" MUSE " D. KEY

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

Marley Gittens' home was a small apartment in the middle of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Surrounded by college students struggling through the same problems as her (well, when it came to school, that is. She doubted anyone else was currently in the middle of a fight with a famous YouTuber), the nineteen year old spent most of her time cooped up in the homey apartment. Sure, she went out to go to class and spend time with her friends, but nothing beat staying home playing music on a Friday afternoon.

But for some reason, on one certain Friday afternoon, not even music could calm her nerves and rampaging mind.

Rhea sat in front of a piano across the room, a high-tech camera focused on the keys her fingers delicately skimmed over. The two girls were getting ready to film another video for Marley's YouTube channel, this time a cover of the song Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Miserables.

Rhea waited patiently for Marley to put her flute together and tune the instrument, quietly practicing her own sections of the song. In front of Marley was another camera, positioned at an angle that would only capture her flute and her fingers as she played. The girl had debated setting it up so that it would catch her entire face, for there was no longer any reason to hide her identity from YouTube. Now that Devan had leaked her photo to the internet, everyone was sure to know who @IAmMarley was.  She eventually decided against it, however; she decided that it was better to carry on her message as if the leaked photo didn't bother her.

Once both musicians were ready to play, both cameras recording, Rhea counted off at the correct tempo before she started playing the intro on the piano. Marley inhaled a sharp breath, fingers shaky as she gripped her instrument in her hands. When it was her time to play, she allowed a thin stream of air to leave her lips and enter the flute, and the room was filled with music.

Whenever Marley played an instrument, she never failed to put her heart into the music. No matter if she liked the piece or not, she always made sure she made it the best performance she could have. But that day, something was missing, and Marley knew it. Her mind was elsewhere as she played the music, her heart hammering against her chest as her head swirled with thoughts; even though she played the right notes and rhythms, it was just wasn't there.

And Rhea knew this.

Marley's friend stopped playing the piano, the song immediately losing  the density created by the rich chords of her instrument, and turned to face the blonde girl playing the flute. Noticing the disappearance of the piano sound, Marley stopped playing. Turning to find Rhea staring at her with an expectant eyebrow raised, she groaned in frustration and collapsed on to the chair behind her.

"Okay, Mar, what's up?" Rhea asked as she watched her friend bury her face into her hands. "You sound like a twelve year old trying to play vibrato for the first time, and you usually play vibrato amazingly. Your tone is all over the place, and I can tell you're not even thinking about the piece."

"You're right," Marley breathed out, pressing down random keys on her flute absentmindedly. "I just can't stop thinking about what Collins told me, Rhea. I feel like a horrible person for ignoring Devan, but it's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

Rhea pursed her lips and didn't answer at first. She hadn't told Marley what Devan had told over, for she felt that her friend should hear it from him; the only problem was, she refused to talk to the boy.

"I shouldn't even post videos anymore," Marley went on before Rhea had a chance to respond. "My message is already ruined, so what's the point?"

"The point is that you enjoy playing music, Marley. This is your passion- who cares about the message you wanted to get across. Sure, it was deep and sophisticated and absolutely brilliant, but why should just stop doing what you love just because you can't portray that message anymore?" Realizing that her camera was still recording, Rhea reached up and turned the device off before focusing her attention on her friend once more. "If this is bothering you so much, why don't you talk to Devan about it? Let him explain, hear his side of the story. It'll probably help you more than you think."

xxx

A/N:

I wasn't planning on updating today because it was my first day back to school after Christmas break and the national championship was on, but looks like i did anyway. 😉

I'm currently cheering on the Million Dollar Band as one of my friends plays her last halftime show ever (😭😭😭)- oh, and I guess I'm cheering on the football team too. 😂