At the Nouveau Academy of the Arts and Sciences, all students are required to take either a music or art class before graduating. When Kennedy Marx is denied of her request to switch out of Music Theory, vivid details from her past as a piano prodig...
Did anyone else see Kennedy Marx walking toward the music wing today? It's been almost four years since she ended her love affair with the piano. It looks like a lot of things are changing this year, including Liana Williams' new haircut.
yours truly, Queen B.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
***
"Griffin, why don't you tell us something about yourself," Mr. Sykes suggested.
A blanket of crescendoing whispers enveloped the classroom as Griffin followed Mr. Sykes to the whiteboard. Pieces of conversations floated aimlessly like a bundle of red balloons flying into the sky. While Mr. Sykes dug through stacks of miscellaneous paper for an extra copy of the syllabus, Griffin embraced the spotlight with an ease that could be sensed from the depths of the galaxy.
"My name's Griffin," he shared. "It's spelt like the legendary creature, pronounced like a shortened version of the Hogwarts house. And if everything goes right, I'll be graduating at the end of this school year."
It was the way he effortlessly made commonplace nouns sound foreign that stopped me from vandalizing the corner of the page with lopsided swirls. I lifted my eyes from the syllabus momentarily and tapped the cap of the ballpoint pen against my chin to the beats of passing silence.
"Who else is a senior this year?" Mr. Sykes filled the room with his deep voice, surveying the distracted class for any hands.
The class responded with glazed eyes and blank expressions.
Music Theory and Fundamentals was a class overpopulated with freshmen specializing in music. It singlehandedly constructed a solid foundation for the advanced composition courses offered exclusively to the upperclassmen. I wasn't surprised when there wasn't a single familiar face in the spacious room.
I managed to slide right under the radar until Mr. Sykes said, "Oh, that's right," with a little too much enthusiasm coating his lower register. "Kennedy is also a senior this year, and there just happens to be an empty seat right next to her."
On cue, chairs swiveled and heads turned in succession like a series of waves crashing onto the shore. As Mr. Sykes directed Griffin to the vacant seat beside me, I lowered my head and pretended I was filling out the questionnaire on the back of the syllabus.
"Where did you move from?" a girl sitting in front of me turned around and asked Griffin.
"I didn't move," he whispered back just loud enough so that I would be able to catch his answer. "I just transferred schools."
"From where?"
"Kingston Prep."
While Mr. Sykes was going over the midterm and final exam, Griffin leaned over and asked, "Why do I get the feeling that everyone keeps looking at us?"
