“Can’t we choose our own partners?” asked Angel, gazing over at Carlos.
“No, Miss Angel, you can’t,” replied Jake, knowing that she hoped to be paired off with Carlos. “Sorting out the pairings has been tough. You are one talented group of young musicians. I’m impressed, very impressed, by what I’ve heard.”
He paused, suddenly aware of Nicole Tonriverdi standing outside the open door watching him.
“Ok,” he said. “Pair number one are Angel and Mark. Mia, you’ll work with Gabriella. Riley, can you work with Dorrian? Landon and Cole together then that leaves Carlos and Cody to team up. No debate. No changing partners, ok?”
There was some muttering at the pairings but not as much as he’d anticipated.
“Right, your assignment is to write a song that you will bring out to JJL next Wednesday to record. I’m hoping for at least three verses and a song length of no less than three and a half minutes and no more than six. It can be any genre of music. I’m not expecting five hard rock anthems. I’m not expecting five ballads. I am expecting five brand new songs that show me what you are capable of producing.”
“Where do you start with that?” asked Mia a little anxiously.
“Start by talking to each other. Work out a theme. Think of the genre and we’ll take it from there,” said Jake. “Tomorrow I’ll talk you through the process I use to write a song then you’ll get time after lunch to work on yours. Any questions?”
“What happens to them once we record them?” asked Riley curiously.
“The plan is to compile them into a CD that can be sold to raise school funds. I might even throw in a song of my own,” revealed Jake with a smile.
“I thought you were going to make us into a band or something,” muttered Cody sourly.
“Well, when we get the songs worked out, we’re going to have to trade skills. Some pairings don’t have a vocalist. Some don’t have a guitarist. There will be some loose band formation required. I’ve a few friends who might help out too,” replied Jake as the bell rang. “I’ll see you all back here bright and early tomorrow. Be ready to work hard.”
As the last student left the room, Nicole slipped in.
“Interesting,” she said. “You would appear to have them under control and well organised. Clear cut plan. Clear expectation set. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks,” replied Jake, flashing her a smile. “Guess I’ve not lost all of my old teaching skills.”
“Apparently not,” she agreed, returning his smile. “Interesting split of the kids too. I taught here for six weeks before the summer break. Taught that group. Not the split I’d have gone for but I can see your rationale.”
“I just hope it pays off,” laughed Jake. “I wanted them out of their comfort zones. If I challenge them and pair them with someone they wouldn’t naturally choose then I might just get five half-decent songs out of this. They’ll work harder to prove a point to each other and me.”
Nicole nodded, “And how much will you write for them, Mr Power?”
“None of it,” he replied honestly. “I’ve a Silver Lake album to write. I don’t have time to write their songs too.”
“Was this the lesson plan that Mr Santiago left with you?”
The boldness of her question caught him off guard and, for a few seconds, Jake could only stare at her. Gathering his composure, he replied, “Rich left me no guidelines. I pulled this together myself. I offered to step in to fill the gap here. Do you have an issue with that, Miss Tonriverdi?”
“Not yet,” she replied, a coolness to her tone. “I’m sure Dr Jones knew what he was doing when he agreed to this.”
Without another word, she left the room, leaving Jake feeling angered by her attitude. He pitied the rest of the school’s music teachers if she was to be their department head.
“Ice queen,” he muttered to himself as he gathered his belongings together.
Much to his surprise, the house was quiet when he arrived home shortly before five. The sun deck was deserted as was the sunroom. Jake spotted a note on the kitchen table. “Down on the beach. Lx”
Having changed into his shorts, Jake wandered across the sun deck and down the path to the beach, listening for the sounds of his children’s laughter. Within seconds, he could hear Melody giggling then he heard another familiar laugh.
“Todd!” he called out as he jogged across the hot sand towards the spot where his family were sitting.
Looking up, his young guitar tech grinned then tossed the football he’d been playing with to him, “Kids, your dad has the ball!”
Catching it with ease, Jake broke into a run heading for the water’s edge. Both kids came flying towards him and, as Melody reached him, Jake threw the ball over her head to Jesse. It bounced a couple of times but his young son finally grabbed it and ran off down the beach away from them with Todd in hot pursuit. Their game continued for almost an hour despite the heat. Making sure both children got a chance to “win” occasionally, Jake and Todd kept them running up and down the beach and eventually into the waves.
Tired and dripping wet, all four of them finally made their way back to where Lori was sitting. Still self-conscious about her scars, she had a soft pastel sarong tied around her waist.
“Did you have fun?” she asked as Jesse threw himself into her lap.
“I want to play more,” grumbled the little boy.
“After dinner, buddy,” promised Todd. “I need to talk to your dad about work stuff first.”
“Todd,” said Melody, snuggling in beside him on the large striped beach towel. “Will you check my guitar over like you do
