The Impossible Puzzle

Hell. The easiest way to summarize Jordan’s first year of college as a music major, and an unfortunate member of the Invincible Bros. An exclusive songwriting club that half of the student body and faculty didn’t even know existed. Jordan hated the spotlight and cursed his uncle for submitting a piece he had written for his mother to the School Board. Sure, it got him a full ride through college, but he didn’t exactly know if making music was his passion, nor if the headache he got from the Invincible Bros was worth it.

In a nutshell, music theory was destroying Jordan’s GPA, singing wasn’t easy, freshman fifteen continued on to the next year, and mastering any instrument would be a blessing for the clumsy sophomore. However, his biggest issue was with the other members of the Invincible Bros, namely, Milo, who hated Jordan for undisclosed reasons.

Milo wasn’t the Invincible Bros’ leader, he wasn’t even a manager, or second in command, no; Milo was just Milo. He was pretty good at composing, decent at best with lyrics, and sort of amazing at playing the piano. Sort of. But he was nothing like Noah, the school’s famous music prodigy and leader of the group. He wasn’t kind like Jorge, who looked after everyone even if he was swimming in projects. Milo wasn’t even a mood maker like J.J., entertaining like Viktor, or gifted like Krist. No, Milo was just Milo—an impossible puzzle.

The senior was quiet, blunt, and liked to keep to himself unless Hip Hop was involved—then you couldn’t shut him up. Milo wasn’t a fan of people either and hated talking about his feelings more than fire hated water. Of course, Jordan didn’t know any of that when he was forced to join the group. All he knew was that if he didn’t get along with everyone, school would suck.

So, being the complete masochist, Jordan was, he decided to shadow Milo in a failed attempt to befriend the senior. After countless months of verbal abuse, crying to Jorge, and being left out of group meetings, Jordan learned that Milo was not to be messed with. It then took another month or so for Jordan to stop caring about said unspeakable rule, and try to approach the impossible puzzle a different way—more subtle.

“Nah, just leave him. He’s like a damn cat. Takes years for him to warm up to anyone,” advised Noah. “Like he just started calling me by my first name, and we’ve known each other since Pre-K.” 

“Yeah, not the best tree to be barking up, Jordan,” added Jorge. 

Jordan deflated into his desk, arms forming a barrier between him and the juniors. “So, you’re saying my sophomore year is gonna suck too?” 

“Or you could just ignore him,” suggested Jorge.

“Yeah, dude, why do you even care what Milo thinks?” puzzled Noah.

It wasn’t like Jordan needed Milo’s approval or anything, no, it was more like he wanted to be the last piece of the puzzle the group never knew they were missing. But how in the world was he supposed to do that when Milo rarely let him speak at events, or attend meetings about incoming projects, or even ask the group for help on homework Jordan didn’t understand. 

“We know you’re mad and everything,” began J.J. as his head fell into his hands. “But, Milo isn’t gonna change.” 

“Plus, he’s a senior, why do all of this work when he’s just gonna leave?” pointed out Viktor.

Jordan disagreeably shoved jello into his mouth. “You guys can say that cause he’s friends with you already.” 

“I’m not friends with him. I just don’t care if he likes me or not.” Krist informed Jordan.

“That’s cause he doesn’t mess with you,” grumbled Jordan under his breath.

No one understood what he was going through, and Jordan was sick and tired of Milo’s dismissive attitude. He was ready to face the beast. Jordan’s plan was simple: just sit in Room 0309. It was one of the few practice rooms given to the Invincible Bros to use during club hours. Everyone knew that Milo practically lived there whenever school was out and was known to use the room alone or not at all.

Jordan’s goal was to force his way into the world Milo let no one be a part of. That way, Milo would have to either open up, allowing Jordan into his space or back down and find another room. Jordan hoped the former would happen, ultimately gaining him a new friend and a say in things the Invincible Bros did.

“I’ll send flowers to your funeral,” called Viktor playfully as Jordan made his way down the hall.

“Make sure to put in a good word for me with the man upstairs!” joked J.J.

“Like you two would go there, aim a little South,” corrected Krist with a snort.

With a few deep breaths and blocking out the other group members, Jordan opened the door to Room 0309 as softly as possible. When the door opened with an obnoxious screech, Jordan held his breath and peeked into the small practice room stuffed with two pianos, a work desk, a computer, and a mini loveseat.

Luckily, Milo hadn’t heard Jordan enter the room or close the door, a set of headphones covering both ears. After summoning every ounce of courage in his body, Jordan hurried over to the loveseat and pulled out a few projects of his own to work on. However, observing Milo became more interesting than learning about complex chord progressions, and rhythms because Milo was different when he thought no one was around. His face was less tense, he hummed songs with a smile on his face, and freestyle rapped like a boss. Jordan couldn’t believe Milo worked just as hard as Krist, the school’s resident overachiever. The senior always seemed like a slacker who hogged a practice room for hours just to do nothing. But here Milo was, a whole other person, putting beats together and quickly writing down lyrics as if they would fly away just as fast as they came.

It took a few hours and two bottles of water for Milo to finally notice that Jordan was in the room. The senior was conflicted but also already knee-deep in a song he couldn’t abandon just because Jordan wanted to be annoying. So, like the sophomore hoped, Milo simply rolled his eyes and continued to work, leaving Jordan to do whatever he liked. After an hour or two more, Jordan left the room with a huge grin plastered on his face.

“Not sure I like this look on you,” grimaced Noah.

     “You’d be happy too if Milo had the chance to yell at you, but he didn’t,” remarked Jorge as he leaned against the table Jordan sat at.

Krist made a face as he opened his laptop. “I still don’t get why you care so much.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” replied Jordan.

He went a few more times, getting bolder and bolder every time Milo allowed him to stay. At first, he stood glued to the worn-down loveseat, then he inched closer, settling for the piano closest to Milo’s workspace, then Jordan was practically hovering over the senior as he worked. Milo never said a word to Jordan, so Jordan kept coming back to see how far he could push before the senior exploded.

“I’m not gonna teach you any of this,” reminded Milo as Jordan loomed over him.

Jordan crossed his arms. “I wasn’t asking for help.” 

“Okay, good,” said Milo, and the two didn’t say anything for the rest of the day. 

Things got hectic as the holidays rolled around, too many songs to write, papers to B.S., and tests to barely pass. Jordan stopped going to the Invincible Bros’ room, heck, he stopped doing everything except going to classes. A few of the members would find him as he ran around campus to catch up and see how he was doing, and it would only remind Jordan that club activities used to keep him sane, well, sort of.

“I heard your uncle got you in,” stated Milo one day, standing in front of Jordan as he grilled his textbook for answers to his Music Theory final.

Jordan’s face pinched. “What?” 

“Is it true?” pressed Milo, looking as disinterested as usual.

“What the hell are you talking about?” shot Jordan as he got to feet, closing his textbook with an irritated grunt. 

“It’s a simple yes or no, Vázquez,” continued Milo as he loomed over the shorter sophomore.

“Fuck off,” growled Jordan.

He started avoiding the rest of the Invincible Bros members. If Milo thought Jordan got in from a handout, there was no telling what the others thought. After a week or two of all-nighters and loads of energy drinks, finals finally come to an end, and Jordan was left with one last thing to do before retiring back home for winter break. He was going to quit the Invincible Bros. It was the only way to keep the rest of his sophomore year from downright sucking.

“Denied,” yawned Noah as he leaned back in his rolling chair.

Jordan’s shoulders sank. “You can’t force me to attend some club I don’t care about.” 

“Liar, you like it here,” objected Krist, flipping through a songbook Jordan accidentally left in the clubroom. “This one’s not bad, and this one’s funny as hell.”

“Look, I’m leaving in a few days. Just help me out,” pleaded Jordan.

“No can do. You’re in the club till you graduate,” dismissed Jorge.

“But Milo—” Jordan stopped talking and lowered his gaze.

It wasn’t like he needed Milo’s approval or anything, no, Jordan just didn’t want to deal with the headache of trying to juggle club activities and school work. Unfortunately, Jordan’s semester ended with his continued membership with the Invincible Bros and an F in Spanish. Which forced the unenthusiastic sophomore to come to terms with the obvious: school sucked because Jordan let it. Spanish was hard because he rarely went to class. Music Theory destroyed him because he chose to watch dramas rather than study. And Milo was an impossible puzzle because Jordan kept trying to jam his way inside.

“My uncle submitted my application for me,” confessed Jordan with a new sort of determination. “But I wrote the song that got me accepted.” 

Milo was on his way to Room 0309 when Jordan randomly appeared from around the corner. “Dude, the semester just started. How the hell did you figure out where I was?”

“That doesn’t matter. The point is, I didn’t get help. I got in cause I’m good at what I do,” explained Jordan.

“I mean, it’s not even a big deal,” remarked Milo as he pushed open the practice room door. 

The sophomore halted at the door frame. “Right.” 

“Why’re you just standing there? Either come in or go home,” huffed Milo, and Jordan couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face. 

There was a huge songwriting contest going around the school, and the winner(s) got to have their song played at the Spring Showcase in April. Obviously, the Invincible Bros were roped into it and forced to team up. Noah grabbed Jorge the second the contest was announced, Krist begrudgingly teamed up with Viktor, and J.J. forced Milo to join him in making the dopest track to hit the streets. In other words, Jordan was left out, and it didn’t exactly make him feel good.

“You’re overthinking it, just join any group,” said Noah, looking over Jordan’s Theory homework. “By the way, all of this is wrong. Like seriously, all of it.”

Jordan snatched his homework back, shoving it into his backpack with a sigh. “Then, let me join your group.”

“No way! You wanna join my group instead,” teased J.J.

“Shut up,” hissed Jordan. “Noah’s the best of the best. Why wouldn’t I wanna join his team?” 

“You should hurry up and pick up your big boy pants, Jordan. Milo isn’t gonna wait for you to ask to be in his group forever,” joked Viktor, joining in the teasing party.

Jordan groaned into his arms, more embarrassed then he needed to be. “Why do I even talk to you guys?” 

In the end, Jordan never asked Milo to join his team, too scared to be rejected by the senior that was finally allowing him to speak at meetings. Which left Jordan to pair up with Krist and Viktor. After a few weeks, the contest came to a close, and the winners turned out to be Noah and Jorge. Everyone saw it coming, because, you know, him being a prodigy and all. 

But regardless of the results, the Spring’s Showcase was chill and cordial and only contained a few hours of Noah bragging to the others. Jordan didn’t really care for social events, especially not one’s he had to pay to attend or be forced to wear his suit from prom at. However, overall, the music was dope, the Invincible Bros were being praised left and right, and Milo was in a good mood.

“We could’ve made a better song,” commented Milo as he leaned against the wall next to Jordan.

“As if, Noah’s a songwriting machine. A master of his craft.” The sophomore chuckled.

Milo sipped at his glass full of wine and sighed. “I heard that I used to stress you out last year. Sorry about that, Vázquez.” 

“You still do,” admitted Jordan sheepishly.

“Before you entered the Invincible Bros, a rumor went around that you cheated your way in. And it pissed me off, you know, a lot of us had to work our asses off in high school just to be rejected in our freshman year.” Milo sighed as he lowered his glass and twirled it between his fingers. “So, it sucked to know people could just buy their way in, you know?” 

“No, I get it…but, uh, why are you telling me all this? I thought we weren’t friends…” trailed off Jordan, and Milo only replied with a lighthearted chuckle.

Jordan sipped at his own wine even though he hated the taste and only got one to get his money’s worth. There was something about celebrations that made the mood in the air strange and nostalgic. There was laughter, praise, and smiles everywhere Jordan looked, yet all he could think about was the long bumpy road it took to get there. The school year wasn’t over, and Jordan still had to get through another round of finals, but somehow, the usually stressed sophomore felt at ease. Milo was humming a soft tune that wasn’t playing on the speakers, the wine had left a bad taste in his mouth, and Jordan couldn’t help but think that fitting into Milo’s puzzle wasn’t as impossible as he had initially thought.