I was sitting in class with A.J., listening to the Professor as he explained our newest assignment,

“I want you all to work on a piece of music. And I want you to do it with a partner. I want to see that you can work together and create something worthwhile. Collaboration is a big part of music. And, while there is no set due date as of now, I will be checking in on your progress as I see fit.” He finished his spiel and the room immediately irrupted into a buzz of chatter. Everyone was trying to decide who was to work with whom and so on. I gulped, knowing exactly what was about to happen next. And I was right,

“Ivy! This is perfect. You know how I said that I wanted us to be friends? Well, this gives us the perfect opportunity. Will you work with me?” I turned to see an eager AJ turned to look at me. I smiled hesitantly. Come on Ivy, speak!

“R-Really?” He nodded. I smiled and shook my head yes, “Okay…” He beamed,

“Yes! Oh! I have so many ideas! Are you free after class? We should start working!”

“T-Today?” He nodded and I thought, “Umm… Yes. I think so.” He smiled,

“Great. There’s this great place I found down the street and we can go there to talk and work on it.” I smiled and nodded,

“Sounds good.”

After class we walked down the street and settled into a little café to work.

“So, umm… Do you have any ideas? Is there anything you’ve been working on that you’d like to use? Because I have a few things running around and I think it’d be great if we were able to mix them. It’d be definate collaboration; mixing two different songs by two didfferent people to make one amazing thing.” I clutched my notebook tighter to my chest as he said this. He noticed and eyed it, “Let me guess… You have something… and it’s in that notebook.” My eyes widened and he chuckled. “Can I see?” I was frozen in terror. AJ of UKISS wanted to see my work?! Ummm, no! “Please?” He pouted and I melted. I halfheartedly passed the notebook over, muttering to myself. He smiled and opened to the first page. He examined my scribbles closely, flipping through the pages intently. I watched through my fingers, just waiting for him to slam the book shut and tell me how terrible it all is.

Finally he came to the end and looked up at me. The look on his face was awestruck,

“These are amazing!” He sighed. I blushed and covered my cheeks,

“Really?!”

“Yes! Oh my gosh!” He reached around and into his bag, “Here, look at this one,” He flipped it around for me to see, then turning to flip through my book. “I think that these would be amazing together. Like, if we could blend them together. I think that would be really amazing.” I looked down at his notebook, reading through the notes,

“Ah! This is that song you played for me the other day!” I easily recognized it.

“Oh, yeah.” He smiled and I looked back at the page. I looked at my notebook now, eager to see which one he had chosen. It was one of my softer pieces. Listening to it always made me feel like fall; maybe that’s why I loved it so much. Whenever I played it I could almost hear the wind blow, the leaves fall, and smell the damp earth. I breathed in deeply. I had heard his song before. I looked over the notes again. They were harder, yet gentle and happy at the same time. Like telling a secret, it may be hard, but the truth will set you free. Beginning in a minor key, I tried to put it together with mine, which was major. I closed my eyes and tried to let the sounds morph together. I knew both by heart at this point so it wasn’t hard at all. I smiled and opened my eyes, liking the way it sounded,

“I like it.” He smiled back at me,

“Me too.”