Chapter Forty-Two - Skylar and Ryan
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."
-Bob Marley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skylar
As I strummed the last chords of the song, my instructor stood in front of me, his chin resting in his hand.
I breathed out a breath and stared at Mr. Morris expectedly, waiting for him to tell me his opinion, but he just stood there in silence.
I started to become nervous, was it that bad…?
“Um…sir?”
He jumped then and cleared his throat, “Sorry. It always takes me a while to critique my students.” And then he babbled on about all of my problems.
I listened intently and made mental notes of all that he told me that was wrong with my playing.
I had no idea what to expect when I came here. Sure, I had picked apart the music department section of Juilliard’s website like no other, but I didn't expect how hard it would be or how it would all work out. I enrolled for guitar, and the work I did was unlike anything else I had ever done.
Previously, I had only gone along with the chords of songs that I was singing, but the work that we were doing made me feel so amateur. It was not easy, and for the few weeks that I had been here, I had stayed up late whenever Chloe was at the studio (I found out that she was with the dance department) and worked on my guitar until I passed out from exhaustion.
I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, Chloe had told me how hard it would be, but I didn’t expect how high their expectations would be…but they were one of the world’s leading schools, after all.
After being critiqued by Mr. Morris, I grabbed my guitar, thanked him, and walked out of the building toward my dorm room. I huddled into my sweatshirt and picked up my pace as the cold September, almost October, wind hit me. The second I got home, I would have to pick up my guitar and strum until my finger tips bled.
* * *
“Hey. How’s it going?” Chloe plopped down on her bed after returning from her night shower.
I groaned and set my guitar on its stand beside my bed, “Okay. How’s the dance coming along?”
She smiled, “Actually, pretty well. It took awhile to get back into the groove of things, but I think I got the hang of it.” I nodded and picked up my notebook filled with scribbled notes and read over the instructions I had gotten from my instructor earlier that day.
Chloe’s phone rang and she picked it up with a curious smile. “Ian?”
She nodded and answered it, “Hey...” She smiled over at me and mouthed; “I’ll be back later.” And then walked out the door.
After sighing, I turned out the light and lid under the covers, snuggling into the big shirt and pair of boxers that I had been sleeping in for the past three weeks.
Before I left Oregon, I might’ve, kind of, slipped in one of Ryan’s shirts and a pair of his boxers. I knew that I would need something to get me through the first few weeks at Juilliard without having a mental breakdown, and if I couldn’t bring Ryan, then I would bring the next best thing.
His clothes. And still, after a few washes, his scent never disappears.
I know that it must sound weird, and clingy, and stupid, but come on. When you become so used to sleeping and being with someone, and then communication suddenly drops, and you don’t get the option to run up to them or be with them anymore, it feels like a punch to the gut. The air escapes your lungs and you feel like you can’t breathe. That you will never be able to breathe again without them right there, by your side.
YOU ARE READING
A Summer Romance
Storie d'amore"Everything happens for a reason." - Anonymous The world's a fucked up place, a place that was made for people to suffer. Nothing more, nothing less. Well, at least that's what Skylar Roberts thought, and her past didn't prove any differen...
