Another day, another torturous lesson with Victoria kissing ass and me not handing in my picture. Thank god it's finally over now. I can get back to my dorm, blast some tunes and relax. Gotta make sure I water Lisa too. Be a good parent Max. Once I finished packing all my stuff back in my bag, I look up to see the majority of the class gone except for Victoria (who's still kissing ass) and Kate. She looks a little tired, and she didn't speak at all today. Not that she puts her hand up all the time in lesson mind you, but she would only shrug when she was asked a question. Seeing her now, it's like she's lost in her own little world. I put my bag on my shoulder and make the bold choice to go over and talk to her.
"Hey Kate."
She looks up a little startled, but smiles nonetheless. "Hi Max."
"You doing okay? You're lookin' a little zombie-like. Has the apocalypse claimed its first victim?"
"Yeah," She laughs. "I'm the cause of it all."
"It's always the quiet ones."
We share a little laugh before she herself stands up and begins to put away her books and pencil case, which I'm a little envious of cause of the adorable polar bear key chain.
"I just didn't sleep very well last night. The Vortex Club had another loud party and thought it would be hilarious to run up and down the dorms leaving a trail of toilet paper. Joke's on them though, the principle's put them all in charge of cleaning duties today."
"Now there's karma at its finest."
She smiles and pulls her bag onto her shoulder. "I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep since I kinda zoned out this entire lesson. I'm sorry to be a pest, but could I borrow your notes?"
"Of course. How about I come back with you to your dorm and I can help you out? We can have a chilled session."
Her jaw drops slightly but she's quick to have her smile again. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
"Lead the way."
I follow Kate out of class, not without having a bitchy chat about Victoria of course. She may not look like it, but once you get to know Kate, she can be one of the most fun bitches to bitch about people with. It's also just fun to talk about various other students with her. We both agree that Brooke spends way too much time on her phone, but her drone work is pretty cool. I think Warren is a serious geek while Kate says she needs to get to know him a little more, but takes my word for it. Despite none of us really reading the school's newspaper, we both agree Juliet is not an 'X-treme Reporter' like her whiteboard in the dorms says. We also think that even though it's true that Taylor is pretty much a slave to Victoria and the Vortex club, her calling herself that is just weird. To be fair, all the students here are weird, some good weird, the majority bad weird. After our ten minute walk we reach the outside of her dorm, briefly stopping thanks to the stupid message on her board. Fucking Victoria.
"Kate…"
"It's fine, let's just get inside."
She wastes no time in opening her door and rushing inside. Honestly, how this school let's Victoria get away with writing shit like 'Jesus is ma fuck boi' really amazes me. I quickly rub it out and follow Kate inside, closing the door behind me. It's obvious Kate's upset right now, and of course she would be, but she's trying to hide it by keeping her head down and getting her book out on her bed.
"I just need today's notes really, I won't zone out like that again."
This really is unbearable to see. "Kate, forget class for a minute. It's okay to be upset right now."
"I don't want to give them the satisfaction Max. They pull crap like this all the time; I really should be used to it by now. But it keeps getting to me."
"Are you hearing yourself? You shouldn't be used to it! This shit shouldn't be happening."
She lets out a defeated laugh. "No one will do anything about it. I just have to put up with it until I finish."
I hate how Kate's outlooks on things are right now, but there's hardly anything major I could do to help with the bullying. I still get it too, so I'd be a hypocrite if I tell her do stop putting up with it. I look around her room for a moment, before her violin catches my eye.
"Hey, I haven't heard you play your violin in a while. Would you mind playing me a piece?"
She looks up at me for a minute, looking completely dumbfounded. Is it too big of a request? Did I step too far? Shit. Oh wait, hold on!
"Just give me a minute, Kate."
I rush out of her room and make my way to my own, quickly grabbing my guitar and hurrying back. Kate looks at me even more surprised than I had left her.
"Gotta admit, every time I hear you playing your violin, it makes me start playing my guitar. I haven't played it in a while if I'm honest, little too focused on picture taking. Anyways, I've always wanted to play with you, what'd you say?"
A huge smile spreads across her face as she quickly gets up and grabs her violin, sitting down next to me again on her bed.
"You start and I'll join in."
She looks at me like I've given her an impossible task, shifting her eyes as she begins to think. Something must've clicked as she smiles and begins to play. The melody is soft and slow, the same one she played every morning. Way better than an alarm clock. She already looks lost in her own little word, a world I wanna join, so I begin to play my guitar at a similar pace to her own. Kate looks at me with a smile and I smile back. All the annoying noises from the Vortex club, Victoria's constant babbling, anything we have to deal with every day at this place just seems to fade away in an instant. I swear this is just bliss. We're totally in sync right now, so it is a little bit of a downer when we reach the end of the song. Even so, I can't wipe the goofy smile off my face, neither can Kate.
"That was awesome! We sounded so good Kate!"
Kate giggles. "Yeah, I really enjoyed that. It feels good to play again and even more so to play with somebody else. We should've done this ages ago!"
We share a laugh and then I curse myself for looking at Kate's clock. It's hard to believe that it's 9:30PM. I mean sure, class finished at 7:30 today and it took us a little while to walk back, but seriously? Not cool man.
"Oh geez, I didn't even copy your notes! Sorry Max."
"Hey, no need for that! We had a cool little jam session instead, which was way more fun!"
She smiles at me and I smile back. Being with Kate really is the best way to spend your time. How she constantly gets harassed by beeatches like Victoria I'll never understand. She's a sweet, caring and beautiful girl. I swear if I was tougher…
"Max?"
I blink, seeing Kate just staring at me. Shit, she must've asked something and wants my answer. Damnit Max.
"Uh… I'm sorry what?"
"I said can I have your notes now? We didn't even get them out."
Feeling myself blush, I quickly turn away and rummage through my bag, hearing Kate giggle a little. I grab my book and hand it over to her. She begins to copy and I can't help but wonder about her room a little. It's not every day I get to come in here. One of my favourite things about Kate's room is definitely Bonnie the bunny. She's just such a fitting pet for Kate. Plus, when I talked with Samuel a little earlier he himself said Kate's spirit animal is a bunny, and you can't argue with him. She's currently sleeping right now, and it's just the perfect time for a picture. I go and get my camera from my bag, confusing Kate for a moment before snapping the shot. I hear her chuckle.
"You take every opportunity don't you?"
"Hey, when there's a good shot open it'd be a crime not to take it."
"Soon that'll be the quote Mr Jefferson uses in class."
We laugh again before Kate closes my book and hands it to me.
"Thanks for today, Max. It was fun to hang out with you."
"Same with you Kate. Maybe… We could this again?"
I see Kate blush, completely taking me by surprise but also weirdly making me happy. She gives me another smile.
"How's tomorrow sound?"
"Sounds perfect."
I put my book back in my bag and pull my camera out again. I sit down next to Kate and hold the camera up. After the shots taken I hand her the picture.
"Little token of the day. We can take more tomorrow."
"I'd like that."
She leans in and kisses my cheek, making me blush furiously. She's blushing a little herself but looks way more triumphant than I do.
"Uh… So… Tomorrow?
She giggles. "Tomorrow."
I stand up, grabbing my guitar and make my way to the door, pausing for a moment.
"You know, we're gonna have to give a name to the song we just played."
"It's our song, I'm sure we'll come up with something."
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Kate."
"Sweet dreams Max."
Once I shut the door I see empty corridors free from the trails of toilet paper. I look back at Kate's whiteboard and smile, picking up the pen and beginning to doodle. Once finished, I take a step back to see her board covered with musical notes and peace signs surrounded the words, 'Our Song'.
"Sure hope you see this in the morning Kate."
I make my way to my dorm and set down my guitar, throwing myself onto my bed with the stupidest smile on my face.
Tomorrow's gonna be fun.