For most of his life, she had been the only one he had ever thought of. Her long beautiful brown hair swishing about her shoulders as she played her guitar, large dark eyes captivating enough to hypnotize anyone that stared into them, laughter evident as she played the last few unique notes of a song.
Yes, for most of his life, Amber had been the only girl he had ever thought of.
___________________________________________________________________
"Hey... Hey! Hey, Jou!!" Terry called out as he ran down the corridors of Kalliope Hall, weaving in and out of Jammers to catch his friend. "Eh?" Joey turned, hefting his Bass over his shoulder and drawing a few admiring sighs and giggles from some girls passing by him. "Hey, Terry. What's going down?"
"Have you- Have you seen Amber?" Terry panted, leaning an arm on a wall for support.
"Ambernite? Lady Ambernite?" Jou began to grin. "Oh yeah.. She's heading for Thalia today with her friends. Ya know... you should just tell her if you like her that much. Don't wait and stick it out or one day you'll wake up and find out that she's already taken."
"Shut the hell up, Jou..." Terry growled. "I just asked you if you'd seen her, not your opinion on when I should court her or-"
"Have you heard? They're releasing Fantasy on the 24th!" a girl's excited voice floated to his ears, followed by sounds of agreement and excitement.
"That's just great! I've been meaning to try out some new songs myself, other than Aiming High!"
"You haven't mastered the song yet, Shari... All I hear are random gibberish sometimes."
"Well, I'll show you one person who has mastered the song... in THREE days... Amber!"
Terry looked up to see Amber and her group of friends go walking by, laughing and joking together. Amber's head was slightly lowered, a small blush spreading across her cheeks. "It wasn't three days!" she protested. "It took me relatively a week before I got to play with mnimal Misses."
"But you didn't take any breaks!" Shari countered. "We literally had to pull you away from Kleo and force you to sleep and eat!"
Amber's blush intensified. "Yeah, I know... stupid idea... but you know how determined I can be sometimes..."
"I sure do." Jou waltzed up to them, making them stop in their tracks. "So... how bout this, girls. You, me in a private Kleo room, playing some Soul... whaddya say?" The three girls giggled at his words, Shari and Ginger agreeing immedieately. Jou turned his gaze to Amber, but she shook her head. "Nope. I'm heading to Thalia by myself today. Sorry, Jou."
"No problem, sweetheart. But ya know.. in case you get lonely..." Jou turned slightly and winked at Terry. "But anyway, I'll see you around, Lady Ambernite. Now, ladies.. if you would follow me..." He led his group away, leaving Amber and Terry behind.
Terry flushed beet red as Amber turned a questioning gaze on him, and cleared his throat. "Umm... I, errr... Amber, I.."
"Amber! Wanna spar for a bit?" A boy at the end of the corridor yelled loudly, effectively interrupting what Terry was going to say.
Amber turned. "Not today, Nolan. I'm in casual today. Heck, I'm even hiding my tail and wings!" she laughed, referring to the dragon-like accessories she always wore when she spent the day sparring.
Nolan made a face at her. "Please? I swear we'll play Call Me Again.. and V3... and Bride In Dream NX...."
Amber blinked at the mention of her favourite songs. "I... Oh well, fine. Terry, would you like to join me?"
Terry straightened in shock, then nodded in amazement. "Sure."
Nolan gave a crow of joy. "Room 28! Let's go!"
___________________________________________________________________
Each time a Jammer played a certain song, it always came out in his or her unique way. It reflected the Jammer's soul and personality, and watching Amber strum her guitar to create a note that sounded like the low breath of a dragon, Terry felt that whatever she played reminded him of sophistication.
She was hard to get, and it was a clear message for those not worthy enough of her familly to stay away.
But how could he, when she was the only love of his life?
(Flashback)
The large Kalliope hall intimidated Terry as he entered slowly, hearing music of every kind drift to his ears. All around him, Jammers chatted to each other, some carrying instruments, others empty-handed or with other stuff. One or two ohms bounced by, following their owners, someone with an Angel Wing accesscory easily evaded the crowd by swooping overhead. He was here at last, registered as a Jammer... but where should he begin?
Keeping his eyes ahead of him, Terry wandered into the crowd, feeling out of place as he listened to snatches of eager conversations about Songs, Misses and how fast the tempo could get. He never noticed the girl in front of him stop to let someone pass by her, and ran smack into her back, bouncing off her Dragon Wings.
"Kyaa!" she fell as well, forwards, and for a while there was a bit of chaos. "Amber! Amber!" A girl helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine..." The girl named Amber steadied herself on her friends's shoulder. "Where's my Dragon's Breath? Nii-sama got it for my birthday, and he'll be disappointed if it's broken."
"It's right here, not a scratch on it as well." Another girl picked up the guitar from where it had fallen and pushed it back into Amber's hands before turning to scowl at Terry. "Can't you see where you're going? You could've hurt her!"
"Yeah," the first girl agreed. "Watch where you're going next time, newbie." With that, they walked away. Amber hung back and offered him a hand, pulling him up. "Sorry 'bout that," she whispered, smiling. "They act like my bodyguards just because I come from a high class family. But no worries, I'm not hurt." She pushed up her red sunglasses to reveal large, dark eyes. "I'm Amber. Oh... and if you're lost... the beginner's class is that way." She pointed down the corridor from where he had just came from. "Just go striaght and turn left. You won't miss it. I'll see you around, then. Have a good Jam." She turned and winked, hurrying off after her friends.
Terry was left dumbfounded from where she left him, until a tap on his shoulder caught his attenttion. "Yo. First day here and you're digging that chick, huh?" A teen older than him and carrying a Bass Guitar said. "Interesting... I didn't know kids nowadays are brave enough to do that kind of stuff on their first day here."
"I wasn't!" Terry turned red, furious. "She helped me, that's all!"
The handsome boy laughed and held up his hands. "Relax, I was just messing around with you, that's all. The name's Joey, or Jou for short. And you are?"
"Terry."
"Well, let me tell you, Terry..." Jou hooked an arm around his shoulders and began guiding him to the beginner's class. "Lady Ambernite is a very hard-to-get girl. She comes from one of the noble famillies on 02Planet, and trust me... she is rich. The problem is... you mess with her, you're messing with the head of her clan as well. Her older brother is the head of her clan, and what more, I heard he's in love with her. Amber was adotped into his familly, see? So it's okay if he marries her. However, I'm just warning you. Don't try messing around with Amber. You'll really, really regret it. Here's your class. Good luck, newbie!"
Terry found himself pushed into a room, but he was still thinking about Amber's eyes....
(End of Flashback)
He sighed as the music started. He just needed to try harder to live up to her familly's expectations.
