In Perfect Harmony

ii

sing with me, sing for the year,
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear.
sing with me, if it's just for today
maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away.
-aerosmith, dream on
••••••

i sat alone at the end of one of the tables in the school cafeteria, quietly eating my spaghetti. one headphone dangled from my left ear, blasting what was probably the most over played aerosmith song ever, but i didn't mind. i loved the song anyway. there's a reason why songs are overplayed. they're so great people just can't get enough of them. that is, until they've had enough of them.

a few feet away from me sat my best friend, jan, surrounded by what i guess i could call our "friend group," although the four of us aren't much of a "group."
there was david, the smart ass-mathlete-teacher's pet. then james, who i'm pretty sure wants to be a photographer when he grows up. this kid carries around a camera with him 24/7. and jan, who was flawless in every way. she's been my best friend since kindergarten and I have always been the lesser of us two.

i hated it.

i hated her.

but i can't hate her. no one can hate her. she's too flawless for anyone to conjure up a logical reason to hate her for.

"i didn't know you go here," a familiar voice said, and, snapping out of my thoughts, i found myself looking up across the table at the same cobalt blue eyes as yesterday. "keith" i spoke and the boy smiled at me. "rosalie. you looked sorta lonely and well, i was sorta lonely as well. i thought we could be sorta lonely together." keith shoved a bite of his sandwich into his mouth. "alright" i said, taking a sip of water.

"who're they?" he asked, nodding toward the three who i had strategically spaced myself away from. just a few feet, so I was not involved with their conversation, but not so far that it was obvious I wanted to be alone. i sighed. "that's my best friend, jan. the tall blond, that's david. the one with the camera around his neck is james." aw crap. the three decided to acknowledge my presence.

"who's your friend," jan called. "no one" i replied. "aw come on," james protested. "at least introduce us." in response i shoved the other headphone in my other ear and turned away. i was able to make out a "sheesh whatever" from david, even with steven tyler singing at such an inhumanly high pitch he probably shattered my eardrum.

keith raised an eyebrow- which i hated because i was never able to raise one eyebrow at a time- and decided to change the topic when i unconsciously stabbed my spaghetti with the plastic fork in my hand.

"so i listened to the rolling stones guys you mentioned yesterday," he said, grinning. it's like he has a permanent smile plastered onto his face. "and... what'd ya think?"

"well" keith started, a certain amusement glowing in his eyes. "some of their music seems almost satanic. guess you can say they have... sympathy for the devil." he snickered at his own pun. i decided to continue on. "oh yeah" i said. "if you only came over here to put down one of the greatest bands ever you can... get off my cloud."

keith caught on. "no, i'm not putting them down. their music is very... satisfactory."

"satisfactory? that's it? you can ride your... wild horses... right on outta here and go looking for some better music, but trust me that'll be hard to find."

"i don't get what the big deal is with this music... it's only rock 'n roll."

"but i like it."

suddenly i stood up, placing my hands on the table separating us for support as a leaned over. "i can see you did your studying, but one thing you should know is that there's more to rock 'n roll than sex and drugs." keith looked vulnerable, and i discovered that his grin was actually not permanent, and the boy could be sensitive at times. "the rolling stones are musical legends, and they didn't achieve their fame by getting high and stealing the virginity of groupies."

i sat down again and keith stared at me like i had just bit off the head off a bat. "you doing anything after school?" he asked. i shook my head. "good. meet me at the same spot in the park right after school." keith took one last bite of his sandwich and got up and walked away. i wondered where he was going when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

a/n: I didn't realize all of Rosalie's friends were named after musicians I swear I didn't do that on porpoise🐬