Music to my ears

Posted on Thu Jan 19th, 2023 @ 9:25 by Claire Cavendish & Donald Johnson

Chapter: Prologue: Dawn of Avalon
Location: Music room, Avalon Institute
Timeline: Wednesday, 16th of September, 1992
1601 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

"So this would be where the music classes will be held. Not all the students have musical prowess but we try to encourage them to take up an instrument. And we feel a basic understanding of music theory is always an asset." Claire stepped aside to allow the man to walk into the music room. There was a wall piano near the teacher's desk and in the back of the room was a small podium that could hold a very modest band. or orchestra. The trimmings where there for amplifiers and microphones but none of it was set up. "The two doors there lead to musical storage. Lots of xylophones and stuff, recorders, you know, for your intro to music needs. Some of the kids have their own instruments and if there's a need for specific materials or instruments, I'm sure we can free up some resources."

"Thank you Miss Cavendish," DJ replied as he surveyed the room, "There is definitely ample room here, more than I'm used to having anyway. With the small stage there, we could even hold some miniature rock concerts," he said with a laugh. "In all seriousness though I really do appreciate you giving me this opportunity."

"Well, first of all, call me Claire." She corrected him, probably not for the last time. Some people took a bit longer to get used to her more casual leadership style. She always felt that she was a poor choice for a head teacher. Not nearly stern enough. "And secondly, this opportunity was earned, not given. I remember you playing the guitar around the campfire in Ethiopia. Got us through some pretty dark nights."

"Ok Claire," he replied. "I wasn't sure how to address you in the school. Those Ethiopian nights got chilly after long hot days, and I enjoyed playing and entertaining everyone. It was the least I could do after the things we saw there. Anyhow, I think you said something about a staff meeting that was mandatory, is there anything I need to be aware of or personalities to watch out for?"

"Oh, no. It's a mixer. To get to know everyone." Claire clarified the purpose of their get together on Saturday. Just a moment to meet and relax before they would jump into the thick of things with the new semester starting. "It's an open mic night, so people can show off some of their skills. Get to know each other in a different light."

"Sound like fun, I'll probably play some classic rock maybe Jerry Lee Lewis, his stuff always helped get people up and dancing. Plus the old piano Boogie is just fun to play. It drove my mother crazy, she loved hearing Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, but while I was supposed to be practising I'd play Jerry Lee Lewis or Elton John," he said with a smile as he reminisced.

Claire nodded, she wasn't overly familiar with much piano music, aside from what was used on the West end and to a lesser degree Broadway. "Sounds like a blast. I'm sure you'll do amazing." She walked over to the desk at the other end of the room. "The departing music teacher left some notes and lesson plans, to help you get started. But you have more than a week to get everything sorted out for the first semester. That's not a lot, I guess, but perhaps you can just rely on your years of experience and wing it." She gave a wink to let him know that she had all the confidence in him that he would do right by the students.

"I will definitely look over the notes and have a formal lesson plan submitted for the semester by the end of the week. It shouldn't be too difficult to modify the plans from some of the teaching books I've used before. How many students will there be per class? I know we're in a big ole castle, but I was curious how many students you had here and how large the class sizes would be."

Claire had to do some maths in her head, "we've been gaining some momentum and I think we'll have to expand to 15 person classes. But the extracurricular groups are usually more focused and smaller." The different years were filling out more and more this semester. A positive development for sure, but it also came with increasing chances that the wrong people found out about them.

"Perfect, I was hoping for no more than 20 in a class, Will there be a standard end-of-the-year recital or some sort of performance?" DJ asked "It's the last question, at least the last one school related," he chuckled.

"There's an auditorium and plenty of time outside of school hours, I'm sure we can arrange for some end-of-year, and mid-year shenanigans." Claire always encouraged the students and the teachers to organise all sorts of things to keep themselves busy and to build the community. She was a fairly free and creative person herself and always appreciated the arts, performing or otherwise. "Something to check with secretarial, they have the schedules and the reservations. There's a lot of extracurricular clubs around. And please, ask anything you need, that's why I'm here. Want to make sure you land well."

"Knowing you are here and have my back is enough for me, I know I'm coming on at the last minute, I just wanted to thank you again. It means a lot knowing you've got my back. If you ever need anything I'm here also, Claire."

"We all look after each other." Claire smiled, it was good to be building a community as tight as they were at Avalon. It was threatening sometimes to the outside world, especially the people of New Cresthill, but as long as they stuck together there wasn't anything the world could throw at them that they couldn't resist. She felt the need to knock off on wood after that thought. "How about I show you your quarters?"

"Sounds great, I'd love to unpack and get settled in," DJ said as he returned Claire's smile. "I'm looking forward to settling down in one place longer than two or three months. Don't get me wrong I love the volunteer work but once you're over thirty you start thinking about settling down and building your own life."

Claire nodded at that, this had been true for her as well, at least after she had managed to overcome the crippling pressure her parents laid on her to building the life they had envisioned rather than building her own. She knew she'd been privileged in her position to be able to rebel against them, to be able to still build her own wealth after that and with the help of someone set up and maintain this institute. "Settling down always gave me such a bad taste in the mouth." She admitted before moving out into the corridor and heading for the teacher's living quarters. "I'm glad you've decided to come home to roost here at Avalon."

"How long have you been the headmistress here?" DJ asked. "We kind of lost touch after the incedent in Ethiopia. I know I signed up with that group under the impression that I didn't have powers or if I had them I wouldn't use them; but what was I to do when those street thugs tried robbing that girls school of its supplies? I hope it didn't cause too much stress or extra paperwork for you."

With a bit of a laugh Claire waved off any apology DJ tried to make for what happened during their time in Ethiopia. "Don't worry, they weren't big on paperwork back then." The biggest stress she'd gotten there was that in the bright afternoon sun her powers were absolutely useless and apparently she had built up a bit of an intolerance for bright light. "We started work on the Institute in '88. Opened the doors for students September '89." It had been a long few years since then, but they had flown by as well, as these things so often do. She couldn't believe she needed double digit faculty and had almost three hundred students for this semester.

After a couple more minutes of walking and idle chit-chat about the progress towards opening the school they came to a halt in front of a fairly non-descript wooden door. "This is you, at least for the next semester." She took out a keyring with two keys on it and handed it over to the new music teacher.

"Thanks Claire, I'll get settled in and maybe we can catch up over dinner soon?" DJ asked hoping she could point him to a decent local establishment. He enjoyed eating local fare whenever he could and was always on the hunt for old unique food dishes.

"Oh yeah, sure. That would be nice." Claire wasn't one for going out to dinner much. Somehow a lot of the places she wanted to visit were always 'booked full' when she asked for a table. It wasn't much of a surprise, but it still stung. There had been some nice restaurants in New Cresthill that had been more welcoming to her and the other faculty though, and they maintained a close bond with some of them. "I'll leave you to it for now, we'll plan something soon."

"Sounds like a plan" DJ nodded before he entered his quarters. He took a look around the room as he surveyed what would be his new home, thankful for the chance to settle down and begin the next chapter of his life.