Mallory's Melody

Chapter 27

    COLE HAD NEVER BELIEVED in love at first sight.

But that changed the summer of 1993, when she strode into Creekfall's cafeteria; her sublime face glimmering so brightly, she might've been the sun embodied in human form. She was the cynosure of all eyes, the envy of all women, and the monument to all men. But to Cole, she was none of those. She was hope. All his answers encapsulated in one being. He no longer needed to spend his entire life looking for the missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle of his soul, as there she was, alas, the perfect fit.

It was fate when their eyes met, an electrifying gaze that worked more efficiently than any numbing medication. Everything around became merely just a background prop, all revolving around him and this woman—whoever she was. She was definitely charmed, with the way his brain cells seemed to have vanquished at her aura. But before he could discover what it was about her that made him lose awareness of himself, she was gone, faster than the blink of an eye. And then it dawned on Cole, the repercussions of her letting her go. That his heart would never remain the same.

"Hey, chimp." Daniel nudged his elbows in Cole's side, entreating him to snap out of his reverie. Daniel watched him with a speculative eye, then traced his gaze back to the path Cole's mystery lady had traversed. It took a minute before he got the idea and burst into a fit of giggles. "Don't bother dreaming chimp. That's Jane. She something all right. But she ain't for you... way out of your league man."

Cole had laughed his friend's remark away, but in truth, those words alone had rubbed all his hopes from him. "You're right. " he took a swig of his beer. "But she's really beautiful."

"Yeah, too beautiful for you," Daniel laughed hysterically. "To bad she's dating that fresh band guitarist—what was his name again? Yeah, Lewis. Dad owns that academy down the street. Nobody ever goes there y'know. But this summer it looks like they're up in business. " He lit his cigarette. "I hear they're hosting some audition today, for musicians or some bull. Some say Jane's gonna show up."

Cole's heart throbbed. "We can go, you know?"

"It's strictly for musicians, real ones." Daniel expelled the cigarette fumes. "And we ain't got no chance of auditioning nothing."

"C'mon now. We have some experience in band-playing. we could—"

Daniel cut in. "You could, bro. It's not even about auditioning, you just Wanna see your Jane." he wiggled his eyebrows. "But for real, go alone bro, I have a date with my babe"

The same day, Cole decided to be the man he'd always wanted to be, the man his doctor-obsessed parents had never approved of—a musician. But Cole didn't care about his parent's niceties. He was twenty-four and should've attained some form of autonomy. He walked out on them that day and set his foot on the threshold to accomplishing his dreams. He was going be a full-time guitarist. He was going to rock stages and strum strings in such a way that would enchant people. He would be a girl magnet, and would be unimaginably famous—But the thing was, he had to start somewhere. And somewhere was Starlight Academy.

And that was where he met her, Jane. She was swarming amongst the throngs of animated participants, distinctive in her diminutive yet unmistakably conspicuous stature. For the few seconds their eyes met, his heart went inactive, and for the first time in his twenty-four years, he felt more boyish than he'd ever, alive and subdued, slave to a force that was beyond his comprehension, in love. But his heart shattered when a brawny- and ostentatious-looking man approached her and bent to kiss her ring-rimmed finger, the diamonds on it shedding a glimmer than screamed 'engaged'. Cole felt betrayed by a woman who wasn't even his lover, and jealous of the fiance of hers—Lewis Anderson.

So Cole focused on the auditions, and loved Jane from a distance, in silence. He continued to hone his guitar skills, all the while dating women—women whom he had no modicum of affection for, a superficial and flamboyant woman who only approached him for the wealth his parents had given him. But Jane, oh Jane, his heart fluttered every time he saw her upstage but sunk each time he saw her with Lewis. And every hope melted when he realised she seemed intentional about avoiding his gaze. So he did what every man would do in the despondency of an unrequited love. He told himself he didn't love, pushing his burning affection to the back of his mind and weathered it down with excess and tedium work, with reading romance books, as he gained an odd satisfaction from envisioning the romantic love of the characters were that of his and Jane.