After the bell for the recess before the sixth course ringed, Liam browsing through the books the English teacher gives him as he walked along the corridor with Garret.

      The books on his hands consisted of The Scarlet Letter by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that’s written by Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and so on.

      The teacher, an old woman that’s looks like she’s ready to be put inside a coffin told them to read The Scarlet Letter and make an essays out of it that have to be finished in two weeks time.

      He honesty had read some of the books on his hands—including The Scarlet Letter—out of boredom when he saw it laying around the house before, so he didn’t put too much thought of it.

      Garret friends have a different course after the English class and have walked to building six and leaning the two of them together. Garret Spanish class is in the building two and since Liam next class is also in the same building, they walked together there.

      He was actually kind of surprises that Liam choose instrumental music as his elective course and he said with a disbelieving eyes, “You know how to play music?”

      Liam only nodded, walking to his locker again when they reached their destination.

      Garret asking further, “What kind of instrument you’re playing? Are you good with it? How long have you been doing it?”

      Liam still act as if he’s an annoying fly that’s not worth his attention and keep walking after locking his locker and put The Scarlet Letter on his bag without looking at him, but he did answered one of his question.

      “Drums.”

      “Drums? Then, are you in a band or something?” he asked with much interest. His face became even more flushed from his excitement.

      Liam only hummed in respond. Garret want to ask more about his drumming skill, but the bell suddenly ringing, urging those who haven’t arrived at their class to quicken their steps, including Garret.

      After saying that he will take him to look for their school clubs after the school ended, he run to an intersection and gone in an instant before Liam able to turn it down—again.

      Not wasting any more time, he walked inside the music class that’s already full of chit chatting students. The teachers entered after him and he just casually passed the note at one of the teachers.

      Reading the note, she introduce herself and the other male teacher in charge with a welcoming smile. She then introducing him in front of the class and asked him what kind of instrument he played.

      “I plays drums,” he said curtly.

      “Is that so? Then, can you read music sheets?” asked the male teacher called Mr. Hood that’s looks younger than the female teacher called Mrs. Geithner.

      He nodded. Mr. Hood smiled with a cheerful expression and said, “It is fortunate that there’s no one taking the drum kit on your grade since we only have one set of the drums in this school; percussions instruments wasn’t that popular among the students here. Also, Mrs. Gartner will be your instructor since she’s more proficient in percussions as well as piano and wind instruments. I’m mostly only handling the students that plays stringed instruments in this class, but if you need any help, you’re also free to ask me.”

      He nodded again and said, “I understand.”

      “Well, since the introduction is finished, now everyone, give your applause to our new classmate!” said Mrs. Gartner to the twenty odd something students that have been listening to their conversations closely.

      Immediately after that, the sounds of shoes drumming on the floor is echoed in the room, followed by the cheers and greetings from the exited students.

      Mrs. Gartner raising her hands and the noisy class quieted down completely. With a smile, she told liam to take one of the chair on the back of the room and let him choose his own spot to sit.

      He nodded once again at the teachers and as usual, he ignored the looks of the curious kids and headed straight to the very back of the room to pick an ownerless chair and place it near the corner of the room with a slightly opened window where it looked the most calmest.

      He sees that this class is more ‘loose’ than the other course he had before, and the two instructors were more or less giving the students more freedom to act as they wish and at the same time still keeping the order in the class to not get too chaotic.

      He choose to sat by a boy with a disheveled dirty blond hair that keep his gaze down to his lap where some dirty looking music sheets resided and didn’t even looked up at Liam when he decided to sit there—only moving his chair further away from Liam’s slowly he didn’t even realize at first.

      Liam did not interested with the boy at the beginning and feeling quite good that the boy beside him is the quiet type.

      But when a sudden gust of wind that entered from the opened window hit the boy face that’s make him raising his head a little for Liam to sees some part of the face that’s hidden by his after-tornado-like hair and funding the boy bright, gray eyes, he realize that he is the same boy whose knocking him on the floor with the ‘help’ of the rich looking prick from before.

      Maybe sensing that Liam is staring at him, the boy stiffened for a second before move his head to the scenery outside the window without looking at Liam even once.

      Liam lost his interest and looking forward to the teachers direction that’s beginning to starting their lesson, ignoring a tint of the newly forming bluish color on the boy left eye that’s wasn’t on the his face when they met for the very first time before.