1 Chapter 1

I take a deep breath as I pass through the school's giant gates. Today is my first day at Acadia Academy. It took me so much hard work and dedication to get here. I can finally specialise in music and hopefully get a head start in my jazz career. I continue down the path to the school, lost in thought as the blooming trees rustle beside me. They have all sorts of different students here: dancers; singers; artists; producers; actors and even some 'idols'. Freshmen can't major in anything specific yet and I am certainly not complaining about that. All the different types of classes sound like a blast.

I find myself in front of some grand doors, a sign above it tells freshmen to wait by the entrance. Just like the several students around me, I can't seem to hide my excitement. Although some of the others look nauseous with nervousness, the girl next to me seems to be underwhelmed. She slouches to one side and picks at her fingernails nonchalantly. She is smaller than me and has shoulder length blonde platinum hair. Her deep green eyes seem to judge everyone before they even open their mouths. I approach her nevertheless, I really want to know what she is thinking about

"Hello! My name is Alexandria, what's yours?" I reach my hand across to her and smile gently. Her posture straitens and her face lights up in response.

"My name is Valentina." She grabs my hand with unexpected enthusiasm and shakes it strongly "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? I just find it interesting finding out where everybody has come from.

"Nice to meet you, Valentina. Of course, I don't mind. I find it interesting as well. I am from England. What major did you come here for? I came here to become a musician and I hope to specialise in Jazz." I try to keep the conversation going as best as I can.

"Ah that's cool, I came here to become an artist. I am so glad you started to talk to me, I know I have resting bitch face." She gives me a charming smile

"Art is literally the hardest subject I have ever done. It is pretty to look at though. It's no problem, although can I ask you what you were thinking about?"

"I find art relatively easy. What you do is so much harder." She leans in closer to me "Try not to get too offended but I was chatting mad shit about some of these girls in my head I mean look at her, doesn't she have the ugliest body you have ever seen?" She gestures over to this fat girl with a completely hideous body. I snort and start laughing, It's funny. She looks like she is part of the fat acceptance movement.

"Does this pig know we have to dance and do physical activity?" I reply with a snide comment and start laughing with her.

The fat girl opened her huge backpack to reveal a huge amount of snacks. She picked about three packets out of her bag and started to plough food into her face. "Oh come on, the last thing this bitch needs is more food. If she exercised with the same energy she is using to stuff herself she wouldn't be shaped like a pigeon." I start laughing again. I am quite proud of this comment and I don't feel the usual sting of guilt that follows afterwards

"Oh my goodness! I never would have thought of that one! I have a feeling we are going to be great friends." Valentina chuckles next to me.

A tall girl around the same size as me strides over to us, her black braids swaying with her pace. "Are you two chatting shit?" She smirks slightly. Valentina stutters slightly and her face gets a subtle tinge of red. I straighten my back and look this girl in the eye, I have to assert dominance even though my palms are sweating and my mouth is dry.

"Yes." I respond surprisingly solidly and soundly. Then she starts laughing and covers her mouth.

"Never in my life has anybody ever fully admitted to that. I heard you guys talking about that whale over there and honestly, I thought it was fucking hilarious. My name is Zakiah, what about yours?" We both introduce ourselves to her.

"You guys seem really calm. I have a feeling we are going to get on just fine." We all joke around with each other and judge everybody who arrives. It is very rare for people to connect like this so quickly but somehow it just works.

The doors suddenly open by themselves. They must be at least three meters tall and two meters wide, made of beautifully carved solid wood. They reveal a long corridor with paintings running down the side of each wall. A deep red carpet with gold trimming runs down the centre. It all looks very classic and elegant. Valentina grins from ear to ear at the sight of it. The smell of the wood invades my nostrils as I take deep breaths in and out. A boisterous voice echoes out of nowhere and makes the chandeliers clink together gently.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? COME ON IN!" I get too excited and my body reacts before my mind does, I stumble in through the door first. This triggers everybody else to come pouring in.

"FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT BUT IF A DOOR IS LOCKED DO NOT ATTEMPT OPEN IT. HERE ARE YOUR MAPS, YOU ARE IN THE ENTRANCE HALL. GATHER AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL AT 3 PM APPROXIMATELY." Maps are handed to us by people dressed smartly in tuxedos and white gloves. A squeaking noise comes out of nowhere and startles me.

"FUCKING MICROPHONE NEVER FUCKING WORKS I'M SICK OF THIS PIECE OF SHIT! THIS PRESTIGE ASS SCHOOL AND NOBODY CAN BUY A DECENT FUCKING MIC-"The voice gets cut off. Me, Zakiah and Valentina all make eyes contact and then start to explode into laughter. The principle sounds unintentionally hilarious. I make eye contact with a mid-size boy across the room with deep brown eyes and honey coloured hair. He seems to be laughing and making jokes about the same thing we are. I smile at him as I do find him very cute, he smiles back and I feel my mood increase tenfold. I turn back around swiftly and look back to my new-found friends.

"You heard the old man, we can explore as much as we want! Let's go!" Zakiah takes the lead and gestures for us to follow her. Valentina and I follow without question.

She enters the room closest to her and it appears to just be an ordinary classroom, only with beautiful music related decorations hanging from the walls. As I scope out the room I can't help but gasp in wonder. Everything seems more expensive here. The chairs are cushioned and gorgeously carved, the dark wooden floor that I presume is mahogany hasn't got a single dent in it, the windows have small pieces of different coloured pieces of glass garnishing the edges of them. Valentina seems indifferent to the grandeur around her once more. I approach her just as Zakiah decides it's time for us to leave and go somewhere else.

"You seem quite underwhelmed with all of this. Are these surroundings familiar to you or something?" I ask her in a friendly tone as to not offend her.

"Yeah, my parents are rich. I don't mean to look ungrateful or anything like that but I am just used to this type of luxury."

"Oh that's cool, what do they do?"

"They don't tell me, well they don't really tell me about anything." Valentina scrunches her nose and looks off into the distance.

"That's a shame." I dismiss myself from the conversation before it gets too personal and too awkward. We continue walking anyway but then decide to split up as I want to explore the music rooms, Valentina wants to explore the art studios and Zakiah wants to explore the acting rooms. I say my goodbyes to them and start to make my way slowly up to the second floor where the music faculties are. The views get evermore impressive as I progress further into the building. When I finally manage to find one of the several music rooms I sigh in relief. Thank god I finally found them.

What's that sound? I tilt my head and listen carefully. I can hear a beautifully clear voice emanating from the doors in front of me. I creep up to them as quietly as possible and listen more carefully I can't tell what language it's in but it's gorgeous. There isn't even a backing track. Whoever is in there must be checking the acoustics. I decide to see who it is.

I slowly open the door. The boy has gorgeous sun-kissed skin that looks dewy and healthy in the well-lit room. He also has that familiar shade of honey coloured hair. Maybe he is the boy from before. He seems to be lost in his singing. I close the door behind me and listen for a little longer. I imagine the backing track I would give it, although he almost definitely singing a song that already has one. There seem to be musical instruments scattered everywhere and expensive looking recording equipment in every corner. I notice the brass instruments next to the door.

I pick up the trumpet

I'm going to do it. I start playing a relaxed jazzy background for the boy's voice. He turns around instantly, eyes completely wide. I gesture for him to continue, he looks at me nervously but does it anyway. I try my hardest not to slip out of tune with him, it's hard but luckily I have a good ear for this type of thing. The music we are producing is gorgeous. I'm not big headed about my own skill or anything like that, but this boy's voice just combines and compliments my playing perfectly.

The song comes to its natural end and I decide to show off, I play up a blues scale and land on the highest note clearly. I take the instrument away from me and I can't hide the growing smile on my face. The boy is smiling as well

"I'm not going to lie that was awesome." He tilts his head slightly "My name's Haechan, what's yours?"