Scales [ON HOLD]

Chapter Forty: Back In The Music Room

   I pulled away from Jack and sat down next to him. I lay my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

   "Jack?" I whispered. He pulled at one of my bouncy curls covering my face and let go of it, making it spring back into place.

   "Yes?" He answered, tugging at my hair again.

   "I think you're my best friend." I told him. I internally slapped myself and added something to what I had said. "And don't worry, I don't believe there is a friend zone or anything. I mean, how stupid is that?"

   He chuckled and nudged my head lightly. Lifting my head up, he pointed towards the door. I looked at the battered frame and shrugged my shoulders. He lifted a finger up to his lips and hushed me. I nodded as he stood up and sped quietly to the door. He quickly opened it, and, as he did, a small girl fell inside the room, smacking her face against the side of the piano.

   "Vinariah, eavesdropping isn't the way to make friends." I laughed. She jumped up and rubbed her nose. When she noticed we were looking at her, she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, nervously glancing up at Jack who was giving her the most hilarious look of 'are you serious?'.

   "Well... uh, I got bored with Robin and Lydia doing absolutely nothing. By the way," Vinariah returned to her normal jokey self, "isn't she the creepiest girl you have ever seen?"

   "Uh, yeah!" I stated as if it was obvious. I put one hand on her shoulder and looked into her soft eyes. "She terrifies me, if I'm being completely honest."

   "She does, doesn't she!"

   "Oh," I muttered, recalling what she said before I left the room. I taped my head lightly and thought about what it could mean. "He's mine..." I repeated her words.

   Jack's head turned to me, staring at me questioningly. Vinnie slapped my arm, making me flinch and rub my arm in pain.

   "Who's yours?" She asked me, crossing her arms and pouting.

   "No one! Lydia just said that someone is hers..." I quietened down to a whisper. Who could it have been? Who was she so attached to that she had announce that he was his, and his only?

   Oh.

   Ronan.

   I face palmed and sighed. She must have seen me talking to him in the library, but what did she think we were doing? He certainly was attractive, but he was a little bit strange for my liking. When he tripped me up on the tennis courts, he laughed as he saw my scarred hands- how evil is he? She can have him!

   I dropped the subject and laughed.

   "Anyway, how much longer of lunch is there?" I asked both of them. Vinnie froze and tried to remember where she put her phone, feeling around her pockets. Her eyes widened as she realised she hadn't got it, and she turned and ran out of the room. Jack chuckled and lifted his arm, checking his watch.

   "We have around ten minutes." He replied. He smiled and sat down next to me again. Looking outside the smashed windows, he watched a boy climbing a tree, only to get told off by an angry teacher. "Am I really your best friend? Excluding the friend zoning." He smirked. I flicked his shoulder playfully.

   "I'm not friend zoning you! But yeah, of course you are. Apart from Vinnie, obviously." I stated. I looked up at his blue eyes, which, sure enough, were staring back at me. Blushing, I asked him what we should do next. He shrugged.

   I leant back onto the piano and sighed, closing my eyes and listened to all the noises; the child outside screaming at the teacher and the teacher screaming back; a trumpet being played terribly down the hall, and my breathing absent-mindedly matching with Jack's. I sat up and scratched my head nervously, massaging the small lump that Vinnie created with the chocolate bottle.

   "Seven minutes." He whispered. I opened my eyes and saw him reaching into his rucksack and pulling out an exercise book. I laughed.

   "Did you forget a homework?" I wondered, smiling. He shook his head and put the book on his lap. Opening it to an empty page in the back of his bag, he started humming a tune and writing something down. "Working on something?" I tried again. He nodded. "An essay?" I took one last guess.

   "No," He stopped writing and looked into my eyes innocently, stirring some strange feeling in my stomach. I fought back a blush and leaned over to see what he was writing. Instead of lettering on the page, there were music notes. Each one was neatly drawn on a stave, although it looked simple, I guessed it was hard to play. "I'm writing a song: a waltz really." 

   "I didn't know you write music!" I exclaimed, smiling hugely. 

   "I... I don't. Well, not all the time anyway. I'm just in the mood to write a song." He told me. I nodded and smiled again. He bent down and wrote some more notes. He was writing quite fast for the amount of notes on the page. He would stop every five seconds to hum the tune, only to bend down and write more. He drew lines and crescendos, diminuendos and every other sign under the sun.

   After a couple of minutes, he stopped writing and looked up, clearly agitated. He closed his book and sighed. Running a hand through his hair, he forcefully threw the book to the side. Pages flew out of the book as it landed upside-down on the floor.

   "Hey! What are you doing?" I asked him in shock. I hopped off the stool and got on all fours, picking up the book along with a few loose pages. When I gathered them all, I stood up and held it protectively.

   "I can't think of what to do next." He answered. He sighed for the final time and put both of his hands next to him on the seat. I gripped his book. "Can I have it back, please." He asked. I shook my head.

   "No." I replied, turning away. "If you're going to throw it again, I won't let you have it." I huffed. I looked at the book and flicked through a few of the pages. He had written a lot more songs. I tried to hum a few, but was stopped by a pair of hands grabbing my arms and turning me back around.

   Jack stood there with one outstretched to collect his book. I shook my head and stroked the book as if it was a cat. He smiled and tilted his head. I took a step back and flicked through more pages until I landed on the song he had written in the book today.

   "I'll only give it back if you play this for me." I said, pointing to the piece of music. It was his turn to shake his head.

   "It's a work in progress. It won't sound good. Now, Octavia, can I please have my book?" He answered me. I pouted and looked at him with puppy eyes. He smiled and chuckled. "Well then, if asking isn't going to get you to give it to me, I guess I'm going to have to resort to Plan B."

   "Plan B?" I asked confused. He smirked and stepped closer. One of his arms slowly traced up my spine and towards my neck. When he reached my collar, he lightly stroked my skin, sending me into a fit of laughter. I grabbed his hand and tossed it to the side. I was so damn ticklish. His hand dropped down to my waist as both of them jabbed me in my ribs. I yelped, jumping and holding my sides. "Ah! Don't do that! I'm so ticklish!"

   "Step one in life; never tell anyone your weaknesses." He spoke, smirking. He took another step closer. 

   "Don't you dare." I growled playfully, tightly holding the book. He crossed his arms and held one of his palms open.

   "You could always give me the book..." He suggested hopefully.

   "Never." I retorted.

   What a mistake that was.