Melodies

Sydney looks worn out when I see him come to the door. Mr. Turner was just rambling on about dynamics while we waited, and I was just nodding my acknowledgement helplessly every so often, hoping Sydney would come save me for the second time today.

Mr. Turner gets up to open the door, thankfully not mentioning that Sydney's a little late. He can be a crazy old man when he wants to. Sydney smiles at him, moving into the room kind of awkwardly. "Hey, thanks for having me."

Mr. Turner smiles and guides him to where he can unpack, before coming back to me to help me tune really quick.

After we're both tuned and we've gone through a few warm-ups, we go through a few pieces to see what fits us best. There's a table music thing I like a lot, but Rondo ends up winning. I already know I hate it, because of the shifts and the section in E flat major. I do have to admit though, it was the best piece for us. It's repetitive enough that it shouldn't be too difficult to learn, and it's balanced between us pretty well.

I can tell Mr. Turner likes Sydney enough, but Sydney's scared of him. I ask him about it when we're outside after the lesson, because he's kind enough to stand with me for a few minutes while Jamie takes his time getting here. He just laughs. "He's kind of scary, you have to admit."

I shrug. "At first, I guess. You just have to get used to him."

"That's gonna take a while."

"It goes faster than you'd think."

"Cool." There's a slight pause, that's only a little uncomfortable. "So, how much you wanna bet we fuck this song up?"

I wrinkle my nose when I smile and shake my head. "No way, we'll be fine. We'll at least do proficient. As long as there's enough work behind it, we can at least kind of fake the parts that still suck."

"Geez, you sound confident."

"Not really, just trying to stay positive while my good mood lasts." He gives me a curious look, and I blush and look away awkwardly, explaining as I do, "Playing always puts me in a good mood, no matter what. It's how I've been since I was little."

He chuckles a bit. "Wish I was like that. Playing helps most of the time, but I still want to throw my violin out the window. Well, sometimes.

"That's understandable. Sometimes." I grin back at him over my shoulder as I walk away, to the passenger seat of the car Jamie's just pulled up in. Sydney waves after I shut the door, walking to his own car. I wave and smile back, hoping to look somewhat appealing instead of tired and gross, how I've felt all day. Well, really all year. Well, since 8th grade.

It makes me really happy and bubbly though, when he smiles back and blows a kiss teasingly. Is this how it feels when someone you like actually likes you back? Or is this how it feels when someone is just playing and you take it wrong?

I stop myself after that thought. I want to keep my good mood for at least ten more minutes.