Broken Strings (Prodigy: 2)

Intoxicating

"Mr. De Davies, we weren't expecting you."

Locke smiled from the top of the stairs that led down into the lecture hall, arms folded as he leant against the door frame.

He'd been watching the lecture for five minutes before people noticed him. The professor had been giving an example of a Mozart piece at the piano that was on the stage – technically perfect, emotionally dead.

When he finished the segment he'd been playing, he stood up to address the hall and noticed the surprise guest watching.

"I failed to make arrangements in advance," Locke said simply, smiling his usual lovely smile that made him out to be the nicest person in the world.

"What can we do for you?" the professor asked.

"I wanted to borrow one of your students. I'd hate to drag them away in the middle of a lecture so I wanted to just sit at the back until the end."

A quiet rush of excitement shot through the room as the students all craned their necks to see which student Locke was talking about.

"Be my guest, I can catch the student up on what they missed later. If you've made time in your busy schedule for one of my class, please go ahead," the professor said quickly.

"You're very kind. Madison, can we talk?"

Four different girls reacted to the name but he had spotted DD close to the front when he'd first walked in and pointed to her when she looked up at him.

Everyone's eyes flew to her and she flushed at the attention.

"Hurry, Madison, Mr. De Davies wants to speak to your specially, don't waste his time," her lecturer said and Madison gathered up her things and quickly came up the steps to meet him, her eyes narrowed with confusion when he looked at her.

He just smiled and straightened up.

"I'll try not to keep her too long," he said and walked out, holding the door for DD until she past before leading the way down the hall.

"Can I help you in some way?" Madison asked, quickening her pace to keep up with his long strides.

"I wanted to apologise for my lousy attitude the other day," Locke said without looking at her.

"You didn't need to drag me out of class for that," she said.

"No, but I promised Zane I would listen to you play."

Madison stopped and Locke kept walking, forcing her to follow him eventually. "I don't want any special treatment just because you know my boyfriend."

"Then you're an idiot for letting the chance to be noticed by a pro slip you by because of pride," Locke replied and Madison took a breath. "Besides, he didn't ask, I offered."

"Why?"

"I want to know if you're any good."

"Of course I'm good, or else I wouldn't have got into this collage."

"Everyone in that lecture hall is good and most of them won't go anywhere."

"That's not true."

"It's true – well, I suppose it depends on what a person means by 'go anywhere'."

"What do you count as going somewhere?"

Locke looked down at her as he stopped outside a practice room. "My level."

Madison gaped at him as he opened the door and held it for her.

"Well then of course we're almost all going to go nowhere if you think that's going somewhere. You can't compare ninety-nine percent of the world to you, it's not a fair fight," she said, walking past him and putting her things down beside the bags he'd already dropped off.