Melody

Musical Talent

I made it to the end of the day, and got to the place I really wanted to be. Music class.

This class was small - only four other girls and five boys, who sat on opposite sides of the room. Nervously, I joined the girls. 

The teacher assigned each of us an instrument and handed out music sheets. I glanced at mine; it had lyrics on it. I was singing. Nearby, Allie waved at me from where she was seated behind the drums. There was a glasses-wearing redhead with a bass leaning against her chair who was avidly reading a very large book. Next to her, a girl with bright pink hair and paint-splattered shoes somehow managed to make the school uniform look like a fashion statement as she strummed quietly on the guitar. At the very back, a petite brown-haired girl stroked the keys of the piano, coaxing a fairy-like tune from it. 

"Ok," the teacher said, rubbing her hands together. "Girls, this is Isabella."

"Izzy," I corrected, feeling elated at my new nickname.

The teacher nodded. "Ok, Izzy then. Izzy, these are Allie," Allie smiled at me. "Freya," she pointed at the redhead, who didn't look up from her book. "Rose,"  the pink-haired girl gave a little wave. "And Wren." The piano girl nodded shyly at me. 

The teacher went over to the boys, leaving Allie to count us in. "A one, and a two, and a one-two-three!" she shouted, and then started the drumbeat. Freya came in on the base, and Wren's hands were a blur of motion on the piano keys. Rose started on the guitar, and finally I came in.

As soon as I started singing, time stopped, the world stopped for me. There was only the music, the sound and the vibrations and the feel of it, of singing the words, of Rose's guitar and Allie's drums and Wren's tinkling piano, all accompanied by the solid, steady strumming from Freya's bass.

The way we played together was flawless, perfect. I wished it never had to end. Of course, eventually we ran out of chords to play and lines to sing, and I had to come back down to earth, to the harsh reality of my life. 

When it stopped, the first thing I noticed was the staring. The teacher had an expression of delighted shock on her face, the boys were outright gawping, and even the girls I had been playing with looked stunned. 

"What?" I asked, worried. "Did I do something wrong?"

Allie was the first one to answer. "No," she said. "You did something right."

"Izzy," the teacher exclaimed. "You have the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard."

"And Miss Lauric's been teaching music for almost twenty years," added Rose cheekily.

"It was entrancing. One of the most magnificent performances I have ever seen." said Freya in a quiet, serious voice.

Wren nodded, not looking anyone in the eye. "It was really good," she said shyly. 

"Umm..." I didn't know what to say. Praise had been a very rare part of my life up until this point. "Thanks?"

Miss Lauric beamed at me. "You obviously have amazing musical talent, you didn't make one mistake! Have you taken singing lessons?" I shook my head. "I see." Miss Lauric's forehead was doing a funny scrunching thing that I had seen Kaylie do when she was thinking hard. "In that case, one of your parents must have taught you. Your mother? Your father? Or was it an older sibling?"

I blinked back sudden tears. Miss Lauric - probably everyone I had met so far - was assuming that I had a normal family. Parents who loved me. Possibly a couple of siblings. A pet or two. Some annoying cousins. How could I tell them how wrong they were?

"Hey," Allie said gently. "It's alright." I realised I was crying.

Freya came up to me. "Did something happen to one of your parents?" she asked. "Death? Divorce?"

"My parents are divorced." added Rose. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Wren said nothing, but got up and handed me a tissue. I gulped in air and whispered, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Ok," said Miss Lauric. "Never mind, then. But you simply have  to sign up for the concert."

"The what?" I asked, confused.

"The school music concert, of course!" laughed Rose. "You can perform by yourself or in a band, and this year there's going to be some people looking for talent! One of them owns a record company - Sunset Music. If you manage to impress them, they'll record your music and sell it to the world!" She grinned, excited. "I was going to enter by myself, but it would be so much cooler if we did it together."

The other girls agreed, and, caught up  in the moment, I did to.

Despite not being allowed to play music, it looked like I was signing up to be in a band.