Meteronome of Love

by JN

Verse Three: Crescendo

Octavia's hands are soft, as a girl's should be, but her fingertips firm just like mine. I somehow knew this. There was no way I could miss it.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat pointedly.

"Huh?"

I'm not sure what kind of a moment we were having there. Seconds turned into minutes, and she still hadn't let go of my hands. Rather, as I continued to look upon her, Octavia Melody's face grew mysteriously pink.

"Do you..."

She swallowed once. Her expression, now unreadable as opposed to the cool and intelligent smirk she was wearing before, betrayed nothing as she timidly asked, "Do you think anything about this at all?"

I was at a loss for words.

"I..."

I took a moment to think on it. Her actions. Her words. How was I meant to respond to all that?

The answer I should choose here is...

"...Thanks," I spoke very tentatively, "I guess? For loving my hands?"

And then, something amazing happened. The face of the girl standing in front of me went through three transformations all within a miraculous matter of seconds— first to shock, then disgust, and finally resignation.

She let my hands go and turn around swiftly. As Octavia did so I could barely make out the sound of a word—

"...Idiot."

I perked up. "What?"

"I said," she spoke turning back to face me, now indignant, a finger pointed in my direction, "You, Jaemin Song, will appear in this park at the same time tomorrow afternoon! Now that we are both on summer vacation, I trust completely that you have nothing but free time! Do you understand me?"

There was a fire lit in her eyes. A face I hadn't seen on her before. No— this one seemed familiar. Maybe. Had we met somewhere before today after all? And what was with that assertion that I had nothing but free time just because school was out for the summer? I could be going on vacation somewhere! Not that I was, but...

Octavia turned around and briskly walked away, her heels clicking satisfyingly against the brick path, her body language clearly telling me that this was no longer a "walk and talk" affair.

She paused right before the gates of the exit and looked back at me with the most serious expression I had seen her make that entire afternoon.

"Bring your instrument, Jaemin."

---

"NO WAY!"

Ow! Girl, seriously? You're still on my chest. Don't use me as a launching pad with your arms just because you're shocked!

"She said that? Seriously? That's even better than a number, dude! You can see her again in person!"

Alexis pumped her fist, still sitting on me but clearly not minding how her weight pressed on me each time she made a violent movement. "Man, you had me straight up worried for a while, Jamie!" She looked annoyingly proud. Smug, even.

I made a face at her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, cause you just don't get out dude! I mean seriously! You don't make friends, you don't talk to girls—"

"Hey," I protested, "you did not need to add that last bit—"

"So I was worried you'd stay a loner for the rest of your life! Don't you know how much that would weigh on me as your childhood friend?" She finished as she feigned a look of despair, like a damsel in distress. The gesture looked so wildly unfitting on her that it made me cringe.

"Oh, sure it would. Was it just my imagination when I thought you were just monopolizing me this whole time?"

A "pfft" noise left her mouth as she grinned at me smugly. "In your dreams, loverboy!"

"Oh, you wound me." I feigned jokingly myself, a hand over my face as if I were shedding crocodile tears.

"Jokes aside," the blue-haired girl sitting on my lap stared at me with a serious look on her face. "You're going to go see her, right? She even told you to bring your cello! That has to mean something."

I paused, averting her crimson gaze. What did I want to do?

There was no basis for seeing Octavia Melody again, even with an invitation. To begin with, the circumstances of our first meeting were just too strange. The way she was so receptive to me made it feel as if she were expecting me. And why did she want me to bring my cello? What was the point? All that, and the way she moved, walked, talked... the emotions they made me feel were so alien that my heart couldn't keep up. She was dangerous.

I wanted to see her. But at the same time, every fibre of my being rejected the idea.

"I don't know," I said as I eyed a piece of lint on my pillow, "I don't think it's gonna happen."

Almost a minute of silence. I couldn't read her expression with my eyes averted.

"Seriously?" I looked back at Alexis when she broke the silence. Her eyes had narrowed, and her expression was a mixture of anger and something I couldn't put my finger on. "You're just gonna let this go?" Her tone shifted away from the usual jokingness into something much graver.

"Wh..." My mouth was agape at this uncharacteristic behavior from Alexis. "What's it to you? Does it really matter if I go see this Octavia person anyway? She's a celebrity, right?"

I sighed. "It has to be some kind of prank. She's a famous musician. She needs to practice, go places, be someone. There's no way she'd show even if I went."

That's right.

Dark thoughts clouded my vision as I stared at the ceiling, past the bright blue hair of my childhood friend.

Don't expect anything. Don't want for anything. That way...

I'll never be hurt. Never again.

A sudden, sharp pain struck my chest.

"Ow!"

I rubbed the spot where Alexis had suddenly slammed her fist.

"What's your problem?!" I asked incredulously.

"Don't even start, Jamie!" She spat back, now furious. "Why are you doing this to yourself!?" She punched me again to punctuate her words. "Again?!"

Confusion riddled my brain. "I beg your pardon?!"

"Forget it!"

Once again, Alexis used me as a launching pad and shot out of my bed, onto her feet, and began storming out of my room.

"Like I care who you see or where you go!"

She stopped herself from exiting the room with one hand on my doorframe.

A pause.

"I hate when you get like this."

And the door to my room slammed shut.

I stared incredulously at my door, the sight of her back burned into my retinas as I heard her footsteps descend down the stairs and then into nothing.

"..."

I sighed as I let my head fall back onto my pillow. Pissing off two different girls in the same day. What exactly am I doing wrong?

---

A day had passed. Alexis hadn't returned any of my calls nor had she texted me back (though, my phone tells me all my messages are in fact being read). Although I knew where she lived, and could easily walk there in under thirty minutes, something told me that showing up at her door right now would surely put me on the express train to the afterlife.

Uncle had left the house early on some business. I was alone and with nothing but free time, I spent the entire morning cleaning the house. One of the few things I could always do well was housework, although my cooking still needs a little work. Uncle promised me that he'd help me improve one of these days, and I'm holding him to that in addition to teaching me how to brew coffee like him.

With my floors polished so clean I could see my reflection in them, I took a cold shower, ate breakfast, and once again, found myself in bed, staring at the ceiling with so little happening in my brain that my thoughts would appear as a straight line on any audio visualizer.

...

"I guess..."

I slowly rose and walked to my closet.

Hesitantly at first, but then with slow confidence, I put my hand on the knob, twist, then pull.

The case of my cello leaned against the corner within, coated with a fine layer of dust. The carbon fiber black finish of the outside stared back at me like a deep, dark void.

Once upon a time, when I was much younger, I hurled this case and all my sheet music contained within and shut the door. Thinking I no longer had the right to be a musician after such an act of outrage, I never came near this part of my closet again for six years.

Yet, today I reached for it.

"I'll go see her."

---

Another perfect spring day. The kind of weather that made me want to throw up.

I made my way back to the park with little trouble, my mind scrambled with various thoughts. Alexis' face from the other day kept appearing before me, and whenever it did, I felt a mixture of confusion at her reaction, anger with her inexplicable behavior, and then revulsion at myself for whatever I did to hurt her like that. I made a decision to see her later that day even if it did kill me, after whatever was going to happen with Octavia Melody.

Speaking of which...

I eventually came to stand before the gates of the park once more, and the path to the garden was laid out cleanly before me.

Deep breaths, Jaemin. She probably won't be there. Don't get your hopes up. You know what happens when you do.

With these thoughts in mind, I stepped forward.

And when I rounded the corner of the entrance... A field of grass, surrounded by flowers. Not a speck of litter to be seen. No people. No Octavia Melody. I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Yeah, I should've known—"

Suddenly, my vision went black. An electric current shocked my spine.

Something... soft. Covering my eyes. A set of delicate, feminine fingers.

"Guess who?"

A voice which clearly wasn't used to mischievousness spoke into my ear. But I relaxed. I know whose voice that was.

"I didn't know it was in your nature," I spoke calmly despite my racing heart, "to play tricks like this."

"Maybe not at first glance," she went on, "but I'm just like any other girl. I like to have my fun."

Octavia released my eyes. "That said, you don't seem like the type that handles getting snuck up on very well. I apologize for scaring you."

I turned to face her, a little annoyed. I thought I kept my reaction pretty mellow, and her seeing right through me was a blow to my pride. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, it was obvious," she smiled sweetly. That was unfair. That smile compared to what she was wearing today — an airy-looking white blouse combined with a stylish combination of a skirt and thigh-high socks — was unfair.

"Whenever you get nervous, your shoulders seize up, and your hands get jittery."

My eyes went wide. Something only my Uncle or Alexis had ever observed or pointed out... she noticed?

"You—" I was about to say something in retaliation, when...

"Thank you."

I stopped short. Octavia spoke while facing down, a behaviorism I hadn't seen from her. She looked... vulnerable. Was she being timid?

"Really. Thank you for showing up."

I looked down, noticing her hands clutching the hem of her skirt.

"...No problem," I said hurriedly, trying to move the conversation along, "I uh— brought it. My instrument."

Octavia held up her head once more, her face and hands now neutral, switching her attitude almost instantly. "I knew that. A cello, is it? A bit cumbersome, but no matter."

She cleared her throat. "Play for me, Song."

"Bach's Prelude."

Author's Note:

Crescendo: Meaning growing, as in a swelling of sound, or becoming louder.