[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 330 & 331. (Patreon)

Chapter 330: Bass in the classroom.

As I said, excitement and anxiety grew in equal measure. The talent show was a bigger deal than I ever imagined it would be. I mean that in a personal sense. It was a date to look forward to, a deadline fast approaching. A day going by was not just another day, but one less day to practice and get ready. And so, as the date came closer… I decided to take my bass to school one day.

I was practicing a lot at home, practically every day, but I was getting anxious. There was only a bit over two weeks left until the show, and while the bass was coming together, it was still the weakest part of my performance. Of course a lot of guitar-playing skills translated to bass and it made for an easier time learning, but playing bass made me pick up on some bad habits I had for rhythm playing. Basically, I wanted to practice even more.

I sat in the club room with the bass on my lap, playing while the girls casually chatted with each other. The low, rhythmic sounds seemed to be welcomed background noise instead of an annoyance.

Alice and Noelle weren’t here this time. As the date came closer for me, so it did for them, the organizers. Isabelle was here, though, crazily enough. Considering I was busy practicing instead of doing… something else, I actually liked that she was here talking with the others.

“You can tell something big is coming, can’t you?” Mila said. “The mood in the school is different than before. People are excited for the talent show.”

“Something to be excited about for once,” Isabelle said, nodding in agreement. “Some of my friends are performing just for shits and giggles, even.”

“There are plenty of shows to look forward to,” Grace said and started to count with her fingers. “The drama club has a short play, the photography club has a slideshow on the city’s most beautiful foods, there’s someone doing a Michael Jackson…”

“I’m looking forward to the comedy show!” Mila said.

Sarah grinned. “I want to watch more unconventional stuff. You know, like a magician or someone juggling on a unicycle.”

“Is there anyone doing that stuff?” Mila asked.

“Yes,” Isabelle said. “One of my friends doing it for shirts and giggles. He’s not the greatest magician, though.”

I didn’t participate in the conversation at all, and was thankful that the girls didn’t mind. I felt focused and didn’t want to break that. Hearing them talk didn’t bother me, though. Instead it felt nice.

The bell rang and we made our way to our classrooms. I had to put away my bass in its case and carry it to the classroom with me. I briefly considered leaving it in the club room since we always left it locked, but the idea of leaving it alone made me uncomfortable.

The problem was that taking it with me to the classroom also made me uncomfortable. I feared that people would think I was showing off or trying to attract attention, but… Well, I had a reason to bring it with me, didn’t I? I was going to practice again during recess and lunch break, too. Besides, back in freshman year I used to bring my guitar to school, too, since I used it in the music club, and no one ever approached me because of it.

So imagine my surprise when I entered the classroom and saw most of my classmates turning to me, looking at the bass case hanging from my shoulder. I tensed up as I walked over to my seat. Their eyes followed me. No one said anything, but they all looked.

It was during the first recess that people approached me at my seat. At least they were Lena and Amanda, people who already knew me somewhat.

“Hey, Oliver, why’d you bring your guitar today?” Lena asked me.

“It’s… a bass, actually,” I told her. “I’m new to it, so I need to practice more if I want to put on a proper performance at the talent show.”

“Wait, you play bass, too!?” Amanda asked, shocked.

I smiled shyly. “Like I said, I just started it.”

“Can you show us?” Amanda asked, grinning.

“Eh?”

“Yeah, play something,” Lena said.

“That’s… Bass isn’t very flashy, you know?”

“Just play something until they lose interest, Oliver,” Sarah said, coming up to us with Grace and Mila.

“Rude!” Amanda crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. “I asked him because my little brother is a bassist. He started last year. I want to tell him that there’s a guy in my class that also plays the bass.”

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Sarah said, laughing.

I hope you won’t think ill of me, but… I was sorta prepared for this. When I started practicing, one of the first things I did was look up easy and famous bass lines that were immediately recognizable. You know, for when people… ask you to play something.

I opened the case, brought out the bass and set it on my lap. “It’s unplugged, so it won’t sound very loud,” I told them. Still, I started playing. People usually think bass gets lost in songs, but there are many that make it shine. Those are the ones I learned.

“Oh, wait, I know that one!” Lena said excitedly. “Oooh, what’s the name? I know I’ve heard it before!”

“Right? I can’t remember either…” Amanda said.

“Seven Nation Army,” said Mark, coming up to the group with hesitant steps. He looked at me with a small, awkward smile. “That’s the one, right?”

I looked up at him, nodded and continued.

I flinched and almost stopped when someone else, a classmate I rarely talked to, joined in by slapping his desk to the rhythm. I’m so glad I didn’t stop because then he, his friend and even Mark began to sing along.

I couldn’t stop the smile. It was so sudden, but there I was playing bass and having a small audience and others joining in. When I was done, the two other guys came up to me, laughing cheerfully.

“Dude, that was awesome! Do you know other songs?”

I swallowed. “A c-couple more, yeah.”

“Play them! I wanna see if we know them.”

“You probably do,” I said.

I began to play, and by the fifth note, a girl at the other side of the classroom yelled, “Oh my GOD! Stand By Me!” She rushed to us and joined in the singing along with the other guys. Mila, Grace, Sarah, Lena and Amanda also knew this one, so they sang it, too.

I was getting really into it, so it made me really sad that I only knew one more popular song. However, I was sure everyone would know it. I began to tap my foot to the rhythm before I began to play. Everyone’s eyes lit up.

By the chorus, a few more people had joined us in singing. “DUN! DUN! DUN! Another one bites the dust!”

The first days I spent in the old music room with Mila, Grace and Sarah were some of the best I’d ever experienced in school. I thought nothing would ever top them, and yet… that day was a strong contender.

My chest swelled with happiness and excitement.

************

Chapter 331: Growth and hindrances.

That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen, you know? Bringing your instrument to school, playing it and gathering an audience… Those are just daydreams. At least, I always thought so. Maybe it was a fluke, a rare event, the 0.001% GET on a gacha roll, but goddammit… It was one of those before and afters, even if it took me a few years to realize it. It was the start of a very important realization.

The bell rang to signal the end of the first recess. My classmates all booed and whined at it, and I shared the sentiment.

“Are you gonna play bass at the talent show?” Mark asked me.

“Ah? W-Well, see…”

“You should, man!” one of my classmates joined in, giving me a thumbs up. It was the one who started drumming on his desk.

“Yeah, I bet you’d do really well!” his friend said.

“I’m…” God, now that the playing had stopped, I realized there were so many eyes on me. One, two, three, four… seven people not including the people I already knew. Hell, it was almost half our class. I swallowed hard and pushed through. “I’m… actually playing the guitar. I’ll play the bass on video, though.”

“Oh, that’s right, you play guitar,” said one of the girls. “What are you playing?”

“A… A s-song from a g-game…” I said fearfully. It wasn’t a popular song, after all. No matter how well I played, it wouldn’t get a reaction like this.

“No one else from our class is participating, right?” Amanda said. “That makes you our representative, Oliver.”

I smiled shyly. “I’ll… try not to disappoint.”

“We’ll cheer for you!” Lena said.

“Break a leg, man.”

“You better get first place!”

“T-Thank you.”

I didn’t know how to deal with all this… support. It came out of nowhere and answering with the distant, polite smile I wore at work felt inappropriate. For all I had grown, I still had a lot to work on.

People began to return to their seats, the excitement slowly fading as the little event left their minds. Then, as I was putting away my bass, I spotted someone outside the classroom. Julian Jenking was glaring at me from behind the door, his hostility clear in his face and without a doubt directed entirely at me. When I met his eyes, he clicked his tongue, scoffed and left.

I brushed that aside before I started getting ideas. It was nothing new that the guy didn’t like me, but since I didn’t like him either, it was no skin off my back if he was upset over something.

Yeah, I was wrong about that one.

***

It happened that very next day. I found out at my house after school, when Grace, Mila and Noelle came to hang out.

We were in my room. I was practicing guitar, Isabelle was on my computer, messing with the editing software, Mila and Noelle were playing with Cake and taking pictures and videos of her, and Grace was looking at her phone. That was when the latter asked, in a very casual tone, a very strange question.

“Oliver, are you cheating on us?” She was still looking at her phone.

I nearly dropped my guitar. I stared at Grace with blinking eyes and a stupefied expression. “Um… No, I’m not?” I answered.

Grace nodded. “Figured.”

“Where the hell did that come from?” Isabelle asked her.

“Yeah.” Mila nodded, crossing her arms and frowning at Grace. “What are you looking at?”

“Lena just texted me saying someone told her that they saw Oliver and Abigail making out.”

“Huh?” Noelle exclaimed, tilting her head in confusion.

“Who the fuck even is Abigail?” I asked, indignation swelling in my chest.

“A girl from my class,” Isabelle said. She then blinked. “Oh. Oooh.”

Grace nodded. “Get it now?”

“I don’t,” Noelle said. “What’s going on?”

“Abigail is a girl that absolutely fucking hates by guts,” Grace said.

“And mine and Sarah’s by default,” Mila added.

“She’s the one who most prominently spread mean rumors about them,” Isabelle said. “We’re friends, kind of. We talk a lot at school, but not outside. I believed the rumors because of her.”

“So… this is a rumor to get us to mistrust Oliver?” Noelle quickly inferred.

Grace nodded. “Most likely.”

“But… Why?” I asked. “Just because she hates you?”

“Possible, but the timing is…” Grace pursed her lips and tapped her chin. “Time to do some digging, I guess. I’ll need to ask some questions tomorrow.”

“Let me help,” Isabelle said. “I’ll talk to Abigail, see what she has to say.”

“Thanks. It'd be hard for me to get anything worthwhile out of her.”

Noelle’s phone buzzed. She looked at it and her eyes widened. “W-What the hell? One of the council members is asking me if it’s true that Oliver cheated on me.”

“Same here,” Mila said.

My jaw dropped.

“Yep. It’s spreading quickly. For now, just tell them it’s a stupid rumor.” Grace moved from her seat on the bed and scooted a little further away from me. “Mila, Noelle, sit down at the other side, but not too close.”

Mila chuckled and did as told. “What are you planning?”

“Whatever is happening, we’ll take advantage of it. Isabelle, can you record Oliver playing something popular?”

“Sure.”

“Huh? Something popular?”

“Yeah. Even better if it sounds impressive.”

“Play the Free Bird solo,” Isabelle said. “That’ll be a hit.”

“You can play the Free Bird solo?” Noelle asked.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. It took me like a year to get it down, but I can.”

“Then play that,” Grace said. “Isabelle, we need to barely be in frame. Enough that people can tell it’s us, but not enough that we’re stealing spotlight.”

Isabelle nodded. “Okay, I think I have an idea of what you want to do.”

I didn’t. I had no idea what was happening, but I did what Grace asked of me.

None of them even questioned me when I said I wasn’t cheating. They trusted me. Why wouldn’t I trust Grace if she had a plan?

I played the Free Bird solo on camera. Even I had to admit it came out really well.