Yesterday - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter The Twenty-Eighth

For the first time in a year, every drawer in dorm seven was emptied, every bed stripped and every suitcase packed. Outside, a fluffy winter blanket of white snow smothered the school grounds. A pale blue sky held up a cold, yellow sun. Christmas was just a few days away and the whole country was feeling festive.

Jessie Baxter's pale bare toes wiggled in an attempt to bring some warmth back into them as she zipped up the battered black case that held her own six-string. She stood up, tugging down the sleeves of her favourite blue woollen jersey, and hauled her large suitcase off the bed.

Somehow, she managed to make it downstairs to the main hall in one piece. All around, parents and children were reunited. Hugs and excited conversations were exchanged. The short girl in bare feet watched from the edge of the room. She set her belongings down and sat against the oak panelling, knees brought up to her chest. Her Aunt was never one of the early ones. She usually arrived just as the last handful of students hurried out those huge double doors.

She'd barely got her nose into a good book when she sensed eyes upon her. Looking up, she scanned the room. No one was paying her any attention in the slightest. Then she smiled. Devon Bailey was standing in a doorway on the other side of the room. She gave a small wave but he simply beckoned her to come to him.

"And where might your Aunt be, Miss Baxter?" He said as she stood in front of him. He looked solemnly into her defensive eyes, which appeared to green today, with his steely grey ones.

She crossed her arms, fingers curling into the warm material. "Taking her time as usual, I'd imagine."

The music teacher's eyes dropped to the floor. "And your shoes. Where might they be?" His face was a mask, but he was betrayed by the slightest twitch in the corner of his mouth.

Jessie looked down at her small feet that poked out the bottom of her warm track pants. "Don't need 'em right now."

Then he nodded pointedly back across the room to her bags. "And your guitar. Where might that be?"

The girl looked up at him in confusion. Her guitar case was clearly propped up against the wall next to her suitcase. There was no way he couldn't see it. "It's... Right there?" She tilted her head quizzically and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Not that one..." The teacher reached his hand around the corner, out of sight. "This one." He pressed the handle of a soft, brown leather case into her palm. Jessie stared at it for a minute before gazing up at him, slack-jawed. Devon laughed, "I wasn't joking when I said I wanted you to look after it, girl."

The girl was speechless, she just stood there dumbly, opening and closing her mouth, somewhat resembling a goldfish. A brown-haired goldfish in a jersey.

"You can thank me later," the music teacher winked then looked over her shoulder. "I think you have to go now."

Sure enough, Jessie turned to see a woman with dark brown hair that would surely have grey streaks if it weren't for hair dye, standing impatiently by the girl's bags. She managed to utter a "see ya in January then" before scurrying over to her Aunt.

* * *

The last piece of translucent brown tape was in place, sealing the cardboard box. The calloused hands patted the parcel, satisfied. The rings on the left hand clinked together. There was a Christmas tree in the corner of the cheerful room, a nice young one which filled the room with a fresh pine scent. It glittered with gold and red tinsel, and baubles and decorations of every colour hung from its branches. The carpet beneath the tree was already stacked with wrapped gifts of every size. But the brown box was placed carefully beside the front door, ready to take to the post office the next morning.