Courtney slowly walked into the classroom, and casually sat down in the front, next to an incredibly handsome guy who had a head of light blonde hair. It was curling at the ends, it looked like it needed to be trimmed. His eyes were a soft green color, with specks of blue in them. He wore a black V-neck sweater that showed off his well-built chest and arms. Dark jeans and biker boots completed the look. 

His jawline was almost as impressive as Duncan's. And the guy had a few tattoos peaking out of the parts of his chest that were exposed by the sweater.

Sitting at his side, was a cello. The large, beautiful instrument looked out of place next to such a tough guy. 

Courtney wanted to introduce herself to this handsome stranger, but she felt a pair of eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. She slowly looked over her shoulder to see Heather glaring at her. 

Heather smirked and waved at Courtney when she saw her, and Courtney rolled her eyes and turned back around with a huff. 

"You're the new girl right?" came a deep voice next to her. Courtney looked over at the blonde stranger, who was looking at her with a smirk. "Jessica Taint's sister,"

Courtney smiled a little "Yeah, that's me. Everybody here really does know my sister, don't they?"

The guy chuckled "I didn't mean to sound rude, I just know her because she's got a pretty big reputation here," he shrugged.

"You're not being rude, I'm just not used to being recognized by my last name," Courtney said. 

"I'm Jace, by the way," he said, nodding at her. Courtney stuck her hand out

"Hello Jace, I'm Courtney. It's nice to meet you," she said. 

Jace smirked and slowly leaned into her "So, why is Heather glaring at you like you just killed her dog or something?" he mumbled. Courtney sighed

"She's just mad that my group of friends got her into trouble last night. She thought It'd be fun to push one of my friends down, then attack another. All because we refuse to bow down to her," Courtney explained. Jace nodded

"Entitled people irk me," he sighed. 

"So, you play the cello?" Courtney asked, nodding at the large instrument next to him. Jace smiled proudly

"Yeah, I have ever since I was little. I love it's sound. It's so unique. It's low bass sound always gives me goosebumps," Jace said "And I take it you play the violin?"

Courtney smiled, and looking lovingly at her violin "I can't help it, I'm a sucker for strings," 

Jace chuckled "Amen to that,"

Gwen sighed as she stared at her blank canvas in front of her. The paintbrush still in her pale hand, her apron tied around her waist. 

Her Advanced Art class had started over an hour ago, and as Gwen watched her classmates all around her paint glorious pictures across their canvases, she found herself in a lack of inspiration. 

Gwen blew out a long breath and set her brush down, she ran a hand through her short hair as she rocked back and forth on her stool. 

"What's wrong Gwendolyn?" her professor asked as she walked over. "You've usually painted at least half of the canvas by now,"

Gwen shook her head "I don't know. It's like my mind has gone blank," 

Her professor tilted her head to the side "What happened to your muse?"

"I don't know... I guess I've lost it," Gwen looked down at her paint stained hands. 

This had been happening for a while now. Usually Gwen would bolt upright in the middle of the night, from a dream she'd have. She'd grab her sketchbook she kept next to her bed and draw images from the dream for hours. Sometimes all she'd have to do was listen to a song, and she'd have a million ideas running through her head about what she wanted to paint.

But lately, it's like those ideas all dried up. Like a river in the desert. 

"Well, I surely hope not," her professor said, pity in her voice "An artist without a muse is hardly an artist at all ,"

Gwen swallowed hard as her professor walked away to examine the other pieces of art. Gwen stared at the array of colors of paint on the table next to her canvas. 

Suddenly a soft sound coming from the doorway made Gwen perk her head up. No one else seemed to hear the charming sound. 

Gwen looked around and slowly hopped off of her stool and made her way to the doorway, where she peaked her head out into the hall. 

Gwen felt her heart stop.

Trent was sitting against the wall at the end of the hallway. His dark head hung low as he gently strummed away on his guitar. Pausing every so often to scribble some words onto a piece of paper. 

Trent's soft voice hummed in her ears as he worked on one of his songs. He didn't notice her standing there at all, he was in his own little world. 

Gwen watched how his long fingers strummed the guitar, the instrument tuned perfectly. The way his lips formed the words as he sung them. The way his mossy green eyes focused intently on the notes of the guitar. The way his Adams apple vibrated with his deep enchanting voice.

Gwen slowly leaned her head against the doorframe, closing her eyes briefly as she just focused on his voice. It calmed her, like nothing else ever had. 

Opening her charcoal eyes, she felt her lips turn upward into a goofy smile. Gwen turned on her heel and walked back into her classroom. She got back up on her stool and grabbed her paintbrush as images flashed through her head once again.

Gwen's smile grew, as she dipped her brush into some paint and began creating art across her once blank canvas. 

She had found her muse again. 

Jace Winters sighed as the class bell rang. He said his goodbyes to Courtney and grabbed his cello and put it in it's case. He lugged the heavy instrument out of the room and looked around the hallways. Students were walking all around, joking and laughing as they traveled to their next class. 

He paid no attention to any of them as he made his way through the herd of students, carrying his massive instrument behind him. 

As he went downstairs to store his cello in one of the practice rooms, he heard the familiar low bass sound he loved so much coming from one of the lone practice rooms at the end of the hall. He made a surprised face, and slowly walked towards the room. 

He could recognize the low-tuned instrument from anywhere. Someone else was playing a cello. It surprised him, he thought he was the only one who played the cello around here. 

The music was coming from a slightly cracked open door on the right, Jace walked over and peaked inside.

A girl, with shoulder length blonde hair was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Her arms holding a cello as her fingers moved the bow back and forth across the strings. Her eyes were closed, a look of concentration on her features. Her playing was absolutely beautiful. 

She was working like a mad man at the piece she was playing. It must have been something personal, because Jace didn't recognize it. 

It was almost comical seeing such a small girl playing such a massive instrument, but the size of it clearly didn't bother her. 

In fact, the cello almost looked like it was meant to be held by her. 

Jace smirked, and slowly looked away. He felt like he was invading a private moment. He picked up his cello and slowly walked away. Hoping it wouldn't be the last time he'd see his mysterious cello player.

He wondered what her name was