His Unwilling Muse

Chapter 5: Undeniable Proof

Warren looks just as confused as Penny and Isaac, while my brain is screaming at me to scramble off. Nothing good can happen if I remain here, yet for some reason my legs refuse to move.

"This is my boyfriend, Warren." Penny breaks the moment of confused glancing. "Remember, I told you he was coming here today. And she is Violet, Warren's friend. The one I told you I wanted to meet."

Nate positions himself, so he is standing beside Penny and briefly eyes Warren from the top of his head to the tips of his shoes. Warren does the same to him, while I glance in between Nate, Penny and Isaac. I can't help but conclude that they all know each other.

"He doesn't look like much, does he?" Isaac leans forward, so he can look at Nate. "Do you think we should let him continue to date our Penny?"

Nate glances at him, but then immediately focuses back on Warren. Yet even as heartbeats pass by, he doesn't say anything. He only continues to silently observe him.

"Enough." Penny sends both Nate and Isaac a fierce glare, and then smooths her features and turns back to Warren. "Remember the two bull-headed 'brothers' I told you about? Well, here they are. Isaac and Nathaniel."

Warren keeps his lips pressed in a tight line, while he politely nods at both of the said guys. I, on the other hand, finally realize that perhaps Nate isn't here for me after all. And if he's here to meet Warren, then maybe he wouldn't feel a need to repeat the silly muse thing.

"Let's not forget the pretty lady," Isaac says, causing everyone's eyes to turn to me. "What did you say your name was?"

"Violet." Once again, Nate answers instead of me.

"How do you two know each other?" Penny asks, now glancing between the two of us.

"Remember the unwilling muse I told you about?" I almost cringe at the word muse. "Well, now you've met her. Violet is my muse."

"What?" Isaac and Penny ask at the same time, while I feel like smacking my forehead against a wall. Why, oh why, would he mention the ridiculous muse thing to anyone else?

"Yes, she's the one."

Nate reaches forward and before I can even respond, he grabs my hand and pulls me to him. I stumble forward, until I'm standing right beside him. He lifts his arm to sling it over my shoulder, but I back away before he can do that.

"Muse?" Warren seems to be the only one not familiar with Nate's ridiculous way of flirting as he glances between the two of us. "What are you talking about?"

"Her?" Penny ignores her boyfriend and instead, stares at me with a wrinkled nose. "You really want us to believe that someone like her is your muse?"

"I can prove it," Nate says.

Without warning, he once again grabs my hand, but this time he begins to pull me in the direction of the building looming behind us. I try to pull my hand out of his grasp, yet no matter how hard I tug, he doesn't let go.

By the time we round the side of the building I move onto digging my heels into the pavement. The surrounding students stop and stare at the spectacle I'm making of us, but I don't care. All I want is for Nate to let go.

"What's going on?" Warren's voice comes from behind us, but instead of getting further away it stays at the same volume. "Where are we going?"

"A few days ago Nathaniel told us about some girl he claims is his muse. He said that he begins to play better than ever before in her presence." Penny says, while Nate pulls me through a set of double glass door.

We enter a spacious hallway, which is illuminated by the sunlight coming from the glass wall on my right. As I crane my neck around to get a better look, I forget to drag my feet. This allows Nate to lead me up a flight of metallic stairs.

"Isaac and I, of course, didn't believe him," Penny continues. "I still don't for that matter. But Nathaniel keeps insisting that it's true. And now it turns out that the mysterious girl is your friend."

I feel a pair of eyes bore into the back of my head, but I force myself to focus on the wide hallway we are now moving through. Somewhere in the middle of the hallway, we stop at random glass door and enter a crammed room barely big enough to fit all of us in.

The bright white walls almost blind me when I enter the room. I finally manage to tear my hand out of Nate's hold, who doesn't even glance back at me. Instead, he walks up to black note holder and the single chair inside the small room. On the chair rests his violin case.

Isaac and Penny move deeper into the room, while Warren remains next to me beside the now closed glass door. Silently we all watch as Nate takes his violin and bow out of the case and positions himself, so he is standing in front of the note holder and the white sheet resting on the said note holder.

Then without missing a beat he rests the violin in between his jaw and collar bone. With only a few random draws of the bow he lunges into precise moves of his bow. The small unit of slow introductory notes soon turns into quick draws of his bow and jumping fingers on the violin's neck.

I grit my teeth into my tongue to keep myself from shuddering at the classical melody. There is something disgustingly familiar about it, but I don't allow myself to try and connect it with my past. Who cares what he is playing.

"This doesn't prove anything." Penny says and marches across the room, while Nate doesn't stop even for a single draw of the bow.

Without giving me a chance to protest, Penny grabs my upper arm and pulls me out of the crammed room and a little further down the hallway. The moment we stop I spin around to face her. Before I can even open my mouth though, she marches back to the practice room and slams the door shut.

For three heartbeats I stand in the middle of the unfamiliar hallway and then shake my head at myself. What am I doing? This is the perfect opportunity for me to walk away and never look back.

Just when I'm about to turn on my heel and leave, the door opens again and Penny walks out.

"Listen very carefully," she says. "I'm going to leave the door open and you have to enter the room at a random moment. It can't be immediately in the beginning and you can't make a single sound. Got it?"

Before I can tell her that I'm not doing this and that I'm leaving, she goes back inside the room. This time, however, there is no loud bang of a closing door.

With one last glance down the hallway I walk back to the practice room, so I can see inside. Nate is now standing with his back turned to the door, while still playing the same melody as before. I watch his straight back for a handful of seconds and then slowly tiptoe my way back inside the room. Despite not really knowing why, I make sure not to make a single sound.

The moment I set my foot inside the room, Nate's back straightens for another fraction and the draws of his bow turn more fluid. I curse myself for noticing such a detail, and then turn toward the rest of the occupants of the room. Instead, of gloating expressions, I find myself staring at Penny's and Isaac's slack jaws.

"I can't believe this." Penny shakes her head. "It's not possible."

"Told you so." Nate makes one final draw of his bow and then turns around. "Violet is my muse."

"Your playing actually changed the moment she left the room and then entered again." Isaac shakes his head. "I've never heard you play this good before."

"What does this mean?" Warren asks glancing between me and the three musicians.

"It means that Violet just became a very useful person," Penny says.

"So, Violet." Nate turns to me with a wide smile. "Will you finally agree to help me?"

I glance between the four pairs of eyes trained on me, and shake my head. There is no way I'm putting myself through such torture.

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                -E