After Class (Ester)

Science was rough.

That was the one major thought going through the exhausted blond girl's brain as she left the classroom. She needed some medication for a headache after that. And she'd thought it was hard at home - now she was learning it in Japanese, AND she was learning more advanced stuff than before. To make matters worse, it was two hours of having to listen and translate things in her head; She was good at foreign languages, she was just new to being so immersed in it. The good news is, She had an hour free to go to lunch and stuff before one of her two music classes.

An earbud went into her ear; it was the best way to ignore the crowds for a moment and relax. Music was always relaxing, even if it wasn't relaxing music. She understood music. She didn't understand people; being friendly and nice all the time was new and hard for her. Stupid fresh starts.

As had become the norm in the past week, Melody weaved through the crowds of girls talking and getting ready for lunch or classes or whatever they had to do that day. She drew a few looks, just for being different, but that was easily ignorable with the rock music in hear ears. Music understood her better than people did.

As she cleared the crowds, melody was strumming to herself, much like she would if she were playing the song, herself. She didn't have her guitar on her, but that didn't stop her from really getting into a good beat. She probably looked stupid. People were probably starting to stare a bit more as she moved to the beat and walked at the same time. This was one of the few times she didn't care, though. She and music understood each other.

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Wearily waltzing in the halls, Ester was practically dragging her bookbag on the ground as she attempted to make it to her next class before she's late... again. Truth be told, Ester wasn't usually the type to be tardy despite her arrogant and immature behavior, but recently she's been sleeping later than she should be or even later than she expected herself to. That was probably because Ester has her moments where there's an assignment due the next day at the last minute, so from there it was now or never.

And what was worst was that the hallways were a little packed, which means that Ester has to go through trying not to bump into anyone. That so far was on a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding and just failing without even effort. For the most part, she did bump into a few people here and there. But then again, this was the time to transit classes or whatever, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see the halls packed. Nonetheless, this was still a disadvantage to the half asleep Ester.

Speaking of Ester bumping into people, she did it again with yet another girl, this time one that was listening to music. Honestly, Ester was very well aware to simply move to the side, but her brain instead decided to just carelessly run her body into whatever. The small plus side on this would be that she didn't bump into the girl too hard; just a light shove-like feeling was all. Still, that doesn't save for the fact that Ester just bumped into someone without paying attention.

Slightly roaring a loud yawn, Ester blinked slowly. "Ah... my bad." She mumbled, using one of her free hands to rub one of her eyes. As she apologized, Ester faintly heard music playing, specifically a genre lying in rock. She didn't know the specifics, all she knew is that there were drums and a guitar, so it had to be rock, right? Either way, Ester wished she brought her phone with her to listen to music. Sadly for the fact that she was running late this morning, sacrifices had to be made.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

And there it was. Just when she was starting to get herself to relax while she listened to her music, Melody managed to bump into someone yet again. The last time she'd done that she'd gotten into a pretty nasty argument with the girl... partially because she'd spilled food on her homemade uniform, but still. Once she recoiled a step or two back, Melody pulled her earbuds out of her ears. She didn't even look to see who she'd hit. She was tired of running into people and getting blamed for it though. Their words happened in unison. While Esther mumbled "my bad." Melody spoke up in her own frustrated, english-accented tone. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean to. Honest."

With an equally frustrated sigh, Melody turned her head to see she'd bumped into a girl with multiple hair highlights and... either ears or horns for hair decorations. A second glance reminded her that this wasn't a graphic novel, and it was actually just the way she had her hair. She was pretty, too. The warmth in Melody's cheeks reminded her that she seemed to feel that way about a lot of girls lately... even if it was true. "Er, what I mean to say is, sorry about that."

Melody started to hold out a hand to shake, but quickly remembered that wasn't the cultural norm around here, and dropped it awkwardly, using the other hand to hook some hair behind her ear. "I'm Melody. I get kind of lost in my music when I'm listening to it. I should probably learn to multitask a little better." Part of the reason she changed her tone was the fact that she really didn't want to make any other enemies. The other was that she immediately found the girl interesting. She reminded Melody of a rock star or something, which she liked. She'd rather not get to know her as enemies. She'd had enough of those back home.

TAG: @clear

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Watching the girl take just a few short steps back, Ester was slightly caught off guard with the tone given to her, plus the way she apologized first. Well actually now that Ester's mind was slowly processing, that accent was definitely not Japanese. It sounded more... British. Then again, what would Ester know? She didn't really care too much for the accents. Even her own accent can just flush in out of no where.

Most importantly, why was she apologizing as if Ester was scolding at her for the fact that she bumped into her, even though Ester was the one that did the bumping. Damn, another person with a stick up their ass. As if Ester needed more of those to stress her out. It would be normal for Ester to simply argue back, but it was best not to try and rise up any drama, since she wasn't in the mood for it right now. Just for now.

Then, came a more proper apology; as if Ester's was proper to begin with, only it didn't have much sass in it. "You better be sorry." would've been the response Ester would say but instead she didn't end up saying it, luckily. Instead, what she said was "Don't sweat it, mistakes happen." with another yawn roaring faintly.

And finally, came the introduction. Melody; not a bad name at all, and fitting if the girl was a hardcore music lover like Ester. Not hardcore like Ester, but at least likes music a lot. "Ester." She introduced herself with just saying her name. Can't expect a sleepy girl to do much, honestly. But as always, whenever someone mentions music Ester couldn't help but show a little bit of interest. Maybe that was why Ester realized until now the girl didn't see Ester coming. "Oh? What song are you listening to?" She asked.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Melody paused for a moment. The girl was practically a zombie from tiredness. Maybe it wasn't actually her fault for once? Man, she'd been bumping into so many people with such bad results all week, she had nearly forgotten it wasn't always her fault. She grinned, then actually chuckled happily at the thought. Don't sweat it eh? Ester probably hadn't even noticed either. "Good to hear. Yeah, mistakes happen a lot around here, apparently," Melody admitted, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. At least her lunchroom shouting match hadn't made her -too- popular. It'd be a horrible thing to build a reputation on. She'd wanted to escape her old life when she came here, after all.

Melody held out her phone, still blaring the music she'd been playing, though it wasn't really audible without the headphones in in such a crowded, loud hallway. "I was listening to a bit of metal," she answered vaguely as she brushed some of her long, blond hair back over her shoulder and shifted her weight to her left leg. "I like to find people on the internet and listen to what they can do." Plus, she could compare herself to these people as she listened to the notes. Not the most accurate comparison method, but it did keep her motivated to keep practicing.

She kept her hand held out so that the girl could take a moment to sample the track. It was remix of something from Doctor who. It was incredibly popular in Britain, but the source wasn't important to Melody. The sound was. "You seemed more awake all of a sudden," Melody's eyes sparkled with interest. She loved meeting fellow music lovers... especially when it was in an out of class setting. "You're a music nut too then?"


TAG: @ester | Song Link

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Metal, huh? Ester had all respect and love for every genre there is; even country. ...Okay, country had a little less love from Ester, but that didn't necessarily stop her from liking it, at least. Metal was literally one of her favorite genres to listen to and others might think so too because... well, look at her. Do the piercings and definitely her hairstyle not explain it all? It wasn't a genre Ester was addicted to, but it is sure as hell badass to the max.

Listening to music made by various artists, bands, or even underground artists was one way Ester got inspired to get into the musical business; usually, she listens to any electronic dance music producer to to get her hype going or in case she needs to add more music. Maybe one day Ester would be able to show off her own songs to Melody, that is, if she listens to, well, the "heavier stuff" Ester likes to call it. Not that metal wasn't heavy or anything, but personally Ester would like to think she heard a genre that can be a lot "heavier."

Taking the phone and placing one earphone in her ear, did Ester began to listen to the song play. Before she knew it, she was slowly nodding her head to the song. Not bad, not bad at all. Her expectations weren't completely broken. Not even close to it. Ester was honestly expecting the typical type of metal, but this works too; she wasn't complaining at all by the looks of it.

Ester looked back at the girl as she was asked a question. "Yeah, music of all kind works for me, even if it's some cheesy old sympathetic piano music or something, but I prefer electronic dance music; it fits my style. Not that metal wouldn't fit my style, either." Ester explained, straightening her back a little. "Speaking of music, what else do you listen to?" She asked

MADE BY VEL OF GS

The way Ester moved to the music told the blond transfer student everything she needed to know. She'd found a fellow music fanatic - someone who appreciated music in all of its forms, even if not all of them were exactly to her tastes. The thought caused Melody to visibly relax a bit. Meeting new people was much harder when one didn't know what sort of thing to bond over. "EDM, huh? Now that's something to move to." It wasn't her favorite, but she loved anything with potential to move to it, and EDM was undeniably good to do that with. She was the type who enjoyed dancing by herself in her room in the middle of the night.

"I'm the same. We're like, musical soulmates," Melody half-joked as a hand shot up and brushed her bangs out of her face, hooking the stray strands of hair behind her ear for the time being. "And I have to admit, I kind of love your style. You look like you're in a band. Great hair, by the way." She meant it too. The look made her instantly recognizable, and not in a bad way, really. Not everyone could pull it off, but this girl certainly could.

Was Melody really taking the time to compliment random attractive girls' hair? She'd done this at least twice in the past week. She'd meant it each time; a good haircut did wonders for a girl, and a lot of girls around here seemed pretty attractive at a glance. She hadn't meant it as a flirt, but she supposed she could have... if she were confident enough to do so for real. Her last experience had ended in her being made fun of back home, and virtually ruining whatever reputation she actually did have.

"We could have lunch together if you've got time," Melody glanced away, crossing her arms. "I mean, you know, we could listen to music or whatever, compare tastes. I dunno." Well, that had come out of no where. She supposed she could use friends, especially ones that understood her weirdness with music. So why not extend the 'olive branch' of music to help it along, since she had the chance. "You seem cool is all. Like someone who would actually appreciate my collection on my phone."


TAG @clear | Yay random attempts at making friends!

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"It's not something to just move into, it's something you should move into." Ester corrected. It was nice to try and attempt people to get them into electronic dance music since it clearly deserves more recognition. God forbid most people would only know house, electro, and all that overplayed songs on the radio or in Ester's case, soft crap. Again, Ester wouldn't say she dislikes those genres, it just doesn't really fit her style. She still likes them nonetheless.

Ester gave a cocky smile, showing off that she was flattered as she ran some of her fingers through her hair, flipping it. "Thanks. I'd figure it'd be best to show my true colors rather than to just stay bland and boring about my style." Ester said, and that was a fact. She would always prefer to stand out to the crowd than to just stay dull about her style, no matter how negative anyone would think.

Now, should Ester really go down to lunch with this girl? Ester did ave class after all, but since she was tired she would probably just skip for now. Not only was she tired, but she was also a little hungry, and for the fact that she doesn't really want to face the risk of getting yelled at for being so late and standing outside the hallway as punishment. At first, Ester rose an eyebrow at the offer, but shrugged it off afterwards. 

"Well... I actually do have class right now. But, I'm probably gonna get in trouble anyway and I really don't want a teacher on my ass for being late and I'm kinda hungry... so whatever, we can go." Ester said, taking the offer. "You're not bad yourself. It's good to see someone else having a similar interest." She returned the compliment.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Melody allowed herself to grin slightly in amusement. Ester was that type of kid, huh? Melody had never quite been the kind to outright skip classes, but people used to assume she was when they didn't actually know her that well. They also made a lot of wrong, and right, other assumptions about her. One thing she did know though... being punished by teachers was no fun, though the punishments were rather different where she was from. Standing in the hall wasn't exactly a normal punishment at her old school in London.

A small chuckle came before the blond girl's next words as she raised a hand and attempted to smooth out some of the stray hair that refused to lay down quite right on her head. She had kind of a permanent 'attractive bedhead' kind of look. "Being embarrassed in front of the class is always a drag, yeah." Melody took back her phone and earbuds, poking at it and searching through songs. She stopped when she got to another song, reaching out to give the phone that was primarily a music player to her new 'sort of' friend. With luck they could be actual friends soon. Melody wanted a lot of those, if she could help it.

"I'm not as familiar with what makes this stuff 'good' compared to other songs, but... what's your opinion on this one?" she asked, having turned to one of the few EDM tracks she owned. She'd thought it had sounded interesting, though... it didn't really help her that much when it came to guitar.

The pair weaved through the students, with a lot more luck than Melody had had recently when it came to head-on collisions with people and objects. After a couple of minutes, they had made it to the cafeteria. There were a lot of people hungry today, apparently, but at least most of them weren't in line yet. "I plan to get better at understanding more types of music," she brushed her fingers through her hair, sending it back over her shoulder again. "I'm beginning to with EDM, but I'm a lot more familiar with traditional instruments and stuff."

TAG: @clear | EDM!

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Looking and taking the phone again, Ester plugged in one earphone in her ears so she can listen to the music being played as she followed Melody to the cafeteria for a few short minutes. Judging by the beat and rhythm overall, this was definitely some electro music she was listening to. To be honest, electro was never really her type of genre to listen to, but it could still go "hard" according to Ester. It wasn't that she didn't like it or anything, she just thought this was one of those overplayed/hyped songs that play on he radio everyday.


"Well... it's definitely a start to getting into EDM, I guess. I mean to be honest, electro songs like this make me think this would be one of those overplayed songs you'd hear on the radio. Still, I wouldn't say this song is too bad." Ester said as the two arrived to the cafeteria, looking around. Although she just said all of that, she was still listening to the song.

Ester could already smell some cafeteria food lingering in her nose, making her stomach rumble a little more. This called for some food. "Wanna get some lunch now? I'm still kind of starving. You know, didn't eat anything at all and stuff." She said.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Yeah, Melody still had a long way to go when it came to understanding the finer points of EDM. The truth was she liked it, but most of it sounded the same unless it was just too different not to notice. She didn’t want to tell Ester that, exactly. “You know,” she remarked aloud, “It’s really cool that you’re here for something as unique as EDM. It’s not something most people think of going to school for, myself included…” She shouldered her bag she was carrying her books in. “I don’t think people realize how much practice it is to be really great at stuff like that.” They said Melody was a musical prodigy, but that didn’t mean she was any good at EDM. She doubted she ever would be.



Ester was obviously hungry, and with the smells coming from the cafeteria, she couldn’t help but notice her own hunger. “I’m starving too!,” she exclaimed suddenly. How had she not even noticed?! Man, she really did have her head in the clouds lately. “C’mon, we should get in line,” she moved to position herself behind the students who had arrived before them. The line was painfully long, but it didn’t matter, she supposed. At least she had someone to talk to during lunch this time.



“So, aside from music, what else do you like?” Melody crossed her arms and glanced at Ester. “Do you like video games or anything?” Melody didn’t spend a ton of time on them, but she had some she’d brought with her for when she wasn’t practicing or doing school things.


TAG @clear | Awkward getting to know people banter!