After leaving History class, Camila follows Maisie through the hallways back to Shawn’s class on third period. Her stomach is in knots and she’s almost regretting not switching to Russian Literature, not knowing how they got to the conclusion that this would help make things easier.
When the two girls reach his classroom, Shawn is holding the door open and greeting the students as they walk in. Camila tries her best not to look into his eyes as she follows Maisie inside.
“ Mr. Mendes, you look a little better today. Need a mint?” Maisie says as she walks to her seat.
Shawn just smiles at her before Jake walks in and glares at him before taking a seat.
“ Alright everyone.” Shawn says as he shuts the door behind him and walks to the front of the room. “ Good efforts on the test yesterday. Music theory can be boring as some of you already said, so you’ll be glad to know we’ll be focusing on performance and lyricism for the rest of this semester. I know that most of you chose this elective because you already play an instrument or sing, but what I want here is for you to learn how to turn your own personal experiences into music.”
“ You want us to write and perform our own songs?” Jake asks, in a tone of voice that shows he’s not really that excited about it. “ What if we don’t play anything?”
“ Yes, that’s exactly what I want.” Shawn says. “ You can always pair up with someone who already plays an instrument or if you want you can ask for another student to perform what you wrote.”
Camila can hear in his voice how this class is a lot more about expanding the students horizons for him than grading their knowledge of the subject through a test.
“ You want something like what they do at Club N9NE on Thursdays, right?” Connor asks, making some students look at him with questioning eyes. “ They do this competition where you have to perform something original of yours. It’s awesome! Maisie and I go sometimes.”
“ Yes, something like that.” Shawn says with a smile. “ Has anyone here ever been there or even performed?”
A few students raise their hands and say they have watched the competition a few times, but Camila can’t force herself to raise her hand to that question.
“ Mr. Mendes, you should do one of yours for us.” Connor suggests.
Camila can see the hesitation in Shawn’s face, remembering how he didn’t like being put on the spot.
“ I’ll tell you what. We’ll make a deal. If I show you one of my songs, everyone has to agree to go to at least one competition night this semester at Club N9NE.” No one objects and even though Camila wants to, she knows she would have to raise her hand or speak for that, so she doesn’t. “ No objections? Alright, then. I’ll play you something I wrote.”
Shawn walks to the corner of the room and takes an empty chair, dragging it to the front of the class before taking one of the acoustic guitars from the back of the room. He takes a seat and spends a few seconds tuning the guitar before stretching his neck left and right and clearing his throat. His fingers move over the strings as the melody fills the room and everyone stays silent, waiting to hear his words.
“I want you
Yeah I want you
Cause nothing comes close
To the way that I need you
I wish I can feel your skin
And I want you
From somewhere within”
“It feels like there's oceans
Between you and me once again
We hide our emotions
Under the surface and tryin' to pretend
But it feels like there's oceans
Between you and me”
YOU ARE READING
Perfectly Wrong
FanfictionAfter the recent death of her father, Camila is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger sister. Moving away from her hometown, she immediately forms an intense and emotional connection with Shawn, her new neighbor. Now both of them hav...
