The Tour Part 2

"That's on the first floor. But we can go there. That's pretty much it for the third floor. The second floor is a mix of the other courses. You've probably found the gyms, and I can show the rest after." She led him down a backstair case which led out to a side hallway. They went past a theater, which Mel pointed out, and then to the music room. Surprisingly enough it was open and empty.
"Feel free to take a seat." Melissa said as she walked over to the piano. Lifted the covers off the keys and warmed up a little. "Give me a moment." As she tried to think of a song to do. Well, he said he liked county music. "Do you like older county or newer?"

Timber grinned. “I like some classic country, but mostly the newer stuff. Blake Shelton, Luke Bryon, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean.”

Sitting down, Timber kept his eyes on Mel. The way her fingers flowed over the keyboard was magical. It was like a sorceress weaving a spell. It caused Timber to smile.

Mel nodded and began playing, a slightly slower, modified version of a well known Carrie Underwood song. Her fingers danced across the keys as her voice sung out. Her voice seemed incredibly well suited to this music.

https://youtu.be/paMzF1lnwGg?si=haE8p1ERfpUqjw7i

Timber was impressed and it could be seen in his face and posture. Mel’s voice was even more magical than her playing. She sounded so connected to the lyrics. Her voice called out to him to connect to the song with her.

Looking around, Timber saw and acoustic guitar. He hoped the owner wouldn’t mind. Timber got up, took the guitar from the stand, and sat back down. Timber was familiar with the song, so started playing the chords of the song midway through the song.

He wasn’t as good as her, but the two of them doing this together felt right. When the song was done, Timber couldn’t contain himself.

“Damn! That was good!” he quietly exclaimed. “Now, Im no photographer, but I Can picture is together.”

Melissa's face lit up. " Thanks. You know if you wanted to I could help you a little more with your guitar playing. You do have a talent, it just needs a little polishing." What was she doing? She didn't really know Timber and had no idea how he would react to such a comment. Somewhere in the back of her head, Doug's voice would still come at her. It hadn't been long enough to completely eliminate it. She retreated a little by looking at the keys, thinking she should have never said anything about his playing.

Then came the realization that he had said, he could picture them together. What? They had just met. Maybe, she misinterpreted it.

Trying to recover from what had become awkward for her, through no fault of Timber's, Mel added. "If you take me up on the offer though I have to let you know I'm still learning how to read music."

“Is reading music important if you can play without it?” Timber inquisitively asked. “I learned the chords on YouTube,” he chuckled. Raising his eyebrow, Timber welcomed her wanting to help. It would give him opportunity to know Mel more. “Sure! I’m up for help, especially from someone as talented as you.”

Timber arose and gently placed the guitar in its stand. He walked over and sat next to Mel on the piano bench.

“Your singing made me feel the lyrics,” he confessed. “You’re a natural.”

"It depends on what you want to do with it. If you just want to play music then no. I want to be able to write my own music and learn songs I haven't heard before. So, for me, it's more important." Melissa explained. "I have always been able to play by ear."

Mel rarely blushed but she could feel it almost reaching her cheeks again, at his compliment. "Thanks. You know it wasn't until recently I'd perform in front of anyone but my family."

“I just want to play. I enjoy that,” Timber confessed. “But you! You have a gift. You’ve touched my heart today.”

Timber looked into her brown eyes. “You should keep singing for others. If you touch them like you’ve just touched me…” His voice trailed off. “It was beautiful. A touching song from a beautiful girl.”

"Well, that's kind of the plan." She smiled at him. "I performed at a talent show the school recently had, first time in public and loved it. I think music is definitely where my future lies."

Mel was getting a little flustered with him staring into her eyes, it almost was like she could say anything to Timber. But, it was Mel, so she instead went with. "Maybe, I should give you the rest of the tour now?"

She liked Jason, really she did but almost like a something had knocked the wind out of her upon meeting Timber.

Timber sighed. He could have sat here next to Mel and talk with her all afternoon. But he did need to unpack and meet his roommate. As far as Timber knew, Mel had a boyfriend or at least had a date. He felt so at ease with her.

“Yeh…okay,” he agreed. “But I got a question for you. Your date for the battle of the bands…is this a serious relationship? I just wanna know if I might have a chance to get closer to you.”

Mel should have seen that coming but really didn't, she had figured maybe he'd ask one of her friends but this left it to her to tell him the whole sorted messy turn her life had taken.

"Oh..." Melissa started. "There's a long story involved with me a dating right now. It's a small school, you will hear about it anyway. So, I'm going to explain what's going on." She paused, everything was true and had a lot to do with why she was explaining all of this to him. Certainly didn't want him misunderstanding anything. "To start off with answering your question. No, I'm not seriously dating anyone, right now. The guy I'm going with, Jason, is a good friend and we're going on a date but we're not dating. It would be misleading to say there wasn't interest between the two of us but I'm not really looking go seriously date anyone, right now." A breath. "I want to explain though. The last guy I dated, Doug, our relationship was toxic. Or more like he was abusive to me. I broke up with him, a few weeks ago. At the back to school dance, when he saw me dancing with Dante, he lost it, tried to attack me but Dante stepped in front of me and ended up taking the hit. Doug ran out if the dance, assaulting a few people, that were in his way, as he was leaving. He hasn't been found, but the police are looking for him. It's the reason there's extra security and the staff is a little on edge. I really need time to go on dates, do things more casually until I'm ready for to take that step again." She sighed. "I just met you, but I would like to spend more time with you, get to know you better. Maybe go on a date. However, I also do want the freedom to go out with other guys." Mel paused again, and looked down. "So, knowing all of that do you still want to get to know me better? And I'd rather you be honest, than tell me yes and not mean it."

Timber smiled, knowing he had a chance to win Mel’s heart. Certainly it was fate that she was the first he had met on this campus. Now, it was up to Timber to show her what he was like. He was certain he wanted to know Mel.

“I’m sorry you had a relationship with someone like that,” Timber solemnly said, taking Mel’s two hands in his. “I would be fun shy after a toxic relationship. You deserve much better. And yes,” he added with an affirmative nod, “I desire to know more of you. So, it looks like you are stuck with spending more time with me. I don’t know how you feel about raisins, but what about a date?” He stepped back to watch Mel to see if she understood he was asking her out on a date.

TBC…