The closest image to what I had envisioned Mr Green's piano study to look like. Except with with light cream walls. Now that I have an iPad, I might draw it one day and post it. ^^
~❤~
C h a p t e r S i x
I glanced at my watch, then hopped off the bus relieved to be off. I was silently thankful that I was going to be on time today. Treading leisurely on my stroll to Mr. Green's house, I resumed the song on my earpods and set off.
It was hardly a stressful matter, seeing as I, (unlike yesterday) now knew exactly where to go. The trip should take roughly seven minutes or so.
Things were feeling good. This must've been my lucky break, it was about time I had some good things go my way. If I just turned at the last corner, and head up this hill street for about 500 meters, then round the other bend, I'd be there all fine and dandy, and he'd have nothing to say about it.
Though I did fancy turning left to chill at the park across the street. Yeah, chill for two hours and skip the lesson entirely. Gosh, imagine seeing his face when I don't turn up.
Sigh... I looked sadly away from the park as I passed.
I was still very nervous.
Earphones in, eyes closed, I listened to my "calming down" song, humming to the tune whilst slaughtering upwards the slope. It seemed, walking up this damning hill was to be another regiment of my weekly exercise. Reluctantly, I must agree it would even get Mum off my back about being more active.
"Look out!" the little words bleed through the song.
I frowned and stopped walking.
Huh, that's strange. I'm sure this was one of my most played on the playlist, I wondered why I'd only heard that bit until now.
"Help me! I can't stop it!"
I flung my eyes open and just in time to see a young kid around on a small bike heading my way! His eyes were white and bright with his blonde locks flying behind him; a testament to the speed he was traveling. He was screaming now at the top of his lungs.
I barely managed to sidestep in time to avoid collision as the kid whizzed past, missing me by just an inch, my eyes trailed him.
"Help me! It-It's not stopping!" He cried out to me in panic down the hill.
A car was soon approaching at the bottom of the street. Shit!
I dropped my bag onto the lawn it was and ran down after him as fast as I could. If I didn't get to that kid soon, he might fall into the oncoming vehicle!
I picked up my pace and chased the kid down the hill, becoming increasingly worried.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I ran. I was trying my hardest but couldn't catch up! As the car turned up the street, I screamed in absolute terror as I watched the handles of the little boy's bike wobbling left to right! No!
With the bike so close in front of me, yet out of reach, I prayed for a miracle.
Luckily, the boy managed to somehow top over away from the road, falling onto the grass of the house at the bottom. It happened just in time as the car zoomed past, beeping loudly in our ears.
"OI! Get off the bloody road you fucking shitbags!!!" The driver huffed, barely stopping to deliver his speech. He sped off without casting a thought to see if the boy was hurt or not.
I fell onto the grass after the kid, my chest rising and falling rapidly. My body shaking from sudden exhaustion and nerves, but feeling extremely thankful to see the that the little boy was okay.
"OOF!"
A sudden groan from my mouth escaped. Elbows in the face were not the most pleasant. The kid had pounced on top of me and was now howling loudly into my neck.
I sat up and immediately gave him a once-over for any scratches or broken bones. I was relieved to find that he was alright, albeit just very shaken, which was a given.
"Shh... It's alright. You're all good now, see? Just a teeny weeny scratch on your knee. You're okay, no need to cry," I stroked his head.
"WAAAHHHHHH!!! M-my sister, h-he took off my t-training wheels when I say no, so I couldn't s-stop!!! Waaaaa!" He howled into my ear and I hushed him gently.
Jeepers, I thought as I loosened the chokehold around me. Even if this kid was cute he sure was strong for his size.
The boy clung on again, and I let him release it from his system with a few more "shhh"s and "awww, you're fine"s while patting his back.
Once his cries finally calmed to slower shudders and he looked up at me, all teary and snotty, did I get a better look at his round face. His small pointed chin was wobbling up and down, his eyes were big and light blue, and his hair – a bit mattered now, was light and fair. He really was an cute kid. Although his facial features did seem kind of familiar. In fact, that slender nose of his did look like that of —
"Jake!"
I lift my head around to see a frightened, equally attractive, and blonde stomping down to us. My smile dropped instantly as I saw who it was. Cassie herself must have realized it was me here as she was now baring teeth.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded coming closer to grab the boy's wrist and snatching him off my lap.
Whoa. I blinked quickly seeing where the family genes came from. This was Cassie's brother, Jake! The same little boy who we'd change, feed and play together with when he was a baby, back when I used to hang out with Cassie.
Jake struggled himself free from his sister and ran back to my lap, hugging me once again in his deathly hug.
"Don't you mean, what are YOU just doing?" I stared her up, standing together with the boy, shielding my arms protectively around him.
"What kind of dumb question is that? The hell? I live here, DUH! And anyway, it's none of your business bitch, now let's go home Jake!" She snapped.
My eyebrow twitched, and I peered at her. I was seething with anger that shook me. "I meant why the hell were you not here earlier to watch over him?! He said you took his training wheels off before he was ready. You do realise that the car was so damn close to hitting him right?!"
Cassie became fixated on her examine her nails and sighed loudly, something I'd seen her do countless of times in class when she'd zone out the teacher scolding her.
I closed my eyes frustrated as Jake whimpered behind me.
"CASSIE!" I practically shouted across the once quiet and sophisticated street. "You little —"
"Yeah yeah FINE! Okay? I shouldn't have let him ride go yet but he was doing fine until he decided to ride onto the road. It's not my fault he went so fast. I couldn't run fast enough in these anyway!" It was at that point she pointed to her giant nude pumps did I feel like I was really talking to a brick wall.
"You could have taken the bloody shoes OFF! Do your shoes matter more than your own little brother?!" I shouted at the girl in front of me. "See that wasn't so hard was it? Also where the hell was his helmet anyway?!"
Bloody unbelievable.
Okay I may have looked insane with my hair sticking in all directions of my head, and I bet my face was as red as a tomato, but quite frankly, I couldn't have cared any less.
This was the first time I was finally giving it to Cassie, for damn good reason too! And yet I couldn't even relish in this opportunity because she was so stupid to even accept responsibility. This was no high school playground drama, this was real-life consequences with real-life implications that could change lives forever!
I was continually blown away by how thick-skinned she was.
"Of course not! I just panicked and it didn't occur to me at that time OKAY?!" She replied angrily, stomping her foot. "Stop lecturing me already, I got enough shit on my plate! God, I mean like, who do you think you are?! OF COURSE I care about him more than my shoes! I'm not THAT fucking heartless okay? I just didn't notice in time till he was halfway down the road. Now shut the fuck up and come ON Jake, let's go! I said let's GO or Mum's gonna kill me!"
He shook his head against my body, grumbling out a tearful, "No!"
"Fine then, I'm leaving! You can stay with her all you want but don't come crying to Mum about it later, you dobber." With a flick of her long silky hair, his sister stormed away with a red face.
Once the street returned to its regular pace, I helped brush Jake free of the loose grass and dirt on his clothes before speaking. "Come on Jake, I'll walk you home. Hop on your bike and I'll push you along alright? I promise I won't let go until you're up the top."
He looked up at me, eyelashes still wet, and nodded before crawling onto the bike where I kept a hold of the handles and assisted him home.
"I'm Rose." Sticking my hands out, I omit the part where we'd met plenty of times before when he was a lot younger. It was less painful for everyone if he didn't realise.
He looked up gleaming, a smile had already formed on his cheeky face. "I'm Jake! That scary, mean girl is my big sister Cassie! Wish you could be my big sister!" He replied enthusiastically and I laughed. I couldn't help but feel like Wonder Woman with the way he looked at me.
On the way back to his house, I picked up my bag from the grass and continued to push him along the concrete path.
"So which one's your house Jake?"
"That one there!" he said pointing out to a house about two more houses down and I nodded.
I didn't recognise the house. It seemed Cassie's family must have moved sometime while I was away. Either way, the Middletons still lived in a big expensive place which was hardly a surprise. Also, it was conveniently close to where Jasper lived which started to trigger some anxiety in my stomach as I'd long forgotten about making it there on time. Crap.
When we arrived at the Middleton house, I crouched down to the young boy's level to speak, trying to draw some courage from his brave little face. "Hey Jake... I have to go to my piano lesson now. You see, I'm a bit late and I think I might get into a lot of trouble with my teacher, so I'll see you later alright? Don't forget your helmet next time, and stick to the garden away from the hills until you're more confident at riding with two wheels, okay? "
"Okie."
"Good boy, now go! Bye!"
"Bye-bye!" He waved at me and pedaled off into his garage before running in calling for his Mum to tell on his sister.
___~❤~s2~❤~__
I ran up to the front door of my piano teacher's house. Man was I so bad at this... I peeked at my watch through one eye, scared that the numbers would jump out and bite me.
Fourteen minutes late shit.
I bit my lip as I rang the doorbell.
After a moment I heard faint footsteps approaching behind the door and my heart began to pick up.
Maybe I should just leave instead and go to the park as I'd planned! Yes, that sounded fantastic. I don't think I could bare another round of long apology speeches, and the anticipation was killing me. Not to mention the guilt that was creeping in.
Just as I was about to turn away, the door squeaked slightly as opened very, very slowly about a small hand's width wide. And for a second through the gap, the only thing I saw were these breathtaking blue eyes before the door slammed shut in my face loudly.
"I–"
I stood there with my mouth hanging open, my words disappearing into the air.
Well, it seemed he really was mad – no surprises there. However, there was hardly enough time to confirm his entire facial expression. I swear he looked different for a split second.
I rang the doorbell again and waited, but the doors didn't reopen. I was pretty sure he hadn't left yet because I didn't hear any retrieving footsteps.
Nothing.
"Look I'm really sorry Mr. Green. Please open up and let me explain. I'm even apologizing to you on my own, so would you open up? Hello? Mr. Green? At least hear me out please!" I rang the doorbell again and again to no avail.
"It's quite chilly out here!" I add sarcastically hoping that it would finally convince him to open up. I stood there for another solid three minutes of silent waiting before I felt my frustration kick in.
No longer able to wait, I pounded my fist on the door repeatedly. "I know you're in there Mr. Green! I'm not stupid." Still no answers or retreating footsteps. He was there for sure.
"Look I said I was sorry! Why can't you just accept that and open up already? Mr. Green? Jasper!"
I pounded harder for a while against the heavy door until I finally denounced that I was only hurting my hand, rather than the door. My patience was wearing thin.
Fine. I decided if he didn't want to open up then I was leaving. I'm going to tell Mum that the lessons didn't work out, and everything will be fine and dandy. I'll only have to deal with him at school, which suited me better anyway.
I kicked the door once, hoping to put a dent in it somehow before I felt something brush my feet.
It was a piece of paper with neatly printed handwriting on it. It wrote:
"Stop assaulting my door, you're gonna break the damn thing. Or is it still too hard for you to respect anything in this world?"
I was stunned by what he wrote. How dare he?
I screwed the piece of paper angrily in my hands and booted the door loudly with all my might one last time for good measure. Bad idea because I think all that ended up breaking were my own bloody toes. God damn it! Ouch!
I proceeded to curse silently whilst hopping on one foot and convincing myself that this it was worth. Refusing to put up with the person I found most infuriating, I decided to leave.
"I QUIT! Bye!"
Just as I started to run away, a firm large hand caught my wrist. What the frick? I yelped as a tingling sensation shot all around my body.
How did he get to me so fast?! I didn't even hear the doors opening!
I turned around scared and ended up surprised at the expression I was seeing. He had a frown on his handsome face, and it was something I was not used to seeing.
"You're late."
"Yes. I'm even later now because someone wouldn't let me in. Way to state the obvious." I began rambling angrily in retaliation. "Anyway so–"
"Again." He finished, only it sounded like there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
I took another glance at his face and my anger started to fade slightly. His face... It was just different today. It didn't match my understanding of him at all. Tired was never an expression he showed in school. Though from the well-worn lines on his brow, it seemed it was a face he wore quite often, perhaps when he was alone.
Wait. What if this was just another of his acts he was pulling to get back at me for being late?
I pulled in my reigns. It must be! But the more I stared at his face, the more difficult it was to tell. He did sort of look genuinely down...
Which was it?
Help, I couldn't decide!
Crap. My inner turmoil was killing me. From feeling scared one minute, then angry and hateful, and now...sympathy and guilt? Was what I was feeling... guilt?
Somewhere inside I understood the truth and meaning behind his words. My behaviour had been nothing short of appalling sometimes, and I know I always spoke harshly towards him. (even though I'd preface by saying he eggs me on all the time— he's even admitted to it). I treated him way worse than I would any other teacher, or human being. Deep down, it was probably my way of trying to fend off any sort of attention from him, even if it was strictly platonic.
My reasoning?
Something was alwaysdifferent around him than when I'm with anybody else. It was frightening feel just how much of a rollercoaster it is whenever I was near him; at times like I was suffocating, other times like being drawn by in by the promise of glistening syrup. It was a persistent battle that often overtook my focus on school, and I never wanted to stay around long enough to find out exactly what these feelings were about, for fear I'd be paralyzed.
My whole recovery was at stake here, I couldn't risk it. I'd worked too hard to get to this point.
I gulped and looked down, my voice softening. "I'm sorry... I thought I was honestly going to make it on time. But then... this little kid was learning to ride a bike and then he didn't know how to ride it properly. Then there was a car coming and I had to stop him before... before... "
At first I began explaining quickly, fumbling over my words to make him understand that it wasn't on purpose at all. Finally I cut myself short with a small sigh, accepting of the fact that I was the tool bag at that moment. In the end, I was always making excuses with him.
For a minute we stood there like that. Our bodies still facing each other, my head turned away, his hands on my wrist. I looked up at him, wondering why he wasn't talking and why he looked so sad today.
He was staring at me with a frozen expression on his face. I tilted my head to the side. His eyes stayed fixed on the same spot as if he was lost in thought.
I cleared my throat. His face remained still.
I waved my hands in front of his face, "Jasper?"
Instantly he snapped out of it.
"What?" He shook his head but was still holding onto me. I don't think he even noticed his hands there. I watched him carefully.
"Sorry, let us go in." He murmured softly and dropped my wrists. I guess I had no choice but to follow him. Our mini argument before was probably miles away in his mind.
___~🖤~___
He took us past the living room, into the back quarters of the house next to the sunroom. "In here," he ushered gently, gesturing me inside.
I did a double take before I looked around nervously, afraid to take another step. I looked back at him as he gave me a small nod. So I went in.
I marveled silently to myself at the room we'd just entered. This was his piano room?
It was a rich cream colour with gorgeous stained wooden floors. There was a working desk on the far side with a couch and giant bookshelves lining the wall, all filled with hundreds of books and memorabilia. The windows were made of glass that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and there were soft and long tan curtains draped across them. Outside the window, nestled a large pond with a water stream gently bubbling away. Beautiful weeping willow draped over it; the fronds swayed in the wind gently, brushing against the window pane.
Situated straight in the middle, was a black and reflective grand piano, demanding all of your attention. I was mesmerized and drawn towards it, instantly forgetting some of my worries.
"I know, this room has the same effect on me too," he said noticing my reaction and chuckling gently in almost a sad way. "This is why I spend all my time here. It's quite beautiful isn't it?"
I blushed, shyly nodding as I suddenly remembered he was here with me.
"Feel free to take a look around while I go get something from the other room..." He whispered already turning around.
I found myself thinking about his bedroom and what it looked like as I wandered about. Was he a messy person? Or neat. Judging from the rest of his house which was spotless, I guess that he must be a neat freak. If he saw my bedroom though... he'd flip out. I found a huntsman spider behind my dresser the other night, freaked me out. I wonder if he'd scream if he came across their hairy legs running across the ceiling–
Hold on. I frowned and stopped myself from being delusional. Why on earth was I randomly thinking about this about him this way?
How could I have forgotten so quickly? He was going back in there to get something, though never specifying what. I shouldn't let my guard down.
Was the room infused with sleeping gas to make me lose my train of thought? What if he'd gone to get some sort of weapon to kidnap me with? My eyes darted around, and I paced the room, scanning every corner of the ceiling for any sort of gas pipe or security camera.
It's official. I've officially gone nuts everybody! It's like I was PMSing on be half of the whole population of girls in my school.
Instead of feeling guilty (after previously being nervous, mad, and hateful) I'd even started becoming paranoid again. What's wrong with me!?
I attempted to rationalise my thoughts.
Right if I was feeling scared about Mr Green again, it was probably because I refused to get to know him. I realised that disassociating from him only made my anxiety worse. But I was afraid to get to know him. Why was that?
I was fine with Mr. Pachel and Mr. Lin, my Science and Math teachers. But just it's just... Mr Green. I was afraid of him.
I found myself over at the massive bookshelf and took to checking out what sort of things a man like Mr. Green would read. The first step to getting to know him, am I right?
There really was everything here: from biographies, study journals, educational books, and old newspapers to fictional novels, the only thing I could conclude was that he enjoyed collecting everything. This information wasn't helpful at all... He wasn't a hoarder.
I paused at a section of the bookshelf with some keepsakes.
Holy crap! "With great excitement, I am honoured to announce that Jasper Green has been accepted as a student of the Australian National University with full scholarship." I read out to myself as I traced over his name with my fingers.
The Australian National University? That was the best university in the country, and my dream institution to study! And he won a full scholarship on top of that? He must be really, really smart. Though we sort of already knew that; his arrogance told me the moment we met.
Smart enough that he could be secretly plotting something against me. I shook that thought away.
I stood there for a while assessing things before I came up to his study desk. I noticed nothing out of the ordinary save for the usual things like his laptop, lamp, pen holders, and whatnots. What took my interest however were a the piles of papers. I quickly looked behind me to see if he'd come down from his room.
Coast clear. So I took a sneaky look at a pile of paper.
_____________
James Macker
Year 12 English 2012.
Money Making [The business and behind the scenes]
(A+)
_____________
Wait a second. James was in my English class so this must be the first essay that we handed in on Friday. I was beginning to get excited as I thought about my paper. I was sure to get a similar mark, and I would finally be satisfied with Mr. Green seeing that I was able to do something right in his eyes.
Frantically, I looked through the pile until I found my name.
_________________
Rose Mary Harper
Year 12 English 2012
The conventions and literal techniques in the media.
[The hidden truths, the power of persuasion]
(B-)
_______________
I smiled and looked at the grade I got. An
B-.
I checked the red marking again. "B-" it said, no differently.
I felt my face getting hot and my body shaking.
No way. My freaking A streak! There must be some mistake, I haven't received a single B since eighth grade, before the incident! There was no bloody way this was right! English was what I wanted to majored in, and I absolutely can not stand to have such a score if I were going to get into the University I wanted.
Instantly it was as if a switch in my emotion dial had changed again. Mode: FURIOUS!
I'm gonna rip his head off if he thinks he can just—
"What are you doing?" His voice cut in.
Aha, the voice of the devil himself! I spun around, gripping my paper up tightly. "This, what do you call this?!" I demanded, angrily shoving my essay to his face with the forbidden red mark on it.
Mr. Green walked towards me slowly and looked at me with a perfectly arched eyebrow.
"Uh, that... would be the proof I need to prove that you were snooping around in my desk?"
"NO! That would be an unfairly marked paper! I demand you remark it now!" I thrusted the paper towards him. Any traces of the quiet awkwardness from before was replaced with my sudden outburst. Mr. Green seemed to have also forgone the stiffness from before as well as he leaned casually against the bookshelf with my papers tucked away under his arms.
"I don't see what the problem with my marking is Rosemary. You got a B for your essay. Oh pardon me, I mean a B Minus– worse than a regular B grade. Ouch." His voice came out amused and my face pained even more.
"There's got to be a mistake," I retorted dumbly. "And don't call me Rosemary! Mary is just my middle name."
"Sure thing Rose-Mary and I'm sorry but that's what you got for your paper." He came around and put the paper back into the pile neatly and put some other folders on top as if closing the discussion on it.
I turned around so that I was facing away with a giant, "But why?! HMMPH!"
"What? Why did you hmph me? You're the one who wrote it. If there's anybody you should be mad at, it's yourself, Rose."
"But how did James Mackers get top marks for his paper on... on... M-money making?! The heck? I should laugh at such a title, I didn't know we were writing self-help books!"
Mr. Green chuckled and stated simply, "believe it or not Rose, James is a brilliant writer. He may act like a clown in class but he's a good student when it really comes to it. Even with such a ridiculous topic as money making, I must say it was a refreshing read, compared to all the other fluff I had to read."
"And mine was fluff?" My voice fell.
I turned my head and peeked at him from behind my shoulder.
He smiled at me gently with those stunning eyes. "I didn't say that Rosy. You just haven't shown me your full potential yet." He had his arms crossed again, this time leaning on his desk. "I've written some suggestions for improvements on the back. I'd go over them with you now, but it wouldn't be fair for the other students for you to be receiving extra help. We can go over it during class or you can find me during my free period in the week."
"Hmmph!"
As if that was any consolidation, I ignore him and stared at the wall with the bookshelves. I couldn't allow him to see my face, for the truth was, now that he was here the anger in me was rapidly deteriorating and being replaced with... Embarrassment? I wasn't sure. He was toying with me, let's get that straight. It's just that there was a slight twang in my chest.
What is wrong with me?!
I couldn't understand why on earth my emotions were changing soo much all the time. It was driving me insane. This was exactly why I refused to be around him, it made me crazy.
"Hmmph! Look at me, I'm Rose Harper. Hmmph!" He mocked me in a girly voice suddenly. My eyes widened.
"Stop copying me!" I stamped my foot annoyed.
"Stop copying me!" He repeated again in the same tone, stamping his foot also.
"ARGGHH!" I stamped my way to the piano and sat on the seat, crossing my arms again. A tear escaped my eyes. Though I quickly wiped it away with my long sleeves before he could see.
He sighed and got up from the desk and came over to me, while I glared at him the whole time. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll stop teasing you." He stood beside me.
"I'm sure you're a fabulous writer Rose. This essay was probably a one-off. I've heard all the other teachers telling me what a wonderful student you are, and I don't doubt that even for a second. It's just this time, it seems like you were trying just a little too hard." He looked at me with what seemed to be sincerity.
My frown softened slightly. I guess he was right. I had put in all my effort in trying to impress him, to show him that I was a good writer just to spite all those times he picked on me in class. Maybe I lost track of the point I wanted to get across.
"You mustn't forget that I am a strict marker, I peanalise things others may overlook. But it's for your own good. We're all here to learn right? That's why you're my student." He sat down in his teaching chair. He was so close, I could see his blue eyes so clearly... drawing me in. "After all, it is my job to prepare you for your end-of-year finals, and getting in the right frame of mind right from the beginning is crucial, is it not?" His voice was surprisingly calm and gentle. "I can see that you want to get into a good institution after school, and I'll tell you now, it's hard. They don't hold your hands in Uni."
I sighed, slightly rolling my eyes. "Yeah, I know."
"Good, we're on the same page. You're a funny kid." He patted my head the way you do with a little child and I shot him a glare again. "Anyway, today I just want to get a feel for how well you play."
I looked at him skeptically.
"Stop looking at me like that. Yes, yes... I'm sure you play piano well too Rose. No doubt, your pride on the line. I'll try not to grill you too much."
"Hmph!"
"Okay if you're that good, play me an arpeggio Miss Rosy Cheeks!" The dimples returned in his smile.
And soon the faintest smile began to appear on my own, it was the first smile I'd genuinely made around him. I could forgive him for calling me 'Rosy Cheeks' but that's only because I was about to blow him away with my playing!
___~🖤~s2~🖤~__