SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 34: Chapter 34. Caught In Ice

Chapter 34. Caught In Ice

Rosa Lin’s POV

Yo, wait. What—what the fuck is going on here right now? I thought to myself, my face blank, jaw dropped, frozen in a stagnant, statue-like position, staring at the figure at the podium. He kept gloating darkly at me. I saw the dark amusement dance in his eyes. My eyelids flapped uncontrollably. I looked around behind me to see the other students staring at him, gawking at him.

”Oh my god, he is so freaking cute,” I heard a few girls whisper behind me.

What the f....

Do they know who they are looking at? I thought to myself.

I looked back at him. I saw him chuckle, and then tap the ruler against the podium.

”So, um, this is going to be kind of like a temporary adjustment,” he said, stretching his hand. ”I am not your original music technology and production lecturer, you get me? He was supposed to be here today, but an important appointment came up, so he had to cancel. So I’m just here as a replacement, just for today, okay? Hope you guys can cooperate with me,” he asked.

”Yes, sir,” all the other students in the hall responded.

All except me. I peered at him in a daze.

”All right, so, um, let’s get started with today,” he said. I saw him divert his focus to look back at me, still flashing me that amused smirk.

What the hell? I thought to myself.

He chuckled.

”Well, so this is a practical class. It’s not a theoretical class that we can, you know, spend all day dictating notes and stuff like that. There is actually a practical room for studio production and all that. So you all will have to come with me to the studio. I’m going to show you where it is, then we are going to talk about the various equipment and instruments, and then we go straight to the class of the day. Is that okay?”

”Yes, sir!!!!”

Why the hell is he sounding like a high school teacher? I wondered to myself.

”All right, let’s go, guys,” he said. He turned around and then stopped.

The cluster of students packing their books and alighting from chairs filled the hall. I remained frozen in my seat, glaring at him with squinted eyelids.

Do I really not have a choice? I wondered to myself.

He smirked at me.

”Aren’t you coming, Rosa Lin?” he asked all of a sudden.

I blinked. I frowned. I turned and saw the way other students were watching the both of us, eyes darting from Tim back to me at intervals.

”Does she know him as well? Are they involved in some way?” I heard some girls whisper, but I clenched my fists tightly.

Hell no, there is no freaking way I’m going to be involved with this mysterious psychopathic ghost, I thought to myself.

He smiled and then he waved his fingers.

”Come on, the day is not going to wait for us.” He chuckled, turned around, and then walked out of the class.

I slowly packed my books, stuffed them in my bag, and got up. I was reluctant.

Am I supposed to be trusting this? Is this even real? How am I sure he’s not playing tricks on me right now? How am I sure all of this is not false? I looked around me. What if I am still back in my room? What if I’m still with Mr. Don? What if this is all in my head?

I gnashed my teeth together. I moved my fingers and then pinched against my skin very hard, deep enough to draw blood. The pain grounded me. I winced and quickly pulled my hand. I saw the sharp slit of my fingers against my skin. The place bloomed red.

Yep, definitely real.

I looked back up at the entrance, watching the countless students all filing out.

God. Does that—does that mean he’s real?

I slowly and hesitantly followed alongside them. The trip to the music studio didn’t take so long. The tension in my chest wouldn’t settle. I kept a steady distance far away from him where he stood in front of the line. I kept watching the back of his head, the constant, muscular sway of his shoulders as he led us. I saw some girls sidling up to him, clearly flirting with him. He would only cast them sharp, charming smiles, wink at them while they giggled amongst themselves, uttering coos and shouts of how fucking cute he is.

I could only roll my eyes. If only they knew. If only they knew they were interacting with a fucking ghost.

We finally got to the music room. He stepped in and stood by the door, holding it open.

”All right, the hall is wide enough to contain everyone. Take your seats, and you can pair yourself with your favorite instruments. Everyone is going to have to work together to create something beautiful in the future, we are going manual first before dealing with the studio itself. ” he said with a smile and waved to a few girls vying for his attention.

A ghost who is a professional flirt.

Just perfect.

The students stepped in one by one, chattering with themselves and taking their seats. When it came to my turn to cross the door, I froze for a slight second by the door, looking at him. He diverted his focus to look at me and smirked, then he winked.

”You know, I still need to get your number,” he said, with that perfect white teeth flashing from his mouth.

I glared at him, rolled my eyes, and then walked in. I heard him chuckle behind me.

I don’t even know what to think right now. I found a seat and took my place by a grand piano at the far back of the hall. I sat down in front of it, dropped my backpack with a thud beside me, and then looked up at him as he closed the door and took his position in front of the hall.

”All right, class,” he said quickly. ”All we need to do is very, very much pretty simple and easy,” he said. ”The instruments in front of you, you must have picked them because you have some specialty in them or whatsoever. So I’m going to need you all to just do a quick rundown practice for me. The electronics of this instrument is connected to this electronic board,” he said, pointing towards the board at the front of the hall. ”So whatever you play, your notes are going to be recorded and displayed here. Each instrument is marked, so it will be easy to identify which instrument is which. After checking the scoreboards, it’s going to let us know your level of specialty and how good you are with the instrument, then maybe we can evaluate from that and pick up from there. Sounds good, right?”

”Yeah, yeah, sounds very good,” some of the students said and chuckled, muttering to themselves.

”All right, let’s get straight to business. You all should just play along and show me what you can do. I’m just going to walk around and see what you’re doing,” he said. I saw him smirking at me.

God, he should stop staring at me.

I swallowed hard, but then I blinked and decided to focus. I avoided his gaze. I stared at the piano in front of me. My eyes darted between the keys.

I began to identify their notes. Then I placed my left middle finger against a key, followed by my thumb and my pinky finger. I also did the same with my right fingers. I pressed all the keys together to form a note. Then I closed my eyes.

”Think, Rosa. What melody and tune could you form with this?”

Just as I was thinking and trying to figure it out, I felt a heat beside me, followed by a heavy presence. Before I could open my eyes, a warm breath filled my ears.

”Well, that sounds like a very good note to start,” his voice came in a sharp whisper behind me, against my ears.

I flinched and then snapped my eyes open. I turned around to see him hovering behind me, smiling down at me.

”Can you not?” I asked with a sharp snap.

He chuckled and stood upright. ”What? I’m just observing my student’s work,” he said.

When I looked around, I saw that the rest of the students were still busy with their own instruments. I turned back to look at him. ”Just go, please. I’m trying to focus,” I said.

He chuckled. ”All right.” He raised both of his hands. ”Sure.” He then walked away, chuckling to himself.

I frowned and watched his back. ”Stupid,” I said to myself.

I stretched and cracked my neck, flexing my shoulders. Then I avoided him and focused back at the piano.

Lord, save me from him, I thought to myself.

I pressed all my fingers on that note once again, then I began to trail my fingers against the white and black keys, flowing from there, allowing the melody and the tune to flow out of me naturally. Just a little freestyle session I usually do back at Mr. Don’s mansion. The notes came in little by little, gradually flowing from my brain straight to every nerve ending in my body, and then down to my fingertips.

I found myself smiling, allowing the tune to sink into my head, closing my eyes, reveling in the pleasant sweetness of it.

”Very, very awesome. That sounds very nice. How’s the mark?”

His whisper came to my ears again, cutting off my melody and making me jerk my hand away from the keyboard. My eyes remained closed. I folded my lips and ground my teeth together.

”You are going to lose a tooth if you keep doing that,” I replied with a whisper.

He chuckled beside me. ”How do you plan to make me lose it?”

”Fuck you,” I snapped back.

He chuckled once again. This time I felt him climb over the seat, the bench I was sitting on. I turned to him, just in time to see him now sitting down beside me.

”I would actually love to see you play,” he said with a smile. ”Go on.” He raised his hands. ”I’m not going to disturb you.”

I could only sit down there staring at him with a frown on my face. My eyelids squinted as I watched him suspiciously. He looked at me. My eyes traced his face, observed his arched eyebrows, his sharp, perfectly looking, shaped eyes gazing at me, the sturdiness of his nose, the perfect cut, masculine jaw and cheekbones.

Yep, he was definitely perfect, which was bringing in all the more suspicion that he must be a ghost. Nobody was perfect.

*Except Mr. Don. Does that mean he is a ghost too?* My mind whispered to me.

I blinked.

What?

He chuckled. ”What? Why are you staring at me like that? Are you beginning to get interested?” he asked with a smirk, leaning in close. ”Does this mean you’re going to finally surrender and give me your number?”

I ground my teeth. ”Keep dreaming,” I said.

He chuckled and shook his head. ”Defiance. I like it. But it’s not going to last long,” he said.

”Are you real?” I asked all of a sudden. I noticed him freeze immediately, almost like he was caught in ice.