The Unexpected *SPORADIC UPDATES*

Chapter Four: Music Class

DATE: July 12, 3035

LOCATION: San Fransisco, California

The lasagna the night before had been absolutely delicious. I gobbled it down in nearly one bite, enjoying every bit of it. I desperately wanted seconds, but I was already stuffed.

Presently, I'm in my bedroom, devouring page after page of certain books on the bookshelf. The ones I picked out to read are books written in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but are set far into the future. Books like The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry, The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins cause me to question why the world would ever even consider forming the government they currently have, given the outcomes of the governments in these novels and others like them. At least now I understand why the government banned some books from ever being sold.

While reading The Hunger Games (book one), I come to a part that stops me in my tracks. Katniss, the main character, sings to Rue, a supporting character, who is Katniss' friend. This confuses me, and I race to Sebastian's room to ask him about it. I knock on the door, book in hand. Sebastian opens it and gives me a friendly smile, which I return before entering the room.

"I see you're reading The Hunger Games," he states, "Very good choice."

I nod ever so slightly and reopen the book to the page I had been saving with my thumb. I point the passage out to Sebastian. "What's singing?"

Sebastian starts to laugh at first, but then looks at my genuinely confused expression and stops. "You really don't know, do you?" he asks. I shake my head. He slings an arm around my shoulders and guides me to the door of Jackson's room, knocking on it. "Jackson! This is important!"

Jackson opens the door while Sebastian's still knocking, and is nearly hit in the face by Sebastian's fist. He flinches backwards in reflex, but relaxes a moment later and steps aside, letting us into his room.

I haven't been in Jackson's room before today, and the sight before me gives me a shock, as well as a wave of complete and utter confusion. In the back, right corner lays his bed, and a window is directly above it. However, everything else in the room is unfamiliar to me. In the back, left corner, there's a large, black box-like thing, with a matching black bench just in front of it. Next to that, on a stand, there's another box-looking thing, except this has an hourglass kind of figure, a hole in the center, and a board sticking out from the top. It also has strings down the board and over the hole. A similar looking item is beside it on another stand, although this one is thinner, has no hole, and looks to be some kind of plastic. Next to that, there's something that appears to be a speaker, although it has knobs along the top. I look at the book Jackson's holding, and I see words, but in every other space, I see a bunch of horizontal bars, with dots on them. Some dots have lines either sticking straight up, or straight down. There are other symbols on there as well, but they're so confusing I can't even describe them to myself.

I direct my attention to Jackson, and he's staring at me. I realize how confused I must appear, so I straighten my face, hoping Jackson didn't see it. Confusion would make me seem vulnerable, and I can't have that.

Jackson smiles, letting out a small laugh. "You don't know what any of this stuff is, do you?" he asks me. I shake my head in response.

Jackson walks over to the black box, and sits down on the bench in front of it. He looks over at me, motioning for me to sit down next to him, and I do so. Then, Jackson lifts a lid on the front of the box (which I hadn't noticed before), revealing black and white button-looking things.

"This is a piano," he explains, gesturing to the black box, "And these-" here he nods to the black and white buttons, "-Are called keys. When you press down on them, they make music. Try it."

I take my index finger, placing it directly over a white key before softly pushing my finger down. The piano lets out a noise, but it isn't an obnoxious noise. It's beautiful, and is gentle on the ears. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but it's extremely pleasant. I smile at the sound, and so does Jackson.

"What you just played," Jackson starts, "Is called a note. Each note has a name; that note was a D. Back when music was allowed, people would play it all the time. Some would even become famous for their music. To make music, they would put notes together with different items that play music-those are called instruments-to make a song, but they would also write lyrics, which is just musical term for words, and sing them, using their voices."

"How would they do that?" I inquire.

Jackson smiles again. "Here, let me show you," he offers, and starts hitting keys on the piano, each one making a different sound. After a little while of this, he begins doing what I assume is singing.

After a minute or so, I subconsciously join in, playing the notes perfectly. It feels as if I had pulled it out of the back of my mind, and I had known the song all along, but never realized it. When the song is over and the last notes ring softly from the piano, Jackson turns to me, eyes wide.

"How did you do that?" he asks in shock, "I thought you had never heard music before."

"I hadn't," I answer smoothly, "The music just came to me. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but it felt as if I already knew the words and the notes."

"That, right there, is some real skill," Sebastian points out, rejoining the conversation. I merely smile in response, looking down at my hands.

Jackson leans toward me and whispers, "The perks of being a blonde."

I laugh a little, realizing that, yes, it had to have been because I was blonde that I could have done that.

"Alright, then," Sebastian begins, heaving a loud sigh, "I'll leave you two alone."

Jackson and I stayed in his room for what seemed like forever, but in a good way. He tells me that the hourglass-shaped boxes are called guitars, and teaches me how to play both. The wooden one is an acoustic guitar, and the plastic-looking one (though it's actually wooden, also) is an electric guitar. He also informs me that the speaker is called an amplifier, or amp for short, and says that you're supposed to hook it up to the electric guitar so it can be heard. Then, he teaches me about sheet music, which is what was in the book Jackson had been holding earlier. The words are lyrics, as he already told me, and the symbols are notes and rests. He teaches me about whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and rests, and how to write sheet music, as well.

Hours later, we decide to figure out a plan for what to do after we fake my death. We ponder suggestions for quite a while before an idea dons on me.

"Wait," I start, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room, "What if we send someone to help from the inside?"

Jackson, who is currently staring down at his feet, lifts his head up to look me in the eye. "Where did you get an idea like that?"

"From Among the Brave. It's the fifth book in The Shadow Children Series. Long story short, in the end, the main characters decide to take down their tyrant-like government from within."

Jackson's eyes grow wide with realization. "I read those books, too! I don't know how I didn't think about it, but that's a great idea! We have to go tell Sebastian!"

"Alright!"

Jackson and I find Sebastian, explaining our idea to him, and he helps us develop our plan. Sebastian tells us that he has friends who work in the government, but only for the money to care for their families, as they secretly oppose Them, as well. He's positive he can convince his friends to help us, and we decide to invite them over tomorrow, after which we'll fake my death.

It all starts tomorrow.

^^^^^^^^^^

GUYS I UPDATED SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you proud? Excited? Euphoric?

This chapter is one of many that builds up the plot, but it's the last. I hope. I'm currently working on chapter six, and I won't say too much, but the next chapter is over 2,000 words, and the buildup so far has been partially leading to chapter five. 😉

So, are you all anticipating the next chapter? It's worth it, trust me!

~Tiffani

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