Broken Guitar Strings

Chapter 7

(ALLIE'S POV)

After the Halloween party last week, Chanyeol has been feeling a lot more comfortable around me. He's been stealing kisses from me more frequently. I think that night boosted his confidence a lot. I am so glad that he found me. I mean, he would've found me anyway because it's his house and it was close to midnight, but still. The sooner I got out of there the better.

He's showing a lot of affection for a fake relationship. I think part of the reason why is because we have a lot in common. We're both good-looking but not the douchiest. We know that everyone loves us, and we try to love them back (even though it's really hard to love certain people).

That night, when Chanyeol found me, I was confused, scared, and disoriented. He cared for me and made sure that I was okay. That means a lot to me.

I'm kind of confused about him right now. I think some real feelings are starting to surface from beneath this fake relationship. Honestly, I don't know what to do about it. He's a great guy, and I would have no problem dating him. Plus, I think my parents are interested in him as well.

The problem is...I would like him a lot more if it weren't for Lay. I've never met anyone so sweet and so easy to like. Although I haven't talked to him a lot, whenever I hear his voice, it's like hearing an angel's voice. Lay excels in music class, and Mr. Morse often goes to him for questions. I have only heard him sing the C major scale. From the "Do" all the way to the "Do" and back down, Lay's pitch was perfect and the round notes that his voice produced were absolutely gorgeous.

I didn't realize that I had been mentioning Lay more and more frequently and asking Chanyeol questions about him until Chanyeol told me to stop. He says that if I keep doing that people will think there's a problem with our "relationship." While he keeps using that excuse to protect me and be with me, I assume it's because he truly likes me.

What about Lay though?

Allie, you're being a fucktard. You don't like anyone. Go to class now, the bell is about to ring.

I make my way to the end of the juniors' section and sit down in my seat just as the bell rings. Everyone's eyes follow me to my seat, except for Lay's. He's looking down at some paper on his desk. "Allllll right, folks," Mr. Morse walks up to the front of his classroom and rubs his hands together. "How are y'all?" You hear a few kids mumble goods and bads. Lay just looks up and smiles at the teacher. Obviously, he's Morse's favorite. "Today, I'm going to introduce a new assignment. It's the first major composition piece we're doing because the majority of you who have been paying attention in class already know the basics of chords and composition overall." In the back, sitting next to Chen, Baekhyun mutters, "Oops."

"It'll be due the day we get back from Thanksgiving break, so you guys have plenty of time to complete it." Mr. Morse takes a few steps to the side. I forgot to mention, he likes to talk with his hands. He looks super excited as he says, "So, what instrument do you think of when I say 'chords'?" This girl named Cynthia blurts, "Piano." He points to her. "Sure, but that's not what I was going for." Lay raises his hand. "Lay?"

"It's guitar."

"That's right," Mr. Morse says. "Guitar. Endless chords can be found and played on the guitar with just one beautiful strum. And this is the instrument that we'll be focusing on for this composition project," he explains. "I will assign each of you a partner." Once he says this, feminine whines and masculine groans immediately emerge from the students. "Oh, come on," he smiles. "You're juniors already. Suck it up." He navigates through backpacks, desks, and chairs, passing out a handout to everyone. "This is the intro and the requirements for the Thanksgiving composition project. You need to have fifteen different chords in your piece and at least five inversions. The specific rubric's on the back. Alright?" Ugh. Not alright. I'm terrible at inversions, not to mention thinking up a good tune.

"Now we're going to pick your partners. Here I have twenty-two poker cards," he says. "There are only two cards for each number. Everyone will pick a card, and whoever has the other card with the same number on it will be your partner." He walks around again, letting everyone choose cards. I pick a card and flip it over. Ten of diamonds. Okay, who else has a ten?

After receiving his card, Chen immediately stands up and says, "WHOEVER HAS A JACK COME OVER HERE OR I WILL FLAY YOU ALIVE. AND THEN I'LL FAIL THE CLASS BECAUSE I CAN'T COMPOSE." Cynthia stands up and pushes in her chair, looking amused and annoyed at the same time. Chanyeol calls, "Who's my number 1? Ace of hearts." Whitney spins around and squeals. "Oh my god." Chanyeol looks at me and slowly exhales. I'm so sorry, I mouth. I'll make it up to you somehow. I stand up. “Who’s number ten?”

Lay looks over to me with no particular expression on his face. "I am," he raises his hand. Yay? I steal a glance at Chanyeol, but unfortunately he's trying to deal with Whitney. I know right then and there that he's going to be very unhappy about this whole assignment. Even though we had no control over who got to be partners with each other, I feel bad. Really bad.

"You have whole entire class period to talk to your partners and maybe plan out what the two of you want to compose."

The class bursts into conversation. I see that Chanyeol's still having some troubles with Whitney. He looks longingly at me, but she prevents him from going anywhere. I switch my attention back to Lay and say, "Okay, let's figure this thing out."

For the rest of class, Lay and I discuss what chords we’ll be using and figuring out what times work for both of us as for actually getting together and making the song. “It says on the rubric that we have to compose it and then write it out on just plain staff paper.” Lay gently nods. We decide on writing it and composing it over Thanksgiving Break. “I think we should write lyrics and record it,” he says. “But will we have enough time for that?” I reply. Then I hear Mr. Morse’s voice bellow, “The bell’s about to go! Have a good day!” I quickly turn to Lay and say, “Okay. You go home and draw up a draft of what our song will look like. Send it to me when you’re done with it and I’ll write lyrics. Then we’ll see where we are, okay?” It seems that Lay had something to say to that, but he saw that I was not going to be late to my history class and just mumbled an “okay” and went to gather his belongings. I seriously need to work on smooth communication with this guy. I think he’s afraid that if he objects to anything I say, he’ll offend me, which is really sweet of him. He’s the first guy I’ve encountered that’s been so caring.

As I walk out of class, I see Chanyeol’s tall figure out of the corner of my eye. He’s gripping Savannah’s shoulder tightly, with a displeased look on his face. Oh no. I start heading back, but Chanyeol icy stare stops me in my tracks. “Allie, leave. This is my problem and not yours.”