The Art Class

4. Thawing

Eddy had also noticed how beautiful Brett's hands were. For the first time, Eddy became curious about Brett as a musician and wanted to hear him play. Moreover, he actually wanted to see Brett's beautiful hands hold a real violin.

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When the 30 minutes was up, the boys were dismissed from their "modelling gig" by their art teacher and they both let out a sigh of relief. They received a round of applause and as they looked around they both returned a shy smile. Their instructor also smiled as he thanked the two boys;

"Well done, thank you for being such great models. You boys held your poses really well you should consider a modelling career, well done."

They both shrugged and were about to return to their seats.

"Hang on boys, I think we should all show you what we've drawn. Would everybody please hold up their sketchbooks so that Brett and Eddy can see your work ?"

"Oh wow.."

Brett and Eddy were fascinated to see a sea of sketchbooks with sketches of two violinists.

Their art instructor also turned his sketchbook around.

Brett and Eddy stared in awe at the work of their art instructor. Eddy stammered.

"I.. look like that..? I.. I look like I am holding a violin even though I wasn't and you haven't drawn one."

The art instructor smiled.

"I hope my sketch has done you justice Eddy, I thought both of you looked stunning. It shows when doing you something you love."

Brett smiled.

"Wow. That looks so good.. better than my actual self. Thank you so much, sir."

The boys went back to their seats and while the rest of the class was fussing over which two would be the next models, Brett leaned in towards Eddy and whispered;

"Wow Eddy... I.. I so can't wait to listen to you play."

Eddy looked back at Brett;

"...What? Why?"

"You're a listener.. just seeing the tilt of your head, I can imagine you listening to your sound as you play.. I could tell how much you care about the sound you make. I bet you make your violin sound so beautiful. I...I can't wait to hear you play."

Eddy bit his lower lip.

"I.. I don't know if that day will ever come again."

"I tell you what.. If there's anything I can do to help you make it happen... I will Eddy. That's a promise."

Eddy was upstairs in his bedroom. On his bed was his violin case. Eddy had just placed it there. The case had a large and unsightly scratch mark on its surface where it had skid against the ground when Eddy was hit by a car. The doctor explained that Eddy had clung onto the violin case to protect it, in turn, he managed to have his chin tucked in as he held the case which stopped him from throwing his head back when he fell, preventing him from smacking his head on the ground, protecting him from a head injury. Unfortunately tensing up the muscles in his arm to hold onto the case as he fell to the ground may have caused more damage to his arm muscles and nerves. Eddy thought about the accident often. It still scared him and it also made him feel sad but the alternative could have been worse. He could've ended up with a shattered violin and a very serious head injury.

With his mobile right hand, he gently touched the gashed surface of his violin case. Eddy was grateful the man at the violin shop insisted on a somewhat bulkier violin case.

"We're not here to make a fashion statement. Students run around, fall, their stuff gets knocked over by other students. We recommend this case to all our young students."

Eddy tried to open his violin case. He struggled to do so with just one hand. Ordinarily, he would have become so frustrated that he would have thrown a tantrum by now. Which was why he was too scared to even touch his violin case up until this point. It was the first time he tried to open it since the accident.

His right hand shook and he sighed. Tears started to well up in his eyes when he realised his left hand would not even shake. He felt so lost. He wished there was someone who could be like a compass to him, someone to show him the way.

Somehow Brett's face popped up in his head.

Eddy shook his head. He thought the idea was absurd.

So absurd.

The next day in art class Eddy called out to Brett.

"Brett, are you doing anything after art class today?"

"Um.. no not really."

"..Would you like to come over to my house? My mum said it's okay."

Brett looked absolutely stunned. Then he stammered.

"Y, yeah, sure, I.. I'd like that. I.. I'll just call my mum and ask her during our lunch break, okay?"

"Sure."