The Melody of a Protagonist

Chapter 7- Mathematically Perfect

                                                       Chapter 7.

“See you tomorrow at 7!” Lily called from the front passenger window as Jemma climbed out of the car.

“Yeah yeah” replied Jemma, swinging the door closed behind her. “Thanks Archer, see you all tomorrow. ...Thanks again for having me!” The car tooted then headed back down the bumpy gravel driveway. Jemma rummaged around in her bag for house keys.

“Fuuu..” she mumbled, realizing she’d left her keys at Lily’s. “Toby!” Jemma called, knocking on the front door.

“Jemma?” a small voiced questioned from the other side.

“Can you let me in? I forgot my keys.” Jemma could hear the muffled sounds of creaking furniture coming from inside the house. Toby bustled about, pushing a chair up against the front door so he could reach the lock.

“Thanks Tobes” greeted Jemma, tousling her little brother hair before lifting him off the chair and giving him a warm hug. “I’ve missed you! How was kinder?” she asked, putting Toby back down on the floor.

“Good” he smiled earnestly “We made dinosaurs!”

“Ohhh!” exclaimed Jemma, impressed.

Toby ran into the lounge room and returned with a paper stegosaurus in his hand. “Look!” he called excitedly, waving the cutout in the air.

“You did that ALL by yourself?” Jemma inquired enthusiastically, admiring the colored cut out shapes that had been pasted onto the dinosaur stencil. Toby nodded proudly. “Wow!” Jemma gasped, encouragingly. 

“Is mum home yet?” Jemma asked softly. Toby shook his head. “Ah, she’ll probably be home soon, I’ve got to do some homework. Why don’t you take your dinosaur into the lounge room and he can watch cartoons with you?!” Jemma encouraged, animatedly. Toby’s face lit up and he ran back into the lounge, stegosaurus in hand. Jemma carried the wooden chair back into the hallway then headed upstairs to her room.

A short while later, the doorbell rang. Toby ran upstairs “Jemma! Jemma!” he shouted.

“Coming Toby” Jemma called back, meeting her bother at the top of the staircase. He now had his dinosaur in one hand and a stuffed Giraffe in the other.

“Someone’s at the door!” Toby exclaimed. Jemma smiled at the excited look on his face.

“Let’s go see who it is!” she replied, lifting up her brother and carrying him back down stairs. It was their mother, coming home with the shopping.

“Jem, can you help me upload a few last things from the car? Oh, and I think your friend Zac is here”

“Sure Mum” Jemma greeted, putting Toby down and heading toward the car.

Zac waved from the bottom of the driveway, collecting the last few bags from the back of the car as he closed the boot. “You don’t have to do that, you know” greeted Jemma, walking down the pathway. She could feel her stomach flutter a little at the site of him.

“I know” Zac replied, smiling at her. “Would you be able to grab my case?” he asked, hunching his shoulder toward her. Jemma lifted the black guitar case from Zac’s shoulder. He placed a soft, unexpected kiss on her forehead as she leaned toward him. Jemma blushed, draping the checked strap over shoulder. “Looks good on you” Zac commented, as they walked up to the house. Jemma smiled, avoiding his gaze a little embarrassed.

“Hello Judy” Zac greeted, putting the shopping bags down in the kitchen. Judy waved, distractedly talking on her mobile.

“We’re just going to go upstairs and study,” Jemma whispered, pointing behind her. Judy nodded, waving them off. Jemma tilted her head toward the kitchen door, Zac followed, closing the door behind them.

“So, what are you stuck on?” Zac asked, leading the way up the stairs. “Algebra” Jemma replied, admiring the contours of Zac's body as she followed behind.  

Zac was about a head taller than Jemma; he had broad shoulders and a slender waist, which created a sort of triangular shape across his back. His hair was black and emo-looking; it hung much longer in the front and became shorter and spiked towards the back. Zac was wearing his usual layered combo; today a short sleeved white shirt over a long sleeved gray top with black skinny jeans- perfectly highlighting his slender physique. His skin was fair and his eyes a vibrant olive green.  Zac had three piercings; one in his right eyebrow and two snakebites lining his soft, pink lips. He also had two tattoos; a portrait of his red Gibson guitar on his right shoulder and a small cat face on his left wrist.

Jemma knew that her mother would strongly disapprove if she knew Zac had tattoos; especially since they was still underage. She also knew that her mother would near disown her if she'd known that she’d done one of them herself; one night at Zac’s elder brother’s tattoo shop. It was for these very reasons that Zac always made sure to wear long-sleeved clothes whenever Jemma’s mother was around.

“Shall we get started?” Zac asked, casually sitting down on Jemma’s bed.

“Sure” Jemma replied, pulling her textbooks out of her school bag and laying them out on her desk.