, and that she didn’t want anyone seeing it or laughing at her at slumber parties and telling everyone. So she just hadn’t gone and plead homesickness instead which had lost its adorability at about age twelve.