Rose and Her Thornes

Chapter Two

Today was like any other day.

I walked onto campus an hour early and walked towards the music room. Now, I had full permission to just walk in there because my parents had sponsored our school's music program, but I always chose to break in. With two bobby pins, I unlocked the door --12 seconds, not bad-- and made my way towards the grand piano. I set my bag down and let my fingers skim across the keys.

Every morning, I'd come to school an hour before anyone came and just played. With the amount of stress from home and school, this was one way for me to cope.

I sat down and began to play. I wasn't playing anything in particular, just staying in the key of C, letting my fingers take control. I took a deep breath and sang, just a melody. No words, just taking a feel of the music. I closed my eyes and I let the music flood my ears.

This was my heaven. I could breathe. I could hear my heart setting a tempo. I didn't have to worry about who would hear me, who would judge me, and what I had to be. For a moment, I wasn't the disappoint of a daughter of wealthy Fowler household.

I was just Seraphina Rose.

But then something out of the ordinary happened. And I realized today wasn't like any other day.

Someone was outside the classroom. Someone was listening.

I didn't realize I had stopped playing. Whoever was outside was sitting down; I could only see the top of their head. They were smoking and, to my surprise, humming along. Quite well, actually.

And then they stopped.

My heart was pounding in my ears, louder than the bass at a concert. I was shaking and held my breath. A sigh came from the outside window and then a voice broke the silence.

"I'm surprised you just noticed me. Next time, don't stop. I like to listen to you."

With that, Daniel Thorne stood up with his bag slung across one shoulder. My green eyes locked with his grey eyes. He nodded, turned, and then walked away, stomping on what I'm guessing was his cigarette before lighting another.

When he was out of sight, I took a deep breath. Had this just really happened? Not only had someone heard me, but out of all the people in this wretched place, it was Daniel Thorne. I don't have anything against the guy personally, because I've never talked to him and vice versa. That is, until a few minutes ago. But Thorne's not exactly a crowd favorite. He's got quite a reputation in Lakewood. The girls call him the town's "hot bad boy." The boys call him a number of colorful words. I think he's reckless dick. And you don't need to know him personally to know that.

A knock from the door broke my train of thought. I caught a glimpse of blonde hair before the door opened and I smirked.

"You know, people use keys to open locked doors."

Suddenly, a silver key was making it's way towards my face. I caught it without flinching and let out an exasperated sigh. "But where's the fun in that?" I whined while throwing the keys back at her, chuckling as she put her hands up to shield herself.

Mia brought out two foam cups and instantly, the smell coffee filled my nose. Smiling, I grabbed my things and walked over to her. When I was about to grab one cup, she backed away and shook her head. "Nope. You're not getting coffee until you apologize for throwing the key at my face," she said sternly, putting the coffee out of my reach.

I picked up the key and crossed my arms on my chest. I smiled sweetly and said,"Oh wonderful and beautiful Mia Stacy, please forgive me, a simple peasant. I didn't mean to throw the key at your face. Just like you probably didn't mean to throw it at mine." Mia rolled her eyes, while I went for my cup of coffee.

"Oh no, that's not all. You have to tell me why you were talking to Daniel Thorne and what you two were talking about,' she commanded and, again, moved my coffee out of reach.

I laughed and feigned confusion. "What are you talking about? You tell me why I would talk to Daniel Thorne. You know I've never talked to him a day in my life."

Mia scoffed and pointed to the door's window and said,"I saw you talking to him while he was,"and then pointed at the window by the piano," outside that window. And then he walked away while you had this funny look on your face. Now tell me why you tallked to him and what he said to get you all flustered!"

Glaring at her, I sighed,"Nothing. He heard me playing and singing. You know I don't like when people hear me. When I realized he was there, I stopped playing and he told me I shouldn't stop next time because he likes listening to me. He implied that he's heard me before and that he's still going to show up! And Daniel Thorne talked to me. He. Talked. To. Me. You expect me to stay calm?" I took a deep breath and looked at my phone. "We should get going or we'll be late for home room."

Mia stood there with her mouth hanging open. I gently pulled her along and grabbed my now cold cup of coffee. We were both quiet on the way to class, savouring the little cups of heaven. Then she spoke up.

"I passed by Thorne on the way to get the room key."

I simply nodded and kept my gaze down the hall.

"He was smiling."

I stopped.

Daniel Thorne does not smile. He smirks. He sneers. But he does not smile.

And then the she-devil beside me spoke up again.

"And now I know why."

I scoffed this time and looked at her as if she had three heads. "You're mental. You see how deep that glare and that frown is on his face, you think he'd actually smile? And even if he did, it had nothing to do with what happened this morning," I argued before pushing her towards the wall and walk away.

Catching up with me, she said in a sing-song voice,"You're in denial. And I'm not the crazy one, because I'm not the one who made 'The Thorne' crack a smile."

This section of the hall was packed and I hit Mia's shoulder.

"Would you keep your voice down? I don't want people knowing!" I half yelled, half whispered.

Mia smirked and nudged my side with her elbow. "So you do admit you made him smile," she teased.

She got a bruise on her arm. The wall was slightly dented. And I walked away, with an empty cup and a strange question in my mind:

I wonder how Daniel Thorne looked like when he was smiling?