Read Touching Melody (A Forever First Novel) for Free Online

and pry her fingers from my arm. The girl is way too needy, and not nearly as into girls as her girlfriend thinks. I feel kinda bad for Beth. At least she knows what she wants. “I had a great time.” I squeeze Beth’s hand. Of the two I like her best, which is sad because Beth is shooting daggers my way. While we were in the moment she seemed to enjoy herself. Guess that’s changed.
    The girls sit at the table where Maddie sat only moments ago. My heart lurches , and that makes me angry.
    At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Every time I’m near her, my body proves I’m lying. And it irritates the hell out of me.
    I grab some bacon and a slice of cheddar. Slap the ingredients between two pieces of toast and eat as I make my way over to the piano rooms.
    My music professor asked me at the end of my freshman year to play a duet for the Winter Gala this year. I’ve got to practice. As it is I’ll probably only get in an hour this morning.
     
     
    Maddie
     
    The practice rooms are in the basement of the Fine Arts Center. My shoes skim down the stairs. The padding echoes off the walls. I push open one of the heavy double doors, and am rewarded with one of my favorite sounds.
    Music.
    It’s loud and soft. Heavy and light. Staccato and legato . Classical and jazz. Rock and roll. It’s the sounds of every emotion that ever existed, all bottled up in individual rooms. I make my way down the hall slowly.
    This is my church.
    My home.
    The best place in the world.
    I stop in front of a door and peer inside. It’s empty except for a piano and a bench. My breathing slows, my heart settles. The door closes behind me with a click. My body unwinds. I place my music on the stand and sit.
    Another breath.
    Nothing exists but the keys , the way they press against the strings and form a sound. Beautiful or angry. It’s there because of me, tattooed in the air because I created the sound with the press of a finger.
    I scoot the bench, adjust my butt, and begin.
    Scales first. I start at middle C. The left hand plays down and the right plays up in synchrony. Without skipping a beat I move to the next set of scales. My breathing keeps time with my hands. I rock back and forth slightly, allowing my body to feel the beat, my fingers to warm up and adjust to the keys of an unfamiliar piano.
    By the time I’m hal fway through my world shifts and I feel better, right. For the first time in two days, there is no Gina and her sad face, her words shredding the room with hurt. No Kyle and his beautiful smile or his ass-grabbing hands. There’s only this room and these keys and my fingers forming notes. There is only crescendo and decrescendo , allegro and adagio . Notes played together in chords.
    After fifteen minutes I move on to the piece I want to play for Professor Jenkins. I’ll see him tomorrow for my piano lesson. It’s an honor to be taught by the Professor and not one of the graduate students, so I want to be prepared.
    But as I begin, Kyle’s face fills my mind. It blocks out my peace. Instead of notes I see his dark messy hair and his light blue eyes.
    Slamming my hands against the keys, I stand. The clock on my iPod says my first class starts in ten minutes. I grab my stuff and dash out the door. I don’t even have a pencil.

7
    Maddie
    College is Serious

     
    I’m not going to make a great first impression.
    Outside the light burns my eyes, and I squint.
    The campus is huge and spread out. The day I arrived I took the map they gave me and did a walkthrough of my classes. Then we had orientation, and a couple hundred bored freshmen followed perky guides around for three hours. Luckily most of my classes are near each other.
    Dorms and the cafeteria are located to the south. The sororities are just north of the dorms. Asher Field and a hangout known as The Mall sit behind the sororities. Then there are the fraternities. Behind them is a graveyard. To the west of Asher Field is the library and colleges in specific