Waking up and stretching in the morning was a chore for me. Even putting on an outfit and going to work was a chore. I didn't want to feel like life was a chore because my whole life I had been told that it wasn't any way to live.
I worked for a music and arts school in Ohio. Helping music students and playing in bands and orchestras around the country was my job. Musically diverse would be a few good words to describe me with my experience with brass and string instruments. I played trumpet in middle school, then played the oboe during high school because I didn't want to do any kind of second extracurricular activity. When I went to community college, I learned how to play the cello. Playing all of these instruments diversely for my couple of years of college, I somehow ended up here in an apartment, completely dreading waking up in the morning and applying for any jobs I could find in newspaper ads and through a quick Google search online.
My mother was of Hispanic origin and my father was white. Most of my family loved music and my cousin played guitar. So, when the family had get-togethers or met around the holiday season, we would play music. It stuck around for a lot of my life even though no one except my cousin and I were going to make a legitimate career out of it. If you were to ask my brother about his opinion, he would tell you that all music did for him was keep him awake while trying to take his after-school naps and made him feel bad for me when his friends bad-mouthed me while they hung out.
I was constantly ridiculed and talked down to when I was in the hallways for being known as a geek or the weird band girl. Everyone else in band kept more of a low profile and were known for other things like science, or art, but I was the odd one out. Music was the only thing that I was particularly good at and I was always getting noticed for it when that was the last thing that I wanted to happen to me. All it did was cause me problems for being the loser who loved to take the spotlight when it wasn't like that at all. I was always labeled as the attention whore.
Waking up this particular morning was different. It was slower and I felt way more tired than usual from spending the night setting up music books for the kids in the advanced class for extra practice. This year we were supposed to go to a regional competition and the kids didn't want to feel like they were anything other than superior.
No breakfast. I went straight to the mailbox outside and looked through my mail. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Upkeep of the apartment, car payments and random advertisements like always. Hopefully, the job I applied for would
I got to the center that morning with my big box of music books. My friend Cassie helped me out with the second box and my binder full of scores that the kids had to play in the competition.
I huffed as I set down the box in my office.
"Thanks, Cassie! I don't think I would've made it in all in one piece of it wasn't for you."I opened the box and took out the books.
"You did that all by yourself?! You could've asked me for help, I stayed up two hours later than usual doing nothing."
"Hm...You can help me by putting these books on the stands!"I chuckled.
She smiled at me and took a few books to put them on stands. I started putting books on stands as well and a few of the advanced placement kids started coming in with their instruments and talked for a bit while they set up. They were sixteen and thought being in a social circle was important. My mom told me that when I got older, people's opinions wouldn't matter. They were wrong.
"Miss Yuna, what are these books for?"One of the students asked.
"Let's just say that we have a lot of perpetration to do for state regionals. That doesn't mean we have a lot of time to do it. You're going to have to take these books home with you for two weeks and practice if you want to make it. Okay, so turn to-"
"Yuna, there's a phone call for you. Someone named Tyler Joseph."Cassie poked her head out of the office door. I screeched with excitement and ran for the phone.
"Hi, this is Yuna,"I said cheerily and slightly panting.
"Hi, this is Tyler Joseph. I contacted you about becoming an intern. Umm...Well, you got the job! We can meet in Columbus around nine in the morning, right?"
"Uhh...Um, yeah that would be awesome! I'm teaching a class right now, so could you text me with the number in my resume, I'm pretty busy right now."
"No problem. Bye Miss Yuna."Tyler's voice was so sweet and soft. Waiting to meet him was bittersweet. The waiting part was the hard part. The easy part was thinking that I would be greeted by someone really sweet and generous.
I smiled at every text he sent me. Even if it was just a "Hey" or "how's it going"
Then, the next day, I woke up and actually felt happy for once. I put on some jeans, a white t-shirt with some black Converse and a black beanie. It was winter time. I put my coat on over it and went to my car and put in a song that Tyler was telling me to listen to. It was called Taken By Sleep.
"This is the story of a scarlet letter."Tyler's voice was really kind and inviting like I was telling you before.
When I pulled up to Tyler's house, he was eating a Popsicle...But it was late November.
"Hey, Tyler! Why are you eating a Popsicle? It's cold outside."I laughed.
"They're good, you want one?"He smiled. Nodding my head yes, I followed him inside his house.
"That's Josh. He's our drummer and he'll be teaching you how to work with sound effects, extra percussion and things like that."Josh waved and smiled at me.
"Nice to meet you, Josh."I smiled.