Are You Still There?

Chapter 4

* Chapter 4: Something..? *

I turned to see John sitting next to me. I smiled and got up. "No wait. The bell won't ring for a while. Stay here. Please?" John asked. I looked at my cello, then sat back down next to John.
"What is it?" I asked curiously. "It's.. Just that I don't get you. Or your red face." His cold hand stroked my heated face. John chuckled softly at the friction of our body temperatures.
"I don't know really. I don't even understand myself at times. Really! I don't. You just have to take chances and no one'll really know." I said quietly. John didn't move his hand away from my face. He kept stroking my face softly and sweetly... 'And OH MY GOD LUCY PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!'
We stared at each other not knowing what to say until finally, he got up slowly. "Come on then, the bell will ring soon. Let me walk you to class." John said as he went to pick up my cello up from the corner.
I got up and opened the door for John. He nodded, "Thanks."
We walked out into the almost vacant hallway. The awkward silence was soothing. Knowing that we weren't being forced to talk. My parents always made me talk. Whether I wanted to or not...
John led me to the orchestra room. "Well this is me." I smiled. He looked and chuckled, "Of course." John wrapped his arms around my waist, "I think you may have actually made school worth it." He placed his lips on my cheek for a quick second and left. "Bye." I called quietly. He turned around and smiled, "See you after class. Okay?" I nodded and opened the door slowly.
I walked into the class and heard the beautiful sound of strings being played. The notes rise and lower gradually with the skipping of notes forming the arpeggio. I walked towards the teacher. She was a petite woman with blonde hair and warm brown eyes. I walked over, "Hi, um I'm Lucy, I play cello, so um do we have chair orders yet?"
"Yeah! But these aren't set in stone yet. You have tests every other week, and they'll determine the chair orders as well. Lucy Robertson right?" She asked getting a piece of paper from her cluttered desk. I nodded. "Ok, I remember now, you have... Second chair. You'll get to know your section more later, right now they're warming up, but we'll start looking into some music in a minute. But go look for the 1st chair, they should be warming up, he'll get you a locker for the cello" She spoke smoothly.
I walked over towards the other end of the room, gradually hearing the change in sound range, going lower. I looked at the 4 stands of cellos. I walked to the 1st one seeing a tall brown haired boy with hazel eyes, warming up on scales. "Hey, are you the 1st chair?" I asked tapping on his shoulder. "Yeah, you need a locker?" I nodded, "Come on then I'll show you to the locker room." He said as he got up.
The boy showed me a room empty and quieter, blocking out majority of the sound from outside. "So we arrange the lockers by stand, so what chair are you?" "Second." He smiled, "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate if you want. And here's our locker." He gestured towards the corner locker, which looked by far the best out of the others. He got a piece of paper out and handed it to me, "Here I wrote out an extra copy of the combination for the lock. I gotta get back out there, the other cellists are sorta annoying at times, but they're like family. Oh and before you ask, yes you were the only new cellist to get accepted into this orchestra. We're advanced so if at anytime you have any questions, feel free to ask me. But you're second chair, so you shouldn't have any major problems, but let me know, okay?" He explained. I nodded, "Thanks! I'm Lucy, by the way." we shook hands.
Nate left pretty quickly, so I was left alone to unpack and put the case into the locker. I looked at my cello. It was made from a dark wood, and the bow hairs made from white hairs with a Pearl accent as a reminder of where my thumb should go. I plucked the strings and smiled at the 440 intonation that I did this morning.
The class went by quickly and smoothly, everyone played when directed, and spoke when asked. Of course with side commentary between stand partners about the music. Nate made jokes about music, mainly cheesy puns, but they were adorable so I couldn't help but giggle at them. Sure they were cheesy but at least he wasn't afraid of being himself, not being judged all the time..
The bell rung too soon. I looked at the music for a moment as I slowly began to turn the end pin until it closed correctly. As I got up, the door opened. Nate groaned, "Not him.." John walked in looking for something. "What do you mean?" I asked as we walked to our locker. "He's probably trying to get a girl, and shag 'er." Nate said annoyed. "And what if he's just meeting up with a friend..?" I asked unsurely. "Well, that could be it but I doubt it. In all honesty, he's a cool guy, we know each other, but sometimes he gets around.. well not sometimes, always." He continued, "He's sorta bad news, but if you're careful, you'll be fine." I nodded and left him to finish packing up.
I left the locker room and began to swiftly dodge the people with the wooden instruments entering the other room. I see John and smile at him.
He walks over to me, "You ready to go?"
"Yeah, just let me get my stuff and then we can go." I smile. I run over and get my bag. "Ok, let's get on out of here, it's too crowded." I say as we head out the door.
"So miss. Robertson, how was your first day of school?" John asked very posh like. "Well, Mr. Lennon, it was very fun. You know I met this kid, John I think, very nice lad, you know." I said laughing. He smiled and looked straight forward.
He walked with me until we reached the school gates. "Hey Lucy." I was greeted by George. "Hi George" I smiled back at him. "Where's Paul?" John asked. "I dunno, I guess he ditched us for a bird." John nodded and continued to walk. George and I followed him.
We reached George's house first. We exchanged our goodbyes and watched George enter his small home. "I'm sure he's going to practice that guitar of his." John chuckled. "He plays guitar too?" I asked. "Yeah, he's in the Quarrymen too. Because of Paul." I looked at him quizzically. "Well, Paul and him were friends before I knew either of them. And I met Paul and heard him play, so he got in, and Paul insisted that he should audition. So we were on a double decker bus late on night over the summer, and he played raunchy, and he got in at that moment. He's an insanely talented musician and I can only afford the best in my band." John explained rather smugly.
He walked me to the outside of my house. "Well I really enjoyed today with you Lennon." I smirked. "As did I." John smirked back.
Later that day, I laid on my bed thinking about this whole day over and over. For the first time since I moved here, I think I may have actually liked Liverpool. And John could've been the reason.