SOUNDTRACK: "Next Girl" - The Black Keys

MONDAY

"Kate, please come into my office," Kate's counselor said, opening her door for the teen.

Kate stood and walked into the office, sitting down in front of the woman's desk. "Hi," she said.

"I brought you here because we need to discuss your instrument requirement for this semester," the counselor began. "There are openings in Junior Orchestra and Beginning Choir, but you'd have to audition for that. Junior Orchestra takes everyone, regardless of skill level."

"I guess I'm taking that one then," Kate replied.

"Excellent," the counselor remarked, typing on her keyboard. "Did you give any thought to the instrument you'd like to play?" She turned her screen so Kate could see.

There was a list of instruments with names underneath. Most of them had been filled up, but a few were still open. Her eyes scanned the page and something drew her to the top of the screen where the violins were listed.

"Violin," she said instantly. "I'll do the violin."

Her counselor looked at her apprehensively. "Are you sure about that? It's a lot of work if you aren't musical at all."

Kate shrugged. "I can always switch next semester, right?" she asked.

The woman nodded. "Yes, you can." She took a deep breath. "Alright, well I will go ahead and enroll you in that class. You can go by Professor Hall's office in the Music Building after school today and pick up your instrument. I'm sure she will want to have a few words with you about private lessons, et cetera."

Kate nodded. "Am I free to go?" she asked.

"Yeah. Have a good rest of your day."

Kate smiled politely and left the office, heading across the Quad towards the Languages Building for her French class. She didn't know what possessed her to sign up for violin. From everything she'd ever heard about the instrument, it was a bitch and a half to learn to play. But she just saw it and figured it was her best hope. If nothing else, she'd suffer for a few months and then switch to something better in the fall. She could imagine the squeaky, scratchy sounds of her practicing would piss Jared off to no end and part of her took some pleasure from that knowledge.

~~~

"Wexler!" Coach Andres' voice met Kate's ears as she came into the locker room later that day. Kate turned to see her coach as well as the head coach of the main soccer team approaching her. "You remember Coach Miller," Andres said, introducing the man.

Kate shook his extended hand. "Yeah - yes, hello. Nice to see you again," she said, trying to sound slightly more professional.

"I'm here today because I want to formally invite you to join the main team," he said with a smile. "We've been keeping an eye on you and we think you're ready to join us."

"Are you serious?" she asked in excitement.

"Of course, you'd be second string initially until we saw what you could do and how you interacted with the rest of the team. But we are very excited at the prospect of having you," Miller said with a smile.

"Oh my God, of course. Yes!" Kate exclaimed. "When do practices start?" she asked.

"You can come over now, actually," Miller said. "We've got a team meeting and you can introduce yourself to the players."

Kate nodded. "Sure. Uh - let me just get my stuff. I'll be right over," she answered, well-aware of her teammates' gazes fixated on her.

"Alright. But don't take too long," he told her before leaving.

She started putting things into her bag from her locker, trying to hide her excitement. Her teammates returned to their own lockers and Anders went to the center of the locker room.

"Ladies, I have an announcement," she started. "Kate, come here," she said, holding a hand out for Kate to join her. "Kate will be joining the main team this semester. And we all wish her well, right Ladies?" she asked. "Let's have a round of applause for her. She's worked really hard with us and helped us a lot."

The locker room erupted into applause and Kate stood awkwardly next to the coach. After a few seconds, she walked out of the locker room, giving her former teammates one last wave before leaving. She walked over to the msin team's locker room and paused in the doorway, her bag slung over her shoulder. Coach Miller stood in front of older players, discussing practice schedules. When he spotted her in the hallway he waved her in.

"Ladies, meet our newest team member, Kate Wexler," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders lightly. "She's moving up from the reserve team. For now, she will be second string. Let's give her a warm welcome, alright?"

Miller joined the girls in applauding Kate. She gave them a nervous smile and wave before walking to the back of the group to listen to the rest of the coach's speech.

"I expect you all to help her out. She's just a sophomore, but she's got lots of talent and we hope she will do great things for the team," he continued. "Today we're in the weight room, so let's get going."

He ended the talk and the girls went off in their own directions. One girl in particular came up to Kate as she started unloading things into her locker. 

"You're in my AP Chemistry class, aren't you?" she asked. Kate nodded. "You're like, the smartest kid in there."

Kate smiled. "Thanks."

"Sloan Harlowe," the girl said, holding out her hand. 

Her appearance was every bit as glamorous as her name. Though she was in the school's soccer warm up outfit, her slender waist was clearly visible. She wore her platinum blonde hair in a French braid down between her shoulder blades and her celery green eyes stood out against porcelain skin. 

"Kate Wexler," Kate replied, shaking her hand. 

"Where did you learn to be so good at Chemistry? You're only a sophomore and most of the kids in that class are seniors," Sloan asked. 

Kate shrugged as she pulled her warm ups on. "It just comes naturally I guess," she smiled. "You're a defender, aren't you?" 

Sloan nodded. "How did you know?"

"I saw your number on the way in," Kate lied. She had actually spent several afternoons pouring over the main team's athlete pages when she was first put onto the reserve team months ago. "I play center forward. Well, I did, anyways," she added. "I don't know where they'll put me here."

"I'm sure Coach will keep you there," Sloan assured her. "He's pretty big on keeping players in their preferred positions," she said. "Though, you'd make a pretty fair goalkeeper, if I'm honest. You're taller than the ones we have."

Kate made a face. "I don't think so," she chuckled. "I'm not a goalkeeper."

"Well, you're a fucking genius in chemistry and that's way more useful than being a goalkeeper, so as far as I'm concerned you're farther along than you think," Sloan replied with a smile, nudging Kate's shoulder. 

"Let's go, ladies! The weights won't lift themselves!" one of the assistant coaches called. 

Several girls jogged out of the locker room and Kate sat on one of the benches to put on her shoes. Sloan sat next to her. 

"So, listen, maybe we could exchange numbers and you could help me out with Chemistry?" she asked. "I'm really worried about the AP exam in May and I don't want to wait until the last minute to study."

Kate froze for a brief second. "Uh...sure. Yeah. I'll get it to you after practice," she said with a smile.

Two hours later, Kate handed Sloan's phone back to the older girl. "There. You can text me anytime if you have questions with the homework or want to study," she said to the senior. 

"Awesome, thanks. I definitely will!" Sloan said before turning and heading over to her locker. 

Kate got undressed and headed for the shower, thinking about the older girl. The last time she had gotten friendly with someone from Winterlake, they had all but abandoned her at a frat party and she had nearly been raped. How did she know Sloan wasn't going to do the same thing that Blair and Victoria had done? The senior seemed alright, but then, so did everyone in public. Still, she had reached out to Kate so that already set her miles ahead of everyone else. 

She washed off quickly and changed into her uniform before walking across the campus to the Music Building. She scanned the registry list in the main lobby, searching for Professor Hall's office number. She found it and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. She read the room numbers along the wall before coming to a stop outside of his. The door was open and classical music spilled out into the hallway. She knocked gently on the door frame and he looked up from a music score laid out on his desk. 

"Can I help you?" he asked. 

"Uh - yeah. My name is Kate Wexler and I was told to come by to pick up a violin from you," she said, stepping into the office. 

The walls were lined with bookshelves packed to bursting with different musical scores. Several stacks of them stood around the cramped room. 

"Ah! Yes," the man replied. "I saw that email from your counselor. Come in, sit down," he insisted. "You'll have to excuse the mess, though. Artists' mania," he smiled with a slight chuckle. 

Kate sat in a well-worn wooden chair as the professor walked to a closet and pushed aside a stack of music theory books with his foot before opening the door. He walked into the closet and looked at the shelves for several moments before retrieving a violin case and coming back out with it. He closed the door and walked back to his desk.

"This is a donor violin. It'll do well enough for your purpose," he said, opening the case and logging the serial number on the inside onto the corner of the score he had been studying. "If you find you like playing, I would highly suggest you purchase one of better quality."

Kate nodded and took the instrument when he offered it to her across the desk.

"Let me see you hold it," he said, walking around the desk. 

She put it under her chin, holding the neck with her left hand, and picked up the bow he gave her with her right. It felt a little weird, but still doable. 

"Sit up straight," Hall said, putting his hands on Kate's shoulders  and pulling them back a little. "Take the bow by the stick and run it across the strings tip to heel."

She did as she was told, eliciting a scratching, rough squeak from the instrument which made her jump back in surprise. Professor Hall laughed and sat back down. 

"I'll probably need lessons," she said with a weak smile. 

"Definitely," he smiled at her. "But you're in luck because you're looking at the resident violin teacher."

"I'm on the soccer team, so I wouldn't be free after school most days," she said quickly. "But I could do weekends or after practice."

"We'll find a time that works," he assured her. "For the moment, you're free to go. I'll see you in class on Wednesday."

She put the violin back in its case before leaving and taking it with her. It felt weird to have the instrument in her hands, but she figured she had better get used to it sooner rather than later. She let out such a huge sigh when she got into Shayla's car that the young blonde looked at her in alarm. 

"Are you okay?" she asked. 

Kate nodded. "Yeah. I just...Today was really busy," she explained. 

"First days back usually are," Shayla replied, pulling out of the parking lot. "What's with the violin?" she asked, nodding to the case at Kate's feet. 

"Oh - I have to learn to play it this semester," Kate explained. 

"You're in luck," Shayla said, as if her statement said everything. 

"What do you mean?"

"Tomo," she said, as if the answer was obvious.

"What about Tomo?" Kate asked. 

Shayla looked at the teen like she was crazy. "He was a violinist for his entire childhood. It runs in his family. He could teach you in his sleep," she said slowly. 

"Of course the universe would do this to me," Kate groaned. "Give me a built-in teacher that lives two time zones away."

"Well, he does come back on a regular basis. Maybe you can catch him the next time he's in town," Shayla replied. "You'd be better off just talking to him yourself if you think he could help."

"Yeah, I guess," Kate responded grudgingly. 

They arrived back at the Compound and Jared greeted her at the front door. 

"Hey. Learn anything new today?" he asked, holding a bowl of cereal. 

Kate smacked him in the chest with the violin case. "This is what's new," she told him. "I've gotta call Tomo and talk to him about how to make this thing work right."

Jared smiled and followed her through the house on her way to the kitchen. "He will be so happy to finally have a use for all that useless violin knowledge he accumulated over the decades."

"When do we move?" she asked, peeling an orange into the trash can. 

"Two weeks. You'll probably be better off staying at Shan's because there's a lot to move and I don't want anyone to get in your way. Besides, I think his place is a bit closer to school than this is," Jared answered. 

"Oh - I got put onto the main soccer team. I'm second string, but at least it's more my speed," she told him as she popped a slice of the fruit into her mouth. Jared motioned for her to give him one and she obeyed. "I don't know when or even if I'll get any field time this semester, but at least I'm on the team."

"Good," he swallowed his piece and took another one from her without asking. "So I've got a few things to handle here. You good to chill for a couple hours? We can get dinner on the way home."

She nodded. "I'll be in my new room. I've got to figure out what to do with this thing," she told him, gesturing to the violin.

"Why didn't you just pick the guitar?" he asked. 

"Go away," she glared at him.

Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket to see a text message from Sloan. 

Can we study this weekend? I'll bring coffee.

GOSSIP BOARD

HURRICANE POSTED: Jared has been laying really low since Irina posted that pic of herself in Vail over Christmas. What a fucking bitch to do that shit on his birthday. 

OCEANEYEZ POSTED: I think he's just trying to keep from causing any more drama. She's obviously back in New York and he's in Los Angeles for a while. I don't think he has any plans anytime soon. So hopefully he stays in L.A. and gets lots of work done on the next album. 

WWJLD5187 POSTED: I just came across this post. It's anonymous, but it says that the girl we've been seeing him with lately is a student at the poster's high school:

The girl Jared Leto has been seen around town with is a girl at my high school. She's on the soccer team and is only a sophomore. I don't know her name, but I've seen her around a lot and she's super smart. 

HURRICANE POSTED: Of course it's anonymous. I never believe anonymous shit unless there's legitimate evidence to support it. But let's just say that it's true (which it isn't). That would mean that Jared has been messing around with a fifteen or sixteen year old girl. And he might like them young, but at least he waits until they're legal. I don't even play that game. He's not a fucking pedophile. He's strange, but he's not like that at all. 

RUGRATLOLZ POSTED: I don't believe for a second that Jared would be sexually involved with a sixteen year old girl. Why the hell would he need to? He can have his pick of girls that are two years older and stay out of jail. If this is the same chick, this anon has missed the part where she was seen out with Shannon, Emma, and Connie. So what? Jared's banging a sixteen year old and his family (and former assistant) invites her out to dinner? I mean, come on. Sometimes this fan base is so dense it hurts.