"Hello, my name is Mr. Cherwin. I'm the teacher of this course. I'll be passing out a syllabus and taking role in a few minutes, and then we'll spend the rest of the time working on the first project that will be due in three weeks time. You will have a partner that I will assign, and if you have any problems, work them out on your own time. I'm paid to teach, not to council. If you would all gather up your belongings I'll be putting you in seats. This is purely for my convinience, and I don't care if you don't like it. Starting with the first row, first chair. Abbott, Abbey, Addison, Afgish, Alupa, Appondaise..."
Mr. Cherwin continued to ramble on names. Since my last name is Hancock, I wasn't really paying attention. I just stood in a group of about 6 other people who had been sitting by me, waiting for my name to be called. When I heard Mr. Cherwin announce my name, Andrea Hancock, I gathered up my stuff and moved to my seat in the middle of the sixth row. By the time Mr. Cherwin had finished with his role call, pretty much everyone was in a seat with their head resting on the desk. I was writing in my notebook. My notebook, that's my secret place. I'm definitely a writer. I doodle in it, write song lyrics in it, make observations and the such. Right now I was working on a song I'd began in the morning before class had started. The tune wouldn't leave my head and I decided that if I didn't start writing words to it, I'd go crazy. I realized suddenly that everyone was seated and Mr. Cherwin was talking to the class as a whole agian.
"The person next to you is going to be your partner for this first project. You two will be responsible for writing-why isn't anyone taking notes? This is the only time I'm going over this-you two will be responsible for composing a song. The genre is up to you, but I will have to listen to it and if you expect a good grade, write a good song. Words are optional. Three weeks from today, September 16th, you will turn in to me 1.) The lyrics to the song if there are any, 2.) A cassette tape with your song recorded on it, 3.) The musical notation of each instrument, including voice, 4.) An essay about how you and your partner got along, and 5.) Credit to anyone who plays, sings, donates, or contributes in any way to the piece. This is worth 200 points and I do expect a lot from you. You have the rest of the time to get to know your partner and work out any plans you may have."
With that, Mr. Cherwin gathered up his belongings and left the room. I looked around the room and saw people pairing up with the person next to them. I looked to my right and left, not sure which of the two would be my partner. I decided to wait until my row had started and then figure it out from there. I had just pulled out my notebook when I recieved a tap on the shoulder. I turned to look at this person and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Taylor, and I think I'm your partner." He smiled and shook my hand. "I'm Andrea. Nice to meet you." I smiled back and turned to face him. "I don't know about you," I confided, "but Mr. Cherwin seems like a jerk to me".
"The feeling's mutual. What kind of prof gives a project on the first day?!" He said.
"I don't know, but I think we'll have plenty of time to work on it. Unless your class load is really tough. I'm a music major so all of my classes are relatively related. Do you think you'll have time to work on this with the rest of your stuff?" I asked.
"Well, considering I'm only taking this class, yeah."
"You're only taking one class? Why is that?"
"Well, my family is all in LA now, we come from Tulsa, but we're all here because I'm in a band with my brothers and we're cutting an album. I decided that I should probably do some schooling since there's always more to learn, so I'm just taking this class. Who knows, if the song we write is good enough, it could end up on the next album!" He said with a grin.
"Haha, I don't think so. So is this gonna be your band's first album?" I asked. I was intrigued at the possibility of speaking to a maybe-future-star.
"No no no, this is our third studio album. Ever heard of Hanson?" He asked.
"Oh my gosh, I feel SO dumb! I knew you looked familiar! I guess I just didn't make the connection. Yeah, I've heard of you guys. I don't own any of your CDs though. What are they called?"
"Well, the first was Middle of Nowhere when I was 13, then came This Time Around when I was 16, and now we're working on the new one, and I'm 19. It doesn't have a name yet."
"Oh, that's cool. I'm just a freshman here but I took off a year inbetween highschool and now so I'm actually 18. I'm young for my grade." I explained.
"Why'd you take off the time?" He asked.
"I live in Indianapolis, but I was born and had lived in California for about three years during the course of my life. All my relatives live out here, so after highschool, I moved down here to live with my grandpa, work to earn money, and gain residency. And I did, so here I am now, in college after a year's break. I was WAY too used to sleeping in." I finished with a grin.
"Wow, what motivation! So why are you taking this music class? Are you into music much or was it more of a credit thing?"
"Oh, no, music is basically my life. I play the guitar, have since I was 13, and I've been writing songs since I was twelve, singing since I was three. Yeah, one of the main reasons I came out to LA instead of going somewhere in Indy was that I figured I could get gigs at local bars instead of having a strict job. That way I'd get to do what I loved while getting an education. So far it's worked out great. I've performed twice at Reality Squared. I'm set there every Tuesday night, and I might be playing at The Purple Underground on Fridays. That's still in the process of being worked out. With a college degree I'm hoping to break into the music buisness someway, whether it be as a writer, producer, band manager, or even a music lawyer. I'm hoping that my move to LA was a move that'll change my life," I paused and looked at Taylor. He didn't seem to be too bored with what I was saying, so I went on. "Do you think I'm pushing it? I mean, like, do you think I have any chance. Obviously you did it, but you had a band with you. It's a bit different with a solo act." I glanced over at him again, watching him think about his answer. I loved the way his fingers tapped on his desk while he chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip.
"Well, I'm not gonna say it's easy, because it's not. We were just extremely lucky to get the break that we did. But you obviously love it, which is almost as important as talent, and you must be good if you have two clubs waiting on you. And really, you're taking the right steps. Whether you'll be playing local clubs for your career or headlining with Bob Dylan or something, I think your determination and love for music will help you succeed. Of course, I've never heard you." He added. He flashed me a grin, and I couldn't help notice that he had really nice teeth. I took a deep breath before continuing.
"Well, maybe you could come hear me sometime. I'm sure you're busy with your pending cd and stuff, but if you had a break, it's always nice to hear what people think who actually know what they're talking about."
"Now that you mention it, my days off are Tuesdays. We figured that instead of taking off the weekend, we'd take off Sundays and Tuesdays so I could come to class and my brothers and I could split up the week a bit. Maybe I could get them to come with me to Reality Squared. We've been there a coupla times to check out the local music and usually leave thinking that we need to go practice some more. Are you playing there tonight?"
"Yeah, it's my third week. I usually play about a half an hour set. It can't be too long because I only have about 20 songs that I perform, and I can't play the same ones every night. But yeah, tonight's gonna be the last 6 songs that I haven't played before. I do it on rotations of six or seven. No pressure or anything, but if you want to come, I'd be glad to have you there." I hinted.
"I'll see what the brothers are up to. And if I can't come tonight, I'll definitely come some other Tuesday. I need to see what kind of talent I'm working with on this project!" He grinned and laughed a little. I don't know why, but I was surprised that he was so easy to talk to. I expected...well, to tell you the truth, I'd never fantasized about meeting and talking to a Hanson boy, but I never expected him to be quite so...friendly is the word, I guess.
"I'll have to go out and buy all of your CDs to find out how good you are. Great, I'm out about thirty bucks already and we haven't even started the project!" I concluded with a little laugh. He laughed too, and that made me feel good, that I could make this incredibly talented and friendly guy laugh like that. As the laughter died down I glanced at my watch. "Oh my gosh, it's almost 12:30! I have so much to do today. I have to go home and make and eat lunch, I have another class at three, and then I have to get ready to go to Reality Squared by 5:00!! I'm sorry to cut this short Taylor, but I really have to go." I said, standing up.
"Wow, I have something to do after lunch too. Hey, you wanna go to the deli on the corner really quickly? I'm going there anyway and it would be easier than making lunch for yourself." He suggested, also rising.
"Um...let's see, do I have money..." I reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out a $10. "Do I have my car keys...no. I'd really like to, but I don't have my car keys with me. I was planning on running home and making lunch." I said sadly.
"Well, don't feel like you have to, but I could drive you if you wanted. And plus, if we only get to work on Tuesdays, we're gonna have to get started pretty quickly on our project." He said as he gathered his books.
"Twist my arm..." I said, laughing. "Ok, let me get my stuff and we can go to lunch. Hey, if we can only work on Tuesdays do you think we'll get it done? Because Tuesday is my fullest day of the week." I said as we walked out of the class and down the hallway.
"If worse comes to worse I could come get you on a Sunday and we could work at it at my house instead of in your dorm, or wherever we'd be working on it. Hey! If we did it on a Sunday, I could show you around the studio!" He said excitedly.
"Whoa, that'd be awesome," I opened the passenger side door to his car and hopped in. "Yeah, I think we'll probably have to do that. The only free time I have on Tuesdays is right after this class and before my three o'clock one. But I feel really bad about that. I mean, you have to work in the studio all week, with only two break days, one of them having a college class and the other with me coming over to work on a project. You'd get so worn out!"
"Hey, do I look like a wimp to you? I can handle it. Lord knows I've done more in a week. And plus, I'm not just gonna lay the project on you. You have to study and play on Tuesdays and Fridays and go to your classes. Hey, here's the deli. I'm starving!" We both got out of the car and walked into the small deli.
"Mmm...it smells SO good in here. Thanks for bringing me, I'd probably end up eating peanut butter and jelly had I stayed home." I smiled up at him as we took a seat.
"No problem."