Chapter 4: Music, is more Than Meets the Ear.
You glanced repeatedly at the clock. Your heart was pounding and your grip on the yellow ticket is tightening on every second that has passed.
‘How durable is this ticket? I bet I can’t even rip it in half! You thought.
You wouldn’t dare try to rip it, because you might be staying in the dorm hallways for the rest of the school year. You sighed and went to your couch. You grabbed the laptop bag on the way. You sat and withdrew the device from its case and opened it. The screen lit up and you typed in your password; “Stevenisafaggot” .
As you played on the laptop, the clock did its job and ticked the time much, much faster for you got your back turned to it.
“You had gained experience.” An old voice rang out from the laptop, signaling you had gained a level and it’s time to get ready for moving out. You exited your game and looked at the clock; 10:30.
‘Right on time.’ You thought as you heard 3 knocks at your door. You ran up to it and opened it. There were 2 men at your front door. Then one was wearing overalls, an orange shirt under it and topped it up with a sweater. He was most likely 30 years old, judging from the light brown beard he had growing on his face. He had a warm smile on his face and was smoking a cigarette. The other looked like he’s 20 years old, possibly younger. He was wearing a black jacket, a navy-blue shirt underneath and a cap to top it off. He looked bored and probably had no interest in what they were doing.
“The bags are right there,” You pointed at the cluster of bags sitting in the middle of the room. You made your way across the room and over to your couch. You grabbed the laptop and slid it back into its bag. You grabbed the wireless mouse and rubber keyboard from the desk at the far end of the room and slid it into the bag. Lastly, you grabbed the charger and headset under the desk and walked towards the couch. You plugged the headset into your phone and pushed it aside for later. You slid the charger into the remaining pocket of the bag and zipped it closed. You slung the bag over your neck and adjusted its length. Satisfied, you grabbed your phone and headset from the couch. You put on the headset and began choosing a song from your phone’s playlist.
The older guy who was helping you with your luggage called out to you. You nodded and walked over to him.
“So, where to now?” The man asked. You turned to face him.
“Well?” He asked impatiently.
“Manehattan Highschool.” You said simply. The two men nodded and made their way towards the elevator. You took the other one down, not wanting to be stuck with 2 strangers in an enclosed space. The elevator opened with a ding and you stepped outside it. Cold air greeted you as you stood in the spacious lobby of the apartment that served as your home for like 3 years. You sighed as you spotted Steven and Octavia seated in the far end of the lobby.
“Hey Steven, Octopus, err, Octavia!” You called out, earning the attention of both the mollusk and the faggot HAHA. The two were idly chatting to pass the time. Octavia smiled and Steven greeted you with a, “Hey.”
You noticed a large case by Octavia’s side that looked like a guitar’s case way more larger. Probably a cello or a double bass. You sat down by Steven’s side as you waited for the 2 large men you left by the elevator to arrive. After about 5 minutes, you saw them come down the stairs.
‘Perhaps they got bored waiting for the elevator. You thought. As the men walked closer, they spotted Steven and Octavia’s luggage and the younger man drew out his phone and talked to it for a while. He murmured something to the larger man who is referred to now as “Heavy”. Heavy nodded and walked towards you.
“We might need to wait for a couple of minutes. A few more men are coming to assist us in carrying the package. There is no way we two alone could possible haul this much towards your destination.” Heavy said all that in one breath.
“That won’t be necessary.” Octavia said.
“We insist. Please consider it as a friendly errand.” The skinnier fella said.
“Thank you good sir.” You said in a fake Trottingham accent.
“Where did you learn to speak like that?” Steven said, his eyes wide. You smirked.
“It does not matter how we speak, what matters is who we are.” You said, perfectly replicating Bane’s voice in the movie, “The Dark Horse Rises”.
Steven’s mouth thinned into a narrow line as his eyebrows creased. He was thinking, thinking really hard for a comeback. In this war of movie quotes, one must be cunning, using his vast knowledge of movie quotes to use as his weapon against his opponent.
“Don't tell me what my priorities are. Tell me how you spend your money and I'll tell you what you are.” Steven’s quick, witty comeback finally came. He had chosen carefully, remembering your personality and choosing an appropriate quote. He was right; you had spent hundreds of money on useless stuff, like shirts and video games. Money wasted without a second thought.
“I spend it on useless stuff like music, CDs, or new strings for my cello.” An unexpected remark from Tavi. You both were surprised “Now tell me Steven, what am I?”
“A musician.” Steven said.
“And what makes me a musician, Steven?” Octavia smirked. You too felt a grin threatening to burst from your lips.
“Talent in playing instruments?” Steven asked nervously.
Octopus shook her head.
“Singing? Dancing? Your cello?”
Octavia chuckled. “The answer, I’m afraid, is only available to a select group of people. Those who are connected with music, and those who are smart enough to read people like an open book.”
Steven’s mouth hung open, eyes full of wonder, both from incomprehension and amazement by Octavia’s remarks.
“Let me explain.” She said. “When you play an instrument, you play it with your soul. You let your life essence flow into your instrument and in the long run, your music. A musician has the ability-…”
“To read a person’s emotions.” You continued for her. “Fluctuations in the person’s mood, a slight change of the tone of the voice, a subtle display of anger,” You turned to Steven. “and affection.” You then glanced at Tavi, who smiled. “A musician, who plays with his heart and soul, is a real musician. The world, seems to blur as his music takes total control over him. The way his hand dances across the fretboard of his guitar, the way his voice lowers or heightens his pitch to better accommodate his instrument and the song.
“The way the music applies to his life, it is wonderful. And once the song is finished, his fingers slides across the board, producing a note carefully deepening and repeats the same pattern of strumming and fingering the chords.
“Once you start playing your guitar, or cello, or violin, you don’t wanna stop. The melody, the harmony, the shifting of high and low notes, the careful patterning of beats, its intoxicating.” You sighed. “And that, my dear Steven, is what music is.”
You did what you felt a mandatory bow, just to add to the ‘speech’. You turned and saw that the whole lobby, that was once a gigantic beehive, appears like they had seen a ghost. No one was breathing. You can easily classify that they were terror-stricken, if not for one little fact; they were smiling.
“That.” It was Octavia who broke the resounding silence that hung inside the lobby. “That is the most wonderful thing, I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“Well, if you could say it was a ‘thing’. Technically it was words, and it wasn’t only one thing, it was -…”
“Oh, stop it, Scarf, you’re ruining the atmosphere. The atmosphere that you had created.” Tavi said with a smile.
It only took a single, barely inaudible clap to ignite a whole crowd. Others were cheering, others just resorted to claps. But amidst all this, a certain girl hugged a boy that had a scarf across his left arm. You almost melted into the warm entity that was Octavia hugging you, but years of experience took over and gently pushed her back.
“Please Octavia, someone’s getting jealous. I know for a fact that you like Steven, and let’s keep it that way. And besides, I already got my eye on Dash~ blah blah.” You slipped on your words. Octavia smirked but let go of you.
“So, our favorite ‘boy-with-a-scarf’ has a crush on Rainbow Dash huh?” Tavi grinned even wider.
“Well~.” You rubbed the back of your neck and looked down, feeling the heat rushing towards Antarctica.
“We’ve lost enough time already. Heavy, Scout! Let’s go.” You yelled at the two movers, who wondered why they were suddenly designated as characters from ‘Team Equestria 2.”
“Hey, thanks for saying that to Tavi.” Steven had caught up to you. You and the Heavy and Scout followed by other similar men carrying our stuff was headed towards Manehattan High School.
“No worries bro. That’s what friends are for.” You punched him playfully on the shoulder. He retaliated by punching back, which you dodged. You were all laughing as the friendly walk towards school was turned into a MMA match. You ran all around as Steven chased you, both of you laughing as you did.
You arrived at the large gate of MHS. Both you and Steve were drenched in sweat, from running in the summer heat. The rest of the ragtag band caught up, and Tavi was the first one to approach.
“Had fun?” She smirked.
“Yeah.” Both of you replied at the same time. Steven is doing a double-take, his hands on his knees and breathing in and out in a quick succession.
“You guys were like little kids who had just broken out of their cages back there.” She laughed.
“What can I say, it’s fun being kids in cages again.” You said causing everyone to have a hearty laugh. You tried to oppose the mirth and keep a straight face, but what can you say, laughing is good.
You then saw Rainbow come out of the gate and spot you.
“Moving so soon?” She asked, a grin plastered on her face.
“Yeah, and I brought company.” You gestured at the ragtag band.
“Hey Dash!” Octopus called. She ran up to Dash’s ear and whispered something inaudible. Dash grinned and walked towards you. She then nudged you and said, “Wanna go out to dinner tonight?”
‘FUCK’ was the only word that came into your mind.