The Rock Symphony

V I I I : G A L L A G H E R

“Shit, Kennedy. Are you okay?” I felt a pair of hands bring me up to a sitting position. I looked up to see Cameron’s face, turning blood red as I recalled the memories of the past 5 minutes.

“Uhm, yea…?” Totally okay, I mean- it’s not like you pushed me or anything. I shrugged his hands off my shoulder, as Dakota ran up the stage and was instantly at my side. Cameron’s concerned expression immediately turned to disgust as he eyed Dakota. Dakota - who was suddenly all over me.

“Kennedy, that was a nasty fall,” Dakota said, frowning while one hand slid down my arm. “Is your hand okay?” The pain in my hand didn’t register until now, as Dakota’s gentle finger brushed against my knuckle and across my palm. I hissed in pain, wincing as he lightly poked the center of my palm. Bringing my hand closer to him, his brows furrowed in worry.

“Okay, you can stop molesting her freaking hand, you creep,” Cameron said coldly, coming over and replacing Dakota’s warm hands with his cold ones. “I’ll take you to the nurse. After all, your band would become even crappier if your hands got permanently fucked up, don’t you think?” With that, Cameron intertwined our hands and dragged me off stage, leaving an incredibly frustrated Dakota alone.

- - - - -

“Well, good thing Cameron thought of bringing you to the infirmary quickly. The swelling should go down after you leave the ice pack on your hand. You’re lucky it’s just a sprain. From what I’ve heard, you’re quite the guitarist, Kennedy.” Ms. Dunham smiled down at me, handing me a bag of ice. I took the ice pack and looked towards Cameron, who was sitting by my side, completely engrossed on a poster on the wall.

“I’m just… okay,” I lamely replied, shrugging. I carefully placed the ice pack onto the back of my hand and my palm.

“She’s more than ‘just okay’, Ms. D. She’s a great guitarist,” Cameron spoke up from next to me, his eyes never leaving the poster to the side. I looked up from the ice pack on my hand, a confused expression flitting across my face. “Amazing, actually,” he whispered almost inaudibly. I felt something stir in my gut, and looked away from Cameron. He had admitted to me being an ‘amazing’ guitarist. Cameron. Freaking. Parker. Ms. Dunham studied us for a moment, before walking away and mumbling about teenagers. The whole time we were at the infirmary, Cameron hadn’t spared me a glance. Not even a peep. So what the hell was he doing, actually complimenting me?

“Uhm. Are you gonna talk?” I asked uncomfortably, twiddling my thumbs.

“What do you want?” Cameron replied, his head now resting on the wall. I was facing the back of his blond head, when I realized that his hair was starting to curl at the ends. His hair seemed so… soft? I almost wanted to reach out and touch it - just to see if it was actually as soft as it looked.

“Nothing.” A moment of silence passed between us. The infirmary was so quiet, asides from the sound of Ms. Dunham’s pen scribbling across the crossword puzzle. Not minutes after, Cameron sighed and faced me, a weary look on his face.

“You should really be careful, Kennedy,” he quietly spoke, reaching towards the ice pack that was resting on my hand. “A guitarist, or any virtuoso actually, should be more aware of their surroundings.” His eyes bore into mine, our gazes unbroken as his hand interlocked with mine. “One mistake, and their beautiful dream falls apart…”

- - - - -

Snap. “Kennedy. Snap out of it.” A finger snapped in front of my face, instantly breaking me away from my daydream. I broke my gaze away from the window across from me, looking up at the person in front of me.

Then, I took in my surrounding.

Just 35 minutes ago, this class was lively and full of people laughing and smiling. There was even a teacher up at the front of the classroom, trying to teach! Now, the classroom was deserted.