The Classix

(OLD) Chapter 28

Note: I am alive!!! I'm so sorry for missing last week. The adjustment to college was a lot busier than I anticipated. Don't worry, though. I'm hoping I've got the hang of it now! Thank you to all the people who expressed concern instead of unhappiness that I didn't update. The fact that you care about my wellbeing before any demand for an update makes me feel so thankful to have you.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: Emeray is back from the Onward Train set. Gerald decided to be a model. We're getting serious I Miss Foster vibes here, huh?

emeray

Even when our lives are normal as ever, they're abnormal all the same. There's always at least one shift from the regular––one moment to make you step back and marvel about how much things have changed so quickly.

We wake up and go about our schedules, yet we wake in new rooms and go off to new projects. New movies, new songs, new settings.

I go on my walks with Cartney, yet we take to the suburbs around the Hideaway instead of our usual route in the city. The same Kaytee song playing in our headphones, but different streets and turns and fans waiting just around the corner.

Articles are released on the Famoux everyday as per usual, yet most of them are credited to the Fanatix for being the source of information. No longer are they completely filled with false rumors, but little facts about our daily lives that the public probably didn't need to know.

And then there's today. Kaytee is giving Callan and I a piano lesson as Chapter watches along, just like old times, yet now we're joined by Lacey's young children Hadley and Mikayla. Mel, who was quickly promoted to being the nanny for all three children in the Hideaway, recommended Lacey's kids start expanding their knowledge of music. Kaytee was all too willing and thrilled to have more people to teach.

We've only had two lessons with them thus far, but when comparing our skills all together, our two new additions appear to be picking up all the different notes much quicker than I did. That's the main issue with the piano for me: I absolutely love playing it, and I practice as much as I can with my schedule, but it doesn't mean I'm suddenly a prodigy. At best, I'm good at reading the sheet music. The physical playing of the instrument itself, however, I wouldn't consider my strong suit.

At first it was embarrassing these children, barely at five years old, could be so much better at piano than me, but it's slowly become a source of comic relief for everyone. They excel through their songs and my songs in one lesson, and I struggle my way through two or three lines while Chapter and Kaytee laugh and encourage me to keep trying. I like being able to make them laugh like that––any reason to be happy for a moment under all our stress these days is good reason enough.

"Hey, Sticks," starts Chapter. He's sitting similarly to how he'd sit during the piano lessons in the Metropolix––in a chair pulled from his room's sitting area, close enough to listen to Kaytee explain the music, yet far enough that Callan doesn't get anxious to do better just for him.

But the scene is different even so. The chair is dark and wooden, the room is new and infinitely larger.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Explain to me, if you will, why it seems to me like just about anybody can play the piano better than you."

I can't contain my grin; it's too instantaneous. There's one thing that hasn't changed about these piano lessons––Chapter's commentary.

We both glance over to the three toddlers as they flip through a new book and choose their next songs to play. Kaytee watches along carefully, her smile effervescent. I recall Till telling me one time months ago that Kaytee always loved being around kids, even wanted to raise some someday. By the looks of the way she treats her fans on a daily basis, and the looks of her it's more than apparent.