It was eight in the morning—a whole hour until the first lessons of the day started. Claire and Leo were in the practice hall with the others. The hall was a thick-walled room to prevent the reverberation of music being played. Echoes had their part in reducing the quality of music.

Marie was propped on a stool, cleaning her flute. James was doing something similar by examining one of his many mouthpieces.

The hall was silent apart from the hushed hum of someone trying out a trumpet. Trumpets took a lot of air and may people couldn't even make a sound with one if they tried. 

"So... Today, isn't it?" Claire asked, blowing at the dust between her violin strings. Leo nodded, clicking his tongue. He was going to appeal to master Rutherford today, probably even before lessons kicked off this morning.

The loud bellow of a saxophone soon filled the room making everyone look towards the direction of the music.

The tall dark-haired man continued to play his sax like no one was watching. His tie was undone and was lazily hung around his neck as he played to his heart's content.

"Show off," James muttered, returning his concentration to his mouthpieces.

"He's pretty good, but he sure is vain about it," Marie said, shaking her head. The sax player was Kenneth, a well-known saxophonist in the college.

The bell soon went, signaling the start of a new class period. The students packed up their instruments before heading their separate ways.

Leonardo headed for Mr. Rutherford's study hall. He was going to make his request today.

"Good morning," he muttered, pushing the door of class seventy-two open. Leo's heart fell when he noticed the master didn't acknowledge him by looking up, and instead, the man continued reading from the paper he was holding.

Leo took the silence as a notion to come in, so he slipped into the room through the door before heading over to stand in front of the master's desk.

"So, I was wondering..." Leo trailed off, looking down at the floor. The master hadn't yet acknowledged his presence and he found that worrisome.

"The last time I came around, I wanted to say something," Leo continued, running his finger along the edge of the desk. He hadn't taken a seat yet. He worried doing so without an offer might be considered rude.

Mr. Rutherford finally nodded, flipping a page of the newspaper. Leo frowned, not knowing if the nod was for him or the paper.

"I want to become a student of yours..." Leo trailed. Master Rutherford looked up, giving Leo a steady gaze.

"When did you decide on this?" he asked, looking back down at his paper. He had expected to convince the kid to be no problem at all.

"When I heard your student, Al, play," Leo said, muttering his answer.

Master Rutherford nodded before motioning Leo towards the free seat. Leo took the seat, muttering a small thanks.

"I'll tell you what," Master Rutherford started, taking a stray pen from his unorganized table. Leo watched with curiosity as the master wrote a brief note on a stray piece of paper.

"I'll let you take this to the admin," Mr. Rutherford started, pushing the paper towards Leo. Leo looked down at the piece of paper, noticing a few words in the swirly handwriting that caught his attention. Mostly the words 'Approved', 'Change', and 'department'.

"I'll let you take this down to the admin if you do me a favor." Master Rutherford finished, pulling the paper that Leo had already reached out to swipe out of his reach.

"What do I have to do?" Leo asked, wondering what in the world he'd have to do to become the master’s student.