The Music Academy

Songs for Sang: A miniseries in 11 parts, ~Part 8~

Sang followed Luke into the church, soon to be diner and glanced around. "It's rather dark." She commented.

Luke grinned. "Yeah, we'll need to let a little light in. D'you want to hop up on that counter and try to get the window covering off? I'm going to find the breaker box and turn the lights on."

She looked at him skeptically for a moment before glancing at the window. "Sure. I can do that." She said. "Just in case, y'know, you don't find the lights." He laughed and she went to hop up on the counter while he left the room. She found herself humming slightly under her breath as she analyzed her task. "Seems high..." she mumbled. "Might as well start here..." She reached for the lower corner, tugging on it, feeling a flood of success at the fact it ripped upward and gave her momentum to get most of the left side and bottom part of the window uncovered.

There was a bang behind her and the air shifted and she froze, teetering on the edge of the counter before she realized she was falling.

But she didn't land.

Well, she did.

She didn't land on the ground, she landed with a soft 'oof' in the arms of a very angry looking boy, dark hair and eyes, permanent scowl on his face as his eyes narrowed at her and he opened his mouth, she cringed away from the bellow that was sure to be coming.

North was angry, he didn't know who this was or why they were destroying the window covering but the instant he'd made a noise, she fell. And he couldn't let her get hurt so of course he caught her. And all his angry yelling about 'who are you' and 'what the hell do you think you're doing' flew out of his brain because he burst out into song instead. "Do you love me, do you want to be my friend? And if you do, well, then don't be afraid to take me by the hand, if you want to. I think this is how love goes, Check yes or no."

Sang's eyes were wide as she stared at him before pushing against his chest. "Put me down." She mumbled. She wavered on her feet when he set her down.

He felt his ears turn red under her steady gaze. "Hi. I'm North." He belatedly remembered manners existed. His earlier thoughts of yelling at her seemed to have been driven away by his song to her.

"I'm Sang." She said, dropping her gaze to look down at where he still held on to her arm.

He looked down as well and immediately let go of her arm. "Sorry. I didn't mean to manhandle you."

A faint smile flickered on her face. "It's okay." She shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Oh, I came in with Luke." She said. "He suggested I work on the window covering while he looks for the breaker box." She said, trailing off when the lights suddenly snapped on.

"He shouldn't have done that. We're more than capable of handling the work."

"I don't think he meant it like that." She jabbed the toe of her shoe in the dust on the floor. "I think he just wanted us to meet."

"That's right." Luke bounded into the room. "Darn, I'm too late. North, this is Sang, she lives by Kota." His eyes bounced between them anxiously. "Sang, this is my far too grouchy, younger brother, North."

"Younger?" she asked, surprise lifting her eyebrows up and she glanced between the two of them, trying to see the resemblance.

"Yeah. Six months." North shrugged, watching as she blinked at him again before processing the words. "It's not a big deal." He cut her off when she would have spoken.

"Clearly, I missed the big serenade moment." Luke interrupted. "Was he on key? What song was it?"

Sang laughed, despite her confusion. "Of course, he was on key. You weren't here for the song so I'm not going to share it." She teased.

North blinked, wondering why she wasn't just telling everything about his embarrassing moment that she could. "Right. No big deal." He said, glancing at Luke. "Guess the lights work."

Luke grinned. "Right, clearly." He waved a hand around.

North rocked back on his heels, crossing his arms to study Sang. "So, what are the two of you up to today?"

"I don't have plans with him." Sang blurted. "I mean, I don't have plans with anyone." She flushed.

"Who's left to meet?" He asked, eyes flicking to meet Luke's.

"Uh...." She blinked at him. "I've met Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan and Gabriel." She ticked them off. "And obviously the two of you."

"Obviously." Luke nodded.

North nodded. "So just Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne." He mused. Sang glanced at Luke who nodded.

"right." She said.

"You won't likely meet them until registration." He said. "And I'm not sure what else we can get done in here without Uncle's permission." He glanced at Luke.

"So maybe just finish uncovering the window?" he suggested.

"And then you'll go turn off the lights." North said.

"Sure." Luke shrugged, glancing at Sang. "Want to hang out with us?"

She shrugged. "Sure." She finally said, with a smile. "Just promise you aren't going to sing more."

"Wouldn't dream of it." North reassured her.

Luke huffed a sigh. "Well, there goes my plans for the afternoon." His face wore a crestfallen expression. "You were going to be amazed and dazzled with my repertoire of Disney music." He pouted.

"I promise, you can give me a show another day." Sang smiled, sweetly.

"Okay, Sugar. For you, anything." He said, before leaving the room. Sang's gaze shifted to North.

"We can work together on the window." He offered.

"Sounds good." She smiled. "I can't reach the highest part of the covering anyway."

"Consider it done." He flashed her a quick smile before helping her get back onto the countertop. He was able to join her with a quick move. "I'll just start here." He pointed to the corner she hadn't gotten to before falling into him.

"Perfect. I'll start over here." She studied him while pointing to the opposite side. "Meet you in the middle."