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Ryan Sylander
Opus One Chapter 9: Gigue
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/ryansylander/www/
Dr. Eugene Dobra was everything rumor made him out to be. He walked in at exactly one o’clock. Richard and Sandra had just found two seats in the back corner together, hardly having greeted each other when he asked for silence. “Take out some staff paper,” he said. He sat at the piano in the front of the room as people shuffled through their bags for the paper. Richard borrowed a sheet from Sandra. When the rustling and whispering had settled down, Dr. Dobra nodded. “Please write down this melody in treble clef. The starting note is middle C, and the key is F. The meter is 3/4. I will play it three times.” Dr. Dobra played a short melody on the piano and then stopped. Richard and Sandra looked at each other in surprise, and most of the other people did the same. Richard wrote down the middle C, and then what he thought the next note was. I hope he’s not going to collect this. After thirty seconds or so, Dr. Dobra played the melody again. He surveyed the class, waiting again for people to write some more of the melody. Richard tried to sing the melody in his head, but he was still surprised at the way class had begun. He hadn’t really concentrated on the melody enough to be able to sing it, let alone write it down. The last play through was more helpful, but still Richard only was able to write down six notes in total, a few of which he wasn’t sure were correct. Dr. Dobra let everyone write a few moments more as he looked over his roster. His moustache twitched. “Mr. Mark Morgan,” he called out. He sacnned the class over his rectangular glasses. A guy in the front row raised his hand somewhat tentatively. “That’s me.” “Did you write down the melody?” “Um, a few notes.” “Please show us what you have. On the board.” Dr. Dobra held out a piece of chalk. Mark went to the board, and copied a few notes from his paper onto the staff. He turned expectantly to Dr. Dobra, who examined it for a moment. “There seem to be some problems with what you have written.” Dr. Dobra sat at the piano, and played five notes. They were in a completely different register, and seemingly nothing to do with the five notes Mark had written. “First, you need a clef, or it makes no sense,” Dr. Dobra said. “Second, where is the key signature? Third, you neglected to notate anything rhythmically. What is your instrument?” “Viola.” “If you were given music that looked like this, would you be able to play it?” Mark looked at the five notes he had written. “No,” he agreed. Richard noticed several people adding things to their papers. Richard had at least gotten those things right. “No, indeed.” Dr. Dobra turned to the class. “So we need to be precise. Music notation is about precision. You can sit now, thank you,” he said, gesturing to Mark. Mark hurried back to his chair. “Does anyone feel they can write down the melody on the board?” Dr. Dobra asked. No one moved. Richard kept his eyes fast on the rear legs of the chair in front of him. “I didn’t expect anyone to be able to,” Dr. Dobra said at last, “although occasionally someone surprises me. Names on your papers and pass them forward, please.” There were some muffled voices of surprise. Someone called out, “Is this going to be graded?” Dr. Dobra peered at the girl for a long moment, over his glasses. “Everything is graded.” The class groaned. “However,” he said, silencing the whispers with a raised hand, “in this case, I am looking for improvement. I will keep these until later in the year, and then we will try the same melody again. Those of you who did poorly today should not worry, yet. You will have the most room to show progress.” A guy walked into the classroom, trying to take a seat quietly. “Your name?” Dr. Dobra called out. “Ethan Deerfield.” “You already missed a quiz,” Dr. Dobra said. “Don’t worry. You have the most room to show progress,” Dr. Dobra said, making a marking in his book. A few people in the class tittered. “Don’t be late, folks. If you are late, don’t bother to come at all. Are there any questions before we begin?” No one made a sound. “Please turn to page eight of your sight-singing book.” He held the text up. “If you do not have the book, look on with your neighbor. After today, do not come to class unless you have this book with you. Otherwise you will be wasting your time, and my time.” Richard scooted over to look on with Sandra while Dr. Dobra scanned his roster again. “Let’s see, Ms. Sandra D’Arcy?” Sandra jumped slightly, and then raised her hand. “Please sing example three for us, using the syllable ‘la’. Here is the first note.” Dr. Dobra played a note on the piano. Sandra hummed the note quietly to herself for a second, and looked at the melody. Then she began to sing. When she finished, Richard realized he had been holding his breath in nervousness for his friend. Dr. Dobra nodded. “Well done. Are you a voice major?” “Yes.” Dr. Dobra nodded again. “Lovely. However, in this course the quality of your voice does not matter.” Richard tightened a little more than he already was. Sandra remained expressionless. “Not all of us are blessed like Ms. D’Arcy here,” he continued. “However, she sang with correct pitch, correct rhythm, and correct expression. And that is what will matter in this class. Please notice that she observed the dynamics as marked.” Dr. Dobra scanned his roster again. “Mr. Callahan, example four, please?” Richard took a deep breath. Vacation is over, he thought, as he listened to Mr. Callahan struggle through the passage.
“I have to sprint to English. Whoever made my schedule is an idiot,” Richard said, as they exited Dr. Dobra’s class. “Where is it?” Sandra asked. “Almost to the cafeteria.” “You better run then,” she urged. “Yeah. I’ll see you for dinner. I’ll come by the room after I practice, around six or so,” he said. “Okay. Bye!” Sandra watched Richard hurry off, and then she headed back to the dorm. She was done with her first day of classes. Emily was in the room practicing. Sandra went in quietly, intending to grab her books and head for a practice room, but Emily put her horn down. “How was Doberman?” she asked. “Crazy. Not five minutes into class he already collected the first quiz.” Emily looked at Sandra wide-eyed. “Damn!” “Yeah. There’s no messing around in there. Pretty much everyone got called on to do something.” “You should switch to my ear training class. Messerson is really laid back. He didn’t even start until a quarter after.” “I wish I could switch, but I have my lesson at that time. It actually wasn’t that bad. At the end of class Dobra said he was just giving us a preview of what we will be doing. I guess we start for real on Wednesday.” “Mm. Where’s Richard?” “English.” “Ah, yes, I forgot.” “Hey, I’ll let you get back to practicing,” Sandra said, shouldering her bag. “No, that’s all right, I need a break.” “Okay,” Sandra said, dropping her bag to the bed again. “Piano class looks like it will be easy,” Emily said. “Yeah. I’ve played most of that stuff already. I’m going to try and pass out of it.” “And leave me alone?” “You can sit with Jimmy, or whatever that guy’s name was that kept showing off,” Sandra said. Emily sniggered. “Jimmy Lemieux? Right. He’s such a prick. The first day he was here, I saw him in the building and he just walked by like he barely knew me. It was right when I met Richard.” “You know him then?” “Oh yeah, we played in a brass quintet in DC. He had a crush on me for a while, too. Kept asking me out.” “Oh.” “I never went for it, though. He thinks he’s god’s gift to the trumpet.” “Is he not very good?” “No, he is. He’s one of the best trumpet players I’ve ever heard. But he doesn’t have to act like it!” Sandra laughed. “He must think he’s god’s gift to the piano, too.” “Yeah, you’d think, by the way he was carrying on. Hey Jimmy, why don’t you teach the fucking class!” Emily exclaimed. “Richard could show him something about playing the piano.” “Mm hmm. Is he going to eat with us?” Emily asked. “Yeah.” “Cool.” There was some silence. “Sorry I’ve been hogging Richard,” Sandra said suddenly. “Hogging?” “Well, at the fountain I just kind of, you know… and then we did it again after you last night,” Sandra said. The words came out in a nervous rush. “It’s not a contest,” Emily said dismissively. “I know. I just wanted to see if things were still okay. I’ve been going first with him, too.” “I don’t mind. I like watching. It makes me really excited for when we do it,” Emily admitted with a laugh. “Really? You like watching too?” “Well, yeah!” “I didn’t know if that was weird or something.” “I don’t know either, but I like it. Who cares if it’s weird?” “Hmm. Do you...” Sandra hesitated. “What?” “Have you felt jealous? You, know, watching me and him?” “No. Sometimes I think I should, but I don’t. I mean, Richard is a great guy. He’s really cool. Why would I want to share him? But for some reason it feels right.” “I’ve thought the same thing,” Sandra admitted quietly. “I guess I’ve had a lot of bad relationships where it was just me and another guy. Maybe this will be better.” Sandra was quiet. “The last guy I went out with in high school was really romantic,” Emily said. “That’s cool.” “About as romantic as a telephone pole.” “Oh!” “Yeah, Ryan wanted to be a writer. I don’t think that will work out.” “Why?” “Ever heard that saying ‘Not the brightest light on the tree?’” “Yeah?” “He wasn’t even on the tree.” Sandra laughed. “So why did you even go out with him?” “The other guys were even worse.” Sandra sighed. “You don’t like guys that much, do you?” “I got really tired of them in high school,” Emily admitted. “Maybe it was just bad luck, or maybe I just draw the worst ones to me.” “What was the worst guy you’ve gone out with?” “Worst?” Emily considered for a moment. “I’d have to say Gary. His parents were insane, and his sister hated me for some reason I couldn’t figure out. He didn’t want people to know we were going out. He had a lot of baggage.” “Everyone has baggage, though,” Sandra said. “No, this guy had baggage for a two year trip around the world. I found out after a few months he had a couple other girlfriends in other towns while I was going out with him. Bastard.” “Wow, that is bad.” “Yeah. What about you?” Sandra shrugged. “I’ve only been out with two guys, and both were decent. Maybe a little boring, but not bad.” “Only two guys… I wouldn’t have guessed.” “Yeah, well, so it is.” “Did you go out with them at the same time?” “What? No!” Sandra said, shock on her face. “I’d never do something like...” Her voice trailed off as Emily raised a brow at her and smiled. “...like that,” she finished, blushing a little. “This is different. We know about each other.” “I was just messing with you,” Emily said. There was a knock on the door. “Maybe Richard didn’t go to class after all,” Sandra said, as she answered the door. Jer was standing in the hallway. “Hey, what’s up?” he said. “Nothing much,” Sandra answered. “Is Richard here?” “No, he’s in class.” “Cool, cool. Have you eaten lunch yet?” Jer asked. “Um, yeah?” Sandra frowned. “It’s two fifteen.” “All right, just seeing if you wanted to go to the cafeteria or something.” “No, I’m good.” “All right.” Jer nodded. “What did you need Richard for?” Sandra asked. “Richard?” Jer said, confused for a second. “Oh, um, he has a message. From his dad or something.” “I’ll tell him when I see him.” “Okay.” “Bye.” Sandra closed the door. “That guy gives me the creeps!” she said softly to Emily. “Yeah, he’s a little weird.” “He’s always looking at me strangely.” “I think he likes you.” “Eew, don’t say that!” Emily laughed. “Jer and Sandra sitting in a tree...” she sang in a childish voice. “Em, quit it!” “Sorry.” Emily sniggered. Sandra rolled her eyes and shouldered her pack. “I do need to practice. Bye...” Emily was still laughing when Sandra left.
“Well, one day gone, who knows how many hundreds to go,” Richard said. The trio were just entering the dorm building. If the lines had been long at the cafeteria the first day, they were really annoying today. It had taken a hour to get their food. “We need to start eating at off hours, I think,” Emily said. “Yeah, really,” Richard agreed. “Or just eat somewhere else,” Sandra said, hope in her voice. “Right. By the way,” Richard said, “I got my schedule for work study. Looks like I’m on front desk duty Monday and Wednesday nights.” “That sucks. When do you start?” “In fifteen minutes,” Richard said with a grimace. “Eight to eleven.” “That’s too bad. I thought we were hanging out tonight,” Sandra lamented. Emily opened the door to their room, and flopped on her bed. “What are you going to do, then?” Richard asked. “Have fun,” Emily said. “Without me?” “You’ll be missed, but only slightly.” “Whatever.” Richard smiled. I bet they come bother me at the front desk by eight thirty, he thought. “Oh, I forgot,” Sandra suddenly said. “Jer came by and said there was a message for you. From your dad, or so he thought.” Richard grunted. “Does he call you every day?” Sandra asked. “So far, pretty much. It’s a bit annoying… I guess I better go. Don’t want to be late for the first day of work, you know. I bet people are just storming the front desk with questions and shit.” “We’ll be here if you, uh, need anything,” Sandra said with a grin. She was also lounging on her bed. I really wish I didn’t have to work, he thought. Richard smiled and let himself out. When he got to his room, Jer was lying on his bed, sound asleep and in his boxers. His covers were completely messed up. Why does he need so many sheets and covers in the summer? Richard frowned, since the answering machine light was steady. Maybe Jer took the message. He grinned at the image of Jer trying to understand his dad. I should probably call him. He checked his watch; he had about ten minutes. Richard took off his shirt and looked for a new one in the closet. “Oh, hey Richard,” he heard a female voice speak quietly behind him. Richard whirled around, and saw Jenna looking at him from Jer’s bed. Somehow he had missed seeing her in the mess of the covers. “Sorry, I guess I fell asleep,” she said. Her bare shoulders and the clothes on the floor made Richard feel a little red. “Um, I was just leaving,” he said quickly, turning back to get a shirt. “I have to work the front desk.” “Oh, all right.” Richard put on his shirt and left the room without looking at Jer’s bed. I guess I have a new roommate, he thought, as he made the short walk to the conservatory. He wasn’t quite sure what he thought of that.
Twenty-eight minutes after Richard had settled into the front desk chair, he grinned. On the little video monitor which showed him the back entrance to the building, he saw Emily and Sandra approaching. Before they had a chance to ring the bell, he buzzed them in. He could see them look at each other and start laughing as they pulled the door open. Thirty seconds later they appeared in the lobby, giggling. “Is that the first time you let someone in?” Emily asked. “Nah,” Richard said. “Three others already.” “Aw. I wanted to be your first!” Richard shook his head. “I thought you’d have to be in uniform or something,” Emily said. “You sound disappointed that I’m not.” “Well...” “What else do you do?” Sandra asked. “Just buzz people in.” “Tough job.” “Yeah. It’s pretty easy. I can probably get a lot of homework done.” “Why don’t they have card access, like for the dorm?” Sandra asked. “I guess they are going to put it in soon.” “Then you’ll be out of a job,” Emily said. “Nah, I still need to answer the phone.” “Any calls yet?” Emily asked. “No.” “I have to pee,” Sandra announced. “Thanks for sharing,” Emily said. Sandra went off, jingling her keys. “So what if you have to pee?” Emily asked. “Then I go pee,” Richard said with a shrug. “What if someone needs to get in while you’re on the throne?” “Then they wait a moment. It’s no big deal. It’s not like I’m launching missiles with this button here.” Bzzt. Richard eyed the monitor and then let the person in. “How do you know you’re not letting in a thief?” Emily asked. “I don’t, really. Mort said basically unless they look really suspicious, I should let them in.” “Mort?” “The supervisor.” “So we didn’t look suspicious?” Emily said. Suspiciously so. Just as Richard started wondering what she meant, the phone rang. Richard and Emily looked at each other for a second, and then Richard answered. “Wexford Conservatory, this is Richard. May I help you?” “Hi.” “Hello?” Richard said. There was a pause. “Can I help you?” he asked again. “It’s me, silly!” Sandra said. “Sandra?” Emily gave Richard a what-the-fuck look. “I thought you’d be excited to get a call!” Sandra said. Richard laughed. “I thought you went to pee.” “No, I went to call you.” “That’s retarded! I was just talking to you here. Why would you call me?” “Why not? All right, bye!” she said, giggling before the line went dead. Emily shook her head and laughed. Richard just shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Wait… Did she have some wine before you came over?” “Maybe,” Emily said evasively. “You are bad!” Sandra bounced back into the lobby. “Where did you call from?” “The voice studio. I have keys, see,” she said, wiggling them at Richard. “It’s empty right now,” she added, winking at them both. Again the phone interrupted his thoughts. He answered it, still distracted by Sandra’s grin. “Hello? Um, this the, uh, Wexford Conservatory, and can I help you? I’m Richard.” He bumbled his way through the greeting, and Sandra and Emily started laughing into their hands. Richard put his finger to his lips and gave them a stern look, but it didn’t help. “Hey, Riccardo!” his dad said. How the hell...? “Papa, what are you doing? I’m at work. I can’t take calls. How did you know I was here?” Richard asked. “It’s your dad?” Emily whispered. Richard nodded with a grimace. “You didn’t call today, and Chair said you were working at the school,” Vittorio explained. Richard suppressed a laugh. “It was a really full day. I couldn’t call. I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise.” “Okay, don’t forget! Your Mama wants to hear about how things are going.” “All right, I have to go. Someone is here,” Richard said, eyeing the girls. “Very well. Ciao, Riccardo.” “Ciao.” The girls burst out laughing as soon as Richard hung up. “What?” “Sorry,” they said, choking off the giggles in their mouths, but not in their eyes. “He’s a little extreme sometimes about calling me, I guess.” “It’s pretty funny,” Sandra said. “What time are you done?” Emily asked. “Eleven.” “Well, hurry up; we’ll be in the room hanging out.” “Waiting for you,” Sandra added. “How exactly am I supposed to hurry up?” Richard asked as they started walking away. Emily shrugged. “See you later! Have fun!” The girls went off down the hallway with a little wave. Conspiratorial giggles echoed down the hall until they faded away. When they got to the rear exit, Richard watched as they waved to the camera. Emily looked around, and then pulled her shirt down, showing him her cleavage. Richard leaned in to the little monitor, cursing its poor resolution and miniscule size. “I saw that!” he yelled down the hallway. The girls waved once more and then pushed the button to release the door. A moment later they had disappeared into the night. The monitor was empty again. Richard looked at his watch and sighed. Only two hours, twelve minutes and forty-three seconds to go.
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