For the Love of Music

Chapter 4

♪ Chapter 4  ♫

After that day, I was enrolled in the Muse Academy. Teresa, my current foster mother, had signed the permission slip to allow me to live here without even looking at it. She thought I was going on vacation somewhere. It wasn’t like she actually cared. She still got paid, even if I was living somewhere else.

Max had told me that I was a natural – no, the term he used was prodigy. Sophie told me that it meant that I had an extraordinary ability that allowed me to understand and play the violin a lot faster than normal.

The first week, I was assigned to a dorm that I shared with two girls in the violin department.

Elizabeth Taylor had long blonde hair that was always styled differently. Some days, she would come out of her room with a head full of large bouncy curls. Others, beach waves pinned to the top of her head, but always with different colors in her hair. Her dark brown, almost black eyes were consistent though. She liked the option to be whoever she wanted. She wore just about anything, including brightly colored skirts, baggy band tees, ripped jeans, and even flannel.

Nicole Anderson was the complete opposite of Elizabeth. Elizabeth was outgoing and loud while Nicole was introverted and shy. Nicole had pin-straight onyx hair that only reached her chin that had her striking emerald eyes contrasting in beautiful way. She was beautiful in every way but couldn't see it herself. Nicole hid in baggy shirts and jeans that were two sizes too big. Her thickly-framed, black glasses hid her eyes from view and a fringe of hair that hid half her face when she was reading – which was eighty percent of the time. Nicole loved to stay in her room and when she wasn't playing the violin, she was reading. When she wasn't in her room, she was lounging on the grass in the courtyard out front with books spread all around her. She had a great sense of humor but was too shy to share it with most of the students here.

They were great girls but I was convinced that if I messed up – even the smallest mistake – Max would send me back to Teresa and I would never see another violin again.

Each day, I practiced all day and most of the night long. Max had given me a violin from the auditorium for the time being but promised me, he would go out and buy a special one for me.

As I practiced, I read through the all material I had missed at the beginning of the year, as I was joining the junior class in the middle of April. There was a lot of material but I was joining the classes the next Monday, so I had to be ready.

On Monday, I stood in front of the office door, shaking nervously. Inhaling deeply, I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Mandy, the school's main secretary, waved happily once she saw me walking through the door.

“Hello! Is it your first day today, Charlotte?” Mandy fluttered her thick eyelashes as she waited for me to speak up.

“Yes, Mandy. Today's the day. Max told me that I could pick up my schedule with you.” I spoke as loudly as I could but I could still see Mandy straining to hear what I had said.

Mandy smiled at me. “Sure, sweetie. Here, I can print it out for you right now.”

After a few minutes, I was leaving with my schedule, a map that showed me where all the classrooms I needed to go to were, and a late note for my first period since Mandy had kept me past the time.

I walked down the junior wing main hallway and gaped at the details. Every hallway was decorated differently, which was pretty hard to do since this school had dozens of hallways in each wing.

The junior wing main hallway was painted a clear white with black music notes climbing over shelves and bookcases on the walls and dancing around everywhere. They almost seemed alive. The floors were a polished black marble and the only splash of color came from the lockers. Well, not lockers per say. Instead of lockers, each student got a closet to keep their things in so they had enough space to keep their school books, instruments, and other supplies. Each one was decorated by the juniors themselves so their unique personalities could be shown through them. Some were covered in different textures or some people painted items on them that represented themselves. One was painted blue on the frame but the door was black and they used metallic silver household items to construct the silhouette of clarinet. With silver paint, there were words written all over it in the background. Things like “Love comes from music” and “Family is where the heart is”.