Just strumming the guitar in the Music Room on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Jorge Garcia

July 05, 2013 12:24 PM

Just strumming the guitar in the Music Room by Jorge Garcia

Jorge was bored again. He had already finished his homework for the week and had studied for the CATS exams as he did every night. He was pretty good at retaining the material, so he wasn’t too worried about it, but he knew that reviewing the last four years was better than not at all. Still, studying ended up boring him after some time and he needed to get out and do something. He had thought, at one very brief moment, of joining a club. He had thought that it might help him keep off the boredom and possibly be more social with his peers, but none of the clubs really caught his attention. He could have joined a club that some of the people he was more social with were heading, like Jade’s horse club or Waverly’s baking club, but he wasn’t fond of either things (although, he’d be more than happy to taste Waverly’s baked goods some time). He may change his mind if anyone persuaded him, but for the moment, he still had to figure out what to do with himself.

He thought about starting up his own club, but then decided against it. Jorge wasn’t much of a leader. That was left to the Aladrens. He was honestly surprised only Henny started a club. He was sure that they all would have stabbed each other in the back to start one first. He had thought about what sort of club he would start and figured there would only be two acceptable ones where he was pretty good at and that was music and swimming. He wasn’t sure how a music club would work at all. A band he could do, but then he’d likely end up getting a bunch of first years and that was lame. A music club… that would be more problematic because everyone either played the same instrument or liked entirely different genres of music. As for swimming, well, he thought that would get pretty boring after awhile since they would have no way of competing except with one another.

He opted out of all of that. Instead, he was currently in the music room. He had gone swimming earlier but that had no satiated his appetite for something to do. At least swimming kept him active. He hadn’t lied to Jade when he said it was his preferred sport. If there was no water room, Jorge would be forced to run around for hours and that wasn’t all that fun for him. Besides, swimming gave him upper body strength that he was sure running wouldn’t provide. But since swimming hadn’t helped him too much that day, he was trying to lose his focus and listen to the music. His sister could lose herself for days in her music if someone didn’t pull her from it. Jorge could understand why. There was a sense of detachment from the world when one played music. Really played. When they allowed their fingers to melt into the instrument and become it. It sounded corny and stupid, but he felt peace whenever he allowed himself get lost within it.

He stood in the middle of the room, the walls allowing for better audio, headphones on to protect his eardrums from the amplification of his guitar due to charms. Drums were his usual instrument of choice, but the swimming had stiffened his shoulders a bit and he didn’t think he could give his drums the satisfaction of a great workout. So, instead, he chose the guitar. For the last couple of hours, he had his eyes closed while his fingers played chord after chord after chord. Every so often, he’d shred his guitar with a solo and his whammy bar. He didn’t care or notice if anyone else came in to use the room. He didn’t open his eyes, he didn’t indicate any sort of acknowledgement of another soul in the room, and he gave no allowance for interruption while his fingers danced along the strings, easily finding their home with a note.

It was only after he had tired and his fingers were sore did he finally stop and opened his eyes. It took him a few moments to realize that he had an audience. “Oh, sorry, did you want to use the room?” He asked, finally acknowledging their presence.

6 Jorge Garcia Just strumming the guitar in the Music Room 220 Jorge Garcia 1 5

Waverly Canterbury

July 05, 2013 8:23 PM

That's some loud strumming by Waverly Canterbury

In order to stop thinking about Brandon, Waverly had been baking like a beast, studying her butt off for CATS and Potions, and planning weeks in advance for the Baking Club. She blew off the stress by taking jogs in the Labyrinth Gardens and, on occasion, painting. Still, she only realized a few weeks in that she hadn't practiced her beloved piano for awhile and her fingers missed it. She had planned to drop off her newest batch of cookies back at the common room for anyone who wanted some, but her brain directed her feet to go directly to the room.

Waverly hadn't really met other students her age with whom she could jam with. She, Clara, and Bri had played together for one of the Midsummer Concerts and that had been the most fun. Since then, however, she had wanted to branch out and see if there were other people who had musical talents. Waverly would have liked to be in a band like in the movies, but she knew she didn't have any time for that. She just liked playing the piano and she liked jamming with other people. One of the drawbacks to Brandon was that he couldn't play a musical instrument. Back when they had been in a relationship, it hadn't mattered, but now Waverly simply added it to the growing "Why We Wouldn't Have Worked" list. She shook her head, her brown hair swaying with her. She seriously had to stop thinking about him.

She pushed open the door to the familiar room with the meager plate of cookies in one hand and saw Jorge in there already. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and her eye twitched from the noise level. She didn't know he was musical. He seemed to be jamming out on a guitar and Waverly crept in, her free hand now plugging one ear so she wouldn't go completely deaf. She didn't want to disturb him, but he seemed to be tuning out the world anyway.

Waverly went over to the piano in the room and set down the cookies on top. She sat down on the piano bench and watched him. There seemed to be a lot she didn't know about Jorge and she knew she ought to have made more of an attempt at their friendship. Her one excuse was that she had been pretty busy almost all the time, but still. If she wanted to keep her friends she had to make time for them.

Finally he finished and Jorge opened his eyes. Waverly had given up on plugging one ear and it had resulted in a slight ringing in both ears. "Thanks for noticing," she said with a little smile, sounding muffled in her head. "I think I've gone deaf. At least you play really well. How long have you been playing the guitar?"

19 Waverly Canterbury That's some loud strumming 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Jorge

July 07, 2013 1:04 AM

That's the best kind of strumming. by Jorge

“No problem.” Jorge replied with a casual grin. He was in this room quite often, but he had never recalled seeing Waverly in it. There had been some others that he had shared the room with, but none of them were people he knew on some level of basis. They respected their spaces though, so it wasn’t too strange sharing the room with them other than producing different music, which could be irritating to the ears. Another reason why he always made sure to bring his noise blocking headphones.

“You play an instrument but don’t keep headphones around at all times?” He asked her, ignoring what he assumed was a half insult, half compliment towards his talents. Maybe it was the instruments of choice for him that had started him wearing the headphones, but he always made sure to wear them. Not only because he played loudly, but he didn’t want to hear anyone else while he played either. “That’s amateur style, Waverly.” He joked. “To answer your question, I’ve been playing the guitar since I was nine.”

The guitar was the third instrument that he had learned how to play. He had picked it up after Dulce had learned it and he had grown bored with the drums. It was weird how hard it seemed for things to keep his interest. The drums, however, always called him back. Jorge had the same sort of musical talents that his sister did, but less passion than she did. Dulce was a prodigy for music. She could pick up an instrument and be an expert of it within a month. He could learn instruments easily, but it took real talent to make it sound the way she had it. Dulce was up to ten instruments that she could play with her eyes closed. There were a dozen more that she could play fairly well, but still needed time perfecting. Jorge only had four down and the bass and piano he was only half-hearted about.

“Is the piano your instrument of choice?” Jorge asked since she was sitting at the bench for it. “I learned that when I was seven along with the drums. The drums are my instrument of choice but my shoulders are sore from swimming, so I’m using this instead.” He commented, indicating the guitar in his hands. “How long have you been playing that?” It was only fair to ask since she had asked him. Not that time of playing mattered to him much. He came from an artistic family, his mother a ballerina, his oldest sister a ballerina, his other sister a musician, his aunt a musician who was currently dating an actual painter, his other aunt a fashion model turned photographer and clothing designer, his uncle an architect, his maternal grandmother’s family were famous cooks in Spain. The list went on and on. It was a little funny considering their wealth came from those who practiced law and the family firm.

“So, just to be clear, you are Prefect, you run the baking club, you are in the book club, you’re a library minion, you’re probably in half a dozen other clubs, and you play the piano?” Jorge ran down a list of things he knew that Waverly did. “You’re like, the perfect embodiment of a student. Is there anything you can’t do?” There was no venom in his voice or anything remotely negative, he was simply curious.

6 Jorge That's the best kind of strumming. 0 Jorge 0 5

Waverly

July 09, 2013 11:49 PM

If I go deaf you will pay by Waverly

It was nice having the music room all alone just to do whatever she wanted, but Waverly seemed to have stumbled in on a good day anyway. She smiled, trying to imagine what it would look like to keep headphones on while playing the piano. "In case you couldn't see, this is not an electric piano by any means. Ergo, no place for headphones." She was tempted to dramatically wave her hand around the piano as if to prove that there was nothing for it, but she refrained.

She was a little surprised to hear that Jorge had been playing since he was nine. Waverly had never played any other instrument than piano before and she wasn't exactly the best pianist in the world. Since her mom was so musical, she had tried to teach both of her daughters to sing, but Waverly was not as great as her younger sister. It was okay though; Wendy had very little interest in any other instrument other than her voice.

"Yeah, it is," she replied. "It's also the only instrument I know how to play. I'm really impressed you know how to play so many instruments. Only an upright piano would fit in my apartment anyway. Maybe a guitar too, but no one in my family plays it." The acoustic guitar had always interested her and she wanted to learn how to play it sometime before she left Sonora. She couldn't just let this music room go to waste.

Waverly's mother came from a southern family with old money. They could probably trace their roots back to the Civil War. The women of her mom's family had an artsier touch and it seemed to have always been like that. Her mom was a baker, her aunt was a baker with an art history degree, and her grandma was a published author. Waverly's dad's side, however, was made of all lawyers and doctors and engineers. She had no idea how her parents had gotten along, but it was in both Waverly and Wendy's favor that they did.

Jorge listed all of Waverly's activities and she laughed a little. "I do have one weakness, but you can't tell anybody," she said, only half-serious. "I am absolutely terrible at potions and I can't figure out why." She sighed. "But, you know, other than that I'm perfect." She brushed a hand through her brown hair dramatically and then grinned at him. "Just kidding. Do you come to this room often? What am I saying? Of course you must since you play, like, six instruments." She smiled good-naturedly at him before remembering something. "Oh." She paused and unwrapped the plate she had been carrying the cookies on. "Want a cookie? You should take a couple before I put them out in the common room and they all disappear."

0 Waverly If I go deaf you will pay 0 Waverly 0 5

Jorge

July 14, 2013 10:12 PM

It's your own fault for not being prepared. by Jorge

“I have no idea what an elektrik piano is.” Jorge commented looking at her a little dubiously. He always just charmed his instruments, but Waverly was a Muggleborn, so he supposed whatever piano it was that she used was the Muggles version of making it sound better. “And I meant the headphones or ear plugs to use to block out the sounds of everyone else using the room. It’s not like I’m always in here by myself, so headphones help me block them out and vice versa. Saves the ears.” He added, pointing to his own ears and looking amusedly at her. He figured that was the safest bet for anyone. No one really knew what they were walking in on; plugs of some kind were pretty practical in his book. Maybe the Muggles did that differently too.

Jorge shrugged at her compliment. “My sister is a musical prodigy and some of it seemed to have rubbed off on me. I’m not nearly as talented as she is, but if I enjoy the instrument enough, I’ll keep at it.” Jorge explained. “Besides, it keeps me preoccupied during the downtime. I’m not nearly as popular as you are, see? Too much time on my hands and I need to do something with them.” He stated with a grin. He didn’t make any comment regarding the size of her home. Jorge was Magical and so, his house was Magical. It fit perfectly within the San Francisco homes without looking odd and large, but the inside of it was expansive. They had a studio room for his Mother and Lita to practice dance and a music room for Dulce and for him. They weren’t excessive, but they were rooms that allowed them freedom to do what they enjoyed.

“Potions, you don’t say?” Jorge looked intrigued. That was really surprising to him because he was led to believe Potions had similarities to cooking and baking. If someone was great at one, would they not also be good at the other? “You shouldn’t have told me, now I have blackmail against you.” He joked. Jorge was too lazy to ever consider blackmailing a person. Still, it was something he locked away for another time. His brown eyes glanced at the plate that she indicated and his eyebrows raised a little. She certainly enjoyed baking. He didn’t understand how she found the time for all the things that she did. Baking was not a quick hobby either, that took time and patience. Taking a bite of one of the cookies, Jorge mumbled ‘thanks while his mouth was full of the sweet baked good.

“Potions isn’t too difficult if you understand what the directions are saying.” He commented lightly. “It’s no different than finding the right way to wave your wand when saying a spell. It just takes a longer time for the finished results to be shown.” He wasn’t sure if that made any sense, but it was how he looked at it. “Aren’t you exhausted from everything you do? I mean, I might get bored from the lack of things I do, but I don’t think I could function doing all the things that you seem to do on top of normal school stuff and Prefect duties.”

6 Jorge It's your own fault for not being prepared. 0 Jorge 0 5