Mυѕιc Coɴɴecтѕ υѕ All (Echo)

[pipintan]

"Where words leave off, music begins."
-Heinrich Heine

✾♬❤♬❤♬❤♬❤♬❤♬❤♬❤♬❤♬✾

8 years ago...


"Alright class, get your books out and..." Ms. Bell's soft voice drifted away from Jerald's mind, as his eyes glazed over. It had been a long weekend for the second grader, and this week, he believed, was going to take its toll on it. He glanced away from her, his choir book left unattended.

The sun was definately not helping his exhaustion, as it shone through the windows and settled above his stomach, warming him up. He groggily glanced around the room, as the plinking sound of Ms. Bell's piano reverberated through the room and the loud voices of his classmates belted out, drowning the piano. Jerald winced, forcing himself to not cover his ears; they were destroying the beautiful melody with their- with their-

The little boy was disgusted by their horrible voices, they hurt his ears so much... He just needed somewhere quiet to be... Besides, singing was not his forte and it was a pretty large class, they wouldn't miss him...

Jerald crept away from the group, while the teacher's back was turned. As he neared the door, his foot slammed into something. Hopping around, holding his foot, his eyes sparkling with tears, as he clamped down to try and not let out a yelp, he glanced down to what he had slammed into. His pain disappeared instantly as he saw a box full of musical instruments. His heart leaped as he saw the shiny, brown handle of an acoustic guitar. He greedily grabbed for it and turned it around in his hands, his heart pounding.

Jerald strummed the guitar softly, trying to get a feel for it. Finally, he started playing softly. The music drowned out the loud "singing" his classmates were doing and the plinking if the piano. He was in his own little world, with this guitar.

[~echo~]

Catrin, surrounded by her blonde-haired, popular friends, sang along, one voice among the masses that could at least hold a tune. She wasn't very into it, though, and her beautiful emerald eyes wandered. She noticed little Jared walk off, wondering to herself how the teacher couldn't notice this. She looked around and also slipped away, following him quietly. She watched him stub his toe and then start playing the guitar, surprised.

She sat down next to him, her adorable blue dress fanning out around her. She listened curiously, hoping he wouldn't stop playing because she had joined him- it was a beautiful tune.

[pipintan]

Jerald was lost in his own world, his head bobbing to the tune. It soon became the clear tune of "Au claire de la lune," one of his favorite songs to play. He remembered faintly of his mommy singing to him softly, when he was little. He wanted to cling to that memory, that memory of mommy not yelling at him to keep playing, of nice mommy.

[~echo~]

Cat watched in intrigue, happily swaying to the tune. She wondered who this boy was- she had never really noticed him before. He was kind of cute.

[pipintan]

As the song ended, Jerald start there with a blissed out look to him. Though when he saw that there was a girl sitting near him, who was quite pretty, he let out a yelp and jumped back, arms flailing.

[~echo~]

She jumped and stood up with a flash. "Sh! She'll hear us!" She watched him carefully. "It's okay! I... I liked your song..."

[pipintan]

He stared at her with wide eyes. Was she...was she talking to him? Jerald glanced at Ms. Bell, before his eyes flickered back to her. "Why...why were you listening to me?" He asked softly, his voice high and nervous.

[~echo~]

She tilted her golden head. "Am I not allowed to? Anyways," she smiled, "I heard you. You're really good. How long have you been playing?"

[pipintan]

He flushed a bright pink, shifting from the praise. "A... A while now," he whispered, finding the ground surprisingly interesting.

[~echo~]

She nodded and sat back down on the ground, her ankles crossed. "Why did you leave choir class?"

[pipintan]

He glanced at the choir class, frowning a bit and holding the guitar closer to him. "I'm not good at singing... I...I don't understand it." Jerald sounded frustrated with himself; if you can't perfect it, why bother trying at all?

[~echo~]

"You don't have to be good to enjoy it," she said with a smile. "I'm not very good and I like singing."

[pipintan]

He looked at her in confusion, almost irritation. "Well of course you do. If you're not good at something, just move on to something else," he replied stubbornly, not getting this girl at all.

[~echo~]

She frowned, looking hurt. "You can to, you know. No one is stopping you!" With a huff, she stood back up and rejoined the class.

[pipintan]

He stuck out his tongue as she stalked away, his eyebrows pinched together in frustration. Yeah...so who cared what she thought? She wasn't mommy, she didn't know...

(Time skip 8 years? c: )

[~echo~]

(I was thinking maybe he could be sitting in the bkeachers while she is at cheer practice? :3 And she sees him)

Fast forward eight years, and Catrin had turned into a gorgeous young lady, smart and very popular. She never saw Jerald anymore, but she thought of that day in elementary school a lot. She remembered what an amazing guitarist he was.

But this was cheer practice- they were practicing stunts. She loaded into the stunt and stood up in a extension, her arms in a perfect motion. She smiled brightly as she prepared to cradle down into the arms of the bases. She turned a full circle in the air and landed perfectly, relieved she hadn't fallen. This was a very hard stunt

[pipintan]

(Oh, I like that!)

"You need more sun! Look at how pale you are!" Or so his music teacher said. Pfeh. Didn't his teacher know how delicate these instruments were? Besides, it was too loud out here...

Years had passed since that moment in the choir room, though it had faded into just a memory for Jerald. He had grown lanky over the years and his hair had grown unruly. He had shrugged it off, too exhausted to try and tame it. His voice had gotten deeper, though hardly anyone knew what he sounded like. It didn't matter... What had stayed the same was his love for the guitar.

He shifted where he sat in the bleachers, trying to block out the outside noise. Practicing over and over again had gotten him to the moment of playing "Recuerdos De La Alhambra." He still hadn't mastered it, though he felt, in his bones, that he was getting so close to it...

[~echo~]

Catrin sighed as she loaded in again. In the extension, she twirled around in the base's hands. However, she miscalculated the preparedness of he bases and she tipped sideways, hitting the ground with very little to stop her. The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped for a few seconds for air. Her head hurt as it had hit the ground pretty hard and she tried to sit up, but failed. She just laid there as their coach ran over to check on her.

[pipintan]

Jerald's head snapped up, loud gasps and shrieks breaking his concentration. He squinted his eyes, trying to see from the glare of the sun what had happened. From the looks of it, it seemed like a cheerleader had toppled over. The couch seemed to have it under control, but just in case, be hesitantly got to his feet, and awkwardly jumped his way down the bench seats.

[~echo~]

Cat was finally able to sit up, but she grimaced. "My ankle is twisted," she said through gritted teeth. She noticed Jerald in the bleachers but looked down again. Two other cheerleaders helped her stand and helped her walk towards the nurse's office. They happened to walk past Jerald. "Hey," she said somewhat shyly. Once they were out of earshot, one of
the cheerleaders snorted. "Why are you talking to him? You're so out of his league." Catrin glared at the girl. "He's sweet."