Annabelle lugged her guitar up the hill as the sun rose on St. Theresa's. The music block was a small wooden building hidden at the back of the campus. She liked days when she only taught music, she could dress down in her favourite clothes and during her breaks she sat outside amongst the daisies and played her guitar. Today Annabelle was wearing a loose purple tie-dye top and some old baggy jeans. She had her Buddhist prayer beads on and an array of bracelets.
As the clunky old lock turned and the door creaked open Annabelle took a deep breath and thought to herself "it's good to be back." Slowly and one by one girls arrived to the class and threw their bags to the floor, most of them not acknowledging their teacher. 5 minutes before the class started Lucy popped her head round the door and asked "am I in the right place?" Annabelle smiled. "Absolutely."
"Morning girls. I trust you all had a good sleep last night..." a few girls giggled and Lucy looked sheepishly at Annabelle. "Good, because today's going to be a fabulous day. We're going to start our module on song writing. Now, I love song writing. It's a place where I can get away from everything. It's the place where you feel at peace with all of your emotions and truly able to freely express them." Annabelle stood up and approached the white board in the music room. "Right, here's what we're going to do. What's everyone feeling right now, come on, throw me some answers." She received a blank stare. "Ok fine, I'll start. Today I am feeling... inspired and content," she announced as she wrote the two words on the board. "Anyone?"
Jessica piped up from the back of the classroom, "TIRED!"
"Okay fair enough, we all get a little tired sometimes... anyone else?"
"Hopeful," Lucy muttered quietly and displayed a small smile.
"Good, I like the good vibes!"
Another girl bravely announced what she was feeling "Heartbroken," she said.
"Ah, well, that I know all too well..." said Annabelle, sitting back down. "Some of the best songs I know were written over heartbreak. In fact, the song I've decided to play you today follows that theme." This was a moment where Annabelle was taking a risk with her class. Was it too much too soon? She was opening her true self up, to a bunch of high school girls. This is how Annabelle liked to teach. She believed in authenticity, and true bonds between her and her students. "Now, this is a song that is very close to my heart. I haven't played it in a really long time so I hope I'm not too rusty."
Lucy looked on with intrigue as this new figure in her life was beginning to become even more interesting. She deeply admired Annabelle's talent and knew she felt incredibly safe in her presence.
Annabelle took a few light strums on the guitar and was visibly transporting herself to another place and time before breathing the first words of the song "In the space between what's wrong and right... you will find me waiting for you... all your fortresses go down in the night... til the dawn I'll see you through..." Her eyes remained closed, it was as if she was back on that stage again singing to Simone. She could hear the rain, she could visualize the people... she almost expected to be wearing her red dress. They remained closed and clenched at a moment of painful remembering "cos I know, that you know, you're all over me now... and it's clear, you will show, and your curtains will close, but if your heart is cold, my sheets are warm, I will shelter you... through the storm. I will shelter you, all through the storm." Annabelle opened her eyes and found herself looking directly into Lucy's gaze. The young girl had tears in her eyes, and appeared to be looking to Annabelle for some sort of... something. Perhaps comfort? She didn't know. She broke the eye contact and looked around at the class, who began applauding. "Thank you," she uttered.
And with that, the bell rang.