Clomp, clomp, clomp.

She focused on the steady thuds her boots were making on the white and blue tiles as she wandered down the hallway in search of a snack machine. She grinned as she thought of how mad her big sister would be if she knew she was skipping a class. Just this morning Margo had given her a long winded speech over breakfast about the importance of school.

"Edith, you need to quit goofing around in school. Yeah, you're making good grades right now," she had said, stirring up Agnes' chocolate milk thoughtfully, "but thats because you're in an easy grade. Wait until you get older, to keep your grades up you're going to have to actually study." Edith had stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Oh stop it, studying can be fun!... No, really, it can!" She had gone on for quite a while after that, but by then the younger sister had totally zoned out. She was using her index finger to design a ray gun in the cream cheese on her bagle when she caught the end of her sisters lecture. "...and people who go to college make at least a million dollars more than people who don't go. Right Dad?" They both looked at their father, who currently had a mouthful of waffle shoved in his cheek as he attempted to help his youngest daughter wipe sticky syrup off her hands. He looked up at the mention of his name and swallowed his waffle down in one huge gulp.

"Hmm? Oh, yes yes, dee college. Um, verry important."

Thinking back on it, her dad had obviously been zonked out as well.

Edith had actually tried to follow Margo's advice for the first few periods of the day, then the teacher had called out for them to get their mathbooks and she was o-u-t out of there. She'd already had enough useless information shoved in her head for one day, and the fact that she was starving didn't help at all. She slipped out of her chair when the teacher had his back turned and rolled towards the open door as soon as she was sure the coast was clear.

Now, where was that snack machine? She stopped in the middle of the hallway and pushed her hat up above her eyes a little so that she could see better as she looked around. She must've gone down the wrong hallway. As she turned to go back the way she came, a muffled sound reached her ears. She paused mid step and tried to stand as still as she could in order to hear better. It was definitely music, but where was it coming from?

As she expiramentally took a few more steps towards the end of the hallway, the music got louder. A few more steps and she was able to decipher the instrument.

"A piano!" she whispered excitedly, as if speaking to loudly would cause the music to suddenly disappear. She had reached the very last door and it was obvious it was the room that contained the music. Her curiosity overtook her immediately and she turned the handle and cracked the door just enough to see inside.

As soon as the door was opened, the music cleared and amplified so that she could hear the actual song that was being played. It was absolutely exhilarating. At first there were just long dark notes being played, then it broke off into much shorter notes that went up and down at such a fast speed it was almost chaotic. Then, the entire mood changed all of a sudden. Light, whimsical sounds took the place of the dark mood that was being emitted before. Edith realized that her jaw had dropped but she didn't bother picking it back up. She was so focused on what she was hearing it was like all her other senses had shut down. She couldn't see the room, couldn't smell the fresh wax smell that lingered throughout the school, couldn't feel the doorframe under her fingers, she couldn't even think. She could just hear and she had never heard anything like this before. Although the tone had lightened, the speed was so slow, almost hesitant and unsure. She hadn't known that sadness had a sound before but now she was positive that it did, and she was listening to it. Soundly it got louder and louder and it switched back to the heavy dark sound it was started with. It got faster and louder as it dissolved back into chaos and finally came to an end with one beautiful resolved chord.

Edith remained frozen as the ghost of the note rang in the air. After a few seconds her senses returned to her and she took a long glance over the room to see just what had made that beautiful music. Starting at the far end of the room, she noticed tons of instruments lined up against the wall. Violins, trumpets, clarinets, a harp, cellos, flutes, trombones, and some that she didn't even recognized. And then she found the source of the music.

Tucked in the corner was a large piano, so well taken care of that it could have been brand new. Sitting on the bench slouched over the now covered keys of the piano was a dark haired woman. She was hiding her face in one hand while the other ran absentmindedly across her instrument, as if longing to remove the barrier and resume her song.

Edith couldn't hold it in any longer. "Whoooaaa!" The woman must have jumped four feet in the air. As soon as her feet were back on the ground she spun around to face her onlooker.

"Oh! Y-you scared me, how, um, how long have you been standing there?" She switched seemlessly between fright and nervousness. The young blonde bounced further into the class room.

"Long enough to hear your amazing song! That was soo cool, how do you do that?" The woman had met her in the middle of the room and was now leading her to a chair.

"How are you feeling?" She kneeled so she was eye to eye with Edith and studied her face carefully. "Do you feel odd at all, anything?" The girl impulsivly adjusted the pink hat on her head.

"Nope, I feel great, why?"

"Well uh, you aren't in class, so I thought you might be sick. I was just checking," she said, her calm voice a contrast to the dull shade of pink her face had turned. It faded almost immediatly and her mouth turned up in a sincere smile. "You liked my song?"

"Well yeah!" She said, throwing her arms up exuberantly. "It was only the most awesome thing ever!" The woman chuckled as she studied the girl, who was kicking her short legs back and forth from her perch on the plastic chair. She seemed unable to sit still. "How many of those instruments can you play?" She asked, pointing down the room.

"Well, um, all of them," the brunette replied, taking a seat across from her guest, whose mouth was now hanging open.

"Whoa! Are you a genius or something?"

The woman gave her a sad smile. "Not exactly..." She smoothed a crease in her black pants as she realized she didn't know the little girl's name yet. "Do you have a name, Blondie?" The girl flashed her a bold smile.

"Sure do!" She hopped out of her chair and grabbed one of the womans hands in both of her small ones. "I'm Edith Gru," she said as she shook her hand in an almost exaggerated fashion. The woman laughed at the girl's hyper antics.

"It's nice to meet you, Edith Gru. I'm Jane Harvey."

"So are you a band director or something?" Edith asked, releasing her hand to go to her shelves study some of the instruments. Jane watched her nervously, just to make sure nothing got broken.

"Unfortunately the band director position was filled. I'm just kind of a general music teacher for now. My first day's tomorrow." She flinched as Edith came very close to dropping a cymbol, but breathed out in relief when she caught it just in time.

"What grades is the class for?" She asked hopefully. Jane took a moment to try to remember the schedule they'd given her.

"I think I have every grade at least once every two weeks." She grinned as Edith clapped in obvious excitement. She glanced at her piano and then back at the child. She only took a moment to consider before she spoke again. "Would you like to play my piano, Blondie?" She might have regretted asking if Edith's elation hadn't cancelled out the feeling. But as she watched the girl skip to the instrument she still found herself thinking don't break it, please don't break it, please, please. But she was pleasantly surprised when the girl calmed as soon as she hit the bench. She looked up at Jane with eyes that were half concealed by her hat and waited for instruction.

Janes heart skipped a beat as a thought ran through her mind. She certainly had the spirit for it, if she's any good at playing... No, no, she scolded for getting so ahead of herself. She shouldn't even be talking so casually to the child but she wasn't able to stop herself as she smiled and walked over yo join Edith at the piano and lifted the cover off the keys.

"Okay, play whatever you want kiddo," she said, waving her hand as an extra go ahead. Once again, Jane was surprised. She had thought that Edith would start banging loudly on random keys but instead she quietly played one note at a time, getting a feel for how each key sounded. Then she would play simple little made up phrases from the notes once she got a feel for them. Jane watched wide eyed as the child continued her patterns. Then she had an idea.

"Edith, do you think if I played a song for you you would be able to play it back?" Edith tugged on her hat as she thought about it for a minute. She nodded. Jane scooted closer to her on the bench and placed one hand over the keys. Once she thought had thought of a simple enough song, she turned to her.

"Ready?" She nodded again.

Jane played the simplest version of Fur Elise she could think of. She glanced at the child as she played and saw that she was deep in concentration. Her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth and she stared unblinkingly at the woman's fingers as they moved deftly across the instrument. After she finshed the song she looked up at Edith with a smile. "Your turn, Blondie."

The woman was nervous as she watched her place her small hands over the keys. If Edith did badly, a part of her would be disappointed and if she did well...well, she still wasn't sure what would happen if she did well.

Edith started slowly, a look of total concentration on her face as she played on note after another. She was doing very well until her finger slipped and a blaringly loud wrong note rang out. Edith's face dropped a little at the sound, but continued to play past the mistake. Just like a pro, Jane thought, impressed, as she continued to watch the little girl. After the first wrong note, there were absolutely no other mistakes. After Edith finished the song, she began to play again, this time with a much faster tempo. She played perfectly, as did she the third time, where she played at a tempo that would put many musical veterans to shame.

"So how awesome was that, Miss Jane?" The girl said, turning to her only audience member with those big, blue, partially concealed eyes and a triumphant smile on her face.

Jane felt her heat melting. Oh, crap.

"That was amazing, kiddo. You certainly have a gift." Edith beamed at her from under her hat. That had been so much fun, it was as good as playing with her father's weaponry, if not better. She smiled wider as she thought of how proud her dad would be when she told him about this. Miss Jane certainly looked proud.

Edith was usually very mistrustful of adults and as a result of that she often paid them no respect, except for her Dad of course. But she immediatly felt connected to Miss Jane. Maybe the music had done it, but she trusted the woman. She looked kinda like an older Margo, she'd thought when she first saw her. She had long brown hair and a round face and eyes so dark they almost looked black.

After Edith was done playing the piano, Jane had shown her some of the other instruments in the room and played a few short songs on each of them. They were having so much fun they hardly heard the final bell of the day ring. Jane looked up at her clock in suprise. "Oh wow, school's over alrealdy." Edith looked up too.

"Oops," she said rather nonchalantly. The woman raised her eyebrow at her.

"Oops what?" Edith shrugged.

"Well, I only meant to skip math but I had so much fun in here I accidentally skipped...well, everything." Jane could tell she didn't really care that she had missed her classes. Jane didn't care either, she was sure Edith had learned more information that she would actually use than she would have back in her classes anyway. But she had just got this job, and although it wasn't exactly a career that she had wanted, she didn't want to lose it yet.

"Well, as a teacher I'm oblified to tell you not to skip class anymore. School is very important," she said in a very flat and unenthused tone. Edith caught her insincerity and grinned.

"But if I can't come here during school, when will I ever get to come?" Jane thought for a moment. Edith hadn't asked her to tutor her in piano yet, which was good. She really liked the child. She was a very hyper, rowdy child and the woman loved that. But she took music very seriously, and she didn't think that she could full on tutor someone that wasn't serious about it. She wasn't sure about the blond child. She had obvious natural talent and she had been very enthusiastic today. But would she still be that way after a few lessons? She would have to get to know her better.

"If you ever have a free block, like a study hall or something, come by here, okay?" Edith smiled widely and opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by a beep from her wrist watch. She raised it to her face and pressed a button on the side.

"Hi, Dad."

"Are you alrght?" Jane's eyes widened at the strange accent that relplied from the watch. "You are usually de firrst one out of de school."

"I know, I was just talking to someone. Be right there!" She pressed another button and slung her pink back pack over her shoulder. "I have to go, my dad's here," she said rather sullenly. Jane gave her a smile.

"Well then I'll see you soon." Edith flashed her another smile as she ran out the door.

After she was gone, Jane wrapped her arms around her stomach, a weaker smile gracing her lips. "What have I gotten myself into...?

"So how was your day, gurls?" The villian ask as he drove over a small red car that was kind of vaguely in the direction he was going. Margo really hoped that the vehicle was empty. She didn't glance back to check, just in case. Edith, however, did.

"Aww man, I think it was empty." Margo was relieved and slightly disturbed by her little sisters comment.

"Daddy?" Agnes spoke from between her big sisters.

"Yes, Agnes?" Glancing back at his youngest daughter, he saw that she had a slightly guilty look on her face.

"We kind of need to get a monkey by Friday..."

"A monkey? Wha-why, why do we need to be geeting a monkey?"

"Mrs. Stiles was reading us Curious George today. It was such a good story that I told everybody that we had a monkey named George. She told me to bring him for show and tell friday," she said simply. Her father groaned, pinching the bridge of his long nose between his fingers.

"Agnes, why did you tell your class that we have a monkey?" Margo asked her sister, exasperated. The five year old shrugged.

"It seemed like a good idea, at the time."

"Okay, okay, we will discuss dis monkey business later, Agnes. Edith, how was your day?"

His middle child took a deep breath her story.

"Today during school we had math but math is stupid and I was hungry so I snuck out of class to go find a snack but I got lost and all of a sudden I heard this awesome music so I followed it and there was this lady with a piano. She was wicked nice." She finally paused to take a breath. Margo looked at her little sister, disbelief written on her face.

"You skipped math? Edith, didn't we talk about this this mor- wait." The rest of the middle child's story registered in her brain. "You met a teacher that you like?" She asked, her eyes wide in shock. Edith shrugged.

"Yeah. But she has like every instrument known to man, and she can play all of them!" She whispered the last few words excitedly. "She let me hold most of them." She finished proudly. "Gru looked back at his daughter, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I didn't know you had such intrrest in de museek."

"Well, I didn't know either. But when I heard her playing the piano, I dunno, it was just so cool, Dad. I can play Furr Ellis now, she showed me how." Now Gru was impressed. He didn't know much about music but learning a song in less than an hour when she'd never played before had to be impressive.

"You learned Fur Elise? Dat is verry good, Edith." She beamed at her father's praise. Margo cleared her throat quietly. She was glad Edith was finally cooperating with an adult that wasn't their dad, and she was even happier she had found something she was interested in. But they couldn't ignore that she had skipped an important class. As she looked at Edith's proud smile, she couldn't bring herself to ruin her sisters moment. She settled back into the plush car seat. She would just have to talk to her father about it later.

So, what do you guys think? I hope everyone is in character. This story will be a GruxOC story, but it will be more about the girls and their relationship to their father and Jane. For those who read Sugar and Spice, the next chapter is almost ready. I'll explain why it took so long there. please Review! XOXO W