Grace Notes

Chapter 1

Atticus one said: "Fame is a poison most would drink happily, despite the warning of a slow and miserable death"I suppose he was right, though I caught it too late. I ran toward my dreams, I looked back and realized that she wasn't there, and that we have become what we were to start with: strangers. And in the end, my fear of losing her was no match for my fear of loving her.

Lola's POV-

I walked into class and dropped my backpack down next to one of the plastic, white tables on the front row of the room. Yawning, I sunk down in the metal, folding chair as I leaned down to pull my laptop from my bag. Everyone else, or at least most everyone, already seemed to be here. Technically, I wasn't late, but I definitely wasn't early, either. 

Outside the big classroom windows, I could see the sun was already almost all the way down, the pink and orange dwindling away into a dark blue. I hated night classes more than anything. The one thing that was worse was the 7:00am ones I had to drag myself out of bed for last semester. 

Speaking of last semester, that was supposed to be my last semester. However, the last class I needed for my Fine Arts with a Specialization in Music degree wasn't offered that autumn. I should have known with my luck that it wouldn't be. Maybe if the last piano professor hadn't have gotten charged with sexual assault and been fired from the little community college, I could have gotten my degree on time. But of course he had to go and fuck it up during the first quarter of last semester.

"Is this seat taken?"

My eyes flickered up to a rather tall young man with crystal blue eyes and playful, blonde hair. A normal person probably would have considered him to be attractive, but I was never into blondes.

"No" I shook my head. 

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he put his fingers on the back of the chair, about to pull it out.

"Go for it" 

"Thanks" he smiled and sat down, tossing his bag roughly to the floor. "I'm Grayson, by the way"

"Lola" I murmured, signing into my laptop to look busy so I wouldn't have to hold a conversation.

Conversing was never my strongest skill.

"That's a pretty name" he hummed, fishing out his own laptop. "What is your major?"

"Fine Arts with a Specialization in Music" I shrugged.

"Oh, right on" he paused, as if waiting for me to ask him what his was.

But honestly, I wasn't that interested.

"I'm majoring in art"

"Then why on earth are you in a music class?" I finally looked at him.

"I needed an elective" he pushed back his hair. "Thought I may as well give it a try, you know? How hard can it be?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the door in the back of the classroom slamming shut.

Everyone turned around to catch a glimpse of who would be this humble school's newest employee. I was one of those curious students.

The first thing I noticed about him, was that he was really young, almost too young looking to have a career job. To be honest, he didn't really look that much older than myself. He had a pair of glasses sitting in his dark brown hair, and was wearing a pair of Adidas joggers and Vans. Ballsy of him to mix brands like that...

As if he had tried to dress up this odd attire, he had on a suit jacket over a white T-Shirt. I suppose that brings a new meaning to business-casual.