1 CHAPTER 1
đ”|Chapter 1
"When words fail, music speaks."
â
Hans Christian Andersen.
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Autumn hummed softly to the song that played through her headphones. It was her favorite River Crowns' song.
She twirled excitedly in her white hanging seat as her favorite part of the song came on.
Around her, her room was in a state of disarray. Her bed was messy, the blankets were rumpled and turned over and a tray of her half-eaten breakfast courtesy of Kendra sat on the bed next to her guitar who she named Lyrae.
At one corner of the room stood her closet and her hamper which had multiple clothes spilling out as a result of being tossed carelessly into it after a long, stressful day.
At another side of her room was her study desk and shelves which kept most of her clutter hidden.
The desk had pens, notebooks, and highlighters scattered on top of it, and in their midst stood an open sleeping laptop, a turned-off lamp, and an empty coffee mug.
She had been putting off cleaning it for a while now. Back home, Amber always did the cleaning but Autumn liked her clutter. As long she could find her stuff quickly when she was running late and there were no bugs, she was good.
Autumn took in a breath, readying herself to sing her heart out at the chorus but instead all she heard was a loud beeping sound that filled her ears through the headphones.
"Shit." The curse word flew from her mouth as she stumbled out of her seat almost having a faceplant in her purple rug.
She unplugged her headphones from her phone. She stared down at the device for a second. Her constantly changing lock screenâwhich was presently a photo of her sister, Amber, their dog, Brownie, and herselfâ greeted her with a reminder of the times when things were so much simpler.
However, the time on her phone pulled her out from her moment of reverie.
11:15 AM
"Shit, shit, shit," she cursed as she hurried around her room.
Her mother would be very disappointed with her vocabulary.
Autumn hurriedly grabbed the things she would need for her 11 am class while muttering repeatedly, "I'm not gonna be late, I'm not gonna be late."
Pens, her special leather notebook that held within its pages the pieces she had written and the ones she was still working on, her notebook for jotting, and orange highlighter were all stuffed inside her book bag.
She shrugged on her jacket and the strapped her black bookbag across her chest before she lifted her brown acoustic guitar from her messy bed, put it in the same position on her body but in the opposite direction forming a crisscross in the middle of her C-cup chest, and hurried out of her room.
She hurried past her roommates: Daniâ the cynical, smart, and rich Asian American, Kendraâ the avid, popular, charismatic, epiphany having daddy's girl and Fredrickâ amicable, funny former frat boy who bears the title of 'Kendra's boyfriend' sat together in the small living room their dorm had come with watching a movie on the 32-inch flat-screen provided by Danielle's billionaire father.
Lucky suckers who almost never had morning classes.
"Late for class again, A?" Dani guessed without looking away from the movie.
"Yup," Autumn confirmed before she shut the door behind her and hurried across their small lawn.
Luckily, her instrument class was an eight-minute walk from their apartment-styled dorm so she could make it in record time.
As Autumn tried to break into a run, her guitar collided with her backside and she let out a groan.
She didn't need that today. She was already as clumsy as Tom during one of his and Jerry's endless chases. Add an uncooperative guitar to the mix and she was just a hot mess.
Annoyed, she lifted the instrument off her and carried it in her arms the same way her sister, Amby carried Brownie when he was still a puppy.
She looked like a crazy person.
No, not Ambyâ Amber was an epitome of grace and perfection. She put the 'P' in poise.
Autumn was the one who looked like a crazy person. She was clutching an acoustic guitar in her arms, her unbrushed caramel hair bounced behind her, and the red pair of headsets resting around her neck jiggled with every step she took.
As she approached the building, she noticed a group of students gathering around a car.
She ignored this.
Another day at college, another type of drama.
She didn't have time for drama.
Autumn believed she had just one purpose: graduate from college next year at 22 and become a musician and not just any ordinary musician. She wanted to be one of the best ones out there and she was going to do it no matter what the world, her extended family, and her parents said about it.
Music was her calling. She knew it was ever since she heard her first River Crowns' song when she was 13 and at 16 when her obsession with music and her many musical instruments grew into love.
She might as well die doing thisâ the one thing she lovedâ rather than going off to Law school while her sister had gone off to Med school as her parents wanted.
The one person who believed she could do this was Amby and her ex-boyfriend, Michael, and Autumn had promised herself that she wouldn't let them down.
She scaled the stairs, avoided the other students along the halls, and yelled hassy apologies over her shoulder to anyone who got caught up in her mishap.
At exactly 11:23, she snuck into her class through the back door and slid stealthy into a seat in the back of the class with an exhausted sigh.
A man in his late 40's stood at the front of the class with greying black hair, plain shirt, and pants onâ Professor Craig.
He had begun going over the basics of playing a guitar as usual.
For some reason, he spent the first 15 minutes of the class doing this.
Relieved that she hadn't missed anything of real importance, Autumn set Lyrae in the empty chair next to her and took off her book bag.
She used her palm to smoothen the front of her hair. She knew stray strands were sticking out.
She took out her pen and jotter from her bag leaving the leather brown one inside.
"And remember," Professor Craig said in conclusion," the key of G is the third fret on the lower string and an interval is a distance between two notes. Let's begin."
Autumn tucked her hair away with both her hands behind her ears as the lesson began.
A smile spread across her lips.
This was her home.
Music was written in her heart.
This was what she was meant to do and hell, was she gonna do it.
âȘ
Half an hour later, Autumn sat alone in her empty instrument class.
A few minutes ago, the entire class had rushed outside for some reason immediately after Professor Craig had said his final statement.
The professor had followed suit but with a lot more decency.
Autumn could hear crazy squeals and ridiculous comments coming from outside.
It was probably a celebrity artist visiting the school (as they did regularly) that was causing all the commotion.
Once a month, Genre Art Academy invited a well-known artist to come to talk to the students and motivate them to work harder.
That wasn't what was on Autumn's mind at the moment though. She'd worry about that later.
She stared at the blank page in her special leather notebook before her, frustration slowly sipping into her skin.
Words bounced off the walls of her head, teasing her brain but never sticking long enough for her to grasp a concept for the song she was writing. Well, trying to write.
She wanted to scream and pull her hair out.
Dreams
Whispers
Home
Hope
Promises
Stars
The words in her head were swirling around in a hurricane of confusion.
She let out a sigh, placed her pen against the page, and put herself to work.
They said
Dreams didn't mean shit
Do
Something worth it
Cos happily ever after only came
Once in a lifetime
When things were never the same
Pre Chorus:
Then you said
Listen to me closely
Go where your passion's soarin'
I'll hold you if it comes down to it
Wipe your tears off
If you're caught up in a stitch
Chorus:
For you
I'll make my dreams come true
To prove them wrong
For you
Are my home's location
It's true
Your whispers in my heart
They keep my hope alive
And when I'm locked up in the dark
You push my doubt aside
So I'll believe
I'll believe
For you
I'll believe
I'll believe for you
Satisfied with her new piece, Autumn sang it from the top and she loved the way her voice echoed through the room.
With a small smile on her lips, she pulled the book's strap shut and put it in her bag. She started singing the River Crowns' song from this morning. She sang it a bit different from the way he had. Whenever she did this back at home, Amber called it the 'Autumn's twist.'
She grabbed Lyrae off the seat next to her and hung her book bag on her left shoulder and Lyrae on her right all while singing.
For a brief second, she looked down at her cropped white long-sleeve T-shirt, ripped light blue jeans, and black and white Nike shoes.
She blamed her simplicity for her non-existent love life. Not that she wanted one anyway. She had broken it off with the one guy who ever looked her wayâ Her ex-boyfriend, Michael Nolan.
Amber's wardrobe was different and so much better than hers. It was filled with a variety of colors. Amby liked floral dresses and skirts which designer leather jackets and killer boots.
Her blonde hair was always in place and her boyfriend of three years, Jacob Lockheart, absolutely adored her.
Pushing her slightly jealous thoughts to the back of her mind, she pulled the exit door open and her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing at the other side.
He had long black hair, bright green eyes, and a sharp jaw.
She recognized him instantly.
Her words were stuck in her mouth because this wasn't how she had imagined meeting River freaking crowns.
If this was a dream, she did not want to wake up.
