Chapter 5

Terri sighed deep right from the moment she had shut the door to Mr. Wesson's office. It hadn't gone really well... Theresa Fletcher's thoughts had mostly been with Jay, more than with her own singing. Mr. Wesson, perhaps being the most impatient and professional teacher she'd had since Elementary, well... He hadn't been really understanding for what might have going on inside the teenager's head. He mainly focused on the singing, and not really the person behind it. He rarely smiled, too. It hadn't gone well.

Lifting her dark brown shoulder bag higher, the young blonde started walking into the direction of her room, following the seemingly endless hallway. Terri wouldn't be having classes until four, and since it was only ten o'clock in the morning, she decided to turn left instead of right and walked out into the gentle morning breeze. Maybe she could have a bite somewhere and shoe shop. She was really in need of new flats, she realized as she looked down on the dark blue pair she was currently wearing. She'd seen nice All Star Light Ankle Boots yesterday, on her way from the train station to Bristol-Hillman Music Conservatory. Maybe she'd go find the store and buy them; if her size was still available, at least.

Terri had barely started walking out of the huge building, when the sound of a male voice with familiar accent stopped her. The seventeen-year-old couldn't quite place the familiarity she seemed to recognize at first, but when she turned around to look at the owner of the voice with British accent, everything fell into place.

Jay Corgan came running towards her, halting only right in front of her, panting and lightly bent over with his hands on his knees. "Didn't you hear me?" he asked.

"No, Jay. I haven't in months."

Jay's breathing slowly returned to normal, and he looked up at the blonde with his eyes wide. "You never mailed back, either, Terri," he said. "I even sent you an e-card for Christmas and New Years, but never got something back. I thought that maybe you'd found yourself another and better guy, and since you never replied, well... I didn't, either."

"I never got an e-card for Christmas or New Years!" Terri exclaimed, brow crinkling.

"I did send them, Terri," Jay replied in a more serious and softer tone. "Listen, I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Terri whispered back, now leaning in to give him a hug.