An old place with new people

[Kari Whitlock]

Kari stopped at his favourite place along the harbour and picked his board up off the ground. He set it down, wheels up so it wouldn't roll, besides him on the ground and sat down himself, taking his guitar off of his back. Kari liked to sit here and play some old songs on his guitar, it calmed him.

Kari crossed his legs and began to play one of his favourite songs. He didn't sing along to it, he didn't sing to this song. Kari just played unless he was confidant with the song. As he played he let the music become his top priority, the only thing he could hear or feel as his finger slid across the strings. Kari had played 'nothing else matters' enough times that he could probably do it with his eyes closed but he liked to settle for the traditional was of playing, with his eyes open.

Kari was obsorbed enough in his own music he didn't notice the person behind him. Eventually he noticed her but ignored her, she would wait until he finished or she would leave. Either way he finished the song in peace, he often found people watching him when he played in public but people rarely interrupted him. Some people tried to give him money, dropping it on his skateboard, but they didn't interrupt him.

 

[Jia Khalid]

(( Sorry, she is my new character, so it will take a little bit to develop her ))

Jia was getting tired of her working on homework all the time at Durmstrang. It was really frustrating for her to see herself like this, she really never saw herself in this image before, let alone being in a stressful mood. Walking alongside the harbour, she started to hear someone playing a guitar, someone who was really good at it. She started to hum, starting to sing a little bit towards the song she was hearing. For some reason, the song seemed familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Walking to where the song was coming from, she walked up to the guy who was playing it and said, "Hi there. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Jia looked at the guitar he was holding and instantly thought that he was the one who was playing the song. "Were you just playing a song? It seemed great to hear." said Jia with a smile.

 

[Kari Whitlock]

Kari looked up when he heard a female voice. Before he even looked he could tell she was a teenager, he could tell age by faces like most people but he could also tell by voice pitch usually, unless their voice was unusual for their age. Kari nodded at the girl, younger than him but only a couple of years, and answered. "No, you're not and yeah it was me, you know it?" His voice wasn't particularly deep but it had a calm aspect to it.

Kari was generally a calm person and was happy to talk to anyone who liked 'Nothing Else Matters'. It was a good song, unfortunately not one he had the pitch to sing to. He'd be a little put out if this girl didn't know the song. Unlike most boys his age, Kari did not check her out. He looked up directly at her face, not even registering her hair colour.

 

[Jia Khalid]

Smiling at the boy, he heard a response from him if she knew the song or not. She had heard the tune before, but she hadn't actually heard the song. Jia was a little hesitant to tell the boy her answer since she was a really shy girl, but decided to give it a chance. "I'm sorry, I actually don't know the song." said Jia sitting down. Jia sat a from a comfortable distance from the boy. She wasn't too comfortable with people getting to close to her if she didn't know them. "Maybe you can play the tune for me again?" requested Jia. She wanted to hear the song again because she really liked it.

 

[Kari Whitlock]

Kari nodded. "Yeah, it's a Metallica song. I don't usually play their music but I like this one. Nothing Else Matters, nice tune." He smiled a small, crooked, smile to the girl and started strumming again. He noticed her sitting out of the corner of his eye and thought it was safe enough to see what she looked like.

She had long black hair, to her middle, and was quite pretty. That was as far as Kari let himself see as he returned to his music. He didn't like to act like the boys that had been in his year at school. They all looked and sounded like jerks, especially around girls. Kari didn't like the way they acted so he didn't follow them, he went against them completely.

 

[Jia Khalid]

Jia for some reason couldn't remember where she had heard the song before. She had heard it not too long ago, maybe someone at Durmstrang was playing it, she couldn't exactly remember. Feeling a little embarrassed that she didn't know the answer to his question, she replied, "I see." Jia was the type of girl who was a know-it-all. She was a very smart girl, rather an average looking girl, but she was book smart and that's what all really matter to her. Looking back at the boy, she rose her face just enough so that she can look at his guitar. She didn't want to make direct eye contact because she wasn't comfortable with it right now. She looked at his guitar and said, "Do you mind playing the song again? I would like to hear it." Jia pointed her fingers towards each other while making a request. She knew it wasn't in her place to make the request, but she did like the song after all.

 

[Kari Whitlock]

Kari nodded. "Sure, It's a good song." His fingers began to dance across the strings again and the music started. It was his favourite song that he didn't song to but not his all time favourite. He only sung and played the old songs, it had been at least fifteen years since the newest song he played had been released. He preferred the music of the past, it seemed most people did.

Kari knew most of the song off by heart so he stole peeks at the girl, just to see how she liked it and what her reaction to it was. After meeting the father of his sister-in-law, Kari had become interested in facial expressions and body language. Mr Costello had even promised to teach him a bit about the art of deception. He was learning quite fast but he still had a lot to go.