Chapter Text
Chapter 3 - Three’s a company, ninety-seven’s a crowd
Clarissa has always hated classical music. She didn’t know if the hate stemmed from the violin lessons she took as a kid or because of constantly hearing it as she grew up. Her teacher would always yell at her for something she inevitably did wrong, and her father would always say that the true music of the world were the classics, not the things that the ‘riff-raffs’ played. Perhaps the reason that she loathed the genre stemmed from her deep hatred towards her father and teacher. She could still hear her teacher, telling her to fix her posture, to read the music correctly, to feel the music instead of playing it.
Her teacher was circling around Clarissa as the young girl maintained her playing position in the chair. The teacher swatted at her back with a ruler, and Clarissa cried out, both in pain and surprise. She straightened her back and the teacher tutted at her, swatting at her left arm. As she made her way to stand in front of Clarissa, the old woman’s pungent perfume was all that she could smell, causing her to cough and lose her ‘perfect’ posture. Her teacher scoffed and began to circle again.
“Clarissa, you must keep-” The voice of her old violin teacher melted away to the disembodied voices that occupied the concert hall, the gravelly voice of the old woman transforming into a cacophony of souls telling her what to do.
“ Back straight. Chest out. Do not. Miss notes. ”
The correction is made immediately, Clarissa focusing on the sheet music in front of her. Had this been a week ago, she might have called herself crazy for listening to the voice a dead orchestra, but they were… persuasive with their offer, and Clarissa couldn’t bear to refuse it. Her mind began to drift as she played, falling into comfort over the phrase of music that she had practiced many times before as well as thinking about what the ghost had told her.
The speaker that her guitar was hooked up to emitted an ear piercing screech and she stopped playing to cover her ears, glaring at the empty space of the concert hall. Her vision flickered for a moment, and she saw a figure glaring at her next to the speaker.
“ Focus. Girl .”
Clarissa gave a nod in acknowledgement and puts her hands back on her guitar, starting to play from the beginning. As she stared at the sheet music, she could feel the back of her head tingle, and soon she felt like she was fighting between focusing on the present and a distant memory. The more Clarissa played, however, the more her focus was directed to the memory, and soon the memory was at the center of her attention.
The concert hall dissolved and shifted into the backstage of an old auditorium, one that belonged to her old elementary school. Her guitar was gone, replaced with the familiar feel of her old violin, though it seemed almost alien in her hands now. A hand was placed on her shoulder and Clarissa jumped in surprise, looking up to the person who had just touched her. She almost cried at the sight of the person, relief washing over her.
Standing to her right, wearing a fine dress and a heartwarming smile, was her older sister, Adelaide. Clarissa could feel tears start to form in the corners of her eyes and Adelaide- Addie , Clarissa lovingly remembered- instantly knelt down, concern on her face, and placed a hand on her younger sister’s cheek. She used her thumb to gently wipe the tears away and Clarissa found herself leaning into the familiar, yet forgotten, feeling of comfort at the gesture.
“Clari, what’s wrong?” Addie’s voice, soft and warm, filled her ears and Clarissa’s heart breaks, starting to cry in earnest. Her older sister gave a hum of sympathy and pulled Clarissa into a hug, careful not to break her violin. She rubbed her younger sister’s back, trying to quiet her down. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m here.” Her words soon calmed Clarissa and the younger sister pulled back, rubbing her nose with the back of her free hand. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Clarissa nodded and began to open her mouth to speak, though the words she wanted to say became something else entirely, for she heard herself say: “I’m nervous to play in front of them.” Her older sister made a sound of realization and comfortingly ran her hand through Clarissa’s hair. “What if Father doesn’t enjoy what I play?”
“Ah.” Clarissa frowned at the noise and Addie gave her another sympathetic smile. “You’re afraid of messing up in front of Father, not the crowd.” The younger sister looked away, embarrassed at the truth and just nodded at her older sister. Addie grabbed Clarissa’s free hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. The familiar motion made Clarissa look back at her sister, who was smiling patiently at her.
“Well, I can say that everyone will be impressed with you. You’ve learned so much, Clari. Father will be delighted to hear you tonight.” Clarissa smiled at the words, feeling her confidence grow. If Addie says that she’ll make their Father proud, then she will. Addie was never wrong. “But, if you do get nervous, then you can always look at me. I’ll be sitting with Mother and Father. You know where we are, right?” Clarissa nodded, already knowing where to find them. “Good. I have to go now, Clari, but just keep your eye on me.” Addie kissed Clarissa on the cheek and stood up. “I love you, and I’ll always be there for you, remember that.”
“I love you too, Addie.” Her older sister gave a thumbs up and dashed out from backstage, most likely returning to her seat. Clarissa could hear the performance of the child before her come to an end only seconds later and she took a deep breath, wiping her hands on her dress. Her name was called and she steeled herself for the crowd that she was going to face.
The lights warmed her skin as she walked on stage, taking in the polite applause from the audience. Clarissa took a seat in the lone chair on stage and started to make sure that her posture was correct while her eyes scanned the crowds. If it wasn’t for the subtle wave that Addie was doing, she was sure she would’ve missed where her sister was sitting entirely. Taking another deep breath, Clarissa began to play. The music, although having practiced it for months, was eerily familiar, and she soon found herself playing the same notes on her guitar, the auditorium gone and the concert hall in its place.
The audience, though… they were still there. The indistinguishable and long forgotten faces of the people at her recital were gone, and in their place were tens of shadowy figures. Their bodies were hard to make out, and if it wasn’t for the white eyes, Clarissa would have thought that the lights over the seating was turned off.
In the back of her mind, knew that she shouldn’t react so casually to the sight. That something was very, very wrong. She could feel herself falter, staring at the abyssal crowd, but movement in the corner of her vision made her look over and her worries melted. There, in the crowd, like she promised, was Addie. She was smiling at the guitarist, full of pride and joy. Clarissa felt herself grin at her older sister, practically beaming and filled with happiness.
The smile on Addie’s face disappeared moments later, and Clarissa watches, in horror, as Addie herself seems to pulsate, shifting between the person Clarissa is looking at and the all too familiar sight of her older sister donned in a hospital gown. She can feel her stomach drop as, once again, the concert hall is gone, this time replaced by a hospital room. Her hands are gripping Addie’s, holding on tight to her sister.
The rhythmic beeps coming from the heart monitor ground her in the memory, but she doesn’t dare look up. Clarissa knows what she’ll see if she does. Her sister, once seemingly immortal, bedridden with a sallow face and dull eyes. She doesn’t want to ruin the memory of the lively girl that her sister is. That her sister was . But Addie always thought in the opposite direction, and she squeezed her younger sister’s hand.
Clarissa looked up, tears running down her face, as Addie gave her a loving smile. Somehow, even burdened by pain and illness, she was still able to show love and joy. “Clari, don’t be sad. You know that I’ll always be there for you. No matter what.” The words only make Clarissa cry harder, practically launching herself at her sister to give her one final hug.
I’m doing this for you, Addie.
The concert hall is back and Clarissa’s concern is gone, replaced with determination. Determination to please the spirits. Determination to finish the song. Determination to see her sister again. The sudden wave of emotion allowed her to finish the first part of the song strong, and she could hear the voices, murmuring, talking about her. With a blink, the ‘audience’ is gone, and she let out a sigh, relieved to have finished.
A singular voice spoke out over the murmurs of the others, much calmer than before.
“ Practice more. Need to get better. For us. For you. Do not forget. The deal. Sweet Adelaide for our. Freedom. ”
“I remember. And I will.” Clarissa could feel the spirits almost disappear, becoming something like a light pressure on her temples, and she took that as a sign to begin to pack her belongings up. As she did so, the door to the concert hall opened, and Clarissa looked up, watching an old woman walk in. The two gave a polite nod at the other and in a few seconds the guitarist was done and slipped her guitar case over her back. She hopped off the stage, landing gracefully on the floor below.
The older woman, who Clarissa recognized as Maggie, the owner, smiled at Clarissa as the young woman walked by. Clarissa started to return the smile but as she passed, the ghosts began to scream about the old woman and the guitarist put her hand on her head in pain, walking faster to get away from Maggie. Their voices grew quieter the farther away she got, but the searing pressure in her head did not fade, causing her to have to sit outside on the curb. She cradled her head in her hands and prayed that she could get this done, and soon.
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Alex shut her truck door behind her, staring up at the somewhat bland building that belonged to Studio 2. She figured that for a place that was easily the top dance studio in the city, it would stand out more among the apartments and restaurants that dotted the streets. The entire building seemed like it was just made out of concrete and glass, and if it wasn’t for the wooden floorboards that could be seen inside, Alex would’ve have guessed that it really was.
But she wasn’t here to judge architecture, and decided to stop stalling from doing what she came there for. Swallowing a slight lump in her throat, she entered the building, careful not to let the door slam shut behind her. The lobby area of the dance studio was rather eccentric, with modern art sculptures dotting the halls and exquisite paintings lining the walls, the light from outside coming in to accentuate every detail of the works of art.
Besides the decorations, the area was fairly empty, with only a few people passing by or leaving the building. Figuring that nobody was going to pay her too much mind, Alex walked down the one hall in front of her, relieved when it led to a staircase and a small building map. Upon closer inspection of the map, she found that the lower floor of the building consisted of office spaces for the owners of the dance studio, as well as other business focused spaces. The second floor housed the dance rooms themselves, and Alex headed up the stairs, determined to find who she was looking for.
The top floor was similarly decorated like the floor below, with various art pieces and paintings, but this time there were multiple rooms with glass doors that faced a central area where benches were. There was a slight hum of music coming from some of the rooms, but nothing noticeable could be heard. Alex walked towards the center, glancing into each room as she walked. The sight of a familiar figure, short, black hair moving with her body, instantly caught her attention, and Alex paused in front of the glass door, simply watching.
Nona moved with unbelievable grace, and, although Alex couldn’t hear the music clearly, she could guess that the dancer was in sync with it. Her loose shirt flowed with her, the motions causing the shirt to fly up, showing a toned stomach that caused her observer to swallow and cough at the sight. Perhaps it was the coughing or the sudden motion that Nona saw in the mirror of the room, but Nona turned around to look at Alex, slight confusion on her face until she realized who it was, and motioned for her to enter.
Embarrassed about being caught, Alex sheepishly entered the room, taking in the wall high mirrors and the small sounds system that Nona had set up. It was humble, only a single speaker that was connected to, what could only be assumed as, Nona’s phone. There was also a bag leaning against the speaker with a water bottle next to it, the water inside moving just a little bit as the speaker continued to play music. Nona walked in front of her belongings, bending down to grab something, and Alex looked away, not wanting to stare.
The room grew silent as the music was turned off and Alex shifted her weight from one foot to the other, not sure of what to do. In the corner of her eye, she saw Nona stand up from her bag, water bottle in hand, and she looked back in Nona’s direction. She gave Alex a shy smile and walked up to her, the two a few feet apart.
“What’s up, Alex? Is something wrong?” A part of Alex hated that Nona’s first thought that the reason why she was in the dance studio was because something went wrong. Another part of her understood the logic, for Alex had never stopped by before, so a simple visit might have seemed unusual to her.
Alex shook her head, flashing Nona a grin. “No, nothing’s wrong. Everyone’s okay.” She rubbed the back of her head, suddenly nervous.
Nona’s smile turned into a frown, her brows furrowed most likely in confusion. “Oh. Well, um. Why are you here? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Well, I had the day off from the radio station and I wanted to spend some time in the city. Plus, ever since I realized you were one of the people here last week, I wanted to see you-” Alex’s cheeks grew hot as Nona began to smile, an unknown light in her eyes as Alex spoke. But she was too afraid of the unknown if she let that sentence be all that was spoken, and hastily tried to correct herself. “-To see your dancing techniques in person.” Her voice faltered at the end of the phrase, and couldn’t help but wince as she noticed Nona’s smile falter, ever so slightly, when she ‘corrected’ herself.
After Alex stopped talking, Nona began to play with the bottom of her own shirt, biting on her bottom lip as she looked away from the other woman, as if she was contemplating something. With a hum, she moved to place her water bottle down and started to scroll through her phone before selecting something. A different song than before, Alex noted, and curiously watched as Nona walked towards Alex again, smiling. “You want me to show you some things?”
Alex nodded, reciprocating Nona’s smile. “Of course.” The other woman’s smile grew into a grin and she held her hand out towards Alex, motioning towards it with her head. “What… are you doing?”
“You’re in my place, Alex. If you’re going to be here, you need to learn the basics.” There was a confidence in Nona’s voice that Alex hadn’t heard before, and she would’ve mulled over it more had it not been for the sudden realization that she would have to show her atrocious dance moves to her old high school crush.
Alex frantically waved her hands, taking one step back. “Oh no, that’s okay. I ca-I can’t dance.” Sudden memories of falling and ripping dresses at formal and school dances flashed through Alex’s mind, steeling her resolve on the matter.
Nona laughed, the sound causing Alex to falter. It sounded like wind chimes, melodic and high pitched, but not enough to cause the sound to be distasteful. Nona took a step towards her, extending her hand, the two barely apart from each other now. The sudden lack of space in between them caused Alex to swallow, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “In high school, you always told me that anyone can play an instrument. I’m telling you that anyone can dance.” Nona slowly moved her hand closer, starting to lace their fingers together.
Alex was still nervous, worried about making a fool of herself as well as whatever was currently happening between her and Nona. She had never seen the woman act this way, always sure that she was the quiet, shy person. It seemed that her attitude completely changed when she was in a place she was comfortable in, and a part of Alex berated herself for thinking that she could get away scot free without dancing, in a dance studio . However, if memory served correct, Alex knew that she could trust Nona, and she made up her mind, moving the rest of the distance with her hand.
The taller woman let Nona lead her into the middle of the room, letting go of her hand and facing the mirror with Alex doing the same. Nona smiled up at her and started to explain what she was going to show her, and slowly began to move like she described. Alex tried to follow by example, but her movements were too jerky and was clearly over thinking what she was doing. It only took a few more minutes of this for Nona to stop Alex with a gentle hand on her arm.
She moved behind Alex, hands on the woman’s arms, and began to guide her. “It’s like this. You need to keep your body relaxed, let yourself feel the music.” The taller woman does as she instructs, but her arm muscles tense up and suddenly she can feel Nona’s grip on her tighten, the shorter woman coughing behind Alex.
Concerned, she tried to look behind her, only catching a glimpse of a smile and red cheeks before Nona started to move her arms again, making her look forward again. When she felt Nona press herself against her back, Alex’s face great heated, blushing at the contact. In that moment, Alex instantly decided that she would continue to let Nona teach her, if only to let this contact last for as long as she could. And she could also pick up some tips along the way, she figured.
That is, until her arms started to grow sore, not used to the activity, and she voiced her concern to Nona, who perfectly understood her pain. The shorter woman let go, stepping back, her cheeks somewhat pink as she went to turn the music off. “You were good, Alex. I’m impressed.”
The aforementioned woman laughed in delight, stretching her arms out as she watched Nona collect her things. “I couldn’t have done it without a great teacher.” The compliment threw Nona off guard, as she paused for a few seconds before continuing with her task. “Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you, instead,” Nona said, voice somewhat muffled as she was facing away from Alex.
“Thanking me for what?”
“For listening. And letting me teach you.” Nona turned to face Alex, a small smile on her face. She started to roll the speaker into the corner and Alex rushed over, helping her.
Alex put her hands in her pockets, still watching Nona. “Why don’t you let me repay you? For the… dance stuff. It’s the least I can do, since I probably messed up your schedule.” Nona threw her bag over her shoulder and tilted her head in confusion at Alex.
“Repay me with what? Alex, we’re friends, it was the least I could do. Besides, you probably were going to get bored of just watching me do a routine over and over again.”
“No, come on. I’ll treat you to lunch. Plus, we can catch up with each other.” Nona’s smile dropped, and she looked hesitant to accept. “It’ll be like old times. Come on, you know you want to,” Alex almost pleaded with her, giving her a wide smile.
Nona snorted in laughter at Alex’s expression and gave an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, I’ll go. But only if you let me pick where we go.” Alex’s face lit up, a genuine grin now on her face. Without a second thought, she grabbed Nona’s hand and ran out of the room, the shorter woman crying out in surprise as she did so. Her scream caused a few people to look up in surprise and the two couldn’t help laugh at the situation, still running, together, down and outside of the building.
It was moments like these that two understood why they had a crush on the other in high school, so many years ago. It wasn’t hard to see why, and the two silently contemplated these thoughts on the ride to the restaurant that Nona chose.
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If there was one thing that Jonas hated the most about his major, it had to be the amount of papers that he had to write. With notes and printed out papers strewn about the couch and coffee table, it seemed like Jonas had no sense of organization, picking up one thing for a second and then tossing it aside a moment later. However, the man was rather organized with his thoughts, having made solid progress on this essay since he had started it three hours ago. But the mind could only take so much, and Jonas knew that it was time for a break. Stretching, he ran a hand through his hair and repositioned his glasses to make sure they didn’t fall from his face.
He picked his laptop off of his lap and gently placed it on the coffee table, getting up so he could both stretch his legs out and grab a quick snack. Just as he was about to unwrap a Clif Bar, someone started knocking on the apartment door. Jonas paused, waiting to hear the sound of a key turning the lock, but when no such sound occurred, he grew concerned. He wasn’t expecting anyone at the apartment, and Alex was out, and he began to approach the door. The knocking started again, this time a bit louder, and Jonas opened the door, expecting a neighbor.
The sight of a familiar keyboardist, however, was not what he was expecting. Instead of greeting Jonas with a joke, Ren was busy staring at him, cheeks colored pink. Jonas, realizing that he was dressed in pajama bottoms and a ratty t-shirt, suddenly grew self conscious of his appearance and cleared his throat. “Can I help you, Ren?”
The man looked up at Jonas, locking eyes with him. “You… wear glasses.” He blushed, subconsciously touching the frames of them, glancing away from Ren.
“Yeah... Um, so, Alex isn’t here, she’s out right now-” Ren, having seemingly collected himself, slipped past Jonas and he walked into the apartment. He groaned in annoyance and shut the door behind him, turning to face the Ren.
The man dismissively waved at Jonas, peering over the couch and reading the papers on the cushions. Jonas hurried over and started to pick up his notes and placing them on the coffee table, not wanting to let his work be read.
“It’s fine, I just stopped by to grab something that Alex borrowed,” Ren said as he walked towards Alex’s room, opening the door and closing it behind him. Sighing in relief, Jonas ran his hand through his hair and sat down to continue working on his essay. In what seemed like only a few minutes, Ren was out of the room, empty handed. At Jonas’s raise eyebrow, the man began to speak. “It wasn’t in there but I figured that I might just stay and wait for Alex to come back.”
“Okay… There’s not much you can do though.” Jonas kept his eyes glued to his screen, typing away. He grunted when Ren jumped onto the couch, the cushions shifting and the springs below creaking in protest. He was thankful that the other man didn’t strike up a conversation with him, respecting the fact that he had to work. But, eventually, he could feel the couch shake ever so slightly as Ren bounced his legs up and down in boredom. Jonas sighed and closed his laptop, shifting papers on the coffee table so he could grab the remote and tossed it to his friend, the man catching it and eagerly turning it on to flip through a channel.
“You can pick whatever you want. I can’t work on my paper anymore so… we might as well just watch some TV as we wait for Alex,” Jonas said, shifting so that he could get comfortable on the couch, stretching out and putting his hands behind his head. He raised his eyebrow at Ren when the man stopping flipping channels at a competitive cooking show. He seemed completely engaged in it, grinning at the tension shown on screen and hearing the cooks talk about what they were going to do with the secret ingredients.
Jonas scoffed at one of the cooks who was explaining his plan in an interview. Ren looked at him, a grin on his face. “What?”
“Are you a professional chef now?” Ren asked, leaning backwards, somewhat closer to Jonas than he was before. “Going to start spitting out how they should have fixed their ingredients before cooking?”
Jonas shook his head with a small laugh, shaking his finger. “First, that’s called mise en place. And second, no. I just watch a lot of cooking shows.” At Ren’s raised eyebrow and smile, Jonas adds to his sentence. “I think they’re cool, that’s all.”
Ren chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Alright, whatever you say, Chef Jonas.” The man grumbled at the nickname, rolling his eyes.
The two kept watching the show, with Jonas shouting out at the tv about the chefs and their ‘improper technique.’ However, when Ren slowly started to lean in closer to Jonas, with his head rest against the others chest, Jonas could feel his heartbeat in his ears, nervous for what this meant and for how he was supposed to act in this situation.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the door to the apartment swung open, two people chatting as they walked in. The two men on the couch jumped up, blushing from being caught. Jonas was surprised to see Nona walk in with Alex, the two deep in conversation. But at the sudden movement of the two men, Alex looked their way and smiled wider at them, starting to ask Ren what he was doing here. Nona, however, was staring at Jonas with a knowing look and a smirk on her face, and he responded by looking away, his blush darkening. He quickly followed Ren and Alex into the kitchen, promising to make dinner for all of them. His sister agreed immediately, making way for her brother to get his own recipe book that he bought, with her grabbing the ingredients.
Ren cheered, jumping up on the counter and watching the two siblings work in synch, and Nona leaning against the counter near Alex. The four talked about their days, all genuinely interested in what happened to the other. It was obvious that the group of friends were happy to see each other again, and to fall into a familiar rhythm like the one they had in high school.