june's rhapsody

[Taeyeon Kai]

This was different. Desires that were long repressed were welling up inside her, threatening to break free. She fidgeted during her entire shift, and when she was free, she took off across the mall towards the newest store. It was a store filled with guitars and violins and cellos and other musical instruments, sheets of music and music accessories, and everything music.

It was a dream come true for her, a woman who yearned to be artistic in the musical arts.

She walked in, reverent fingers softly touching over shiny instruments and fresh pages of music, her eyes glued to the treasures around her. She missed the knowing smile of the clerk, who had seen many a dazed look on a young teenager. She finally stopped in front of a shiny, beautiful acoustic guitar, glued to the spot as she ran her fingertips over the soft wood and tight strings. It sang to her on so many levels.

[Zaeric Blackwood]

As soon as he had heard there was a new store opening Zaeric had started counting down the days. Music. Oh new music he could get his hands on. Loose leaf guitar paper and maybe a binder to help organize his current mess of music. As soon as he could he raced into town to the mall, eagerly looking through the store ever so carefully. There was the paper he needed, and a few new picks for his guitar. He also picked up some new polish and new strings. Sure, it was all going to cost a bundle, but his mom had sent him this money just for this. It was kind of a happy summer-even-though-you're-still-in-school present from not only his mom but a bunch of his family members. And the largish sum of money way going to dwindle away fast if he stayed in here. Oh well, that's what it was for. As long as he saved some for gas money he would be okay.

As he perused the music selection he noticeded the flash of reddish hair from the corner of his eyes. When he looked up, he saw two things. One was a very pretty girl he didn't know staring at a very nice reddish black gold guitar. For a moment Zaer was hard pressed to pick which to look at first or longer. Well, the love of music won out for the moment. Arms full of musical supplies he walked over to the very expensive guitar and took a good look at it. Glossy finish, beautiful wood grain, taut shining strings. He reached his arms out and brushed the strings to hear the heavenly sound pour out. But the guitar was one hundred and fifty dollars, way too much for him. Even if he saved. Inside he cursed in frustration, but turned to the girl a little nervously.

" Hey there, I don't think I know you. Do you go to Hammel?" He asked. He didn't remember ever seeing her around, and he knew the faces of most of the people there even if he didn't know everyone's names.

[Taeyeon Kai]

She didn’t know how long she stood there, looking and touching the expensive instrument before she felt someone behind her. She turned her head and looked at the clerk, who gave her a gentle smile.

“Like that guitar, miss?” he asked her kindly. “You’re the one who works at the Abercrombie, right?”

“Hollister,” she corrected, smiling. “And yes, I love that guitar. Sadly, I can’t play a note.”

The clerk laughed softly. “Well, there’s videos and books and such on that wall on how to play,” he pointed out helpfully. “Just come see me if you change your mind, okay?”

She nodded as he turned and walked back to his desk. Her free hand fiddled with some of the bouncier curls of her mahogany hair as she bit her bottom lip in thought. She wanted that guitar, but she couldn’t play, and she didn’t know what her aunt and uncle would say if she brought it home. As she stood there, she felt another presence behind her and froze when an arm reached over her shoulder to stroke the strings of the guitar. Heavenly music filled the air around her head as she spun, looking into the face of the very handsome boy behind her.

“Um, no, I don’t,” she replied to his question, blushing a bit. “My best friend and my boyfriend do, though, although I haven’t seen them in some time. Oh! My name’s Taeyeon! Nice to meet you!” She smiled wide and held out her hand, only to look at his arms and laugh gently. “I guess you can’t shake hands, huh?”

[Zaeric Blackwood]

Zaer was kinda surprised. When she said her name his brain then went into a fuzz. A few too many similar sounding syllables for him to even try to pronounce that name correctly. It made him pause and wonder if anyone ever had a hard time with his name. He let the thought drift away.

"Tie-yee-yawn? Taeyeon. Wow, that a mouthful. A very pretty name though." He tried to mimic the sounds, but his slight Ohio accent couldn't quiet wrap around them. He sounded funny trying to make the would be pretty name slip easily from his mouth like she did. Fail. He really needed to invest in language diversity.

" Is there possibly a shortened version of that? I honestly don't think my mouth could handle the syllables. Not to be ruse, I just fail." He smiled a genuinely warm smile. " I'm Zaeric by the way." He added, remembering it would be polite to introduce himself as well. The girl seemed to have been looking at the guitar very intently, and was surprised again to hear she didn't play. He didn't know too many people who would want an instrument that much and not play. Well, to each his or her own way. At least, his mom always told him that.

For a moment long he let the music drift, then shuffled a few of the things he was holding around, managing not to drop anything miraculously. An arm emerged from the stuff he was carrying to shake the girl hand. " It's quite nice to meet you." His tennishoes scuffed the ground for that moment, long fingers tryng not to lose grip on the things he was holding. If they went rolling all over it would be a disastrous mess and he didn't particularly want to make a mess. His greenish- gold flecked eyes flashed with that worry but it was fleeting, only to be replaced by the excitement and zeal most music fanatics had hiding in them somewhere.

[Taeyeon Kai]

“My friends call me Tae,” she offered gently, still smiling. “And thank you for the compliment. Your name is quite handsome and unique also.” She grasped his fingers gently and shook his hand, the warmth between their palms making her blush. Yes, she was dating Cole, but this handsome boy was something else. “I see you like music as well.” She giggled softly and turned to look at the guitar again, letting go of his hand.

“I sing, not as well as the famous people, but well enough, I suppose,” she offered, kind of seeing the surprise behind his eyes when she looked at him. Her eyes, brown and blue with flecks of green, were locked on the instrument. “I’ve always wanted to learn guitar, though. My boyfriend plays guitar, but not one like this one. My uncle, well, he invests in things like this, but I’m not allowed to touch them.” She sighed longingly, the sound softening her face into yearning. “I really like people who play guitars. There’s just magic in a person who can play, and I want that magic for myself.”

She finally looked at him, her eyes beseeching him to understand. “Do you ever have that magical feeling?”

[Zaeric Blackwood]

Zaeric couldn't help but laughing softly. Did he have that magic? he had to ask himself, only so he could answer. Oh yes, he had that magic. The way the sounds wove pictures in his brains. If music were able to be turned into something tangible like magic dust or coins Zaeric would probably have more than enough to go around. The fact that Tae was the kind of person who obviously loved music in her own way definitely made this chance meeting all the better. Singing was great fun, and while he definitely wasn't good at it that didn't mean he didn't try. It was just a kind of thing he didn't do around to spare others of what he thought of as a not-so nice voice to listen to.

" Guitar isn't really all that hard to learn. It's more that you have to have large amounts of patience to master it. I started when I was really young and I still haven't learned everything. I probably won't for a long time." He noticed her blue-brown-green eyes locked on that guitar and just didn't want to let go. Well, that was no mystery. It was a beautiful instrument, and the way she looked at it was definitely with a longing he could completely understand since he had been looking at the instrument with that same look a few moments before. He shifted his hand so that it rested on top of the things he was carrying. The thin claddagh ring he wore shone, pointed so that if you knew what the ring meant you would knew he was single. In fact, he had been for sometime. But the thought didn't really come into his conscious mind even if it was there lurking somewhere in the dredges.

I want that magic for myself. Do you ever have that magical feeling?

Zaer nodded in answer to her last question.
" I do have that magical feeling, and I usually let it do whatever it wants no matter who's listening. It gets me in trouble sometimes when I forget others exist and get lost in the music. People can sneak up on me then." He shrugged and let a few thoughts whizz about in his head. He could ask if he could put the guitar away in layaway or something. Then maybe he could get it. It was so richly colored and vibrant, and sounded a thousand times better than his guitar back in the dorm. Maybe if he got it he would give his old guitar to Sery if she wanted it, or Lucah. Maybe. The thing was so expensive though, and Zaer wondered if he was going to have to fight Tae for it. Or maybe.................

[Taeyeon Kai]

His words floated on her ears as she looked away with a shy blush to gaze at the guitar again. That longing was there, along with the desire to play a chord on those shiny strings. Sure, her savings account was filled so much that she could buy five guitars like this, but the notion…it was too much for her. She looked in the direction of the clerk with a bright smile, and he knew that smile as he came walking over.

“Made up your mind, miss?” he asked politely.

She nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll buy it, along with whatever else you think is good for a beginner,” she told him with a large smile, and he chuckled and took the instrument off the wall to ring it up with her, along with a couple books, sheet music, and picks. Tae looked at the boy at her side and smiled. “You spoke with such passion, I couldn’t resist buying it. I have a job here, that’s why I can afford it.”

She looked shyly down at her feet, clasping her hands in front of her. “Would you…would you teach me?” she asked, looking back up at him with her liquid eyes. “I mean, I would learn, and you would play on it, if the look in your face was anything to go by,” she offered with a crooked smile. “If you don’t, th-that’s fine, ya know…”

[Zaeric Blackwood]

Zaeric was just slightly bit stunned, but recovered quickly. Well he didn't really have the money to buy the gorgeous instrument anyway. He was just a teensy bit jealous inside. Well, after a moment he realized he didn't have a reason to be jealous. She wanted him to teach her guitar. Now that would be cool. A lot of people wanted to learn, but most of the people he had tried to teach had quit after one or two lessons. Tae, well, he had a feeling she wasn't just going to quit anytime soon. She definitely wanted to learn to play, he could tell. She looked down shyly, and Zaer was kind of caught in a net of of the idea of having someone to teach, and the idea of teaching her. He took a slight breath in. Remember what she said? She has a boyfriend. Cole. So lets try not to start any fights.

" Sure I'll teach you. It would be fun. Guitar really isn't that hard once you get the basics down. You just have to get your hands used to the feeling of being on the strings. " He replied. His own fingers had callouses from playing for so long, and most people who played guitar had thicker skin on their fingers from playing. So he understood that. Zaer was excited to have someone to teach who enjoyed music as much as he did. He knew a few others back at the school, and if he really thought about it he could probably get them to come and play, but the thought didn't really cross his mind. For the moment, Zaeric was enamored with the pretty girl in the music shop. All the other thoughts in his head just seemed to ind of float away.

Somehow he managed to grab a basket that was nearby and carefully dump his things in there without dropping anything as the cashier took the guitar to ring it up. He also grabbed a few books and things, most of which Zaer approved of. He had a few books at home that were good for beginners also that he would let her use. They were simple yeah, but simple usually got the point across. For most people anyway. He wondered if she was going to want a notebook to write music notations in, and grabbed another one to add to his basket just in case.

" You work here? Or just in the mall?" He didn't have a job. Small town, not always a ton of opportunities. He was waiting for something interesting to come up so that he could work and enjoy it as well. Working here would be pretty cool. I wonder if they have any job applications or open spots. was his thought. He could only ask. The worst that could happen is that they would be fully staffed and he would have to just leave an application for if they needed help later.

" I think that's pretty awesome. I come down here for coffee or tea sometimes, or for notebooks when mine are filled." Zaer told her, not saying just exactly what he filled those notebooks with.

[Taeyeon Kai]

“You’ll teach me?” she asked happily, the shy blush turning into a wide smile that made her whole face just light up. Her eyes began sparkling happily. “Oh, thank you so much!” Taking precaution to the basket, she hugged him gratefully, winding her arms around his neck and leaning into his body. “You won’t regret it, I promise!” She smiled at him again and skipped to the counter, pulling out her wallet and sliding out her card to pay for her guitar and accessories. After spending close to three hundred dollars, she came back to Zaeric holding her new treasure in its case, a bag of books and such in her other hand.

“I work at the Hollister down the way,” she explained to his question. “See, I live with my aunt and uncle, and my aunt’s a retired model, my uncle’s a photographer, so we live comfortably, but I like to stay busy.” She gestured to her new purchase. “I have idle hands, so something to fill them is exactly what I want.” She grinned again. “I know three martial arts, and those took a lot of patience to learn them, so I know something about working at something until you get it right.”

The last statement he said made her curious. “Do you write music? To fill your notebooks, I mean?”

[Zaeric Blackwood]

Tae was very excited, and he was glad he could make her that excited. Honestly, someone needed to be this extremely happy around him because it just put him in a better and better mood all the time. This whole trip had started well and was going better than he could have ever imagined. She wound her arms around him and he blushed slightly, not used to it. Jeeze, he hadn't had a girl friend in like, two years and even though he loved pretty girls they were pretty much one of the few things that made him all jittery inside. Well, like she said she was seeing someone. And yet she didn't seem all that happy about it. He thought to himself. Ah well. Zaeric followed Tae to the checkout and set his basket up there while the man rung up his purchases. When he totaled it up to be over fifty dollars Zaer kind of cringed inside. While it wasn't even a huge chunk of his money it was more than he head really intended on spending.

" You must be a pretty busy person. Three different martial arts? I could maybe do one if I really put my mind to it but three different disciplines that probably all have different rules? That might just make my head explode as much as math does." He joked. He wasn't trying to make light of her abilities. It was really cool that she was BA enough to know three different styles. He definitely didn't know much of anything in the way of fighting because most people didn't fight him. He wasn't the kind of person to pick a fight with because he didn't play fair.

Do you write music? to fill your notebooks, I mean ? He wasn't sure if he should tell the truth or not. Honesty was usually the best policy but he didn't really want to look like a stupid kid. Well, the worst that could happen would be that she would laugh at him and think it was stupid. So why not go for it?

" Well, some of it is music. A good portion of it is poetry." He admitted.

[Taeyeon Kai]

“I traveled when I was little,” she explained, watching him as she spoke. “I lived in Japan for the first thirteen years of my life, then I moved to South Korea for a couple years. After that, Uncle Michael took us to Brazil. I’ve learned ninjitsu, taekwondo, and Brazilian jiu jitsu over the course of sixteen years.” Yes, she was a little proud of her accomplishments. “And they’re not that hard to master. Math is definitely better to comprehend than all the rules for three of them. Why, are you failing math?”

She looked out of the store, watching the people as they walked by. Suddenly her stomach growled, loudly enough that the people milling around turned to look in her direction. She blushed darkly, ducking her head as her stomach continued to rumble.

“Um…could we get something to eat? We can talk about your poetry too, and I’ll pay for lunch…I haven’t eaten anything today,” she told him softly, keeping her face down in embarrassment. She felt like her face was on fire.

[Zaeric Blackwood]

Japan, South Korea, and Brazil? Even the closest of those seemed so far out of his reach. With each few minutes, that they talked Zaeric became more and more interested in Tae. She was such a captivating person to be around. When she spoke about math he had to chuckle about that. You could say he was failing math. It was more of he let the internet do math for him and skipped the class more often than not. It was true to. During the period he had math Zaeric was more likely to be in the library, or band room, or on a good day down by the little koi pond on campus.

“ Kind of. I have a B in the class; I just don’t go to it. I let the internet do the work for me and manage to scrape a good grade. For the things I really need to know I study, but it makes my head want to explode. Too many things that I really don’t need to know.” He shrugged. Math honestly just made him angry. It was the only thing he couldn’t seem to grasp out of all that he had ever learned. It escaped him. Of course, there were plenty of people who couldn’t do math. Moreover, it wasn’t that he couldn’t do math, like multiplication and addition. No, he was good at basic, simple math. It was all the complex patterns and formula’s that flew over his head, and made him want to rip is textbook to little shreds, and give to the nearest pyro to catch on fire.

When he stomach growled, Zaeric grinned. Well, he was glad to know he wasn’t the only one who was hungry. He hadn’t realized until just a few seconds ago because he had been so caught up in the music store and talking to Taeyeon. Well, he knew the perfect place to go to eat. Her face was definitely red from embarrassment, which he thought was kind cute. People were staring, and he reached and arm up and made a shooing motion. On the other side of the glass the people made sours faces and went along their way. Didn’t they know that staring was impolite? Jeeze, no one had any manners anymore.

“ Sure. I know a little place on the other end of the mall that usually isn’t all that crowded. And are you sure you want to talk about poetry?” There was a twinkle of joking in his eyes that covered up the slight worry he felt. She really didn’t think it was weird he wrote poetry, but there was still time for that. He didn’t want her to think he was all…..whatever you would think about someone who wrote poetry. He didn’t know too many people who did other than Lucah and Lucah was a pretty cool person. He mentally shook his head to clear those thoughts away. He really just shouldn’t worry about it at all. Tae had said something about her paying for lunch, but Zaer didn’t intend to let her do that. It just wasn’t right that after she had treated him to such a wonderful conversation he would let her pay. So he resolved to somehow just….not let her.

Once he let that thought go something in his brain clicked. He had never really seen her around before, and she had said she didn’t go to Hammel. Well, that could mean a bunch of things, but only one sprang to mind.
“ Hey, uh, this may seem like kind of a weird question, but do you uh, have a power?” He wanted to say it some other way to make it not sound so corny, but saying ability just made it sound like it was a disease, which it wasn’t. He didn’t want to sound like an ass either. Some people felt that if you had a power you were better than the rest of the world, and he didn’t want to sound like them.

[Taeyeon Kai]

She looked up at him as he accepted her offer of lunch and smiled, embarrassment forgotten as she warmed to his advance. “Well, I could tutor you in math in exchange for you tutoring me in the guitar,” she offered helpfully, starting to walk out of the music store. She waved to the helpful clerk as she exited the store. “It’s the very least that I could do to say thank you for helping me.” She kept in step beside him, letting him lead the way to the little place where he had offered to eat lunch. Her new guitar bumped against her leg, reminding her of the promises that it would give, and the excitement surged anew in her blood.

“Well, not just about poetry,” she told him, looking up at him as they walked, her curls bouncing on her shoulders. “We could talk about us, or our families, or the weather, or school, or something that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” She faced forward, watching the milling people passing them. “We could talk about a lot of things. In my opinion, poetry isn’t something to be scared about. Sensitive people write poetry, and knowing you, you probably turn it into music or something special. But we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want. I understand.”

With his question, she went quiet, the beating of her heart the only thing she could hear. After knowing Robbie all her life, and now dating Cole, she was jealous that they had something she could never have. “Besides the power to be awesome? No, I don’t have a power,” she told him, smirking at her joke. “I know Robbie Wilkes, heard of him? He’s my best friend. I’m also dating Cole, as you know, and he’s a student at Hammel as well, and I know his friend Sam Mercer. Sadly, I was born into a family without powers, but I like the people who have them.” She glanced at him. “Do you have a power too? Let me guess…something with music, perhaps?”

[Zaeric Blackwood]

He nodded. while Zaeric had no problem talking about his poetry, sometimes it could be a little.....strange. Like he was speaking a different language altogether. Really, it was kind of sad. He spoke as passionately about poetry as he did about music. And the two sort of did go hand in hand for him. He turned poetry into songs sometimes. Well, half the time. A number of times. Time. He sighed and tried to stop making his head run around in circles.

" As for the tutoring that would be a great help. I can't really do math to save my life. Guitar yes, math no. It sounds like it will be an excellent exchange of talents." His blue green eyes sparkled as he led them through the rather crowded mall. Why did people have to be out today of all days? They should al just go home and leave the mall so that it could be more like the peaceful places he so loved. Well, that wasn't really possible so he would just have to deal with it. He turned a corner to see the front of the little eatery. It was lively with terra cotta's and reds, a nice place he came to often. And lucky for him there weren't that many people there so they could have pretty much whatever seating they wanted.

She grew silent for a few moments when he asked about powers and he felt bad. It really wasn't a question he should have asked but he had. He didn kind of know who her friend and boyfriend were, but not real well. It wasn't sad to be born into a family without powers because plenty of people wished they didn't have them.

" Truthfully no. You would think, but I guess I'm just good with music. No, my power for the most part is ice. Or Cryokinesis if you have to be technical." He rolled his eyes and smiled, trying to dispel the slight awkwardness.

[Taeyeon Kai]

Pretty soon they were standing in front of the eatery place that Zaeric had mentioned, and Tae looked it over with analyzing eyes. It was a nice place, open and friendly. She spotted an open table and made her way to it, sitting down while putting her guitar on the floor next to her. She waited until he sat beside her before she spoke.

“I would love to tutor you in math,” she offered, smiling as she looked at him. She moved her head and her mahogany hair fell over her shoulder, wildly curling against her shoulder and chest. “I can explain it really easily, enough so that you understand. Even a college student would be able to understand me.

“As for the ice power, I think that’s pretty cool,” she kept saying. “You could turn warm drinks cold, and you can make summer that much cooler by just touching things or such like that.”