INTERLUDE // Tubbo X Reader

4

You were one of the first people to arrive in the piano room - probably because your form room had been so close by. The room was empty when you walked in, so you just made your way to the back of the room, sitting down at one of the pianos near the window. There were no desks in the room besides for the teacher, only keyboards lined up in rows facing the front of the room.

You set your books down under the piano, not knowing where else to put them, and sat down, fiddling with the hem of your shirt in your hands as you waited. You would have much preferred for at least the teacher to be in the room - sitting by yourself was not really what you wanted to be doing.

You turned your attention to the window in the room, absently watching a couple of songbirds dart in an out of a small shrub while you waited. Hopefully someone else would get here soon and it wouldn't be so stiflingly silent-

"Oh. Hello."

Your head snapped back to the front of the room to see a boy standing there, hovering awkwardly just inside the door. He was rather short, and his arms wrapped around his books in a hug. You wouldn't have noticed him in the hallway if you had passed him - his height combined with brown hair and brown eyes made him the sort of person that would just blend in to a crowd. He didn't look particularly mean though, so you just tried for a smile. 

"That's my seat." He said, still hovering by the door. 

You got up, ignoring the heat rushing to your face and grabbing your books. "I'm so sorry, that's the second time I've done that today - I'm new."

The boy wandered over, plopping down in the seat you had just been in. "It's alright." He said. "Um, the one next to me is usually empty, if you want..."

You shifted over to the seat he had gestured at and put your books down again, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. The room was silent again for a moment, and you could feel the boy looking at you - no doubt giving you the new kid once over. You just let him - you had done the same thing to new kids back at your old school.

It was another moment until you broke the silence. "I'm Y/N, by the way."

"Oh- I'm Toby." He said, looking down at the piano in front of him. "Um... you play?"

"Yeah." You said. "I wouldn't really be taking this class if I didn't..." You laughed a little, trying to ease the awkwardness in the room. 

Toby laughed a little as well. "Yeah, that makes sense..."

The conversation died as more people came into the classroom, chattering with their own friends as they sat down. No one seemed to notice you in the back of the room, which was nice - you really hoped that none of your teachers decided to single you out today. You just felt a little strange sitting next to Toby in complete silence while the rest of the class chatted while they waited for the teacher to come back.  

"So, uh, where did you move from?" Toby asked. 

"Hanworth." You said. "My dad got a new job, so we had to find somewhere closer."

Toby nodded. "Cool." It was obvious he felt just as awkward as you here, just trying to make conversation to fill the space. There was some comfort in that - it wasn't just you feeling the weird tension - but at the same time, this 'I'm new' conversation had gone much better with Maya. 

You supposed all the people you ran into today weren't going to be extroverts though. 

You were saved when the teacher walked into the room - Mrs. Mears, you quickly found out. She seemed rather bubbly, and she was younger than other piano tutors and music teachers you had had in the past, probably just a few years out of university and still full of that love for teaching that would inevitably fade in the years to come. Just by looking at her, you could tell that this class would easily be your favorite. 

She took role - briefly introducing you as a new addition to the class - and then explained the activity for the day; transposing music. Sheet music was passed out, and you looked over the piece - it would be simple to play, but transposing was another thing. Mrs. Mears took a seat at her desk, telling the class you would have the rest of the period to work, and then the room was full of chatter again as the class began their work.

You reached down to pull a pencil from between your books, and were just about to get started when Toby spoke. 

"Um. If you wanted, we could work together. I usually do these things alone, but it might be easier to split it up, if you wanted..."

You looked over to see him rolling his pencil between his fingers, looking down at the paper in front of him. "Sure." You said. "I'll start at the beginning and you start at the end and we meet in the middle?"

"Sure." Toby said. "So, like measure 36?"

"Sounds good to me." You said. 

Transposing music had never been your favorite thing, but it wasn't so bad when you knew that you were only going to have to do half the work. Plus, with the buffer of the work you were doing between you, some of the initial awkwardness faded and you found yourself actually talking to Toby, laughing when he told you a story about something one of his mates had said and telling him about your old mates back in Hanworth. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, just a little shy it seemed. 

You were just happy to have the company, and not be sitting in the back of the classroom by yourself, doing all the work in silence.