Tommy followed Jude into the school building. He glanced at the lockers lining the walls, and the flyers hanging everywhere. It was just your typical high school.
They entered a classroom. Tommy looked around in awe. It was a small music room. There were all kinds of instruments floating around in every corner. Jude walked over to a large desk in front of the room. She sat in the seat and rummaged through the desk, looking for something.
"Feel free to make yourself at home!" She called. Tommy nodded. She had posters of all different kinds of musicians hanging on her walls. He noticed that none of them were any artists that he himself had ever worked on. There were no cheesy pop acts.
He saw a grand baby piano in the corner. He smiled and walked over to it. He sat down and opened the lid. His fingers graced the keys, and a sweet melody followed. He closed his eyes, getting lost in the music.
From her desk, Jude grinned. He looked exactly like she did whenever she played her guitar.
"I didn't know you played." Tommy popped one eye open and stared at her. He grinned.
"What kind of musician would I be if I couldn't play an instrument?" Jude shrugged.
"I suppose you're right." Tommy stopped playing and turned his whole body to face the front of the room.
"So are we done here?" Jude nodded.
"Yeah, I just have to lock up." The two left the school building and went back out to the cool streets of New York.
They passed a magazine kiosk selling tabloids. Tommy panicked when he saw himself on the cover of one. Maybe it was time he told her the truth. Jude noticed and glanced at it.She sighed heavily.
"I hate tabloids. They are everything that's wrong with the music industry. The fact that an artist's whole career is spent making sure the public likes them is ridiculous. They should concentrate more on the music then image." Tommy looked at her deeply surprised. He had never met a girl quite like her.
"And I really hate industry types. Like Tom Quincy!" He winced slightly. There was no way he was coming out about his identity now.
"I hate that man just on principle." Tommy shrugged.
"Have you ever met him?" Jude furiously shook her head.
"No and I don't ever plan to do. He has to be the worse producer ever! All that music G Major sells is crap! It's all perfectly coiffed bleached blondes who wanna be Britney Spears and guys thinking that they can rap or sing smooth R&B hits. Total crap." Tommy sped up the pace, trying to lead her away from the tabloids so she wouldn't figure him out.
"I'll tell you what the music industry needs. It needs something new and original. Something that hasn't been done yet." Tommy looked at her. Her face was flushed with anger and her eyes were small and slanted. You could practically see the steam coming from her ears. To Tommy she had never looked more cute.
This was a woman who generally cared about music and wasn't willing to sell out for what was popular. And did he just think she was cute?
"I'm sure all industry people aren't bad." He coughed and looked away. Looking everywhere but at her. Jude shrugged.
"Well, my sister is dating a guy from G Major. An engineer actually, his name is Kwest Taylor." Tommy's eyes popped open. If he had been drinking he would have just spit it out. No wonder the name Harrison had sounded so familiar! Jude was Kwest's girlfriend Sadie's sister. Uh oh.
Jude shook her head.
"I'm sorry for going a little crazy on you. I'm just very passionate about what I believe." Tommy smiled at her.
"I can tell." Jude started to blush.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing. I appreciate the honesty." Oops. Jude fixed him with a weird look. She smiled at him, ready to forget the whole conversation.
"Hey, I've got something to show you." Jude pulled him down a sharp alleyway. Tommy just shook his head and followed her. Jude was proving to be quite the interesting person. She just kept on surprising him.