Sweet Harmony (4 page)

"Raphael, I'm leaving," she said. "The toilets are all done."

"Bye, toilet girl," he said. "See you tomorrow."

Toilet girl. Now that was a great nickname. If the others at school heard that, the possibilities for ridicule would be endless.

She sighed and left the bathroom. After she vacated the building, she walked across the lawn and paused when she saw a light streaming under the door of the gym. The sound of a beautiful violin song poured out from inside. She crept toward the gym and opened the door a crack. To her surprise, Daniel stood all alone. His eyes were squeezed shut and his golden hair was tousled. His violin was tucked under his chin as he played. The song was sad.

During that moment, she was painfully aware of how beautiful he and his song
were. When he was like this, she could actually see what other girls saw in him.
Just remember what he's like when he opens his mouth,
she reminded herself.
Beauty isn't everything.
She hesitated before taking a step back. She wasn't going to disrupt him now. Even though she still hated his guts, interfering in the middle of such a beautiful song was a tragedy.

In silence, she walked
into the dorm and headed up the steps two at a time. She found herself wondering whether Daniel loved playing the violin in the same way she loved karate. If that was the case, then even with his sour personality he wasn't the worst person in the world. She made it to her room and went inside. After she placed her book bag on the floor, she froze when she saw something was wrong.

Her white karate uniform had been died flamingo pink. An envelope was placed in clear view in front of it. She rushed over to the uniform and tore it from the wall. Nobody messed with her karate uniform! That was like letting a four-year-old paint over the Mona Lisa. Her hands shook when her fingers enclosed on the envelope. She pulled out a piece of paper and a series of
photographs.

The first p
icture was of Daniel holding her white uniform and grinning into the camera. The next showed him dipping the uniform in a vat of pink dye. In the last photo, he was posing next to the pink uniform in the middle of her dorm room. Her blood rushed to her head.
I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him.
She let out a yell of anger and her roommate next-door banged against the wall. She read the note.

Do you like it? I think pink suits you.

Daniel

She tore up the pictures and the note. She regretted the fact she'd actually
enjoyed watching him play. Once a slime ball, always a slime ball. Now she just had to get him back—and she knew just how she was going to do it.

Chapter Four

For the first time in her life, Annamarie woke up before her alarm rang. She scrambled out of bed and stared at the wall where her pink karate uniform hung. She'd either have to buy a new one or bleach it back to white. She touched the sleeve, disgusted.

"Don't worry, my friend," she whispered sinisterly. "Your suffering won't be in vain. I'm going to get back at Daniel if it's the last thing I do."

A grin crossed her face.
Yes, uniform,
she thought.
Everything is going to be fine.

When she left the dorm, she ignored the girls who scowled at her as she walked past. Daniel had given her a life's purpose—
to destroy him. She made it outside and saw Owen was waiting faithfully for her by the door. He was taking on the attributes of a golden retriever. Hopefully, his loyalty would make him obligated to help her. She sidled up to him and wrapped an arm around his beefy shoulders.

"Owen, my friend," she said.

"Oh no," he groaned.

"What?" She hadn't even asked him for a favor yet.

"You're doing that thing my little sister does whenever she wants to borrow money." Owen sighed. "What do you want?"

"You have classes with Daniel, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, yeah." Owen nodded.

"Would you
be so kind as to tell me when?" Stealing his violin during class would be easy. Stealing it without being caught, not so much.

"Second period." Owen groaned and rolled his eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Do you really want to know?" She winked at him. Doing evil deeds always put her in a good mood.

He paused. "
I guess."

"Good. Because I'm going to need your help." She grinned. "Daniel messed up something precious to m
e last night, so I'm doing the friendly thing and returning the favor. I'm going to need a distraction while I steal his violin."

"No. Not his violin." Owen was quaking. "
It was handmade just for him by Hans Weiss, the famous violin crafter from Germany. It's one of a kind."

"All the more reason for me to
steal it." She rubbed her hands together. "And you wouldn't have to do anything too big. All I want you to do is what comes to you naturally."

"And that is?" He groaned.

"I want you to spill soda on his shirt again," she said. "He'll be so busy being pissed at you he won't notice me."

"
Annamarie, this is a really,
really
bad idea." He ran a hand through his hair. "Remember what I said about my dad? I can't make Daniel angry."

"
Just cower and apologize." She gave him two thumbs up. "You'll be fine. He won't suspect that you had anything to do with the violin disappearing."

"
Fine. I'll do it. But if something happens to my dad, I'm never talking to you again." Owen sighed. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"
You're the best." She gave him a hug and his cheeks turned pink.

"I guess," he said. "But how are you going to get out of second period? You're already in enough trouble as it is. If Mrs. Carmichael sees you
wandering around without a good reason, you may get suspended."

She'd find a
way. Skipping lessons had never been a problem for her before.

****

Five minutes before the end of first period, Annamarie looked at the clock. What should she do to get out of class today? Fake puking was always great, but she wasn't sure if that was grandeur enough. She had to make sure Mrs. Larson had no other choice but to give her a note to the nurse's office. That way she could find the perfect time to steal the violin without getting into trouble.
What should I do?
she thought, frowning at the girl next to her as she pretended to play. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea. Back when she was younger, she never stopped messing around for long enough to eat and sometimes ended up passing out from anemia. Her parents were always too busy to notice her lack of appetite until she got sick. She decided a quick fainting spell wouldn't hurt now. Just as the music started to build, she blew hard into her flute so it made a high-pitched trill—that was to get everybody's attention—and then flopped dramatically on the floor.

Give me my Oscar now,
she thought, fighting to hide a grin as the girl beside her screamed. Mrs. Larson ran up the steps and kneeled beside her.

"Oh goodness.
" Mrs. Larson grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?"

She opened an eye and let out a groan. Slowly she sat up. Her classmates formed a semi-circle around her.

"I'm so sorry." She managed to make her bottom lip tremble. Bonus points for her. "I think I need to go to the nurse's office. My anemia…It must be acting up again."

"Is that what
this is?" Mrs. Larson grabbed her under her arms. "Up you get. Who wants to walk Ms. Chadwick to the nurse's office?"

Not a single person raised their hand.

"It's okay." She wiped invisible sweat off her forehead. "I can make it…I know I can…I've done this before…"

"If you're sure." Mrs. Larson swallowed. "I could always walk you."

"No, no." She fanned herself. "I'll be okay."

"Let me write you a note."

Thank you, Mrs. Larson.
She hid a smile behind her hand. Her plot worked. Now she just had to keep it up. She tried to stand, but then staggered to her knees again. The teacher helped her and led her to the front of the class. The others students whispered to one another. She had a feeling news of her passing out would fly around the school like wildfire, which was exactly what she hoped.

As
Annamarie leaned against the teacher's desk, the woman scribbled a note on a piece of paper.

Ms. Chadwick passed out during class. She has been excused from classes today until she is feeling well again. Mrs. Larson

"Here you go, dear." Mrs. Larson handed her the note with a kindly expression.

"Thank you."
Annamarie headed for the door.

"Are you sure you'll make it?" Mrs. Larson asked. "I can walk you down—"

"I'll really be okay." She left the room before Mrs. Larson's guilt became too strong and the woman walked her to the nurse's office.

After she was
out of sight of the teacher, she tucked the note in her jean pocket and sprinted toward Owen's second period. First period hadn't ended yet, but at least now she had time to mentally prepare. She made it to the classroom and heard the dull voice of the music teacher, Mr. Finley, as he lectured the students. She hid behind the wall by the bathroom until the bell rang and students streamed out of class. Nobody noticed her.

As students headed into the class in replace of the ones who'd left, s
he saw Daniel walking down the hall with a pack of girls behind him giving him goo-goo eyes.
Please don't see me, please don't see me
. Luckily, he didn't spot her and walked into the classroom. Girls whimpered their goodbyes at the door as if spending a moment away from Daniel was enough to kill them. It was disgusting.

Where are you, Owen?
Annamarie thought as she checked her watch. Class started in less than a minute. Just as she was beginning to become really worried, she saw the crowd of students part for a large boy with tousled blond hair. That had to have been Owen. She seized his hand and pulled him back by the wall. She was relieved to see he was carrying a large soda.

"There you are," she said. "I was worried you weren't going to make it."

"I forgot to get the drink," he said. "I had to double-back."

"Well, I have good news." She glanced at the classroom.

"Daniel didn't show up today and I don't have to do this?" Owen said.

"Hardy-har-har." She rolled her eyes. "No, he's here and he has the violin. Go in and spill on him. Make it a good spill too. I'll love you forever if you somehow manage to mess up his perfect hair."

"You really hate this guy, don't you?" Owen raised an eyebrow.

"He just gets on my nerves like nobody else I've ever met."

She couldn't explain why it was so important that she got back at him. From the moment she met him she'd been obsessed. Considering the amount of effort he'd put into stealing and dying her karate uniform, the feelings were mutual.

The bell rang, cutting off her thoughts.

"You ready?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Owen unscrewed the top of the soda.

"Go get him, tiger." She patted his shoulder bracingly.

Owen gulped and walked through the door of the classroom. When she peaked inside, she saw the teacher
was looking down, which was good. She ducked back behind the door again. There was a thud, a crash, and another thud.

"You idiot!" Daniel roared.

That's my cue,
she thought, having to fight the urge to laugh out loud. She looked inside the classroom and saw that Daniel stood in the middle of the aisle surrounded by students. Not only had Owen spilled on him, he'd drenched him head to foot in sticky soda. The guy was so mad he was shaking. She was going to owe Owen big time for that. The best part was, though, that all of the other students were packed around Daniel and not paying the slightest attention to his violin perched on the side of his desk. She walked inside like she was curious about what the yelling was about, wrapped her hand around the handle of the violin case, and walked out of the room as calmly as she could.

Once she was in the hall, she grinned and ran away from the classroom. She was on her way to her dorm when she slowed.
Wait a second. He's going to figure out that I was involved in stealing his violin the moment he discovers it's missing. I can't leave it in my room or he'll find it.
She remembered the locker room and chuckled. Yeah, she had a feeling nobody would ever think to look in the girl's locker room in the abandoned, broken locker. Today was going to be a fantastic day.

****

The lunch bell rang, so Annamarie walked outside and headed over to the tree. To her surprise, Jaiden was already there. When he saw her, his grin widened and his bright eyes sparkled. His overwhelming attractiveness stunned her, but since almost everybody at the academy was gorgeous, she got over the affect pretty fast. She took her place by the tree and leaned against the trunk, still grinning from ear to ear. How could she have ever thought she hated this academy? Tormenting her little brother was not nearly as entertaining as tormenting Daniel. She just wished she could have seen the look on the guy's face when he found out his violin was gone.

"You seem to be in a good mood today," Jaiden said. "I'm surprised."

"Why?" She raised an eyebrow when she realized he must have known something about what Daniel had done. "Did you have something to do with the fact that my karate uniform ended up pink last night?"

"I didn't take part in it, but I knew Daniel
was planning the attack. I feel a little bad about not telling you, but since you're both my friends, I wasn't sure what to do." Jaiden shrugged.

"We're friends?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What did you think we were?" He chuckled. "I wouldn't wait out here for you otherwise."

"I didn't know you were waiting for me." She was surprised
by how pleased she was that she'd made another friend. "I thought this was your place and I just infringe on it."

"Well, it's our place now." He sat down and patted the grass at his side.

Shrugging, she sat down by the trunk and stretched out. She may have gotten an F in musical theory, but she still felt accomplished because of her ginormous prank—and she wasn't even done with it yet. She pulled out a bag of semi-healthy fruit filled snack bars she'd bought from the vending machine and took a bite. They'd never tasted so sweet.

"Shouldn't you eat more than that?" Jaiden asked.

"Huh?" She had more breakfast pastries stowed in her backpack, but she didn't know why he was looking at her food choice with such concern.

"You passed out today," Jaiden said. "I heard
the rumors. You have anemia, right? Shouldn't you eat more?"

"Oh." She burst out laughing. "Right."

"I didn't know being sick was so funny." Jaiden was obviously perplexed.

"It isn't." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's just that I—"

The front doors of the school crashed open. Daniel and Gavin came out. Crap. What was she going to do? If Daniel saw her, he'd make a bee-line straight for her.

"Where is she?
She isn't in the dining hall!" Daniel roared. "I know she has this lunch. She's the one who took my violin. She's the reason that punk spilled soda on me too."

"Calm down, man," Gavin said. "You don't even know she did it. Maybe one of those crazy girls with a crush on you took
your violin. They're always stealing our gym clothes."

"No, it was
Annamarie Chadwick!" Daniel yelled. "I can feel it in my bones."