As the large bus pulled into the school's car park, the kids quickly began to bustle about. Standing and talking loudly amongst themselves. John Watson, however, continued to sit peacefully in his seat. Nobody sat with him, but it's not like he'd wanted anyone to. Even though he was an important part of the school's Jazz band, John never really made friends with the other kids in the groups.
It wasn't because he didn't try. It was because they were just too intent on making fun of him. John was born without any mark relating to a soulmate. John found it unfair that a person he'll never meet defined his entire life.
But, it didn't make him all that different fro the rest of his family, to be honest. His father had died, a workplace accident, a few years after John was born, and his mother resorted to the bottle to feel better. John was taken from the home and placed with a wonderful woman named Nelissa. John called her Aunt 'Nissa. She hadn't found her soulmate yet, but it was known that she had one somewhere in the world.
John also had an older sister, Harry. She met her soulmate, Clara in uni. But, Clara was accepted into a space program and left to see the stars with a bunch of doctors in the cosmos. She hasn't returned yet, and Harry's beginning to lose hope for her. Harry still lived with John's mother, but she visited Nelissa and John quite often. Today would be one of those days.
John had never experienced a loss like that, so whenever Harry called him up at night to rant with slurred speech, John just let her go off about it. He assumed his mother wasn't going to listen if she was in the exact same state most nights. John sometimes thought about how lucky he was to not have to go through something that devastating.
John stood from his seat, the last one off the bus. He carried his Clarinet case with him into the building. The group had made it back for lunch, which was pleasing to almost everyone in the band. John went to a simple state school in central London. It was close to where Aunt 'Nissa lived, so often times John enjoyed walking home by himself.
As John was maliciously tripped just before the large double doors and laughed at as he fell, John realised that this was not one of those days A boy bent down and quickly snatched John's clarinet case from him and tossed it to another, who was already inside of the building.
The kids laughed as John sat up on his heels, watching helplessly as they locked him out of the building and left with his clarinet. John banged on the door, hoping for someone to see him and let him in. "C'mon!" John grunted as he shook the doors' handles, hoping they'd open. eventually, the music instructor, Mr P, opened the door, just a few minutes shy of John beginning to panic.
"John? what are you doing out here? Everyone's gone to lunch already," The larger man asked, concerned. Mr P had been a fatherly-figure to John since he'd first joined jazz band. He dealt with John's lack of finances graciously, allowing him to go on large trips in exchange for his commitment to playing at events. "Didn't you have your clarinet?" He questioned, then sucked his teeth, realizing that the kids had taken it from him once again. John remained quiet until Mr P helped him stand and offered for John to stay in the band room to eat lunch. Many other kids did it often, so it wasn't like it made John feel uncomfortable.
Mr P was a lot of kids' favourite instructor when it came to this small state school. He was a lot more lenient on certain things that most wouldn't have been. John had remembered the panic that ensued when Mr P had casually asked a student to hand him their pocket knife to open a box, then complimented it after! John often looked up to this man as he treated John as if he would teach any other student of his.
"You got a minute after practice, John?" The question came the day after. John had retrieved his clarinet, but it wasn't the same. It had been written on in bright markers, and its mouth-piece had been beaten into a bent position. It was stuck, which made it difficult to clean. John was going to get another from the local music shoppe after school before going to rugby practice.
There was a girl who does cheer for John's team that he really wanted to talk to for a long time. One day as they were in a practice match, John saw the girl respond to the name Mary. Man, was she pretty. She was blonde, like John, but her eyes were so intriguing. She'd actually caught John staring a few times, which was embarrassing. If John was late to practice today, would she even notice? John nodded to Mr P and did his best with the broken material he had. It was such a shame, too. John loved this clarinet!
After practice, Mr P walked with John to his office. "John, you have talent. You are amasing at what you do and how you play. You earned many 'best clarinet solo' awards at multiple different competitions..." he began as he looked around on his desk, picking up a paper to hand it to John, "I want to sign you up for the central London orchestra concert. They're accepting two state school students to play with them a month from now. You were the first person I thought of."" Mr P said. John was shocked. He held the paper in front of his face and looked up at his instructor.
"I-Uhh... A-are you sure you want... me to do this...?" John asked, his voice slightly shaking as he pointed to himself.
"As long as you get a new clarinet soon!" Mr P laughed, and John joined with a distant chuckle, staring at the paper a little longer. "Look, you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable, John. But, I think it would be an excellent challenge for you to move up to a level more suitable for you." Mr P gave softly, placing a hand on John's back. "Think it over, discuss it with you aunt, and get back to me with your answer, m'kay?" John looked at Mr P sharply before giving him a hug suddenly. Mr P's arms were up awkwardly for a moment before he patted John on the back with a chuckle.
"Thanks for believing in me, sir...!" John said as he let go, a smile beaming on his face. John ran out to his aunt 'Nissa's truck and hopped in. Harry was already in the middle seat of said truck as to let John have the window. He loved the window. John showed them the flyer that Mr P gave to him. "Mr P wants me to do this," John said, buckling his seat belt. 'Nissa whistled, glancing over to the paper Harry held.
"Woah, that's a big thing. Are you sure you want to do this, buddy?" Harry asked, reading through the flyer.
"Well, I'm not sure yet. Mr P said I have some time to think about it first, but he said that I was the first person he thought of when he saw it...!" John said excitedly. Harry read the bottom of the page.
"Oh, it says here the lucky kid gets to bring two family members and two friends for free. Who would you bring if you could?" Harry asked with a sly smile, knowing who John had been too afraid to talk to, "Maybe you could ask that cheerleader you've been staring at when you're at rugby practice." John's face almost instantly went red with embarrassment. 'Nissa laughed ad the drove.
"Yeah, John. I'm sure she'd love to arrange a date with you once she finds out you're in the Central London orchestra!" John's aunt teased. Then, she recalled something. "Oh, John. I almost forgot, Mr Sovak called today about the new clarinet," She glanced over at the boy as she took a turn, pulling her steering wheel to the left. "Unfortunately, it won't be in until Wednesday.
"What?!" John shouted, "Are you kidding me, the day after my next after-school practice? This sucks!" John folded his arms.
"Not as much as the cost of the damn thing," 'Nissa gave in frustration.
"Ooh, I like this song." Harry said quietly as she reached forward to turn the dial to the radio. The music filled the car ride until the three got to the rugby pitch, where the boys would play and practice.
John got changed into his rugby uniform and joined the rest of the kids. Of course, there were a few people who did bully him, but at least he had a few friends who would stick up for him. One such boy named Bill Murray was one of John's best friends. John even had Bill over a few times for dinner and such. A nice boy, who lived a little ways away from the city. They would often rough-house before the practices would start.
However, this day would be different. John took deep breaths and walked up to Mary, who was talking to a few of her friends off to the side before practice started for them, too. "Hey, uh... My name's John. I've seen you around and thought it would be nice to introduce myself," John said with a shaky voice. He gave a weak wave to the girl. Mary looked at John and smiled, tilting her head.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you, John. My name's Mary, and... I've seen you around, too," Mary gave a wave back as she began. The girls behind her were snickering, draining John's confidence.
"So, do you like rugby, or is your mum signing you up?" John asked with a chuckle.
Mary looked around, then pointed to the only girl on the team. "That's my cousin, Janine."
"That's your cousin?" John asked, sounding somewhat surprised. "Oh, we played video games together a few times," he gave, giving only a glance to the older girl that defied most other rugby clubs' rules by playing along side the boys, "yeah, she's really cool."
"Yeah, she told me one time that you play the clarinet; I think that's pretty cool." Mary said. She was going to say something else, but the adults were encouraging the kids to their respective practice pitches.
"Woah, I can't believe you finally got the nerve to talk to her!" Bill said with a chuckle. John gave him a glare as they began with warm-ups.
"Well, yeah! I really want to get to know her. Plus, if I make it in with the central London orchestra for that concert, Mary's definitely the first one I'm going to invite as a plus one." John said, stretching his legs out for a moment.
"A tenner says she'll say no, mate." Bill laughed next to John. John gave Bill a smack with an upset glare.
"Whatever, man! You'll see. She'll have an awesome time, and who knows, she might even want to go steady after," John gave a shrug as his face flushed.
Bill gave an unsure facial expression, "Yeah, I'm not really sure that's how the world works, John..." The coach called for the boys to run, and they couldn't talk anymore. Things were going great.