Behind the Clouds

Chapter 7

            Lunch was nice. It mostly consisted of small talk. Nothing was really significant, but at least I felt comfortable. My feelings weren’t so set in stone, and I still had my doubts, but we were at a good start. I was gonna count the days that I stayed explosion free and when I didn’t get angry the rest of the day it felt good. We walked to seventh period and sat down in our seats from yesterday right next to each other.

            “What do you think today’s agenda’s gonna be?” He asked me.

            “I don’t know. Hopefully nothing that includes me singing again.”

            “Why? I was honest when I said it was beautiful yesterday.” When he said that I felt my heart warm up again. It was getting pretty annoying. I mean I appreciated his compliments, but it annoyed me when it made me feel so good; when it made me feel like I could really like him.

            “I’m not a fan of performing,” I admitted quietly.

It makes me feel vulnerable. It makes me feel like everyone can see through me.

Sure, I loved it when I was alone and it was one of the only things that I still appreciated, but when I had to do it in front of other people I felt fragile. Music can take over a person so much that sometimes it’s almost painful. I can’t drop the class so every time I’ve had to perform by myself I’ve had to succumb to the flood of emotions flowing through the me and the song, and I’m always scared it’ll be too much.

 “Alright class. Today we just need to finish up solos, so we have our new student Mr. Claybrooks here to do his solo. Do you have a song for us today, Jericho?” Mr. Schultz asked. I looked at Jericho wide eyed.           

            “Do you have anything prepared?!” I whispered frantically. We did not need a repeat of yesterday.

            “Unlike some people I was prepared for this to happen so don’t get your knickers in a twist,” He whispered back. Again with a wink and that little smug smile.

            “Arse!!” I whisper-shouted before he was out of earshot. He walked down the stairs and grabbed the acoustic guitar in the corner. Now all I keep thinking about is him being one of those tortured guys with the magically beautiful musical talents. He sat on the stool, made sure it was tuned, and started to strum.

             I knew the song right away. He was playing Demons by Imagine Dragons, the finger style version, so you can hear the melody. I knew I was right when I said he’d be one of those guys with the magically beautiful talents. Probably the tortured part as well because he looked like he was in pain. The song itself is pretty emotional, but I could see it so much on his face, and I think I can speak for myself and all of the girls in class when I say that I was drowning in the music. We were being sucked into it and feeling every single emotion in each note. I felt so sad, but I couldn’t help my heart warming up because of how beautiful it sounded. My eye even started to water a bit.

            He finished the song and the last note stretched out into a decrescendo. He opened his eyes and everyone rose and started clapping. I’m pretty sure he got a louder applause than I did, but he honestly deserved it. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard. I got up and clapped as well and when he looked at me he gave me that little smirk I was slowly getting used to. He put the guitar down and walked back up to his seat next to me.

            “Well, I’m impressed. I admit that that wasn’t too bad,” I confessed refusing eye contact.

            “That’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me! I’m touched,” He said feigning flattery.