This is for my friends Birthday so, Happy Birthday!

The audience clapped as I finished my violin solo. I put the instrument in rest position and bowed before exiting the stage. I was asked by my school's headmaster to perform for a showcase that was supposed to get people to come to the school. Well, not really come, but rather audition. My school is a school for the arts that only takes a select group of people. I got in for my violin and spend all my waking hours either practicing with the orchestra, practicing by myself, or studying.

Once I got back into the dressing room, I packed up my violin. I was exhausted and the dark circles under my green eyes proved it, but I wasn't done. I had to go out to the reception afterwards to talk to possible applicants to answer questions. I'm so excited for that. Not.

Before I headed over to thee reception, I dropped my violin off in my dorm room. I was lucky that I didn't have a roommate. Last year I was stuck with that pervert Francis. I spent many nights awake for fear that he would rape me.

The room was small. All it had room for was my bed, desk, closet and violin. Other than that nothing fit in here but me. In a sense it was quite cozy, but most times it was just a nuisance.

I arrived at the reception slightly late, but no one really noticed so it was okay. I walked over to a corner and hoped that no one would notice my name tag that read "My Name is Arthur. Have questions? Ask me." But of course, life is not always on my side. The guy that approached me was a tall blonde with blue eyes. He had glasses and was wearing a bomber jacket. Who wears a bomber jacket to a formal event?

"Hey dude! Do you like, go to this school?" he asked.

"I don't 'like' go to the school. I actually do." I replied.

"Wow! That's sick. What do you do?"

"I play the violin."

"Hmm. Not as kick ass as I thought, but still pretty cool."

"Um, why exactly are you here?"

"Why? I want to go here. Duh!"

I could feel my anger rising with every word that came out of his obnoxious mouth. Just who does he think he is!

"I'm Alfred by the way." He said, putting out his fist. I looked at it confused. He looked like he wanted to punch me, but wasn't sure how.

"Come on man. Don't leave me hanging." He said.

"Um, what is that?" I replied, gesturing to his hand.

"It's a knuckle bump!"

"A knuckle what?"

"Bump! Look, put your hand in a fist and then bump our knuckles together."

I looked at him before reluctantly doing what he had told me too. I don't understand why he couldn't have just done a handshake.

"Well dude, I got to run. I'll see you when I get in." Alfred said as he rushed away. I looked at him in shock. Just what did he think he was going to get in for? This was prestigious school. Anybody like him would be turned away. Or so I thought.

…

Well, sophomore year had ended shortly after the showcase. My summer was spent go overseas to perform with various orchestras. Now it was time for school to begin (sadly) and this year I have a roommate. At least my room will be bigger than before, but with my luck I'll end up with a total asshole. I lugged my suitcase and violin up to the fourth floor where my new dorm was (could it have killed them to put in elevators) and opened the door wearily. There was no one in the room yet. This time there was two beds, two desks, and two closets. I claimed the left side of the room and began to unpack the boxes that had been sent ahead of me.

Suddenly the door slammed open. I turned around to see who my roommate was, and boy was I shocked In front of me stood Alfred, still in his bomber jacket. At that point, I was pretty sure that I would rather room with Francis.

"Hey! You're that dude from the showcase!" said Alfred in his ever annoying voice.

"Yeah." I replied unenthusiastically.

"Looks like we're rooming together um-" Alfred looked at a piece of paper "-Arthur."

"Looks like."

How in the world did someone like him get in?! I thought we had more class than this, but this probably one of the headmaster's attempts to "diversify." I noticed that Alfred had brought in several cases that appeared to be guitar cases. He also had an amp sitting in a corner.

"Hey, classes don't start until Monday right?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Well, then we could go out to lunch tomorrow."

Wait. Did he say we? There was no way I was going anywhere with this dumb ass.

Alfred must have noticed that I was making a look of disgust and suddenly looked really depressed.

"It's okay if you don't want to go." He said quietly.

I felt guilt flood over my body.

"No, I'll go." I said.

Alfred suddenly got really excited and started blabbering on about this and that. I didn't really listen.

…

I looked at my watch in impatience. I was exactly where Alfred wanted me to meet him after orchestra, but he was fifteen minuets late. I tapped my foot as I leaned against the wall behind me.

Two men came up to me about five minuets later. I looked at them suspiciously as one said "Hey, what's a cutie like you doing out here alone?"

"Accuse me?" I asked.

"Why don't you hang out with us for a little bit?" the other one said.

"No way freak."

"It wasn't an option."

The men grabbed me. I struggled and screamed, but then one held a gun to my head.

"Not another peep." He said.

Just when I was pretty sure that I was going to die, both the men let go of me. I was knocked to the ground as someone began beating the two. He had knocked the gun out of the man's hand and now they were practically helpless.

"If I ever see you again, I will make sure your life is hell." Said the one who saved me. It may just be me, but that voice is really familiar. The two men nodded and ran away. My "hero" turned around and I knew why his voice was familiar. It was Alfred. He held out a hand to help me up and I took it.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"I'm fine. Just mentally scared." I replied.

"Are you sure? I'm so sorry I'm late. I got caught up practicing. If only I had been on time, this wouldn't have happened."

I looked at Alfred shocked. Alfred was the kind of guy was pretty insensitive when you first meet him. I mean, he told me violin wasn't "kick ass," but now he seemed so concerned about me. I didn't know what to do. This guy who I had practically hated, risked his life for me and I realized that I didn't hate him as much as I thought.

…

Once school started, it went by in a blur. I got good grades (as always) and practiced violin non stop. Alfred was apparently a guitarist/singer and we always argued over who got to practice when. Before I knew it, I had actually gotten used to Alfred's antics and had grown to like him. For one, I didn't fear he was going to rape me, so that's a plus, but he also cared. I would have never guessed that guy had one ounce of sensitivity in him, but he only showed that side to me.

Now it was December and it was time for the school's showcase. Not the one we put on to get people interested, but the one that college recruiters are at. Plus, there's a scholarship prize for first place. I haven't been able to win first place yet, and to win it I need to come up with some pretty creative idea.

I lay on my bed, thinking about what I could possibly do, when Alfred burst in the room.

"I have an idea!" he exclaimed.

"What is it now?" I groaned.

"We can pair up for the showcase and then take home the gold!"

This was actually a smart idea. Mixing guitar with violin is pretty unique and I think with Alfred's composing skills we could pull it off.

"You look shocked." Alfred said.

"That's because you actually have a good idea." I replied.

"Ha ha. Very funny. I'm laughing so hard." Alfred said sarcastically. I gave him a smile.

"So I'll take that as a yes." Alfred said.

I nodded.

"Then lets start composing now!" he yelled as he pulled out his acoustic guitar.

"No acoustic, lets do some rock." I said.

"Oh. I like where we're going with this."

Alfred pulled out his electric guitar and hooked it up to the amp as I got some composing paper and my violin.

…

After about a good nine hours of arguing we finally had the instrumental composed. It was actually pretty good. I had a 90's rock vibe to it. Well, considering he likes Green Day a lot, I'm pretty sure he used their songs as a model. He even managed to make the violin sound like it was originally made to be a rock instrument, not a classical instrument. I was going to leave the lyrics to him, since he was pretty good at that too.

…

We ended up with about three weeks to practice. We literally spent all of our free time working on the song. I really wanted the scholarship money and Alfred really wanted to say that he had won first place.

Soon we were deciding what to wear onstage, and let me just say, it was more difficult than one would think.

"Come on Iggy! We've been doing this for hours! Just pick." Alfred said.

"None of them are good! And stop calling me that!" I replied.

Alfred just rolled his eyes. After several more hours of arguing, we finally decided on the white tank top under an unbuttoned button down shirt of the color of our choice, jeans, and converse. My shirt was red while Alfred's was blue.

The showcase was two days away and tomorrow would be spent resting up for the show (minus our tech practice).

"Hey, Arthur. After the showcase I have something that I need to tell you." Alfred said seriously.

"Okay." I said.

It must be pretty important if he was that serious about it, which rarely ever happens with Alfred.

…

I took deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down. We were the next act up, and I was nervous.

"Don't be nervous, just have fun." Alfred whispered, giving me a wink.

That helped to calm my nerves a bit, but not much. The other act ended, the audience clapping. The curtains closed and we made our way onstage, setting up. The curtains opened and the spotlight blinded me for a second. I raised my violin and began playing. Alfred joined in and then the lyrics started. I could see people in the crowd dancing and "grooving" to our song. When Alfred's solo came, all of the girls literally screamed their lungs out. I smiled as my solo bean. I got the same response. When the song was over, the audience gave us a standing ovation. I looked at Alfred who flashed me a smile. Once we were offstage, all we had to do was wait for the results. It was only about thirty minuets later, but waiting felt like an eternity. I could feel the anticipation building up inside of me. When they were announcing the results, all of the participants were lined up on the stage. They read the results starting with third place. I was pretty sure that they only did that to kill everybody else with their nervousness. Plus, when the announcer finally got to first place, they took forever to say it.

"And now, for the first place winners. Who will be lucky enough to win it all?" the announcer said as he opened an envelope.

"And the winners are… Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland!"

I looked at Alfred shocked as the crowd went rose to their feet and screamed (so informal). We walked up to the front of the stage as the announcer handed us the trophy. We both held it up in the air as the crowd got even louder.

"Let's get a burger to celebrate." Alfred said.

I rolled my eyes. He was always thinking about food.

…

Getting out o the school was hell. Everywhere we went we either had local newspapers trying to interview us or people bombarding us with their screams. There was no safe place to go. Not even the dorm was safe. People who didn't compete but still went were waiting for us to return. It was like one big game of hide and seek, and we were losing. We had finally managed to sneak out in disguises composed of sunglasses, hoodies, and hats. We had made it to a park not far off the campus. There was no one considering it was about eleven at night.

"Hey Alfred, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" I asked.

Suddenly Alfred turned towards me and stood in my way, causing me to stop walking.

"Arthur, I love you." He said.

I looked at him shocked. Partly because I was shocked that he would love me of all people. I was an ass to him on a regular basis, which is a pretty good way to get people to hate you. Secondly, because I realized that I maybe, possibly, felt the same way too.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same, but I had to tell you. Ever since I first saw you, I've loved you. I couldn't keep it in any longer. Plus, you have a right to know." He said.

"What are you talking about? How could I not l-l-love you after everything we've been through. Hell, you were a pain at first, but when you saved me that day, I saw the real you. The you that was caring. The you that was irresistible."

I felt my face turn redder with every word I said. I couldn't believe I was telling my feelings to Alfred, but here I was.

Suddenly, I Alfred wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin on my head. I couldn't help but return the embrace. Alfred kissed my forehead and I felt my blush intensify. When we let go, Alfred said "Your face is bright red."

"It's your fault." I grumbled.

He just smiled and pushed my hair out of my face. His fingers moved along my jaw until they were at my chin. He lifted my face up. Before I knew what was going on, Alfred was getting closer, and so was I. I closed my eyes as our lips touched. The kiss was short and sweet. I couldn't help but blush a little more.

…

I was awakened by the loud beeping of our alarm clock.

"Alfred, why did you set the alarm? It's Saturday." I mumbled, not opening my eyes.

"Sorry." he said as he got up from behind me to turn it off.

Wait. Behind me. What is he doing in my bed! I sat straight up as Alfred gave me a tired look.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?!" I yelled.

"What do you mean? You said it was fine last night right before you fell asleep." He replied.

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did. Now just go back to sleep. It's early."

I let out a huff before lying back down and shutting my eyes. I felt Alfred wrap an arm around my waist and whisper "I love you."

"I know." I replied, falling back asleep shortly there after.