T E M P T E D

T E M P T E D {ch 8 - Nightmares, Numbing and Noticing}

It was only after he said it that I noticed my teeth were chattering. The cold was beginning to seep in.

"Uh, n-nothing." I squeezed my lips together to stop myself from shivering.

"Are you outside, Lee?" he said in a disapproving tone.

"Y-Yeah. It w-was too hot inside."

"Oh, bullshit. Get back inside before you freeze your butt off."

"Ok-kay." I moved my stiff body indoors.

I heard him yawn, the sound echoing down the phone. "I should let y-you sleep," I said.

"Yeah, I'm about to drop off. I'll call you next time and I'll make it soon. And we have to meet up sometime, the twins are badgering me for us to go and see you and it's only been a few days."

I chuckled. "That'd be fun."

"Alright then. Night sis."

"Night big bro."

"Night." He hung up.

I felt warmer now, the dregs of the nightmare only whispers in my mind. I still had Rhyley and I was grateful. I started to return to my room but the horrid nightmare and the cold had woken me fully and I knew I wouldn't be able to return to sleep tonight. I decided that I would go check out the student music study area, something I'd been meaning to do for a while now. I quickly scurried back to my room, grabbed my favourite navy hoodie and made my way to the study quarters.

The place was dark, of course because it was so late at night, and I couldn't find any light switches so I settled for looking around in the dark. I could see plenty of bookshelves, a couple of instruments, including plenty of keyboards, and a lot of couches and sofas. There were several doors leading to other rooms, most likely soundproofed, but there was one that interested me, one with the words 'studio' written on the door. A studio? It was like my dream come true to be able to record my voice.

I opened the door and walked in to find two more doors. One said 'recording' while the other was 'tech'. I chose the recording room and opened the door. And nearly screamed, only just stopping myself. The recording room was in the dark but the window, showing into the 'tech' room was lit and there was a slim girl with headphones on playing with the big panel covered with buttons and switches, a mixing desk. What was she doing here at two in the morning? Maybe she couldn't sleep either? I stepped in and waved but she didn't look up or see the movement. Probably because she was in the light while I was in the dark. She frowned to herself and turned a knob. Suddenly I could hear a steady beat coming from a set of headphones sitting on a stool in the middle of the room.

I couldn't help myself, I was totally curious. So I picked them up and held them to one ear. The music was electronic, almost techno but not so irritatingly repetitive. And there was more than just a heavy, thudding beat. Classical music, piano, harp, violin, they were integrated into the rhythm, giving the song more emotion. I gasped. It was really good. Suddenly it stopped. There was a tapping sound on the glass and I turned to see the girl press a button, squinting at me.

"What're you doing?" she asked through the headphones.

"I'm just listening," I said not knowing if she could hear me or not. "Sorry for snooping but I couldn't resist. This beat is super excellent."

She shook her head and fiddled with something. The lights to the recording studio flickered on. "No, I meant you were humming something. The mike was on and I heard you."

I blushed. I'd been humming to myself? How embarrassing. "Err, sorry. I guess I got caught up in it. It's really fantastic."

"Can you do it again?" she asked, frowning down at the huge console. She fiddled with a few of the equalization slides and then looked up at me. She had olive green eyes, big eyes, even bigger looking due to her short, blonde pixie cut. Wow, she was pretty.