Alex P.O.V

"Alright, you rascals, settle down!" Mrs. Sullivan shushed the class. 

"Today is your first lesson to write your song that will be your assessment. You will have four lessons in total," she said. 

"The smaller rooms of the Music House are free for you to use, but you must leave them as they were afterwards. If anyone wants to use electrical instruments that require the amps, you need to ask my permission first."

Alex sneaked a glance at Lillian, who was fiddling with a pencil. Her eyes caught the light as she stared out the window, probably daydreaming about something fantastical. 

When she saw him staring, she caught his eye and smiled. He looked down, his cheeks burning, despite the small smile dimpling his cheeks.

"Any questions?" No one raised their hands. "Good. Off you go."

Alex barely had any time to look up before Lillian dashed over, pen and refill in hand. "Do you want to go to that room we were in last time?" she asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling. 

A little taken aback by her bounciness, Alex nodded. "Yeah sure," he said.

"Cool. I'll meet you there. Bring a guitar." And with that, she was off in a wave of blonde hair.

He timidly walked over to the rack of guitars and picked one up, and headed down the hallway to find Lillian. 

Alex was nervous about today. Then again, he was nervous about everything. As he walked down the creaky hallway, he accidentally whacked the guitar against the wall, startling Mrs. Proctor, who almost spilled her tea. "Sorry!" he said quickly, before high tailing down the creaky hallway. "Stupid," he mumbled.

He opened the old wooden door, and saw Lillian was staring out the window. She turned around as the door opened. "Hey," she said brightly.

"Hey," Alex said, shuffling into the room. He sat down on a stool opposite her.

"So..." he began nervously, but his words eventually failed him. Dang it, he thought.

"How about...." Lily said, clapping her hands together. "We start with something easy?"

There was nothing easy about this, Alex could definitely say that. "Like what?" he asked.

She scrunched up her face. "What do you like to do?"

That was easy enough, he guessed. "Surfing? The beach? Video games?" he said, perking up.

She grinned widely. Alex fought the urge to grin with her. She was like a walking sunshine. "I like to write, play music...I love the ocean - the sky and the stars are my favourite. We can work with that."

Alex scrunched up his face. There were some similarities between them, but they were quite stark otherwise. He definitely couldn't write or play music to save his life, and the sky was just...the sky. How was this going to work?

"Ok, so how do we combine these?" he said, voicing his thoughts. "They're similar I guess, but - "

Lilly cut off his babbling. "Alex, you're overthinking it," she said, a concentrated look on her face. She tapped the pen in her hand against her chin. "How about...swimming through the sky?"

His eyes brightened, likening to the idea. "How about...surfing through the sky?"

Lilly grinned even wider (which he thought wasn't possible at this point.) "Yes!" she squealed, quickly jotting the idea down. "Alright. We've got the title. What's next?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Forty five minutes later, they sat satisfied with what they could proudly call the first draft of their song. After the first initial brain burst, their teamwork seemed to spark and flare naturally, like two waves of the same current. The bell just went as they headed back to the classroom.

"That was pretty cool," Alex said giddily, almost bouncing in excitement. He had just written a song - a freaking song. Well, partially, but still - how awesome was that?! He couldn't wait to tell his friends.

Lillian skipped along, putting their draft on top of the pile of scribbled refill. "I really like it," she said, a twinkle in her eyes.

It was a clear, cloudless day and the waves could be heard peacefully swishing in and out against the rocks. Alex looked over at Lilly. She was surprisingly confident, he thought, moving to a new school and all, from the city to little Porthallows. She perked up and waved to someone, and Alex followed her gaze to find her group of friends. 

"Well, I'd better be off now," he said, eager to escape the scene before Katy and her posse arrived. 

Lilly turned to look at him. "Alright then." She smiled and winked at him. Alex had to fight down a furious blush.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully, proffering her hand. 

A bit of a strange gesture, he thought, shaking hands. A strange gesture for a strange girl. But he took hers in his anyway, his small, pudgy fingers clasping around her slender ones. "Yeah. See you soon," he said, then scurried off.

It struck him as weird that someone like Lilly could befriend someone like Katy, but he guessed Lilly wasn't really in much place to pick and choose right now. He knew - as odd and peculiar as Ben and Robin were, he'd be a loner without them.

He looked out to the water as he walked to the courtyard. It was Wednesday today, which meant it was Fishing Night. Yes, Fishing Night, with a capital F and capital N. Alex's favourite night of the week - when him, Dad, Dad's brother and his cousins, Ryan and Ned went fishing on the rocks after school, and then Ryan and Ned would stay for dinner as Mum cooked up a feast with the fish they caught. Dad said today was a good day - a fisherman's gut always spoke the truth, after all.

"Surfing through the sky, oh, oh, where the stars meet the moon," he sang quietly as he sat down with his friends. Ben was complaining about maths, the norm, and Robin was juggling his apples - a trick he claimed ran in the family. But all through lunch, Alex's mind was elsewhere, thinking about what it would be like to surf through the sky and touch the stars.

Hello!!

Yes, I am not dead, I am indeed alive :D

Term 2 was a whirlwind, and I'm sorry for not updating this story in so long, and I'm sorry in advance if this pattern continues. I am really committing to this story, and I am always thinking about it and where it is going to go. 

Thank you for sticking with me :)

residenthobbit49 :) <3