;;time for work[OPEN]

[noelle marie parks]

&&

[/b]First day running the store. Noelle had slowly made her way to the Brookside Music shop, not nearly as enthusiastic as she should be, yet it was six in the morning! What would you expect from her? Especially since she had been up all night working on a new song and thinking about how frustrated she was at her mom for dragging her to this dump. She really didn’t want to be in this town. She missed her life in California. She missed her band and the few people she could’ve called ‘friends’. The only exciting thing about this place was owning her own music shop. Elle was so excited when her mom decided to put all their remaining money, that wasn’t reserved for paying for home and food, into creating a music shop. Both were quite experienced with music: Noelle playing the guitar and a few band instruments with her mother playing string instruments and the drums. It worked out perfectly. However, Noelle was excited yesterday. Today she was angry at the fact that she had to wake up so early to open up the shop, yet she couldn’t blame her mom since she left all the music store business to Noelle so she kinda had to open the store.

With a deep sigh, she dragged her feet to the counter, letting the sweet smell of her hot chocolate fill the shop to replace the smell of old music and dusty instruments. All their products including the instruments and music books had been shipped in yesterday from all parts of the world. It was Noelle’s job to arrange them and she thought she did a pretty good job. The brass instruments were at one corner of the store, opposing the wind and string instruments. The drums and guitars were all in a separate room with the amps and stands. Music books were on shelves all over the store while in a separate hallway, there were doors for practice rooms.

As an hour or two passed, Noelle finally began to get a bit excited. This was literally the only time you could see the excitement on her face. Music made her excited; it was her life and she loved it. Now that she owned her own music shop, her life was nearly complete. She was free to earn money from her mom and yell at any fool who thought they could stride in here without any musical experience. Noelle would definitely give them an earful and tell them to leave. Did she care? No. It was her own shop and it wasn’t like she would get sued. Would she? Noelle wasn’t sure, yet all she knew was that she was free to do whatever she wished as long as she was inside the shop while her mother was out doing her own separate job. Sweet freedom. For once, Elle was content.

Another half hour passed and still no one came. Noelle was beginning to tire, her back arching over the counter as she resorted to shifting her weight from leg to leg in boredom. Her eyes wondered over the room once again; finding that it was in complete order, she began playing restlessly with her hair: messing it up, braiding it and tussling it about. She was bored. Hopefully someone would walk in and cure her case of work time boredom.[/blockquote][/font][/size]

[lila fae jones]

Lila tousled her curly hair as she walked along the streets of her beautiful hometown, Brookside. She knew it almost as well as she knew how to take care of her appearance —which is saying a whole, whole lot, considering just how much Lila knew. The seventeen year old girl waltzed the streets happily, an earphone in each ear as she listened to her few choice songs, singing along softly (and excruciatingly out of tune, pitch and beat.) But give her a little credit, being born tone-deaf wasn’t exactly her choice, now was it? Lila pulled out her phone from her jacket to look at the time: 8:13 a.m. Lila often wasn’t awake at this time, but today she had the urge to explore her area, even though she knew it so well.

This fine morning, Lila had on a body-hugging zebra striped cotton tank top, covered with a long-sleeved denim jacket that reached just above her stomach. Her legs wore a pair of brownish-orange tights that stopped at her ankles and a faded blue denim skirt with a simple brown belt with a chunky circular buckle. Her feet had an a pair of black strapped high heels. Her curly hair was let down around her shoulders, and on her wrists she had put on several thin but colorful bangles. She wore a tiny dash of lip gloss and just a hint of mascara, as she never knew who she might meet. Flirtiness was her number one trait, after all.

Unusually, today Lila had forgotten her handbag and instead carried her wallet in her skirt pocket and her phone in her jacket. Her iPod shuffle was clipped to the jacket’s collar as little Lila Jones turned left to the local businesses. ”Don’t stop, make it pop, DJ blow my speakers up...” Lila sang quietly, none of the words sounding like what they should. Her iPod had a wide variety of songs, from classical to pop to rap to her friend’s recorded songs too. She probably liked those the most though.

The seventeen year old strolled down the street until she saw something she was not familiar with. A music store? There had been one quite long ago, but no one ran it as far as she knew. But the store was obviously open; there was a girl inside. It was unusually empty, considering that more than half the kids at Brookside were interested in music. Even Lila was, her lack of talent aside. She strolled over to the store and peeked in. The girl at the counter looked bored. Lila headed over to her and smiled. ”Hi! Wow... a music store in Brookside. Is it yours?” Lila was being friendly, though she might have come off as a little... strange.

[noelle marie parks]

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Almost falling a sleep, Noelle broke her staring contest with the wall to look up at the customer. Her face twisted in slight disgust for the first thing she saw was the zebra print, clear in her point of view as the girl strode in, frilly little skirt and all. Oh how she hated fashionistas and their clothes- especially furs and anything with animal print on them. Elle always thought it was just stupid to wear an animal’s spots let alone their very own pelt. It was ridiculous, especially when some people go so far to get these clothes when they weren’t the least bit comfortable. Noelle was all for jeans and a t-shirt and most likely a jacket on top to keep her warm. She loved comfort and anything skin tight, (except for a few skinny jeans) she believed was hurting man kind. But that was her theory.

Her trance was immediately broken once again as the girl inquired about the store. ”uhh, uhh… yeah, my family bought it just a few days ago before I moved here.” Elle explained, now looking past the zebra stripes; still unhappy at what she saw. Noelle had used the term ‘family’ quite loosely. Truly, she had no family at the moment unless you count a mother who was never home, a ‘family’. She knew no relatives for her mother never told her about them- if she had any. Their holidays were empty and lonely which Noelle sometimes spent alone when her mother was forced to work all that day. It was sad really, but Noelle eventually got over it. She expected the lonely Christmas; the joyless New Year. She saw almost no one at her birthday parties and those long breaks from school were usually reserved for Elle time, which would be sitting around at home like she usually did after school. However, if this girl paid close attention to her voice, there was a slight strain on that empty word of hers.

Now Noelle examined the girl’s tone. She seemed friendly enough as she came in, yet something about that kind of pissed Noelle off which added to her loathe of the animal print the girl have been wearing. This wasn’t coming to a good start and Noelle was not afraid to kick this girl out- first customer or not. Yet something caught her eye. It was the iPod that she carried. A slightly touch of interest lay in Elle’s voice. ”What’re you listening to?” Forward, yes, but Noelle didn’t care. She was never good at first impressions anyway. It usually took people a while to befriend her and there were no acceptions. The girl didn’t seem like someone who would play classical music. Hopefully she had good taste in normal music then.

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[lila fae jones]

The seventeen year old smiled sincerely at the girl at the counter. She deduced that the girl was probably a year younger than her. It was interesting to run a store at such an age. Lila was rather impressed; but then again, she was always easily impressed. She heard the girl’s reply a little late as she was glancing around the store. Maybe she should bring her music-mad friend Damien here. He’d adore this place, she was sure. ”...family bought it just a few days ago before I moved here” was all Li heard. She looked at the girl again. ”Cool...” she said, her lips pouting in an amused and awed way. Lila didn’t catch the slight miss on Noelle’s word ‘family’, but she did feel as if something was wrong with the way Noelle said it.

She shrugged it off, however, thinking it was just her imagination. Lila was still smiling, as she nearly always was, as she heard the girl’s next inquiry. What she was listening to? Oh. Lila had a tiny hint of a secretive smirk on her face. It was one of Damien’s tunes, one of those that he had recorded with his older sister. She pulled out the earplugs and spoke to the girl behind the counter. ”Uh, it’s my friend’s song. He does recording and stuff whenever he feels like it. I think he’d love this store,” she said, just as she had thought earlier. Damien would definitely love it. Lila wondered if they had a recording station here... Probably not. It was just a music store. But Lila never judged a store by it’s name, size or quality. In fact, she barely judged at all. She looked at the girl again.

”So, you’re new in town, huh?” Li smiled again. ”I’m Lila, by the way. Well, I’m actually Delilah, but no one ever calls me that. Not even the school. It’s like Delilah’s not even my name, because it’s only written on my birth certificate, no where else.” Lila realized she was rambling quite a bit, so she stopped here before she made any longer sentences. She was always a talkative, independent girl who never really cared of what others thought of her.

OOC;; gah. kinda short, sorry!

[noelle marie parks]

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&&As the girl talked, Noelle began to notice how similar they were. She had waited till the seventeen year old stopped talking in order to take in all she could and decide if she was going to kick this prissy girl out of her store or not. Yet as she looked on, this girl wasn’t what Noelle thought she would be. She rambled, which is one point they shared in common. Elle loved rambling especially about herself. She could talk on and on about anything until her mother or any other person would snap at her to stop. Then she would fall quiet and listen to the other ramble. That was how conversations usually worked with her.

&&Noelle laughed at the girl’s awe. She had been the same when she saw this very own room when it was empty. It was her canvas and her mom left Elle some freedom to paint and design it. She painted the walls a deep blue color that she had randomly stumbled upon at the paint shop. The plain azure was disrupted by splashes of purple and dotted from here and there were yellow stars that Noelle ended up developing as her signature. Her band logo used to have three yellow stars on it and she was quite proud of that, even though she had yet to work out exactly why the color and the shape amused her.

&&When Lila mentioned her musical friend, Noelle stood up a bit straighter and smiled. She was excited by the fact that this town actually had some musical people living within it. More customers for her shop and more people she could probably relate to. Maybe she could even form that band with said people. ”You should bring him around sometime. The shop needs more customers.” She laughed lightly turning her eyes around the store before falling onto the girl once again.

&&It wasn’t long until she introduced herself and inquired about her status in this town. Noelle nodded opening her mouth, ready to talk until Lila continued on with her rambling. She laughed brushing her hair back from her eyes as the strands fell in a cascade over her face. Noelle was starting to like this girl, despite her clothing, especially because of how she attacked the subject of her name. It was interesting to think that everyone called her Lila when her birth name was Delilah. It was a form of defiance and independence that Elle liked. If she could, Noelle probably would have changed her name all together yet a name she liked never really came to mind so she stuck with Noelle. She was just relieved it wasn’t something like Tania or Shelly. Just the thought of that labeled upon her forehead made her want to drop dead.

&& ”Hah. Nice to meet you, Lila. I’m Noelle. Ya’ know? You’re on my good side. Let it stay that way.”Noelle winked, sending out a bellowing chuckle once again as she joked. She didn’t care how stupid she must’ve sounded at the moment yet that was what ran through her mind and what usually floated in her brain, frequently went out her mouth.

ooc.// ahah is okay[:

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[lila fae jones]

When the girl told Lila that the shop needed more customers, she smiled knowingly. This town was literally infested with musically talented people --and Lila was not one of them, let me tell you. She could only play the basic recorder, and was pretty tone deaf otherwise-- and it was quite unbelievable that no one would drop by here. Obviously it was new, so Lila wouldn’t rush it. She had to admit though, the store was very beautiful.

”Hah. Nice to meet you, Lila. I’m Noelle. Ya’ know? You’re on my good side. Let it stay that way.” The girl, know labelled as Noelle, winked, sending out a bellowing chuckle once again as she joked. Lila smiled widely at the girl. She was friendly, she liked that about Noelle. And how she dressed, well, it was far different from Lila’s own very, very um, interesting (maybe adventurous was a better word for it) wardrobe. But it wasn’t her fault, really. Lila had not much talent, and the only way she cold gain attention was by wearing clothes she designed herself. It was cheap, and despite how it may look sometimes, very comfortable.

That was pretty much the beauty of what she wore, although few understood her meanings. Lila faced Noelle again and smiled widely. ”So, how long have you been in Brookside?” she said, tapping her fingers gently on the counter. ”Do you like it much?” Lila had always lived in Brookside, that was obvious. It was her home and she loved it; she could never imagine leaving. What if Noelle missed her home? Lila felt a sudden wave of sympathy for the girl, even though she didn’t know if Noelle liked Brookside yet.

Lila knew she would never love anywhere else just as much as she did her beautiful home in Brookside.

[noelle marie parks]

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&&Noelle wrinkled her nose at the question as she thought for a moment. ”I think about three days. This day being the fourth.” And then came tackling the second question. Noelle pretty much hated this town at the moment. She didn’t want to be here and without a second thought she opened her mouth. ”I hate it here.” She murmured bluntly, giving out a light sigh. ”But I haven’t been here long so I can’t judge. But I’m just the judging type of person.” Her words were easily said. She didn’t feel guilty at all for what she said for she knew it was true. Elle was not happy when her mom dragged her out of the house. She was not happy in car ride here. She was not happy when she was unpacking and Noelle was definitely not happy now. The only think she liked about coming here and this town was probably this store, yet it was apparent that she was beginning to like the people as well. Lila was nice. Although her fashion sense was twisted, Noelle tolerated her and hopefully she tolerated her in turn.

&&Now, Noelle began gently tapping on the counter to one of her songs she played on her guitar. Her attention was dwindling like it usually did whenever she talked about something other than herself. Yet she slowly looked up at Lila, waiting for her reply. She at least owed this girl a bit of attention for being so welcoming and of course, Elle just insulted her hometown so she had to be careful. She wasn’t sure if Lila would be those kind of people who would throw a fit or start crying from stuff like that, yet people had to get use to Noelle’s audacity and if they couldn’t handle it, Elle didn’t care.

Ooc// blarg. incredible shortness P<

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[lila fae jones]

As the answer slowly came out of Noelle’s mouth, Lila pursed her lips together. So Noelle did miss her original home in... well, wherever it was. Lila thought she would ask that next time, when Noelle wasn’t so obviously irritated and unsettled within the place Lila called her little piece of heaven on Earth. But, though Noelle seemed irritant and maybe slightly rude, Lila wasn’t offended. In fact, she was a little pleased because from what she had just heard, she now knew that Noelle was a rather straightforward girl.

Lila scooped her hair into a ponytail-like shape and tucked it behind her shoulders. Flashing Noelle an understanding yet encouraging smile, Lila said to the sixteen year old girl, ”Mm, I don’t know about you, but anywhere I’m surrounded by my family and friends would be the place I call home.” Lila looked around the shop some more. Maybe some of her other friends, not only Damien, would enjoy coming here. There were so many musically talented people. If Noelle liked music, it wouldn’t be at all hard to find a friend...

The girlie seventeen year old slid an index finger back and forth the sleeve of her jacket. She didn’t feel too good, knowing that Noelle wasn’t feeling ecstatic either. Lila brushed a stray strand of hair from her face as she looked at Noelle again. ”So, you like music, huh?” Lila asked, casually but curiously as she turned her head to look from the dark blue walls, the purple splashes, and the little stars to the musical instruments placed neatly around the store.

”How many instruments can you play?” Lila asked her new companion with a smile. Her other friend, the one she referred to as Damien, had always known to play many instruments, very talented-ly as well, although he preferred to stick with his piano, guitar, singing and song writing. Lila never held it against him; she had no musical background at all. Would Noelle be like Damien? Did she play as many instruments as he did?

[noelle marie parks]

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&&Noelle winced mentally at the word ‘family’. There it was again, appearing wherever she seemed to tread. And here it confronted her. Thus, Noelle didn’t respond. Elle never really had a home outside of their house in California. That’s where she had been since she was born and that was where she stayed until now of course. This little town of theirs was different. It was hard for Noelle to wake up and realize that she barely knew anyone in this place. It freaked her out that she didn’t even know what was around the corner. Yet it was a small town. Noelle knew that she would probably adapt sooner or later.

&&As the music question popped up, Noelle perked up a bit. A smile spread wide across her face as she listened to Lila’s questions. Her tongue was rearing to answer as she tapped a bit louder upon the wooden counter like a steady metronome set at 85 beats per minute. Elle waited patiently, watching Lila’s mouth form all the words and her eyes turning from corner to corner of the room, but she got impatient. Before the last syllable fluctuated, Noelle blurted, ”I love music!” If she had been a dog, her tail would probably be wagging. It was finally a question she was familiar with and answering it in her very own music shop just made it all a bit better.

&&”I play a lot of instruments actually. But I mainly play guitar and I sing.” Noelle glanced around the room, smiling in delight at how organized and well placed she had put everything. It was exactly how she imagined. Although she might not seem like it, Noelle is a very organized person even a bit on the OCD side. She likes putting things in their place and looking at how neat the room was afterward. She never tolerated messy papers either and because of that reason, she kept a big binder filled with music in alphabetical order in little plastic covers. Yep, she was obsessed with being organized but that was a good trait to have right?

&&Noelle nodded a bit and flicked her head toward the trumpets, the silver one which happened to be hers at one time stood on a stand at the very top edge of the wall where it met the ceiling. ”I’ve played the trumpet also. I love it to death! And also the flute, the piano, the saxophone, the baritone and a few string instruments. I think I’ve already lost track of things I’ve played.” She rubbed the back of her head in slight embarrassment. A person should know what they’ve played yet Noelle was one of those people who had jumped from instrument to instrument enough to lose count.

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[lila fae jones]

When Noelle began to open up more and more about her musical history and background, Lila pouted with slight impressment. This new girl was so, so, so dearly much alike to so many people in this town! But of course, what made her different was what really mattered. Lila had yet to know how different, and what was different, about Noelle’s music. “Everyone has a quirk in their playing,” Damien loved saying, “it’s what makes music a way of life.” Lila nodded to herself quietly. If Noelle met Damien, she was pretty sure they’d be good friends.

”I play a lot of instruments actually. But I mainly play guitar and I sing.” At Noelle’s word sing, Lila stifled a laugh. She was tone-deaf, and not always afraid to admit it. It was something that all her close friends teased her about, and it was also one of the few things that made Lila the independent girl she was. In a town where almost everyone, or at least, almost half the town, was good at music, Lila stood out just a little whenever she sung karaoke or with friends in a party. She sung terribly, honestly, but her voice was definitely attention grabbing. Perhaps not in the best way.

”I’ve played the trumpet also. I love it to death! And also the flute, the piano, the saxophone, the baritone and a few string instruments. I think I’ve already lost track of things I’ve played.” Lila choked. Until this very day, she had only thought that Damien was the one who hopped from instrument to instrument, willing and wanting to try every single tune to explore in this little world of theirs. Lila was really interested in Noelle now. She seemed like a wonderful girl to hang around.

”Haha, you sound a whole lot like a friend of mine!” she laughed, smiling genuinely at Noelle. ”To be honest though, I can’t play any of those instruments you just mentioned. And I sound like a walrus with laryngitis when I sing.” Lila shook her head, still smiling though. ”I adore music too, I’m just not half as good as you seem to be. Do you think you could play something for me to hear?” It might have been a lot to ask, but Lila was so eager to see what Noelle could do.

[noelle marie parks]

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&&Noelle laughed at the girl, amused by her admiration and her comment about her own singing. ”Hmm… so that’s what I heard outside.” She raised an eyebrow and chuckled out loud once again. Although band had slightly deafened her, Noelle still had pretty good hearing. She had an ear for music and with the door slightly open due to the horrible condition she found this shop in, it wasn’t hard to hear the seventeen year old singing unconsciously to her ipod.

&& ”Thanks for the compliment!” Noelle absolutely loved it when people commented about her music and her musical history. Yes, she was full of herself and it was a horrible trait of hers that she held out like a badge of honor as if it would make her any less of a dork already. Of course, she didn’t care. Noelle wasn’t the type of girl who cared what people thought and what people said behind her back. She would find a way to cast revenge or she would leave them alone if it was too much of an effort to do so. A wide smile spread across her face. “I’m not half as good as you seem to be.” That was a common phrase Elle loved to hear and it was still just as good as when she first received it. That phrase has always been the drive that kept her playing music, plus the fact that she liked the attention and she was pretty much born to lead.

&& “Do you think you can play something for me to hear?” Noelle pondered for a moment as she scanned her musical memory for any song that wouldn’t bore the girl yet still show her musical abilities. Elle cast down pop songs like ‘Beat it’ and ‘Thriller’ that she had played in jazz long ago. They were fun to play(especially since Elle loved Michel Jackson) and they amused the crowd but it was all pep music. No filling. Just memory and loud blaring. She then cast down a few mysterious songs she had played in her symphonic band and wind ensemble for they were long and she knew anyone living in the 21st century would fall asleep on the spot. Getting frustrated, Noelle finally pulled out a piece she was working on. It was the Flight of the Bumble Bee. She decided it would be best seeing that Lila would most likely know it and it showed beautiful fingering and a wonderful flow of music. Noelle nodded.

&&Before long, Noelle brought out her brand new silver trumpet from the back room, behind the counter. She smiled at its beauty, still amazed at how shiny it really was. The trumpet was beautifully crafted with a shining silver outer coating with the bell embroidered with gold flowers and streaks and patterns of all kinds. Adding to its splendor was how wonderful it sounded. Unlike most silver trumpets it contained a warm tone that definitely appealed to Noelle and many other music lovers.

&&She glanced at Lila for a moment to see if she was still paying attention for it took her a long pause to even think of the song to play, yet the mouthpiece was immediately upon her lips as she played a few notes in order to warm up. Taking a deep breath, Noelle began, strongly and confidently. She had a loud and bold sound to the music which was her own unique little touch and although she was playing a classical piece, you could sense a faint jazzy feel to the melody which was also a piece of Noelle’s style. The notes flashed from here and there, blaring then suddenly quiet. The sound bouncing and her rhythm smooth as she moved her fingers at lightning fast speed to hit each note. And in hitting each note, the melody was nearly flawless. nearly was the key word.

&&As mentioned, the piece wasn’t fully learned. Noelle had just started picking at this music two weeks ago and one of those weeks were used away from her trumpet in order to quarrel with her mother so yes, Elle messed up and each time she did, she growled in frustration and started over from the beginning of the melody or the beginning of the measure. This was a terrible trait of hers that frustrated conductors because Noelle would just not give up until she got a piece of music down perfectly. If not, she would start over until she got it. With a sigh, the sixteen year old stopped in the middle which was exactly where she left off a week ago. ”Sorry. I just learned this song and that’s about all I know.” Elle shrugged lightly still slightly frustrated with herself. She knew she could have done better and with that thought, she mentally smacked herself in the face.

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[lila fae jones]

When Lila asked Noelle if she could play something for her to hear, the seventeen year old began to worry if she had offended her in some strange way, since Noelle was so clearly hesitating. Lila was about to tell her it was okay if she didn’t want to, but just at that moment, the sixteen year old new resident nodded, and headed to the back room. Lila raised an eyebrow with surprise as the girl darted behind, only to reappear again after a short while. This time though, she had a beautifully made silver trumpet in her hand.

Lila smiled, unable to contain her slight sense of delight. She loved watching someone play any sort of instrument. She especially loved sitting around with a couple of her close friends and swaying to whatever they played, or, if it was a fast song, she’s clap —more often missing the beat than not. But that was the great thing about her friends, they never really laughed at her about being tone deaf —teasing was a different thing, though— but instead encouraged her. Being tone-deaf wasn’t something she chose for herself, and it’s not like she had just let it be. Lila tried hard to train her ears and fix her toning, and those who knew her well respected her for that, not laughed.

But, as hard as she would try, she never did get around to it.

And thus, being teased about her lack of sensitive melodic hearing became a norm for little miss Lila Jones. She liked it sometimes, too. It made her want to try harder, work more to achieve some form of musical talent. The melody of ’The Flight of The Bumblebee’ snapped Lila out of her thoughts. Lila watched with amusement and awe as Noelle’s fingers trailed around the trumped with both skill and confidence. Lila smiled, nodding at Noelle as the girl played splendidly, but, almost as quickly as it begun, the song ended.

Lila was slightly disappointed, and she laughed to herself at that. It was always nice to listen to someone else play. It was never nice to hear it end so quickly. ”Sorry. I just learned this song and that’s about all I know.” Lila smiled at Noelle again as she looked back at the girl. ”It was good, really.” Lila clicked her tongue and puffed out her cheeks before she continued, ”Okay, it wasn’t good. It was great. I know I definitely wouldn’t be able to play that in a million years...” Lila laughed, shaking her head lightly.

[noelle marie parks]

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&&The sixteen year old couldn’t help but laugh again, taking in the compliment. Yet she felt bad for ending so soon. Noelle just didn’t want to play this girl a mediocre song that couldn’t show off her full potential. She hated not being to show off or at least show what she could really do. Typically, this type of thinking lost her a few opportunities since she wouldn’t tolerate anything less than first chair. Even just opening up for someone pissed her off. She wanted to be the star. She wanted to show off- a trait that was never good. ”Hah. Thanks dude. Maybe your friend and I could get together sometime and play a song.” Elle smiled trying to think of a way to make herself presentable. Truly she did feel bad for having to stop playing so soon- a feeling she rarely got. It must’ve been because she took an immediate liking to this happy-go-lucky girl and she couldn’t bear to see he disappointment in her face.

&&“I know I definitely wouldn’t be able to play that in a million years...” A grin spread wide across Elle’s face as an idea came to mind. ”Hey, what if I teach you an instrument and help you with your tone-deafness? Or maybe help you out with any instrument you know already- other than your voice.” Noelle laughed again. She couldn’t help but pick on this tone-deaf seventeen year old. Out of all the people she has met before, Elle had never come across someone who couldn’t sing or at least hum a simple melody. This was new to her and she wasn’t afraid of anything slipping out of her thoughts. She wouldn’t be surprised if this girl would just walk away, annoyed by her comments. Noelle has been through it before and she had built immunity to the pain and guilt it often caused others.

&&As Noelle pondered what she just said, she came to realize a sense of irony that a tone-deaf child was standing in the middle of a music store. What had she come into the store for? Surely it wasn’t because of Noelle’s bored expression for she knew that her face probably would have scared any potential customers by now. It looked neither excited nor amused. Then again, it was a new store. She cocked her head slightly as she watched the girl, waiting for her reply.

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