Chapter 3

I bid Dan goodbye as he walked towards the elementary school portion.

"Take care, alright? And tell me if anyone troubles you. I will take care of it." I said, patting his head. He looked so weak, too much like the victim on whom bullies preyed upon.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Seriously, Ash? Remember your promise?" The way he said it, it reminded me of the way mom scolded us.

I winced, both from the pinch of sadness and the reminder of the extremely stupid promise. I mentally scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah." Not that I wouldn't hurt anybody who even looked his way.

"Good. Now go. You don't want to be more late, do you?"

"Of course not. I will hurry up my ass to another class." I mumbled in defeat.

"Mind your language, Ash!" He frowned at me. He looked so adorable that I couldn't resist the urge to pinch his cheeks and coo at him.

He scowled and pushed my hands away from his face. "I'm not a baby. Don't do that again or there will be worse consequences."

"Oh yeah, I'm so scared." I cried in a falsetto voice, laughing. He tried to suppress his smile, but failed as he began to laugh along with me.

"Come on, we really need to get going now. Bye." I said, kissing his cheeks and hugging him. He scrunched his nose, but hugged me back.

"I love you, Ash." He murmured.

"Love you more, Dan." I whispered.

*******

Should I even go in? I thought, pacing in the corridor. I probably looked like a fool, prancing here and there outside the door. I once again glanced at the sign which said 'Music'. Yep, that's right. My first class for the day was music. I shuddered and my hands clenched into tight fists.

Suddenly, the door threw open. I jumped with a start and stared at the door, dumbstruck.

A middle aged man with a few crinkles near his eyes, that told me he laughed a lot, stared at me for a moment and then smiled happily.

I did not react in any way whatsoever and just stared at him with my eyes wide open like a idiot.

"So, I take it you're the new kid?"

"Uh..yeah, that's right." I regained my composure and replied with a straight face, my face emotionless.

"Come on in then. What's your name?" He asked me while going back into the classroom. I followed him and glanced around out of the corner of my eyes.

"Sasha Hastings." There were numerous musical instruments lying around the large room, which was obvious since it was a music class. Quotes were painted on the walls and music signs covered the remaining area.

"Hmm. So do you play or sing by any chance?" I smirked and shook my head.

"No, I don't. It was purely chance that I am in this class."

Keep your distance, Sasha. Keep your distance.

"Okay, then." He sighed. Why did he sound disappointed?

"So class, we have a new student today. Sasha Hastings. I hope you all get along with her."

With those words, he grapped the attention of the previously chattering class and the eyes of the judgemental students.

I raised my nose in the air. I wasn't scared of them. They were like small ants, who I could crush with my little finger. I smirked, and glared at them with barely restrained anger.

Most of them lowered their eyes in fear, after noticing my look. But a vaguely familiar face remained unbothered by me. I squinted, trying to remember him and the tough looking people standing behind him.

Oh yeah, they were the group that I had seen this morning.

I narrowed my eyes.

Someone next to me cleared their throat.

I turned my murderous glare on him.

The teacher flinched under my gaze. I tried to soften my face a little.

"So, uh... By the way,  I'm Mr Lockheart. I hope you'll like your journey here." I ignored his cliché I hope line and nodded to show him that I got his message.

I checked the room for any empty seats. There was one in the back, and one in the front.

I took the one at the back.

Mr Lockheart cleared his throat and began," Class, I want to inform you about the upcoming responsibility given to the Music Department this year. As you all are aware, this year there's going to be a event on which the other departments are also going to perform their respective activities. There will be several important people from their respective colleges, posing as judges of the show. If they like a particular act or person, they will give scholarships to their college. "

The class began to chitter excitedly between themselves at the impressive prospect of scholarships. I rolled my eyes. It's good news, I get it, but will you let the poor man standing at the front of the class, finish?

The teacher clapped his hands to regain the attention of the idiots. " Okay class, quiet down. So as I was saying, scholarships will be flying around if you do well. Our department, is going to perform a number of pop songs and add our own little twists to it. Amazing, isn't it?"  He laughed with pleasure. The class shouted out words of affirmation.

"So, for that, we need a band and spectacular talented artists from this class. Now, I know that you all have the potential to go very far, but only a few can be selected for this job."  He said, sounding apologetic.

"Now to talk of auditions, I don't want you to waste your time on this, so whoever is interested, can come tomorrow at 2 pm to this class, after school ends. Is that clear?" He finished.

The class erupted in cheers and whoops.

"Class dismissed!"

*******

I opened my locker and gathered my books for the next class. Then I heard footsteps approaching me. I immediately tensed, and stopped my work.

The person also stopped.

I turned  quickly and twisted the arm of the person over my shoulder. When I heard a cry of pain, I let go of the arm and glared at the person.

He was tall and lanky, one of the that group, with light brown hair. He was kneeling on the floor, holding his arm.

"Damn, girl. Who would've thought you were so... Ugh." He trailed off in pain.

"Stop overreacting. I didn't even twist your arm that hard." I finished getting my books out, and continued on my way to the next class.

"Wait up, I wanna talk to you about something."  He said, huffing and puffing.

I slowed down and rolled my eyes. People are so dramatic sometimes.

"What do you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah, about that. I wanted to ask, do you play any instrument?" I tensed.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just that you know, the auditio-." I cut him off.

"No." My tone was final.

"Oh." He paused. "No, you don't play or no, you don't want to?"

I grasped the meaning of the question. "Both."

With that, I walked away.