Musically in Love

Chapter 5

McKinley's POV

I walked into work, hoping for a miracle. I didn't know if AJ was going to be bringing his brother back for another lesson today. Technically lessons are every week, and he scheduled a month of lessons. I had no idea if he canceled them though.

I really hope he did. I don't think I can handle seeing AJ again after what happened last week. If push comes to shove and we somehow ended up back at my apartment tonight, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

Thankfully he hasn't tried reaching out to me all week, so that should say something. Maybe he wanted to forget it happened too. He did leave as soon as we were done that night.

Emma, like every Friday, was already here when I walked in. She was stocking shelves this time, over by the accessory shelf.

"Hey Emma," I said, stopping next to her. "Been busy today?"

She haphazardly tossed a box of reeds onto the shelf. "I've been so bored. I'm so glad you're here. It means I'm that much closer to going home."

"Very funny. Did, by any chance, my lesson for this afternoon get canceled?"

She thought for a moment. "No. Not that I'm aware of."

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. Then I walked away before Emma could question it. I didn't want to have to explain what I did. It was too embarrassing.

As soon as I had dumped my stuff into the back room and came back up to the front counter, the phone rang. While I was hoping it was AJ calling to cancel, I really didn't want to be the one to answer. But since Emma was still stocking shelves, I had to.

"Francesca's Music, where your music needs are met. This is McKinley." I rolled my eyes at the stupid saying I was required to say. If the owner - Fran herself - wasn't here today working in her office, then I definitely would have said something a ton less cheesy.

"McKinley. Hi."

Shit. "AJ?"

He coughed awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. Just wanted to confirm Chris' lesson for this afternoon. You're still doing it?"

"Yup." I grabbed the schedule and flipped through it. "Including today, he has three more lessons scheduled."

"Okay. Great. Thanks."

He hung up the phone and I let out a breath of relief. Was that just as painful for him as it was for me? Why bother calling if he knew he had the lessons? Why couldn't he have just canceled them? Did Chris change his mind about learning?

With the schedule still open in front of me, I started reading through today to distract myself. I'm glad I did, since my name was listed twice for today. How could I have forgotten about Gina? She was coming in the block before Chris - and that was in a few minutes!

I scrambled to grab a few of the more challenging clarinet books we had. I gave her private lessons to supplement the mediocre band class she got at the high school. She hasn't been by in a few weeks because it was the end of the school year and her parents made her focus more on exams than music. But if she was scheduled for today, that must mean she's done with school for the summer.

I had just finished putting the practice room together when she showed up. She stood by the counter, looking completely different from when I remembered her, all the way down to the key ring in her hand.

"You drive?" I exclaimed first, not even greeting her properly. "Since when?"

She laughed. "I got my license two weeks ago. Graduated two days ago."

I hugged her. "Congrats, girl! I'm so proud of you." Stepping back from the hug, I motioned for her to head on back. "Have you been practicing?"

She shrugged. "Not much, I try though."

I laughed. I knew that meant at least an hour a day for Gina. If she had her way, all she would ever do is practice. She honestly reminded me a lot of myself.

The lesson ended so much faster than I was prepared for. One second we were going through some warm ups, the next, time was up and I was walking Gina up to the front.

We were joking around and chatting like we normally do when I caught sight of AJ. I immediately stopped laughing when our eyes met.

"You okay?" Gina asked.

I nodded, ripping my gaze from him to look back at her. "Yup. Everything's great. I do have another lesson though, so I can't keep talking to you. I'll see you next week, right?"

"Obviously. I wouldn't miss this for anything." With that, she gave me a hug.

I didn't want that split second to end, since that would mean having to talk to AJ. But, of course, it had to. She walked right past AJ and Chris, barely giving them a second glance, and then right out the door.

"Hey," I said, looking mostly at Chris. "You ready to head on back?"

He nodded slowly, looking up at his brother, which made me have to look at AJ too.

"Can we talk for just a second?" AJ asked me before I could figure out something to say.

I really, really wanted to say no. But Chris walked by me to head to the practice room and I was left alone with AJ.

"Are you busy tonight?"

I sighed. "AJ..." How did I put this gently? "I'm sorry, but I can't do that again."

"What? Why? Did you not have fun?"

"No. I did. I did, I swear. It's just..." Why was it so difficult to lie? "I kinda started seeing someone." I felt guilty lying, but I couldn't just tell him he was awful in bed. I wasn't that rude.

"Oh. And this is a new thing?"

I nodded. "Really new." Like, futuristic kind of new, since Ben still hadn't gotten be a date even though he's actually has a date with Jenna. But it was going to happen, just not right now. "So, I'm sorry, but what happened between us can't happen again. I hope there's no hard feelings?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, okay."

I started inching backwards, hoping to escape. "I'm really sorry, I swear. It has nothing to do with you."

"I get it, McKinley," he said. I hate to admit he looked kinda upset. I didn't mean to upset him. "I'll come pick Chris up in half an hour."

"Yeah. Okay."

I didn't wait for him to say anything else before I turned and walked as quickly as I could into the back without making it look like I was running away.