Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody at the Great Academy of Music and Acoustic Art

by ProfDrDrPille

1 - I don't want to go

Author's Note:

To your own Information: The Characters in the Story are humans.

I sighed while I looked out of the window beside my bed, all the driveways in the neighbourhood were already empty. It seemed quite lonely: my mom's car was the only car in a driveway. All the houses in the neighbourhood looked identical: you could easily get lost in this endless seeming row of identical buildings with perfectly neat lawns and driveways completely free of all moss.

“Come on, Vinyl! Get dressed! We're late!” my mother shouted from the kitchen. There was really no need to shout. The kitchen was, just like my room, directly attached to the staircase and due to the cheap construction you could easily hear every noise in the whole house. That's why I always had to wear headphones when I wanted to listen to music. Not that I disliked wearing my headphones, I liked the way I could withdraw myself from the outside world. Additionally they made me feel special: my trademark.

“Yeah, mom,” I replied and rolled my body out of the bed. Still tired, I went to the wardrobe and pulled out the last tank top and threw it on my bed. It was black and my favourite one.
There were some headphones out of glitter and strass (matching my real ones perfectly) printed on it. Besides it landed my favourite skirt and some underwear. The skirt was dyed in different shades of blue similar to my hair. I liked the way these colours seemed to dance when I shook my head. Quickly I got undressed and looked at myself in the mirror hanging on the wall.

“You look terribly tired,” I said to myself, before I put on the clothes I had prepared. My eyes were already aching from the brief muments of sunlight, so I put on my sunglasses. My pyjamas went into the large blue sports bag beside my bed. Carefully, I checked that my cupboard was empty and carried the bag past the room my little brother usually slept in. Today he had a sleepover at his friend's and therefore he wasn't here to say goodbye.
In the staircase leading down there were four family pictures hanging on the wall. I looked at them, a feeling of sadness welling up in my chest. Mom and dad's wedding, one showing my brother, mom and me at his first day of school, another one from our vacation at Umi Waterworld with mom, dad and my brother. Except for that day it had been raining the whole week. The last one showed mom holding my little brother in her arms next to dad. At the end of the stairs my mom was waiting for me.

“Good morning, dear,” she said gently, smiling like she always did. I tried to smile back, but it didn't seem very authentic. Tiredly, I looked in her blue, supporting eyes, helping me waking up. Or it was the fresh air coming from the open window that gave me a little wake-up-kick in my butt.

“Morning, mom,” I said while I carried the bag into the hallway.

“I've made your favourite breakfast”

“Thank you,” I said. I had smelled the freshly baked puff pastry from my room, and there they were, sitting on the table were the delicious pieces of pastry waited for me to eat them. Hungrily grinning, I sat down and grabbed the first bit of deliciousness laying on my plate. I still don't know what they're called, but I'd describe them as puff pastry filled with bacon. It's not that special at all, but I still remember the first time I tasted them. It was the first morning in this home when I shyly sneaked downstairs and found mom waiting for me like today.

Snapping out of my memories back into the unpleasant realty I complained, “I don't want to go!”

“You'll like it once you're there.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You are a friendly and talented girl. You like to work hard and reach your goal, don't you?”

“Yes, but...”

“And your goal is to become a famous DJ”

“Yes, but I don't want to leave my friends.”

“You'll make new friends soon.”

“What if I don't like my schoolmates?”

“They are all very talented and kind, like you. You'll like them.”

“Sounds like a temple for boring nerds.”

“Don't say such thing, you don't know them.”

“Yeah, but...”

“Apart from this, such a chance won't come again,” my mother told me.

I sighed and looked down.

“I'd call it the chance of your life,” mom finished, and looked at the clock saying,“ Come on, we need to go!”

“Okay, mom,” I said flatly and stood up. Picking up my bag I dragged my feet over to the old Ford Fiesta. I loaded my bag into the car and got into the car with my mom, who started the engine and drove towards the freeway. I put on my headphones and started to listen to my playlist.

I loved my headphones. I may have said that already, but it's the truth. Their design suited me perfectly well. The very best was the sound. It was so clear and the low-frequency were stunning. I feel amazing when I listen to my own tracks: the bass seem to float through my entire body while the melody penetrates my mind.

After some time of losing myself to the world of music we arrived at the campus. I got out of the car and looked around. Mom helped me take my bag and said, “Promise to be careful. I'll miss you, dear.”

“Yeah, mom, I’ll miss ya too”

“I love you, Vinyl.” My mom gave me a hug and smiled.

“Love ya, too.”

She looked at the complex of buildings in front of us. After some moments of silence she said admiringly, “Wow, look at that campus, it must cover thousands of square meters.”

I nodded silently.

“Look at that giant hall, you could easily perform an opera in this.”

“Yeah, I read 'bout this, that's the hall where all the big concerts are held.”

“I will come and listen to your performance at the Advent Concert.”

“Thank you, mom.”

“I think you should hurry now,” she gave one last hug before she drove away.

Now I was standing there. A heavy bag to carry, at a new school, alone. I stood there for some moments and looked at the giant complex. I was standing on the parking area. On the left hand side I could see the big hall my mom talked about. It looked like an old theatre and was decorated with ornate statues and sculptures of instruments and people playing them. Next to it I spotted a modern building, made with lots of cement and metal walls. I couldn't define its purpose. In the centre there was another quite new building that looked like my former school. There was an entrance out of glass and many big windows. Finally on the right hand side there was an old building again. The windows were small and the frames weren't from this century. Silently, I asked myself weather this complex had seen the Second World War. I hoped that I didn't have to sleep in that old hovel. After that I decided to search for the meeting hall.
I saw a crowd with suitcases and large bags in front of a small stage. ‘That must be the newbies’ I said to myself while I joined them. ‘Why do I have to be here with all this nerdy geeks?’

A woman walked out onto the stage and tapped the microphone twice, getting our attention.

“Hello, students,” she spoke to us, “I'm Principal Escala, but that is no reason for escalation,” she joked badly. Most of the students were laughing or at least pretending.

I wasn't.

“We've had enough of jokes, so let's move on. You are the best of the best. You are the elite. The best young musicians, instrumentalists, composers and singers in the world. You came here to learn more about music and become even better.”

‘That bitch forgot DJs’ I thought.

Angrily I stopped listening. Instead I looked at the students standing next to me. The boys wore ties and white shirts whilst the girls wore dresses and necklaces. I felt like the odd one out in this crowd of stiff and boring nerds.

“There are lists hanging out with your room number. Boys over there and girls over there. Now you can go and get to know your roommate,” she said finally and left the stage.

I sighed with relief and trotted with the crowd to the lists. Everyone wanted to be the first one to be in his room after this exhausting speech, so there was a squash. After a while I reached the list and searched for my name. At least it was in alphabetical order, so I found my name quickly. I got room 132A. Eager to see what roommate I may get, I went towards the old building that indeed turned out to be my home for however long I’ll be here for. My room was on the first floor, which the lazy part of me rejoiced in. I walked the hallway along and looked at the ascending room numbers. The hallway continued to the right and my room was on the left. I looked at a window and saw some birds flying over a meadow. I touched the door handle in order to open the door and sighed.