Page 28 of Where the Dark Knelt
On the way to college, I was alone.He’d driven his own car. Something he said as we were walking to our cars made me think he wasn’t in the same year as me though. I had already thought he was a few years older, and maybe a mature student.
Iwas going to ask him about it, and about ignoring me when we got to the college, but a lawn truck shed a load ofcuttings in front of me, and I got a fright. I was just glad to get to college in one piece.
We arrived there at the same time, and I parked next to him in the campus car lot. He got out, slammed his door, and locked his car. Without looking at me he muttered, “I’ll text you later,” and he was gone.
Taking a hold of my guitar and rucksack from the trunk, I headed off to find Mandy, who was sitting in the canteen nursing a coffee and a sore head.
“You were fantastic last night, Mandy, you’re very talented!” Mandy’s face immediately brightened. “Thank you, honey. I’m always pleased to get feedback from fellow musicians.
“Do you sing?” She looked at me in anticipation.
I nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, but I’m a bit worried about performing here, everyone I’ve heard so far are on a different plain from back home.”
“Nonsense.” She smiled warmly at me. “Listen, how about we do some jamming at lunchtime?”
“Writing and rhetoric is first up this morning, so I’ll be ready for some escapism,” I told her, rolling my eyes and Mandy smiled, nodding her head in agreement.
“It isn’t my one of my strengths,” she admitted.
“I don’t think there is anything stronger than your voice, Mandy.” I could see what I told her had meant a lot to her, and it was dawning on me that Mandy wasn’t as confident as she first appeared.
“You’ve got yourself a date for lunch.” I smiled, squeezing her hand before I dropped it and hitched my guitar over my shoulder. We turned and headed in the direction of our first class of the day.
The morning passed quicklyand by lunch break, I felt that although there was a lot to take on technically, I was able to apply what I was learning to things I had written previously.
My appetite had left me, soI just pulled an apple from my rucksack, and I sat on the lawn, flicking through my notation pad for a score that I had been working on in the UK. I was deep in thought about how to improve this when I heard Mandy call out to me.
“Lily. honey, we’re just going to get started, are you coming?” I gathered my things and went over to join them. There were a couple of other people from Will’s class that had also joined us.
Will looked a little coy. I smiled at him, and he took my hand kissing my cheek. I squeezed his hand to let him know that I was cool with him hooking up with my friend.
I stupidly inquired, “Good night?”
Coughing at my question, Will blushed, and sputtered, clearing his throat. “Eh, yeah, it was, um, very cool.”
Blushing but feeling bold, I leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.” Will dug me in the ribs and grinned wickedly. I blushed again, and he pulled me in for a hug.
Chapter Twelve
WHAT GOES AROUND
When it came down to all of usjamming, we meshed very well together. Will played the saxophone, amongst other instruments, and was incredibly talented. We played a few well-known tunes together as a group first to learn the group’s strengths.
There was a guy,Landon, who did beat boxing and produced the most ridiculously complicated bass beat percussions, adding a totally different dimension to our instruments.
When we were done, Will asked me if Icould play Oasis “Wonderwall” so he could accompany me on sax, just as a duet.
I felt a little nervous as we were under the scrutiny of our peers, and we had never played together before. I needn’t have worried though, because just a few bars into the piece, and I was lost in the music.
Will’s playing was like a knifegliding through butter, and his arrangement was amazing. His intuition for playing at certain points during the piece gave it a unique sound.
Everyone sat around in silence apart from the beat boxer. The guy couldn’t contain himself a few times, but again, his timing wasimpeccable. Cheering, loud clapping, and a fewpiercing whistles came from the people watching, which told us that they had enjoyed it as much as we had.
Looking beyond the people sitting with us, I noticed that a lot of other students had stopped to listen.
My cheeks stained red when I noticed Alfie, making me nervous about what he was thinking. Standing with his arms folded, he grinned and winked at me when our eyes met. I looked away and hugged Will.
When I looked back,Alfie’s eyes had darkened and his brow formed a crease in the middle of his eyes, a fleeting look of worry in them, but then his face brightened. Striding over, he chatted to the group, congratulating Will on his performance and inviting him and indeed, everyone sitting there, to a beach party performance later that evening.
