~~Impressions~~
"As your chauffeur, I honestly don't know what you guys would do without me," Said Blair in a dry voice as she drove down through Midtown.
Today was the first day back to school after the summer break and Aaliyah's first day of public school and Senior Year. Suffice to say, her nerves were sky-high. She was a mixture of terrified and excited about a new experience, one she always wanted to have, but now that she was here, her panic was starting to set in.
Most of her knowledge about high school was from the few movies she'd seen, which had racked up in the last week that she spent hanging out with Blair. She made it her mission to watch as many movies, in the span of seven days, as possible, and Aaliyah was impressed by her determination, but she also liked her sleep, and she didn't get much of that in the last week, with the number of movies she watched on top of her already busy schedule. Not that she was completely complaining, she did like Blair's taste in movies, she loved the Disney animations like Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Moana, she couldn't help but gag at the more classic movies though like Cinderella, which she wasn't alone with. Blair complained that if she had been Cinderella she would have run away from home a long time ago, but she did adore the Prince, who went all around the village looking for Cinderella to make her his Queen. Aaliyah found it weird, but she chose not to comment. She didn't see much sense in chasing after love. If it was true, it would find you, and not run away.
They watched other movies too, from chick flicks like The Notebook and 1o Things I hate About You to more adventure movies like Wonder Woman, The Jurassic Park World movies, to heartfelt movies like Everything, Everything, and every other Amandla Stenberg movie, they also watched loads of book adaptions, like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner movies and even The Mortal Instruments, which Aaliyah complained about. It is terribly inaccurate and it hurt her to watch, Blair found her disdain hilarious.
Aaliyah was surprised she managed to find time to practice and work on her music. When she wasn't practicing on her own on the Waters' piano on the balcony, she was at the studio, working with Xavier, who'd she'd rather not think about.
She was also terrified about school. But that was more or less due to her own superb ability to overthink and overdramatize situations. She worried that no one would like her and that she wouldn't fit in, she worried that she would slip up and say or do the wrong thing, and though Blair and Jacks reassured her that she was incredibly loveable, Aaliyah couldn't help but worry.
"I'd be sitting in the front seat of Christian's car," Jacks said in a monotone voice, Aaliyah smiled, lifting her gaze to meet his in Blair's rearview mirror. He had his head in his phone, but when he glanced up briefly, he locked eyes with Aaliyah in the mirror and dropped a wink and a smile. Aaliyah looked away quickly, her stomach turning a little.
Jacks mentioned some time ago that Christian went to Buchanan High School too, so he counted as one more friend, though Aaliyah wasn't sure how much more shameless flirting she could take. Aaliyah had Blair, Jacks, and the rest of his dance crew on all her socials and since then, she had woken up almost every morning with a new cheesy pick-up line. Blair said he reeked of weed and desperation and that she shouldn't take it personally. She didn't, but it was starting to get annoying.
"Yep. Christian's rusty old Chevy that needs an oil change every other week and filled to the brim with junk food wrappers and lingerie from his most recent flavor of the week," Blair said glancing at Jacks over her shoulder, and then grinned, "You'd be so much better off."
Aaliyah scrunched her nose up at that, Christian was incredibly good-looking, but he had pretty gross habits. "You're exaggerating," Said Jacks, "It's once a month." He muttered.
Blair started laughing and Aaliyah couldn't help but join her. She turned to look at Jacks with a smile. "You know, you could have asked me if you wanted to sit in the front." She said.
Jacks cocked a dubious brow in her direction. "You would have moved for me?"
"No," She answered coolly, a smirk growing across her lips, "But it would have been fun to say no to you."
Blair laughed again, even louder than Giveon's Still the Best blasting through the radio. Jacks looked wounded. "I see Blair's snark is rubbing off on you."
Aaliyah wanted to say that this snark was all hers when Blair snorted. "It better be," She said, making a turn into the school parking lot. Aaliyah felt her heart skip a beat when she saw loads of cars make their way into the parking lot and what looked like hundreds of teenagers filing into the old stone high school building. "That outfit I put together for you doesn't work if you don't have the attitude for it." She said glancing up and down at Aaliyah.
Aaliyah had to admit that what she was wearing was amazing. Aaliyah managed to get along choosing her clothes over the past week, but she didn't mind when Blair insisted that she chose her outfit for the first day. She said that the first impression will set the tone for the rest of the year and in high school, how you look makes up sixty percent of that impression.
After that load of pressure, Aaliyah didn't hesitate when letting Blair take the reins. She didn't regret that choice either, she felt like a more confident version of herself in her grey thigh-length T-shirt dress with cuffed long-sleeves and a flared skirt. Across her chest was a graphic print of Rhythm Nation Janet. She paired the dress with white platform sneakers and a silk white headscarf wrapped around her hair styled into two buns slicked down with more gel she had ever used in her life with two stray curls falling into her face. Blair had a blast with her accessories adding a long gold necklace with a horseshoe looped through the chain, drop earrings along with the gold chain Blair had given her as a gift. When Malcolm met Blair and Aaliyah in the kitchen, he was overjoyed, happy to see that Aaliyah seemed confident enough about her first day of school. She didn't admit that she was about ready to throw herself out the window. Willa didn't say anything but told her in a fake apologetic voice that she had made pancakes again so Aaliyah was welcome to just having cereal again. With a tight-lipped smile, she nodded and took out a box of coco pops.
She tried to ignore Malcolm and Willa as they proceeded to argue in quiet voices. Blair didn't even seem to notice it was happening, or maybe she was just really good at pretending she didn't.
Aaliyah tried to laugh, but she found herself toying with her chain anxiously as she stared out the window looking at all the students milling about the parking lot screaming and hugging old friends that they hadn't seen over the summer, talking animatedly about what they had gotten up to. Aaliyah wondered how hard it was going to be to fit into a grade that probably was so intricately woven that finding her place would be impossible.
"Hey Aaliyah," Said Blair, touching her shoulder. Aaliyah looked to her to see that both Jacks and Blair were looking at her with concern. "You've got this. Think about all you've done since you got here. You got a record deal! You're working with one of the most talented artists out there and you've already made friends with the most popular kids in school if I'm being honest. High school's a piece of cake for you."
Aaliyah pulled a tight-lipped smile nodding at her. She was right, she had endured so much worse than high school, she could deal with hundreds of hormonal, obnoxious teenagers at the very least. And it's not like she was alone, she had Jacks and Blair, maybe even Christian. "And if you really don't want to do this now, we don't have a problem with skipping the first day and like hanging out at the studio or something." Jacks offered with a smile, Blair hit him though.
"You are not skipping the first day. The first day of senior year is like a rite of passage—"
"Says the Junior," Jacks snorted.
Aaliyah laughed, and Blair rolled her eyes. "Let's go, and remember, you've got this," She said her gaze meaningful, and she nodded before opening her car door and stepping out onto the asphalt, grabbing onto the shoulder straps of her bag like a Freshman, breathing in the morning air and chance to make something of herself in her Senior Year.
The day went by almost smoothly.
After Jacks and Blair had led her to the administrator's office to pick up her class schedule, Blair got distracted and was whisked away by a group of girls squealing like crazed fans. Aaliyah was immediately overwhelmed, staring as she disappeared down the school halls surrounded by other students who didn't seem to notice that she existed. Jacks stayed with her though and promised that he would play tour guide and take her to her classes, which was fine since they shared a lot of their classes.
Her classes were weird. Aaliyah had only been taught one-on-one, sitting in the middle of a room with Jacks on her left and on her right would be a random person furiously writing down notes as her teachers talked, or someone sending fire messages through their phone, or probably just sleeping. It was definitely something she would have to get used to. She could barely stay focused as her teacher would go on about whatever they were teaching, with so many people around her. Her gaze kept finding herself fixated on what someone else was doing.
In her English Literature class, a boy in front of her was using his copy of The Lord of the Flies as a cover for using his phone, and Aaliyah couldn't help but stare. He was playing sudoku, and Aaliyah couldn't help but notice he was making a mistake. She didn't want to say anything, especially since she didn't know the boy, but it was getting on her nerves. And she couldn't find herself being able to read her copy anymore, so she reached over her desk whilst her teacher wasn't looking and tapped the boy's shoulder.
He turned to look at her surprised, he had gold round thin-rimmed glasses and fair green eyes. He was pretty, Aaliyah thought for a moment. She pointed to his phone discreetly, "That seven in the first box shouldn't be there," She whispered as quietly as she could, "Just letting you know." She said before sitting back and holding up her book to continue reading with a small smile on her lips. She could tell he had stared at her with wide eyes for a minute before he turned back, murmuring something under his breath.
Jacks and Aaliyah found Blair at lunch and they took a table in the middle of the room, Christian and another girl sat at the table with them. The cafeteria was a horror story. A huge room with yellow lighting and what looked like hundreds of wooden round tables filled to the brim with scowling dinner ladies and loud teenagers who value exclusivity over anything. One table allocated to each social group in each grade and God forbid you make the mistake of even looking at the Seniors for longer than a second or else you'd be the victim of something horrible. Aaliyah didn't know what it was, no one below her year had taken the chance. Of course, Blair was the exception to this rule, she was loved by everyone, Jacks told her that she sat with the Seniors at lunch and hung out with the Juniors after school to work on their homework and class projects and took it upon herself to be the Sophomores and Freshmen's saving grace and making them feel not entirely like outcasts in a rigid regime that treated them as insubordinate.
"Are all schools like this?" She asked Jacks looking around the school cafeteria in dismay, a small Freshman girl scurried past her with her head ducked as though afraid of her. Aaliyah couldn't believe that there were people afraid of her. "So... tyrannical?"
Jacks shrugged digging into his lunch food. "Welcome to the American education system," He said, "Also known as a teenager's personal hell."
"To be honest, our school is probably a lot worse than others," Christian added, taking a sip of his bottled water, "We're a Foundation School, so we've all got it in our heads that we're just that much better than everyone else."
Blair snorted walking by Christian's chair snatching his bottled water once he set it down as she did so before plopping down in the seat next to Aaliyah. Christian tried to object, watching her twist open the cap, but she wasn't having it. "To be honest Christian, I think that's just you," She said bringing the bottle to her lips. She frowned when she first swallowed and then looked to Christian incredulously, "Are you serious, Chris? Didn't you hit one this morning?"
"What?" Aaliyah demanded curiously, looking at the bottle, then at Christian who smiled smugly with a shrug.
Blair shook her head bewildered, and Jacks could only laugh taking a swig of his apple juice. "What is it? Vodka?"
Aaliyah's eyes widened at that, realizing what everyone was talking about. Christian shook his head, "Rum," He said in a low voice,
Blair turned her nose up at him, sliding the bottle back to him. "That's some cheap ass rum."
Before Christian could take the bottle, the girl beside him, with brown skin, a few shades darker than Christian's and electric blue curly hair, and a line of piercings along her right ear and one through her septum, snatched the bottle from him sniffed irritably. Christian looked at her accusingly, as she dropped the bottle in her bag. Aaliyah recognized the girl from her English Literature class. She sat on the desk next to her, secretly doodling in her copy of Lord of the Flies. Aaliyah had been trying to avoid making eye contact with her, slightly intimidated by her a little.
She turned back to look at Christian stretching her hand out expectedly and Aaliyah noticed her fingernails were blue like her hair, long and false and she had several rings. "Hand me your keys, idiot. You're not driving yourself anywhere."
Aaliyah watched curiously between the two of them as Christian handed her his car keys with a scowl. "Why are you no fun?" He moaned, slouching into his seat, with a pout.
"Because I don't want to have to explain to mamá that I let you get yourself killed driving a car under the influence," She said dropping the keys into her orange longline cable knit cardigan. She scowled a little at the thought, "She would probably kill me. Then bring you back and kill you too." She said punching his arm lightly.
Christian rubbed his arm pouting like he was in pain. The girl didn't even pay attention to him and continued with her drawings of what looked like a pretty complex sculpture. "Are you two siblings?" Aaliyah asked, and then rolled her eyes at herself, realizing that, that was probably a dumb question. Of course, they were siblings. The girl looked up at Aaliyah with a raised brow and she flushed darkly, "I mean, of course, you're siblings, you kind of just made that clear, but like—"
The girl cut her off before she could finish, which was a relief, Aaliyah thought because she had no idea where she was going with it. "He's my stepbrother. My mother adopted this dork when she remarried a few years ago."
Christian grinned and Aaliyah saw the wickedness behind it. "And does she love to keep reminding everyone of it," He said in a dry voice, his words slightly slurred.
Aaliyah bit down on her bottom lip, feeling a little sympathetic towards Christian, although she wasn't sure why. He reminded her of a kicked puppy. "Do you speak Spanish?" She asked again, her voice a little too insistent for her taste, but Aaliyah couldn't bite back her curiosity.
She noticed Blair and Jacks exchanged slightly panicked looks and Aaliyah suddenly felt worried, was she doing something wrong? The girl lifted her head again, her lips slightly pursed and she met Aaliyah's gaze. Aaliyah forced herself to keep her gaze even, she wasn't going to waver, there was a point she wanted to make. She didn't want to look like a coward in front of this girl, something in her wanted to impress her. "What is this? The Third Degree?" She demanded, looking from Aaliyah to Blair and Jacks as though they would have an explanation as to what Aaliyah was doing talking to her.
Aaliyah shrugged. "Just a question."
The girl looked back at her with a scoff and a grimace. Christian seemed completely spaced though like he wasn't even here anymore. "Yes, I speak Spanish. My mother is from the Dominican." She answered in a sharp tone, "Can I ask why?"
Aaliyah wasn't sure she wanted to answer. She had just learned about her parents' heritage, she didn't know if she could claim a past she knew almost nothing about, but she couldn't help but wonder. "I'd just like to learn, is all." She answered simply, lifting her chin a little, "My tutor taught me Italian for the last three years, but I've always wanted to go to Spain."
"You had a tutor?" The girl asked, almost slightly interested, but Aaliyah could tell she was trying not to be. Aaliyah nodded and smiled at the thought of Lauryn, who she finally managed to get in contact with over the last week when she needed her transcripts for school. When she updated her on the news, Lauryn had been ecstatic, and almost started crying on the phone, Aaliyah felt awkward about it, not being the most sentimental person, but she had been happy to know that she wasn't upset or anything. She did miss her dry quips, it was her that taught Aaliyah her wry sense of humor.
The girl nodded slowly. "So was I, up until high school though, when my mamá married his dad, and I started here," She explained Aaliyah nodded smiling pleasantly. The girl didn't smile back, but Aaliyah didn't mind. She seemed like the type who didn't want to talk much about herself, Aaliyah was a little like that too. "My name's Solana," She said simply before returning to her drawing, putting her earbuds in.
Aaliyah smiled a little, not even caring that she hadn't asked for her name before she turned back to look at Jacks who had an impressed brow raised, and Blair, who seemed twice as excited as Jacks. "I haven't met anyone who could talk to Sol for more than a sentence in the first interaction," Blair said with a grin.
Aaliyah glanced at Solana, or Sol as Blair had called her, who didn't seem to be hearing anything. She shrugged, "She's not that scary is she?" She asked curiously, looking at her if you asked Aaliyah she was just misunderstood.
Jacks shook his head. "She almost got expelled for taking a rock to Principle Roden's car once because he wrongfully suspended her ex-girlfriend for fighting," He said, glancing at her quickly, "It was Christian's dad who got her out of that mess. Big shot lawyer perks. Sol's definitely nice enough, but I wouldn't suggest getting on her bad side."
Aaliyah blinked rapidly looking back to Sol and then to her drawing, and then back to Jacks. "Wow," Was all she could say.
"Yep, but I wouldn't worry too much, she seems to like you," Blair chimed in helpfully, "She probably won't throw a rock at you. Probably," She said emphasizing the probably, Aaliyah rolled her eyes before digging into her food.
After Aaliyah's last class, Blair met her and Jacks together at her locker discussing their last lesson. "Blair, something Aaliyah neglected to tell us was that she was a fucking genius," He said, before pulling a sheepish smile and holding up an apologetic hand at a passing teacher who had shot him an evil eye. "We had a pop quiz in chemistry today, and Aaliyah was the only one who managed to get above ninety percent."
Aaliyah rolled her eyes. "I think you're exaggerating," She said, "The test wasn't that hard. It was only Organic chemistry that's basically just memorizing stuff."
Jacks snorted. "Yeah, tell that to my fifty-five percent. My ego's bruised."
"At least it was over fifty," Aaliyah offered with a smile, trying to be supportive, but Jacks only rolled his eyes laughing.
Blair only looked bewildered. "First of all, it's the first day," She said looking between them as though waiting for them to pick up what was bizarre, "Why are you having a pop quiz on the first day? If I were you I would go on strike."
Jacks shook his head condescendingly at Blair, ruffling her hair, "Perks of Being a Senior, Blair. This year is all about getting enough credits to graduate," He said, and then pulled a teasing grin, "You wouldn't understand."
Blair thwacked his hand away from her and glared at him. "You love reminding me that I'm a year younger than you, don't you?" She snapped before looking at Aaliyah, "Me, and a couple of girls from my business class are heading out to get something to eat and study. Want to join?" She asked wiggling her brows.
Aaliyah pulled a face before smiling apologetically. She liked Blair, but Aaliyah couldn't imagine sitting with a bunch of different versions of her for hours without losing her mind. "As fun as that really does not sound, I have to get to the studio," She said closing her locker, "Malcolm and Xavier are working around my class schedule to fit in time to work together, and I can't miss it." She said, walking down the hallway, Jacks, and Blair flanking her either side.
"Oh well, I can drop you off there. I have to pick up Jenny from school and take her there anyway," She said, elbowing Aaliyah jokingly.
Aaliyah found herself curiously. "Why does Jenny need to be at the label?"
"She has guitar lessons ever—" She cut herself when she locked her gaze on something before she pulled a scowl, "Oh shit, I was really hoping I could avoid her today," She swore.
Jacks seemed to have the same reaction, to whatever they were looking at, Aaliyah could only be baffled. "What are you talking about? What are you looking at?" She demanded, looking around as though expecting to see a giant elephant charging down the hall at them.
Jacks took Aaliyah by the arm urgently. "Something wicked this way comes," He murmured, and Aaliyah looked up with a frown, "Just don't make eye contact."
"Eye contact with who?"
"That." Blair snapped in a bitter voice, nodding her head in the direction of a petite red-headed girl with bright brown doe eyes, porcelain skin, and bright red lips to match her hair. She was frighteningly beautiful for a girl at five foot two. She was standing at her locker, seemingly checking her makeup in a mirror, and fixing her hair. She managed to catch Aaliyah's look, who couldn't help but stare, despite both Blair and Jacks avoiding looking in her direction.
She pulled a wide grin that slightly reminded Aaliyah of Blair's mother before approaching them. "So is this the girl that Malcolm had been raving to me about." She said looking at Aaliyah up and down as though sizing her up, like a snake deciding how much it's going to have unhinge its jaw before eating her. She seemed so harmless, in a pretty green vintage lace dress with flare sleeves and a lace-up V-neck plunge, but clearly, this girl didn't think she was, "Aaliyah Garcia, right? I love your earrings!"
"Thanks?" She replied, a little uncertain looking at Blair, who was openly glaring at Madison and Jacks, who looked wary. She wondered what the bad blood was between them all. Aaliyah thought she recognized the girl, the same way she thought she recognized Xavier Adams. But she couldn't place a name to her face. "You know my name?" Aaliyah asked in surprise, she thought she might have seen her in one of her classes, but she hadn't said much in any of them, she doubted she would have reason to know her.
"Of course I do," She said in an overly excited voice. "Blair, how could you have forgotten to introduce me?"
Blair raised a dubious brow at her. "I'm supposed to introduce you to her. When did that become a thing?"
"Well since Aaliyah and I are going to be working together now, it only makes sense, especially if we're going to the same school," She said, rolling her eyes as if that was obvious. Blair looked at Aaliyah, who only shrugged, not knowing about this either.
"Madison," Blair started in a low voice, meeting Madison's gaze, "What are you talking about?"
Madison. Aaliyah thought and then her eyes widened, as in Madison Strong. Another one of Soul Fusion's most well-established artists, only rising to fame two years ago and well on her way to releasing her second album REALISM, Aaliyah had heard a song or two of hers, but she didn't follow her as much as she had followed Xavier. She was definitely incredibly talented though, her voice had a range that almost matched Mariah Carey's. She was a pure Soprano though. "You don't know?" She asked with a coy frown, cocking her head to the side, "Malcolm's putting his newest charity case on a feature in one of the songs for REALISM, saying something about how her voice would blend well with mine or some bullshit like that. All I heard was that—"
"Charity case?" Aaliyah demanded, cutting her off, as though she hadn't heard Madison correctly. "What did you just call me?"
Madison blinked as though Aaliyah had just appeared in her line of vision, even though she had just been talking about her. People walking by stopped to look at the pair, interested in what was going on between New York's very own pop princess and some nobody.
Madison was almost speechless, as though she had never heard someone talk back to her, or cut her off. "Isn't it obvious?" She said with a laugh, "Malcolm told me the sob story okay, about how you came here from San Diego all alone with no support from your parents and shit, he told me that you were basically homeless until he let you stay with him in his mansion. And as far as I know, Malcolm never signs on another artist in the same year, and he signed me in March. Why else would you be here right now?"
Blair scowled at her ready to step forward and throttle the girl, but Aaliyah noticed and held her by the shoulder. "Wow Madison, you really seem to have me all figured out," She said in a dry voice, trying to keep her voice steady. She was at war between her emotions, upset that Malcolm thought that it was okay to tell everyone her business, angry that Madison thought that she could speak about her like this, as if she knew the first thing about her, and embarrassed that all of this was happening in front of the loads of milling students peering in on their conversation.
Aaliyah didn't come across the country for some girl who didn't know anything about her to call her a charity case and humiliate her. She had to let her know that, that wasn't who she was, "You seem to know everything about me already and I've barely managed to get a word out. That's almost impressive. Somebody's own ability to feel so insecure that they make it their business to find out all they can about someone because they're afraid they might actually be better."
"Insecure?" Madison echoed incredulously.
Aaliyah nodded pulling a smile as fake as hers. "But it's okay Madison, I'm doing my thing, you do yours. I'm sure there's enough space for success for the both of us." She said, "Now if you excuse me, I've got work to do." She nodded at her before turning away and continuing down the hallway with Jacks and Blair on her side.
"Wow," Jacks said nudging her a little, "Is it weird that I'm incredibly attracted to you now?" He said, and Aaliyah gave him a look, before laughing shaking her head.
"You're totally a crazy bitch," Blair exclaimed, hugging her side tightly, "Where was that energy all this time?"
Aaliyah laughed and shrugged. "Somewhere."
"You're late."
Those were the words Aaliyah was met with when she walked through the door to "The Red Room" as Xavier liked to call it. Really it was just one of the millions of studios here at Soul Fusion that the company had assigned to Xavier when his third album Golden Child went Platinum as a gift. He was allowed to decorate it however he wanted to, and the color red became the main theme. Red carpets, Red-painted walls adorned with posters of his favorite artists, Tupac, Nas, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, posters of himself performing, and some of his awards sitting prettily along a shelf. His sofa pushed against the back wall was also red, and so was the round table standing in the middle of the room cluttered with music sheets and scraps of paper, there was a ball of elastic bands and a few books too on it. Aaliyah tried taking a closer look at them once, before Xavier chastised her like she was a child touching toys at a superstore.
A couple of guitars hung up on a rack, mounted on the wall. There was a TV mounted on the wall opposite with a PlayStation box sitting beneath on a shelf it with a row of red consoles. There was a Yamaha keyboard sitting upon a long table with a whole mixing board before it. The recording room was separated by soundproof glass and in it were microphones and mic stands and two huge sound systems mounted in either corner of the room.
It was an impressive room, Aaliyah had to admit. If only she thought the owner of the room deserved it.
She couldn't help but scowl at Xavier, who sat at the mixing board, jiggling with one of the channels. He had headphones on so, she supposed he was working on some music he never let her listen to. "Yeah, I can tell," She replied frostily, as she tossed her bag onto the sofa before making her way to the spare seat by the soundboard.
Xavier pulled one of the ears of his headphones off his ear and looked to Aaliyah with a raised brow. "Do you want to try again?" He asked, his voice calm but Aaliyah had become with that voice, he wasn't playing around.
After the day she had, neither was she. "Look, I've had a day. I'm not really ready to deal with your bullshit. Can we get through today please without you making me want to crack your head open?"
Xavier narrowed his eyes at her, making a face. "You were the one who was late—"
"Yes, and I know, I was busy with some girl telling me that I'm only here because Malcolm loves his charity cases. It won't happen again."
Xavier turned his head from her and turned off the soundboard. "I didn't ask for a story." He started with a low voice, "But I would like it that, the next time you walk in here, you leave your attitude and your issues outside. This isn't the place for your negativity," He said his voice as detached as always, driving her insane. How did such an emotionally stunted person make such beautiful music? She didn't care about what he thought about her situation, but she wasn't a fan of his attitude either.
And after the way Madison had left her feeling once they left the school, she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with it today. She got up from her seat, not even looking at him as she got back up for her bag on the sofa. "You're so concerned about my attitude," She snapped back in a cold voice, Xavier had turned around in his seat to look at her with a raised brow, "Where's your attitude check?" And with that, she left the room, not giving him the chance to reply.
As she left the room she ran into Malcolm, smiling pleasantly at her like a father would her daughter. Aaliyah wondered if that look was actually just pity, and that sick feeling she felt when Blair pulled out the parking lot had returned. She wanted to yell at Malcolm for telling Madison that she was basically homeless before he took her in. Was she the only one here concerned about not wanting to look like some terrible bottomfeeder charity case? The words Charity Case kept flashing in her brain like a stoplight, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, the thought that maybe she wasn't as good as Malcolm insisted, and that the only reason she was here was that he felt sorry for her, would stop bothering her. What if everyone saw her like that, that meant that no matter how many first impressions she tried to make, it made no difference if everyone already had their reservations about her.
"Aaliyah!" Malcolm said animatedly, and Aaliyah tried to match his energy, but she was exhausted. "I was just about to find you. Did you finish your session early?" He said glancing at the door.
Aaliyah frowned before shaking her head. "Oh yeah, um sure." She said starting to walk down the hall ducking her head to avoid Malcolm's look. She didn't like to lie to Malcolm, but she was starting to feel a little mortified about the stunt she just pulled, she didn't want Malcolm to be disappointed in her too. "What did you want to find me about?"
"That's right!" Malcolm said absentmindedly, and then turned to her with a grin, "I'm sure you've heard of Madison Strong, right? She goes to your school too."
Aaliyah tried to hide her grimace. "Of course," Was all she said.
"Well, we plan to release her sophomore album in the next month or so, but we're still trying to fine-tune a few more of her songs. And finish some off too, and there was a song on that album I thought to be perfect for you to feature on. And with Madison's soprano to your mezzo voice, I thought you'd sound great together. I spoke to Madison and her manager about it and they seemed all for it."
"That's a great idea, Malcolm!" Aaliyah said in the most enthusiastic voice she could muster. She didn't want to mention that she was sure that after today, Madison probably didn't even want to be in the same room as her, "And I had met her in school today earlier and she was brilliant. I can't wait to start working with her."
Malcolm grinned happily. "That's great. And say, now that you have some free time on your hands, do you mind hanging out with Jenny for a few hours, whilst I go to a few meetings? She's having her guitar lesson now, but there isn't anyone to take her home afterward, so she's usually alone until I finish wok. I'd like it if she was—"
"Of course," Aaliyah said, more genuinely this time, with a smile. "I already love Jenny, hanging out with her would be fun."
"I'll take you to her then," Malcolm said with a smile, but Aaliyah couldn't help but wonder what was really behind that smile.
Later that night, Blair burst into Aaliyah's room, a worried look on her face. She supposed that Blair was just coming in since she was still wearing the clothes she wore for school. Aaliyah was slightly surprised considering it was almost ten in the evening, but she guessed that Blair didn't have such an early curfew as she had.
"Hey..." Aaliyah said in a slow voice, slightly confused. She took her earbuds out, staring at Blair as though waiting for her to explain what was wrong. She was sitting on her bed in the middle of going through her school notes and trying to go through Xavier's notes from the last time they worked together and work on her most recent song, otherwise known as the one Xavier disliked the least. He was an ass, but he was also a genius. And she usually took his opinion of her work fairly seriously.
She opened her mouth and then her gaze went to the floor where Jenny sat doing her homework, her headphones covering her ears. Aaliyah and Blair had gone out for ice cream after Jenny's guitar lesson and then hung out for a few hours. Blair didn't seem to spend all that much time with Jenny. Aaliyah didn't seem to understand why. Jenny was brilliant, she was smart and funny and, as far as Aaliyah could tell, was a lot like Blair. But she didn't want to ask, not wanting to make it her business, and also not wanting to ruin the relationship she had with Jenny. Besides Jacks and Blair, Jenny was one she thought she could be real with.
"Hey Squirt, do you want to give Aaliyah and me some privacy?" Blair said making a gesture for the door.
Jenny narrowed her eyes at Blair. "Do you want to use the word please next time you ask me a question?" She snapped back.
Blair rolled her eyes before groaning out loud. "Fine. Can you please leave the room so I can talk to Aaliyah privately? Please."
Jenny's smile was sweet and guileless as she slowly stood to her feet before walking out of the room. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She said passing Blair as she did.
Blair rolled her eyes as Jenny left the room before she closed the door and locked it. Aaliyah blinked in surprise. "Okay," She started sitting up straighter, now a little concerned, "What's wrong?"
"Be honest," Blair started in a gentle voice, "Did what Madison say get to you?"
Aaliyah stared for a long moment before hissing in a low voice, glancing away realizing her mistake. "You talked to Xavier, didn't you?"
"I talk to Xavier all the time, Aaliyah," She replied, "I just don't say anything, because I know you don't like him. And no, before you ask, he didn't tell me that. I just have incredible psychic powers." Aaliyah couldn't help but snort at that, and Blair smiled, "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked softly.
"Tell you what?" Aaliyah said looking to her with a sad smile, "That I think Madison might be right and that your dad just thinks of me as nothing but a charity case. It sounds like I'm calling your dad a fraud, and he's the furthest thing from that—"
Blair cut her off when she touched her hand. "Dude. I could care less about what other people think about my father. I know who he is, and that's all that matters. And that's the same for myself." She stood up straighter and breathed in a breath, "I wasn't always this super confident, super hot babe you see right now okay, and that's not to say that I was ugly or anything, but I just felt like I was. I was always thinking that I could never live up to my father, who was this god to me growing up. He was everything I wanted to be, kind and loyal and powerful and happy, and I thought that I could never be that, so why should I even bother trying?"
Aaliyah wanted to object, but she continued talking. "I realized on my own, without anyone helping me, that what my father was didn't matter, what everyone else thought I should be or thought I am didn't matter. I figured it out on my own that the only opinion of myself that mattered was my own, and what you know you can be should be driven by your dreams, not anyone else's." She said, and then she picked up one of her papers with her song lyrics, "Aaliyah this," She said waving the paper, "is you in your truest form. That is why my father signed you. He saw how real and raw you were in your voice and your lyrics before he even knew your name. Who cares if the whole world thinks your his pity project or whatever. Use their hate to make you work harder and prove to them how stupid they were," She said, and then she pushed Aaliyah's knee playfully, laughing, "Not make you storm out of a room like a crazy bitch."
Aaliyah gaped at her and punched Blair's arm. She was cackling like crazy and shook her head. "It's Xavier's words, not mine."
Aaliyah rolled her eyes, not even surprised. She couldn't lie and say that he wasn't entirely wrong. "I'm not even surprised. He's an ass." She muttered, "But I will go and apologize tomorrow."
Blair laughed. "You get used to his asshole complex eventually," She said waving him off, "He was born with a stick up his ass, it's a rare condition."
Aaliyah laughed with Blair until her stomach hurt, and Aaliyah couldn't help but be grateful for her in her life. It was like she finally found a sister.