I Can't Play Blues [Chloe]

[JD Paerson]

Why had JD joined the band? At first it was to put himself out there. He hadn't had much to do when he first arrived at Hammel, and his mother had encouraged him to try new things. So he'd gone ahead and signed up for all sorts of strange things (choir was on the list, too). Yet as the years went by, he'd stuck with it for some strange reason.

Part of him said it was because the band needed him, a fact which was vaguely true. He was a strong trumpet player and was able to pick up new pieces quickly, which helped. He also felt that it was still doing a job in keeping him active in school life and would look good on his resume, not to mention the fact that playing an instrument was a good pick-up strategy. But really, he just liked the music.

He rarely practiced outside of the actual meetings, but this afternoon he'd been cleaning his room and had come across his beat-up trumpet case. Deciding to ditch the chore of cleaning, he excused himself by claiming that he just wanted to work on that riff which had been giving him problems.

So now he was sitting in the empty band room, playing through the set pieces. When he got tired of those, he just blew a few notes and made up some tunes. He was attempting to create blues-y sounding music, which was some of his favorite trumpet music to listen to, but it wasn't going particularly well.

He satisfied himself with a final quick run through the chromatic scale and was about to pack up and head off when someone else came through the door.

[Chloe Marsh]

Did she give a living shit about band? No. Not really. Kinda. She didn't know. What she did know is that she loves music, so she became involved in nearly every aspect of music in school, even though she loved rock. But she was also a softy for jazz, but really at the moment she was board. She hadn't seen the band in a while, but wouldn't mind seeing JD again. Because, if you haven't realized, he is a major hottie. She trotted down the hall to the music room when - speak of the devil. JD was going to leave, and then Chloe smiled and moved forwards.

"You - are not leaving". She then pushed at his chest giggling to keep him in the music room. She was in a jazzy mood, and hated cello at the moment and really loved to sing more then anything. That is why she came across 'Fever', and felt so excited. It was sexy, it was fun and she was really enthusiastic about it at the moment. So pulling out the pages out of her bag, she held the sheet music out to him.

"I can't really read trumpet crap, but I think it would sound great with it". She then looked at the cello page and had studied it, and was ready to start playing but wanted to get the okay. She was rushing, she was excited and she was hoping he would say yes.

[JD Paerson]

"Hey Chloe. Don't worry, I'm leaving." He'd grabbed his trumpet case and was about to head out the door so she could have the room to herself. But then she shoved him back into the room and charged past him. He stared after her with incredulity.

"Um...okay?" he said, putting his trumpet back on the floor. He watched as she pulled out the music and set it all up on the stands. He didn't know Chloe particularly well, other than what he'd seen of her in different classes and in band. "Did you need me for something?"

He looked at the music she thrust at him. It wasn't anything too difficult, at least considering what he knew about trumpet, though there was a small section...Looking up again, he raised his eyebrows. "Trumpet crap? Is that the way you're hoping to convince me to stay?"

He glanced over the cello music, though he didn't exactly understand all of it. Then he glanced at his phone to check the time, thinking about the pile of laundry he was still trying to avoid.

"All right, I can give it a go. Shouldn't we have some drums or something, though? Jeffrey plays drums, we could always ask him." Though the idea of having Jeff around was not a particularly pleasant one--who knew what extra thoughts might drift into your head.

"Isn't there a singing part to this, too?" he asked, humming a few bars to himself. "Because I can't sing if I'm playing trumpet.

[Chloe Marsh]

Trumpet crap? If that was going to make him leave, she was going to have to do something that she never did. Take back what she said! "Trumpet stuff then". She gave him a smirk, and turned back to the cello music. She had been practising it for a while now, so she had it down. But looking to the sex-muffin that was there, he was kind of worried. Not shy, just intimidated. But why, she wasn't that scary.

He understood the trumpet melody which made her smile, but then he asked something. Why didn't he just kick her in her kooka!? Drums; in Jazz. Nah nah nah nah nah! She looked back to him, and put a hand on her hip. "1. In no way are we putting drums with jazz. 2. More enthusiasm baby, its no downer. Jamming should be something to let you let loose, just have fun. So chill. And 3. I can't - stand - Jeremy, so no". Chloe then grabbed the lyrics and he asked about lyrics, obviously not chilling.

"Dude, chill. I will be singing. Don't worry, it is a simply arrangement of vocals, cello and trumpet. Okay. The cello, will keep the base rhythm, trumpet with harmonize and the vocals will be melodic. Okay?". It was then that she held both sheets of music in front of her. Now was the hard part. She took a breath, found her center, her energy. Taking slow slow breaths, she then did it. The notes began to play on the cello, the cello that was half way across the room. Now she can go in the World Records for the youngest telekinetic performer. She just hope she didn't screw up.

After the into, she looked to DJ because he had a few bars before he started. "Never knew how much I love you, never knew how much I care. When you put your arms around me. I get a fever that's so hard to bare, you give me fever"...... She walked towards DJ as the door telekinetically swung shut and she stood by him, looking at the trumpet music because he had to start soon...... okay, NOW!

[JD Paerson]

"All right, no drums," JD mumbled as he opened his trumpet case. Did she say "Jeremy"? He was sure the guy's name was "Jeffrey"...but he was so bad with names. He decided not to worry about it, since it wasn't that big a deal. And in the future he'd just avoid saying the name at all.

He wasn't so sure on the whole "chill" thing, as that had never been his style. Go with the flow? Maybe when he didn't have all the plans resting on his shoulders.

"Yeah, okay, harmony." He readies his trumpet. What was this even for, anyway? Was she working on developing a duet with someone or something? Or maybe she needed this for research for class or something...Because would anyone dig up music just to play it for music's sake? That didn't make any sense.

She had a decent enough voice, he admitted to himself. Not as rich as he thought the music might have used, but still strong and at least on key. He counted out the measures, foot tapping gently, until his time came to enter.

He played fairly well, considering it was his first run-through, but the rhythm was a little off. When he hit the first break he paused, frowning as he realized his error. The foot tapping increased a bit and he tried again for the next bit. He was still a little confused as to why she was playing the cello with her telekinesis, instead of just playing it herself. Wouldn't it be easier to not have to deal with powers while trying to play all the music? But maybe that was her way of training or something. And who was he to stop someone from practicing?

When they came to the next break he paused again and emptied the spit from his instrument. Frowning at the page, he realized that it called for a muffle on the trumpet, which he didn't actually have. So he grumblingly used his hand to try to fix the sound, though it wasn't really the same. Honestly, hadn't any of this been thought through ahead of time?

At the end of the piece he frowned at the page again. "Sorry about that," he said. "I guess I'm not really cut out for this."

[Chloe Marsh]

It was adorable. A hand muffling the sound, the digusting emptying of the trumpet that she usually had time to look away from and not to mention, the hideous sight of a hot guy being shy. Chloe smiled at him because he was so ducky. Maybe if Jeremy - um, Jefferey - who cares. Maybe if he was here he would feel more comfortable. But after the run went through and he made that little mistake, he was bound on giving up. Chloe rose an eyebrow and the chello viciously strummed and Chloe stood up and walked over towards him.

"It's fine - it was the first run. Don't give up yet, J. You wouldn't have made band if you didn't have any skill. Now, just focus and I'll get a muffler from the back room. Just - please. I really want to do this song, I love it. One more run and see how it goes?". She really hoped he would budge, but then quickly hurried out back to find the muffler.

Where the hell would it be? But then, she found a drawer of equipment but the teacher must have padlocked it. Damn it! Stupid fucking security. Chloe then held out a hand and concentrated, and after a twitch the lock shot open and she got inside and within seconds, found the muffler. Score! So she walked back in to see if he was down to give it a retry.

[JD Paerson]

The idea of him only being in the band because he was good made JD snort a bit. He was in the band because the band needed people. Whether he was good or bad, well, that wasn't really his call. The group wasn't incredibly large, and it wasn't like he was first chair or anything. At most he considered himself decent. He raised an eyebrow at being called "J," but Chloe seemed so interested in trying again that he decided he might as well.

"All right, I'll give it another go." JD waited around as Chloe tried to fiddle around for a muffler in the back. He ran through some of the fingerings on his instrument as he looked at the sheet, trying to get the timing right and hit all the notes. While he was waiting he emptied his spit valves again. He debated trying to oil one of his valves which was sticking a bit but decided it could wait. It wasn't like it was doing much damage.

She came back with the muffler and JD smiled and held out his hand for it. "Thanks. I normally don't just practice with this, but if you want the song to sound right this'll be better." He blew through the trumpet without making noise, then turned to Chloe again.

"All right, you count off and we'll give it another run. You're in charge."