August walked into the cafeteria later when he remembered that he had no idea where to sit. He looked around for familiar faces, and found both Jake and Natasha sitting next to each other. He walked over shyly, but excitedly.

"Hey guys, can I..."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Um, how about right there?" Jake pointed to an empty seat right across the table from them.

"Okay, thanks!" August made his way around the table to the seat and slapped his books down. He walked over to the lunch line, reaching into a pocket for his lunch money as he went. When the line slowly died down, he found himself in the kitchen. The wide-eyed new kid overlooked all the choices: chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes, a hamburger with fries, a cheeseburger with strawberries, or spaghetti with meatballs? One of the kids behind him told him to 'hurry up, please', so August grabbed a tray with chicken nuggets on it. He handed the cashier lady his money, 3 dollars, and she gave him 1 dollar back. August guessed that lunch was 2 dollars, not 3, and decided then and there to go to the snack line and buy some ice cream. As he went to the snack line, he noticed a big salad bar and made a mental note to get that tomorrow. The snack line only had 4 people in it, so soon August had to choose if he wanted an ice cream sandwich, some strawberry vanilla cups, or a vanilla cone with nuts and cherries. He decided on an ice cream sandwich. He gave the cashier his dollar, and got a quarter back. Then he weaved his way out of the line and hurried back over to his table.

Nat and Jake had apparently left to get their lunch, so August sat down and began eating a chicken nugget. He looked around for Nat and Jake and spotted them in the left lunch line. They always seemed to be together; maybe they are related, August thought.

Then August began hearing things, music, in his head. He tapped his foot softly to the rhythm of people chatting and trays slamming. A song began to form in his mind...

Suddenly, Nat and Jake were across the table from him, giving him queer looks. August turned as red as the strawberry on Nat's plate and looked away, embarrassed. He had not realized that in his daze, he had tapped his foot hard and was loudly humming the tune of the song. Nat was the first to speak.

"What in the world-"

"Umm..." Jake tried to find something to say. "So what's up? Did you find your way around okay?" He tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, and nothing really. By the way, are you two related somehow? You look alike, a little, and you seem...I don't know." August murmured.

"Yeah, Jake's my twin brother." Nat answered. "I got the small genes, apparently." She smiled to show that she didn't mind getting the small genes. Jake and she both sat down in their seats and began eating. August picked up another chicken nugget and ate it. After a minute, Nat spoke again.

"So, what were you doing?"

"Um, I...I was listening." August answered simply.

"Listening...to what?"

"The music. Can't you hear it? It's all around us."

"Um...no?"

"Trays slamming, doors creaking, people chatting, cash registers clinging?" August added. Both Nat and Jake began listening hard. Something in Nat's face lit up and she smiled.

"Hey, I do hear it. 'Bum, da dum, bum, ding,' it says."

"Yeah, that's it!" August exclaimed. But Jake still looked confused.

"What? I still don't know what you guys are talking about," he said.

"The music. You can't hear it?"

"No..."

"I can." An strangely familiar voice came up behind August. August turned around to see who had spoken and saw the blonde-haired girl who sits next to him in homeroom.

"Hi, I'm Kelsey. I play the violin, and love it," Kelsey introduced.

"Okay, hi. I'm August. I play the piano and the guitar," he said. "And I write music."

"Do you love it?" Kelsey asked.

"More than you can ever imagine."

"Wow. Can I sit here?" Kelsey had a hopeful, questioning look on her face.

"Sure," all three said at once. Kelsey sat down next to August since that was the closest available seat. She had finished her lunch.

"So, you write music?" Kelsey asked.

"Yeah." August managed between bites of mashed potatoes. He got up to clear his tray and stack it, and Kelsey followed him.

"Cool. Like what?"

"Well, like...I don't know. Did you go to the concert a while back at Central Park?" August dumped his tray.

"Yeah, it was an orchestra field trip." Kelsey remembered. August smiled as he added his tray to the stacks of them on the counter.

"I was the last conductor. August Rush, composer of August's Rhapsody."

"No way. That was the song with the glass cups and the little girl singing and everything, right?" August nodded. "That was so awesome, no lie!"

"Thanks," August said. Then the bell rang and the new friends departed to their next classes.