+(NooeyLove)+ For my amazing girlfriend.
The morning sunrays cascaded through the curtain leaving warm portions of carpet scattered throughout Kelsi's bedroom. The voice of a male deejay mumbled indiscernible words through a scratchy overlay. Kelsi's eyes popped open the second she realize what the day was. It's today. It's the day. She sat up quickly, pushing the covers from her body. When she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her feet touched crumpled paper. Good lord that's a lot of drafts.
She had stayed up half the night working on lyrics for Sharpay's song. Not only was she a perfectionist under normal circumstances, the pressure of knowing that Sharpay would be the first to read them made it that much more difficult. Kelsi stood up and, stepping on many pieces of paper on the way, took the final draft off the music stand beside her keyboard. She clutched for a moment and then kissed it, a little tradition of hers. Carefully, she set it back down and headed to the bathroom to get ready for school.
She stood facing her reflection, trying to make herself out through blurry eyes. She remained this way for a moment, trying to see the fog, but deemed it impossible and picked up her glasses. Instantly the fog was gone and she could see herself clearly. Ugh. A thought dawned on her, and she eyed the straighter that was lying on the counter. She had bought it one day on a whim, but never had actually used it. She reached out her hand, blew off the dust, and began to straighten.
Forty-five minutes later she looked at her reflection once again. The girl staring back at her was both her, and someone completely different. But I like it…I think. She glanced down at her outfit, reassuring herself that it was okay to only change one thing at a time. At last, as was routine, she pulled on the hat-of-the-day, shrugged at herself with a half-satisfied expression, turned off the light, and walked out the door.
Kelsi, although old enough to drive, voluntarily walked to school because it was the most inspiring of ways. In the mornings, the dew on the grass blades would glitter in the recently raised sun; her breath could be seen in a whitish fog floating away from her mouth and the air was just crisp enough to keep her awake. She passed a chain linked fence that had spider webs strung about it, all very visible with little drops of water sitting precariously on the strings. The slight padding sound that came with her every step added to the morning sounds like a missing instrument added to symphony.
Without thinking Kelsi began to sing Sharpay's song softly to herself. She began to think back to every run-in she had ever had with Sharpay over the years and tried to find situations where certain actions could have indicated more intimate feelings than what was perceived. The one that stuck most in her mind was the time in eighth grade where Kelsi had almost been replaced as the main pianist for the girl's choir by the choir director's son who could hardly read note. Sharpay had insisted that Kelsi was much better and that she would refuse to sing at any more fundraisers if Kelsi was replaced. (Even back then Sharpay was the best of the best, and the only one could really sing.) The choir director, out of fear of losing Sharpay, obliged at Kelsi kept her spot. I wonder if that was just to make herself look good, or if it was because she liked me.
Kelsi pulled herself out of her enticing thoughts as she saw the school growing closer. When she arrived she headed straight for the auditorium, per usual. The large room was dark, with the exception of the work lights that were always on. A well-timed shiver ran down her spine when she saw her instrument of choice illuminated eerily. When she reached it, she pulled out the final copy of the song and placed it carefully on the piano. Her bag then fell to the ground and she sat on the piano bench. Though she longed to pull the cover off the keys, she refused to. The only song she wanted to play for the ghosts today was Sharpay's.
She closed her eyes and rested her hands on top of the piano. She stayed that way for several moments, imagining the looks that would definitely be on the audience's face after the finale ended. She grinned at the idea and felt a girlish giggle emerge from her behind her lips.
"What's so funny?" The same, sharp and demanding voice of Sharpay echoed into Kelsi's well-trained ears. Opening her eyes, Kelsi saw Sharpay making her way down the aisle towards the stage. A faint smirk appeared on her face when she saw that the blonde was carrying two cups that obviously contained some sort of delicious liquid. Sharpay reached the stage and thrust one of the cups into Kelsi's hand. "Oolong with peach, just like you said."
"Thanks." Kelsi mumbled before taking a sip. She was very aware that the other girl was surveying her while took the sip. Sharpay set her own cup on top of the piano and placed slender hand on her hip.
"You straightened your hair." She stated this matter-of-factly. Kelsi nodded, getting nervous and feeling very self-conscious. Sharpay looked her with intensity. Remember Kels, show her you know how to talk and form coherent sentences.
"Yeah, I like it." Kelsi said with faux confidence. Sharpay laughed and shook her head.
"Of course you do. I'm never wrong about those kinds of things." Kelsi half-grinned and settled herself on the piano bench. She sat for a moment staring at Sharpay with interest, watching as the blonde gulped down coffee. "Well, let's get started shall we?" Kelsi nodded. "You have the lyrics I assume?" Once again Kelsi nodded, feeling stupid. Say something you idiot, she's gonna change her mind if you don't start using your voice. Show her what you've got; these are the best damn lyrics you've ever written. Impress her. Get that girl! Kelsi shook her head slightly before grinning and handing the music to Sharpay.
Her brown eyes scanned the page, a small twitch on the side of her face turning into a smile. Her breathing seemed to become shallow and she bit her lip in concentration. Finally, after many minutes of analyzing Sharpay looked up at Kelsi. "This is amazing, fantastic. I don't understand how you, a girl with such little social standing can come up with something this fabulous." Kelsi shrugged with a satisfied smile on her face; this was exactly how she hoping Sharpay would respond. She took the music from Sharpay and set it on the piano again, this time revealing the keys. Kelsi observed how much doing this looked like someone grinning really wide after holding back for a good amount of time.
"Alright then, you stand here," Kelsi gestured. "And I'll show you how it goes." With a deep intake of breath, Kelsi began to play followed by her own melodic, sweet voice. The words were the most honest she had ever written. Please don't let her realize, please let the real meaning be hidden in plain sight. She only had to go through the whole thing one time before Sharpay was ready to sing herself. Kelsi nodded and Sharpay got a little closer so that she could read the words better. The presence of the girl so close to her made Kelsi nervous, but she took another deep breath and just went with it. Okay, so good so far. Let's hope it stays that way.
Kelsi was just beginning to get into the song when she felt a small, but strong hand maneuver its way to the shoulder farthest from itself. A mind numbing thought came to Kelsi. She's touching me.
+(NooeyLove)+ So I realize that it's really short, and I promised longer chapters, but those will come. ) However, this seemed necessary for the progression of the story. Ah yes, thanks for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated! But of course, now I need some more to know that I'm doing alright and that you want more Kelpay goodness. :)