THEM

Chapter 11

The past days had been suspiciously uneventful. Aithne had gone to her sessions, gone back to the music room a few times; she still hadn't found the courage to pick up the violin yet. She had started getting the beginning of a new vision, or memory, that wasn't very pleasant, but thankfully she had only gotten small bits and pieces of it, so she didn't yet have a good idea of what it was about. Nor did she want to.

She was making her way to the music room at the moment, and when she arrived, she was both pleased and disappointed to find it empty. She had spent a bit more time with V these past days and surprisingly enjoyed his company, though she wasn't sure whether he enjoyed hers. Sometimes she felt like she was forcing the friendship, which she usually hated. She was the one always offering to do things and evidently talking the most when they were together. Then again, she reassured herself by telling herself he wasn't too nice that he would keep himself from telling her to piss off, so if he hadn't done so, he must've at least been tolerating her company. However, she was also glad the music room was empty, because it meant she may actually have the courage to try the fiddle. She walked over to the corner of the room, where the stringed instruments lay, and gingerly picked up the instrument. She held it in her hand as though she were holding a baby, quite awkwardly as though she had never had a child, as if forgetting what she was supposed to do with it. She plucked the strings a few times and twisted the tuning pegs, her experienced ears able to determine when the sound was ideal.

She lifted the instrument and delicately placed it on her shoulder, where it snugly fit as though her skin had been molded in that place to hold it. She liked to play standing up, when she wasn't too tired, because it allowed the movement of her arm with the bow to flow all the way down her body, as though the instrument were merely an extension of her being. She inhaled and placed the boy against the string, putting her fingers in position. She paused for a moment, as if in silent prayer, and then pulled the bow across the string, the note piercing through the heavy silence of the room. She was a little clumsy at first, but, after a few songs, the movements were coming back instinctively, as if she were driving through the streets of her hometown after a few years of absence. The aggressive tone of the song she was playing was a perfect channel for all the emotion and stress of the past weeks to seep into. She didn't know for how long she played or at which point she had started singing with the music, but when a noise at the door pulled her out of her reverie, the soreness in her arm made itself known as she pulled it away from the instrument. She spun towards the door and found two people standing in the doorway, their mouths ajar. She recognised them both from her group session; one was Yuxen, the boy who had never been to a party and the other was Isadora's friend, the dark-skinned girl named Nala.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize anybody else came in here. I wouldn't have been so loud. I should've paid m-" Aithne blabbed, her cheeks burning red.

Nala held her hand up in a stop motion. "Are you kidding me? That was so beautiful, we should be thanking you. Aithne right?"

Aithne nodded. She noticed how stylish the girl was. Her hair had a dozen cornrow braids that dropped to her mid back. She was wearing dark liner, a white skin-tight shirt, army pants and combat boots. It was quite comical to see her next to Yuxen; there were characters from an animation on his oversized sweatshirt and he had mauve shorts that showed off his two mismatched socks.

"And you guys are Yuxen and Nala right? From the group sessions?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

"That's us. Will you please play again for us? We practically started running when we heard the music down the hall, but, to our dismay, we only caught the end of your last song."

Aithne chuckled self-consciously, her cheeks that had just cooled down warming again at the compliment. She hesitated and finally said, "Sure, I'll play for you guys, but in exchange will you both show me what you play afterwards?"