sparks fly [toni shalifoe, the wilds]

i'm wonderstruck, dancing wild all alone

The music block was one of the less prestigious areas of the school. Grace's school tended to focus more on sports and academics - hence why they were now offering scholarships to fit girls from Minnesota.

Grace turned around to look at Toni, who was sporting the traditional school uniform today; a blouse that came halfway down her arms, a grey kilt, tights and a maroon blazer. Despite her now being a carbon copy, she was still different to Grace. Enviable. Not that she dared to admit it yet - as far as she was concerned, her secret was safe.

It was a few days after Toni had moved from Minnesota, and she'd met Grace in the bathroom... and then landed them both in detention. That shit would have never have happened back home, but she supposed the rules were more strict here in England. However, it led her to Grace - her new conquest. She had a one track mind.

Toni's eyes glassed over as she traipsed behind Grace, bored senseless by the long corridors of the music block. She'd never really been the musical type, she could never afford an instrument so she'd stuck to the trap music on her iPod. Toni did note, however, the passion in her eyes. This was a different side of Grace that she hadn't seen yet. 

"You're so uptight. Is this where you come to get loose?" Toni mused, joking to herself about how she'd love to loosen Grace up. She bit her tongue.

"Umm, I mean I guess. You know, I know how to have fun," Grace pointed, briefly turning around to catch Toni's eyes. "Private school girls know how to have fun too."

"Yeah, like hell. Next time, we're doing something that I want to do." Toni smirked, taking no notice of the musical certificates that Grace occasionally pointed out. However, Grace was now widening her eyes.

"There's going to be a next time?" She puzzled, suddenly becoming more shaky as she stepped down the corridor. Toni noted this and immediately became more excited. 

"I mean, yeah. You're going to have to become a lesbian though, it's kind of an entry level requirement." 

Grace swung around suddenly, shocked that somebody would say something that daring, "I'm not like you. I don't want to-"

"You don't want to do anything with me, correct?"

Grace spluttered, infuriated by Toni's wit. It was like Toni was flirting with her? Grace just couldn't understand her. She'd gone from hating her for what she'd said yesterday in the bathroom, to suddenly flirting with her. It just wouldn't do.

"Correct." Grace agreed, darting her eyes around the room to do anything to avoid Toni's direct eyeline. Toni smirked, finding it ridiculously easy to read her body language. This conquest would be short and sweet, she was certain.

Grace opened the double doors at the end of the corridor to reveal a room with a glossy, grand piano and the guitar shelf where her guitar was kept. The room was dark due to the lack of windows. Actually, there was no windows at all as if the room was completely separate from the rest of school. It was totally sheltered. Kind of like Grace, Toni mused to herself.

"Sweet. Show me your thing then." she nodded, confused by the other brunette's unexpected nerves and hesitation. 

Grace knew the music room like the back of her hand. Music was always her thing, which was underestimated by everybody else. Her very first instrument was the flute, and then she graduated into the clarinet, the trombone, the piano and then finally, her favourite - the guitar. The world was her oyster essentially, with her parents more than eager to keep their daughter busy and out of their hands.

"I don't know, um," Grace swallowed slowly. "I never really play for anybody, it's always too awkward." 

This was unprecedented for Toni, who was ready to sit through her babbling on about the history of the instruments or some shit. Straight girls craved attention, in her experience, which is why it always led them right into Toni's lap... or her bed.

She sat down at the piano, nodding for Grace to sit down next to her. Grace realised she was way out of her depth with Toni, and she couldn't call the shots. 

"Okay." She whispered softly, taking a shallow breath before launching into a melody she'd been working on.

Toni watched as the other girl worked, taking in the way her delicate fingers hit the keyboard and how her long hair swayed with her body. The sweet melody filled the room, and somehow Toni imagined that it was as supple as her skin would be. It's not as if she was wrong about Grace, but she'd just never heard anything as beautiful or different as this tune. When the music stopped, and her fingers left the keys, Toni wasn't quite sure how to proceed.

"I've never played for anybody before. That's just something rough that I've been working on in my free time." Grace spoke simply in the quiet, beginning to pick the white nail polish off her short nails. 

Toni looked over to her, trying to make eye contact. "It's really beautiful," she chewed her lip, "I mean that, um, really genuinely."

"What, weren't you being genuine before?" Grace shot back, her eyebrows furrowed. 

"What?" Toni asked, panicking suddenly as Grace turned to face her. "Okay, look," their faces were inches apart, the piano stool seeming to contract and push their two bodies closer together, "I can see through you like glass. I'm not trying to force you to be something that you're not, but... you're not as complicated and mysterious as you make out to be."

Grace's heart was pounding out of her chest, her fingers shaking as they lay next to her, side by side with Toni's. She'd never ever felt this way before, definitely not with any of the family friends she was expected to date. She was completely speechless - what did she mean, she was predictable? She didn't know whether to be hurt. 

"Admit it. You look at me in that way. There's no point in denying it, I saw you when we first met in the bathroom." Toni whispered, leaning in even closer to the British girl.

Grace felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She had to weigh her options up. What was the worst thing that could happened if she was to... get involved with a girl? She couldn't even get her head around it. She was 17 and had never even looked at somebody in this way before, apart from a few glances at girls she wasn't supposed to look at when she was 13. 

"I don't know if I can do this. My family would literally disown me, they don't agree with this way of life." Grace murmured, indicating their current position on the piano stool. 

Toni tried her hardest to hold in an eye roll, getting intensive deja vu from another girl. This absolutely proved her point that all straight girls were the same. 

Suddenly the bell rang and Toni jerked away from Grace, concluding that she was going to have to play a slightly longer game than intended. It was very irritating. The whole point of this conquest was to not deal with an actual relationship, she actually wanted to be a straight girl's experiment. She couldn't believe that Grace wasn't immediately jumping at the chance like she assumed. 

"Alright, Thirwall, you stay in your little sheltered music room then. I'll be outside with the big girls." 

Toni stomped out, leaving Grace wonderstruck at the piano. She shoved the door closed with a loud thud out of pure annoyance. Fuck. This wasn't supposed to be difficult.