Wish You Were Here (Salem)

[Milo Ellis]

Milo sat on one of the many chairs in his room, eating a bowl of godawful pasta and godawful grated cheese. He usually brought his own lunch, but he had sort of locked himself out of his car that morning, with his keys and, more importantly, lunch, still inside. It meant he had to catch the bus, but that wasn't too bad. There was a pretty girl on the bus who kept smiling at him, so there's a bonus, and he had put his wallet and phone in his pocket. All that was lost was his lunch and a few dollars for a new key.

Milo was sat on one of the many chairs in his room waiting for his newest student, Salem. Milo liked Salem. Salem was cool. Plus, he played guitar, which made him even cooler. Based on information directly from the boy himself, Milo figured he knew exactly what to give Salem. It was a song by Pink Floyd called Wish You Were Here. It had a relatively easy intro and main tune, but it was the improvisations that really made it special. Milo was going to be looking how far Salem took the piece and how much effort he put in to see where he should hear next.

Milo much preferred songs to pieces of music. This could be due to his passion of singing, or maybe it was because he found it much easier to squish and mold human voice into the pitch he wanted. Either way, he usually gave his students popular(ish) songs to learn, rather than a concerto. It's also why he used a steel string electro acoustic rather than a classical.

Milo sat on one of the many chairs in his room, and waited for his next student.

[Salem Hirch]

The boy groaned as he set up from the couch and looked around. At least he was in the common room this time and no one seemed to be around. Salem couldn't even remember what the illusion was this time that set him off, but it had to been a doozy. Because when he looked at his watch he realized it had been a few hours since he last remembered where he was. Now he was scared he was going to be late. It was after all his first time with guitar lessons.

Well, here at the Institute anyway. Jumping up he ran to his room; grabbed his guitar; gave himself a quick once over in a nearby mirror and headed out. Luckily by now, the boy knew his way around school. Even when he wasn't really there. Salem tried to be quick, but his head was throbbing just a little, so rushing was not a good idea. The closer he got to the music room, the better his head seemed to feel a little better. He was grateful for this because it was hard enough to play guitar anymore anyway, but with a headache. Yeah, that just sucked.

Standing at the door he paused a moment to collect himself as his head finally eased off the rest of the way. He reached for the door and paused again. He had just met the teacher Mr. Ellis the other day when he signed up for lessons, but still, he could feel himself drawing back some and shook his head. He made himself a promise to do this. Playing was a joy for him and he wanted to feel that again. Slowly pushing the door open, he plastered on a smile.

"Hello again Mr. Ellis." Salem spoke quietly as he walked in. Trying not to disturb the man's lunch.

[Milo Ellis]

Milo was midway through sinking his teeth into a piece of slimy macaroni when the door opened and Salem spoke.
"Ah, Salem! So great to see you here. Please, come in, take a seat. Make yourself at home."
Milo got up, put his pasta down and picked his electro-acoustic up. He had only met the boy a few days ago, but he was obviously fairly good at guitar and Milo had seen potential. He offered a few free lessons (a months worth, so three weeks and one a week) before they had to pay and Salem had agreed.

"First things first, please don't call me 'Mr. Ellis'. My name is Milo. Secondly, I'd really like you to pick a song that you'd like to play for me, so I can get a judge of where you are currently. Just play me your best piece: try to set a good first impression. If you can't think if anything, then that's fine, we can just go straight in."
Milo smiled. After he played this, 'Mr. Ellis' would show Salem the Pink Floyd song and things would start rolling.

[Salem Hirch]

At first Salem wasn't sure what to do. He really never had 'formal' lessons, but as Milo asked him to make himself at home, he seemed to feel more relaxed. "Thanks." He spoke briefly and made his way to a chair near his new teacher and sat. His guitar resting on his lap for a moment as he looked around the room. The first time he was there was just a few days prior and he really didn't get the chance to look around. It wasn't different from any other music room the boy had ever seen. Maybe a little cleaner, but that was about it.

Turning his attention back to the man as he spoke again, Salem smiled. "Alrighty...Milo." It felt a little odd to call a teacher by their first name, but if that's what Milo wanted, then it was fine by Salem. Continuing, Salem looked back down and readied his guitar. "I was actually thinking of what song to play on my way here." Strumming his fingers over the tight strings, he checked to make sure it was in tune. "And, I decided to play a song called "Dance In The Graveyards", well the acoustic version anyway."

Chewing on his body lip before he started to play, Salem also closed his eyes. For those brief moments, the young man didn't feel lost or shy. He sang along softly and never lifter his head. Until the song finished at least. As he stopped he looked up at Milo. "Um, I know that was terrible, but I can always try again."