As The Music Plays... - 1. Chapter 1

Jade’s fingers glided over the delicate strings of her violin. The bow extended from her hand as if the wood and horsehair had magically become part of her flesh and bone. It wasn’t a part of her, it completed her. The music was breathtaking. She played a complex melody, powerful and full of emotions that enchanted the growing crowd. All eyes were on the tall, dark haired girl as people pushed closer while her music drifted across the evening air.

It was unseasonably warm for early April. Winter had been long and bitter cold. Most of the campus had come out to enjoy the first tantalizing tastes of spring. The air was crisp and clean after months of snow. The ground was finally sprouting green blades of grass, and tiny buds were starting to form on the empty tree limbs. The world was anew.

Several more students strolled along the paved walkways that intertwined in the center of the park. They were drawn towards the music, joining the swelling crowd. The beautiful outdoor space was shaped with mature trees lining the multiple trails branching out in different directions. Some pathways headed back towards campus, while others wound towards the quiet little town that bordered the university.

The crowd murmured when Jade stood up, closed her dark eyes, and pulsed with the frantic tempo of the music. She was mesmerizing. Benches throughout the park gave inviting spots for young lovers to sit, talk and enjoy the peaceful park, or on a night like tonight, for Jade to play her music, charming the public.

She had tried to convince the other members of their string quartet to join her, but the boys had other plans for a Saturday night. Jade, on the other hand, lived for her music. She breathed in the melody, biting her bottom lip and shaking her wild black hair, accented with shocks of purple, green, and electric blue.

Jade Chan knew the effect she had on people and she craved the cheers and rounds of applause that echoed through the park when the music came to a crashing finish.

“That was amazing,” a group of guys shouted their praise as several sets of eyes caressed her body. Dressed in jeans, chunky boots, and a paint-splattered t-shirt still didn’t deter their lewd stares. She didn’t encourage them, but what woman didn’t want to be lusted after?

The moment lingered while several more classmates complimented Jade. She was a music major, and anyone who was into the performing arts knew who she was. It wasn’t arrogance; it was fact. Thanking a group of students, Jade noticed a stunning young woman standing in the back of the crowd.

Piercing blue eyes shone behind a thick veil of dark red eyelashes. They were bright and intense and cut right through the mass of people standing in the park. Jade gasped as the girl’s eyes locked on hers and penetrated her hard protective shell. It had been months since she had felt an attraction so strong, so fast. She wanted to talk to the beautiful girl, but before Jade could push her way through the crowd, she was gone. The girl turned and ran into the night.

“Hey, wait,” Jade called out towards her back. People glanced around, curious to whom the young musician was shouting, but it was too late.

The girl quickly navigated the pathway, until Jade could no longer make out the pattern on her purple flannel shirt. “Come back!” Jade shouted, still surrounded by people waiting to compliment her skills. It was useless, Jade stood helplessly watching the woman disappear into the dark.

***

“Why didn’t you chase after her?” Shawn questioned Jade for the hundredth time.

Jade rolled her eyes, frustrated that her roommate had asked the same question again. “I already told you, it happened so fast. One moment, I was gazing into the face of the woman of my dreams, and the next second she was gone.”

“But you should have--”

“Damnit Shawn, I couldn’t just drop everything to run after her. My backpack and violin case were still sitting under the park bench with my wallet and keys… and that crowd was massive.” A confident grin split across Jade’s pretty face. “You should have seen them; they were hanging on every note.”

“Did you at least get a good look at which direction she went?”

Nodding her head bounced colorful locks around Jade’s face. The young musician was an Asian beauty. Her dark eyes were accentuated with thick black lashes. Bold shimmers of purple highlighted her heavy lids that closed under the memory of the vanishing young girl. “Yeah, I saw her disappear into the night. Her long red curls were tided back from her heart shaped face with a purple ribbon that matched her shirt. They bounced as she ran. Her sweet, kissable cupid’s bow lips and those eyes…”

Jade shuddered remembering those piercing blue eyes, “They were the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, like the sky after a summer’s rain.”

Shawn’s breathing hitched. “She sounds hot! I don’t consider myself a lesbeterian, but if you don’t get out there and find your fiery woman, I just might have to convert.”

Growling at her friend’s comment, Jade flung herself across her bed and buried her face into a pile of pillows, muffling her anger. “That’s not funny. After everyone left, I followed the same path she took, which led over to Marshall Street. Most of the stores were already closed, so I checked inside the coffee shop and bookstore that were both still open, but there was no sign of her. One minute she was there and the next, she was gone.”

***

Jade spent most of the next week desperately searching for the red-haired beauty. She walked around campus, talked to everyone she knew, hoping that someone would recognize the girl’s description, yet she didn’t find out any more information than she started with on that first night.

Marshall Street didn’t produce any new clues either, just when Jade was starting to think that fate had played a terrible trick on her, Jade noticed a woman sitting alone in the back booth of one of the town’s cafés.

“It’s her,” Jade gasped, astonished that she had found the face that had haunted her dreams for the last five nights. She stood there staring at her, committing every detail to memory. Red locks spilled over the girl’s shoulders before cascading down her back. Those blue eyes were fixed on an open book lying on the table in front of her. Two white cords extended from a pair of earbuds until they disappeared inside the girl’s jacket. It really was her!

Jade’s fingers trembled when she ran them through her black hair, trying to tame her wild appearance. The girl didn’t look up as Jade approached the table. Without waiting for an invitation, Jade scooted into the seat on the opposite side of the table. Jade had rehearsed her words in her mind a million times, but when the girl’s red head snapped up and her wide blue eyes bored into the bold musician, Jade forgot everything she wanted to say.

Without a word, the girl snatched her book off the table and scooted out of the booth, heading towards the door. Was it was presumptuous of Jade to assume that the girl wanted to talk to her as much as she wanted to talk to the beautiful young woman? They had only shared a fleeting moment in the park, but Jade had felt that there was a definite connection.

Before the girl could disappeared again, Jade ran after her. “Hey, I saw you in the park the other night listening to me play. If you like music, the spring concert is next week and I can get you tickets--”

The girl swung open the door at a full tilt run.

“Wait,” Confusion clouded Jade’s dark eyes as she watched the girl fleeing for a second time. “I’m sorry if I interrupted you.”

Jade caught up to her outside the café. They were hit with a blast of cool air. The warm spell from last week had disappeared. The girl stopped so fast that Jade almost crashed into the back of her. Taking a deep breath, the girl continued to stare at the ground instead of meeting Jade’s curious eyes. “I didn’t mean to assume that you would want to hear me play again--”

“I can’t--” Her clipped words were tinged with an unusual accent.

“Wait, you can’t what? You can’t come to the concert? But I haven’t even told you the date and time yet!” Jade’s voice was rising with her frustration. “You could at least hear the details before you blow me off--”

“No! I can’t!” She cut Jade off mid-sentence. Without glancing back, the gorgeous redhead walked away, leaving Jade stunned and standing alone on the cold sidewalk outside the café.

Walking through the park, Jade tucked her hands in her pockets to keep warm. Her mind was spinning with rejection and a dark melody lingering in the back of her subconscious. It haunted her as she thought about the beautiful girl running away from her. The other night in the park, the girl had watched Jade play her music with what appeared to be lust and desire in her eyes; however, today, the girl fled as if Jade were repulsive.

The woman’s voice had a unique sound. Jade’s trained ears were excellent at picking out accents and people’s origins, yet she wasn’t able to place this girl’s. It tangled with the ominous melody filling her mind, spinning a sad tune.

Unable to fight her disappointment at being turned down, Jade headed home, desperate to get the music out of her head and put into soundtracks.

***

“You’re home early,” Shawn said as she met Jade at the door of their dorm room. “I’m heading out to get something to eat. Do you want anything?”

Jade ignored her roommate. She didn’t want food. She didn’t think she would be able to keep it down even if she tried. She needed to tune out the world around her and buried herself in her music. Music! Ironic, it was her music that had gotten her into this mess and now the music was threating to rip her apart from the inside if she didn’t get it out.

After hours of composing, Jade created a new soundtrack file on her computer. She glanced up when her roommate came in, only to quickly turn her attention back to her work.

Watching over Jade’s shoulder, Shawn inspected the lines of music on the screen. Jade plugged an electric keyboard into her computer and placed the small instrument on her lap. She queued up the music and played the track to the song she was currently working on. It was dark and depressing. The sound was filled with heartbreak and loss.

Shawn hugged Jade as tears streamed down her face while pouring her pain into her music.

Over the next few weeks, when Jade wasn’t practicing music for class, she was busy composing. In the past, she worked on a new song every few months, but since being rejected back at the café, Jade had composed eight new pieces.

Sitting under a large oak tree, several yards off the main path in the park, Jade tapped her feet as she edited her latest creation. She had gotten tired of hearing Shawn complain about her gloomy mood and grabbed her laptop and headphones before settling in the warm fresh air to work.

The park was crowded. The beautiful weather brought out most of the campus between classes. A small group of people walked along the paved walkway. Jade glanced up when she noticed a redhead among them. They smiled as they feverously motioned with their hands, carrying their conversation without any spoken words.

Jade swallowed the lump forming in the back of her throat as she watched them. Their mouths moved, but only one or two of the friends made any sound at all. They signed so fast that her eyes couldn’t make out all of the rapid movements.

“She’s deaf!” Jade gasped as the realization suddenly hit her. The group of students wouldn’t notice her sitting on the ground so far off the path. She could have sat there and watched them go, let the woman of her dreams walk away from her again without putting up a fight.

Slamming her laptop closed, Jade set it and her headphones aside.

“Excuse me,” Jade said, stepping onto the path in front of the girl and her friends. “Can we talk?”

The group of the friends stopped in their tracks and stared at Jade.

“McKay,” A tall thin boy spoke as his hands signed. “Do you want me to stay?” His voice was nasally and monotone.

The girl Jade had been dreaming of stood just inches away. The smile disappeared from her pretty face, replaced with a sad look of despair. She shook her red head and signed for her friends to go ahead without her. They gave her quick hugs before leaving her side.

Jade watched them. Their encouragement was confusing. They acted as if the girl needed support when in fact she had been the one who had easily walked away from Jade. Once they were gone, the girl crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her finger into her jacket. “What do you want, Jade?” Her voice was harsh and flat.

Surprised that the woman knew her name made Jade’s stomach flutter. “I wanted to talk you. You keep running away every time I see you. I don’t even know your name. Is it McKay?”

The girl nodded her head, “Yes, McKay O’Shannon.”

Jade smiled at the Irish beauty. “Would you like to go out some time? Maybe have dinner--”

“No!” Anger flashed across McKay’s face.

Confused by her reaction, Jade studied the girl. “If you haven’t come out yet, that’s okay, I won’t say anything--”

McKay rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Everyone knows I’m gay. My family has never made a big deal over my sexuality.”

Jade took a step back as her words sank in. “Oh…then it’s me. You don’t like me.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, when Jade realized that she had misunderstood the girl’s looks and stares.

“It would never work between us. I can’t fit into your world.” McKay spoke without hesitation.

“Why, because I’m Asian? My parents are not the typical pushy, overachieving types that would freak if their kid brought home a white chick.”

McKay’s fair cheeks flushed red. “You’re a musician and I can’t hear! Don’t you understand that? Your life revolves around music; you’re practically a celebrity on campus--”

“There is more to me than just music!” Jade almost shouted.

“Like what?” McKay’s words cut Jade to her core.

Jade lived for music. It was all she had ever known, but was she willing to give it all up to pursue this woman? Could she? “If you give me a chance then you’ll find out who I really am…or you can continue to live in your narrow minded world.”

“Me?”

“I didn’t judge you for being deaf, but it’s okay for you to judge me for being a musician?”

Jade stepped closer to McKay. “I like you and I want to get to know you better, so if you can put your prejudice aside, meet me at the domed gazebo tomorrow night at eight o’clock. It’s your choice.” With that, Jade turned and walked away before she could answer.

***

The large white dome sat upon ten pillars of solid marble, forming a Romanesque style gazebo. It was the main attraction at the center of campus. The ceiling was painted with scenes resembling the famous Sistine Chapel. Jade nervously circled the large pillars. The seconds ticked by as she wondered if McKay would come.

After the confrontation in the park, Jade decided to look up McKay’s online profile. She found out that the English major had grown up only about an hour away from campus with four siblings and two loving parents. There were lots of pictures of friends, family and even a dozen of McKay’s beloved dog, Rascal. It almost felt like an invasion into the girl’s privacy, until Jade clicked on her own profile and wondered if McKay had done the same thing. She hoped she had. Chills shot down her spine with the thought of McKay looking at her.

Jade checked the time. “Five after,” She said with disappointment marring her face. “I guess she made up her mind.” Jade turned to leave and noticed McKay leaning against a pillar on the far side.

“Have you been waiting long?” McKay asked.

Unable to speak, Jade shook her head no. McKay made the first move, she closed the space between the two of them, but it was Jade who threaded their fingers together for them to walk hand in hand.

“I’m glad you decided to come.” Jade smiled. “I have something special planned.”

The evening was cool. Jade led the way across campus to the conservatory. The exterior doors were open, but the interior was locked tight. The dim hallways were lit with emergency lights since classes had dismissed and students and teachers were long gone for the weekend. Stopping at a locked door, Jade withdrew a key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock.

“Are we allowed to be here?”

Jade gave the girl a quick wink before nodding her head. “This is my music room, it’s where I practice.”

McKay suddenly pulled back, “I told you--”

Jade stopped the girl’s protest with a kiss. The door swung open as they toppled into the room filled with darkness. Landing on top of McKay, Jade continued to explore her flesh with her mouth. McKay moaned as her fingers pulled at Jade’s hair. Jade wanted to keep going, but squelched their passion with a few chaste pecks to the girl’s lips before quickly lifting her weight off McKay.

The lights suddenly turned on. The room was huge. McKay remained on the floor. Kneeling beside her, Jade offered her hand, “I want to show you something very special to me and I think you’ll enjoy it.”

McKay rolled her eyes, “I’ve seen boobs before.”

Jade burst out laughing as she turned on the lights that illuminated a black stage, several feet higher than the spot where they stood at the start of a sloping floor. Acoustic tiles covered the ceiling and walls. A shiny black baby grand piano sat center stage. The room was already set with Jade’s laptop on top of the large instrument and her violin case nearby.

“What is all this?” McKay asked.

Taking her hand and leading her up the steps of the stage, Jade smiled. “I’m going to show you what you haven’t heard.”

McKay’s hand trembled in Jade’s. “But--”

“I don’t want to hear any ‘buts’ and don’t think about telling me that you can’t hear, either,” Jade patted her hand on the piano bench for McKay to sit.

Jade was nervous, this could backfire, ruining any chance for them. The thought of McKay never speaking to her again terrified the young musician. Making sure that McKay’s eyes were fixed on her mouth, prepared to read her lips, Jade bit on her lower lip to keep from smiling as her fingers moved fluidly and signed, ‘This will be a night to remember.’

McKay’s mouth dropped open, “You signed.”

“That’s not all I wanted to show you.” Jade clicked on a few keys on her laptop, bringing the screen to life. “Normally, the lid on the piano would be open to project the sound towards the audience, but tonight, the music is just for you.”

Colors started streaming across the computer screen. Jade sat beside McKay on the bench, placed both of the girl’s hands on the top of the piano lid, and started to play. The music matched the computerized program streaming colors and an animated vortex that moved faster or slower with the tempo.

“I can feel music. I can really feel it and see it,” McKay laughed.

Jade’s fingers kept moving across the keys, faster, increasing the complexity of the melody, until coming to a crashing end.

Gasping to catch her breath, McKay shouted, “That was amazing!”

“I’m glad you liked it, but I’m not finished yet. I want you to feel the difference,” Jade said as she picked up her violin and stood in front of McKay. The colors changed on the computer screen when Jade pulled her bow across the strings. She watched McKay’s emotions change with the rhythm of the new song. The piano had been heart pounding and frantic, but this was sexy and slow.

Lost in the music, Jade closed her eyes and swayed her hips. McKay slowly stood beside her. She reached out and placed her fingers on the lower wooden bout of the violin. Her fingertips vibrated with the music.

McKay smiled as her body move in tempo with Jade’s. Within moments they were panting, swaying with the tempo that Jade increased until they were moving in a delicious frenzy. McKay pulled at Jade’s clothes, pushing forward to strengthen their connection, McKay’s fingers roamed over Jade’s arms and her full chest, feeling the music pulse through Jade’s body.

It was electrifying. Flesh mixed with music. McKay circled Jade, stepping behind her long lean frame and pressed kisses to her exposed neck. Jade’s heart pounded with excitement. A long deep moan escaped the musician’s throat. Her hips rocked back to meet McKay’s hands that carefully stroked her as her own hands made love to the violin strings. Jade had amazing control; she stood, playing music while McKay explored her body, skin to skin, hot, wet, and throbbing.

“I can’t believe that you did this for me,” McKay whispered against Jade’s ear, gently nipping her lobe between her teeth as her hands continued to dip lower, finding the musician’s center and strumming in perfect harmony, mind, body and music.

The sounds were breathtaking. Moans of pleasure mixed with an amazing melody that rose and ebbed with circling passion, until Jade and McKay suddenly cried out, bringing the music to a spectacular silence.

Jade, I told you that I would write you a story  I hope you like it.  I need to thank JoAnn414 for her help with this, you rock girl!
Thanks for reading, if you like it, let me know
Kc