4. Landon

       As much as I had always wanted to go to Cordelia Boarding School for the longest time and finally worked up the nerve to audition, I was already regretting coming here. Even though I auditioned, I was hoping I could just work on my songwriting and deal with performing a lot later.

       That wasn't the case.

       I didn't understand why in my songwriting class, we had to sing the song we were writing that was due next week. Not all songwriters wanted to be singers. Couldn't we just get someone else to perform it for us?

       To make things worse, I now had complete writer's block. I couldn't think of anything, even though I had a notebook filled with ideas to use for future songs. Looking through the book, I still couldn't strike an idea.

       I wrote songs all the time. How come now that I was finally attending a boarding school for the performing arts, I was at a road block?

       I booked some time in one of the many music rooms so I could try writing with a piano or guitar or anything. It wasn't working.

       I had plenty of time to get this song done but if I didn't start now and get somewhere, I would probably fall behind in my writing and not get the song done at all.

       I was trying out some chords on the piano, hoping to strike something inside of me but there was still nothing. My ideas, my inspiration, my everything was empty. Completely and utterly empty.

       After trying a few chords and getting nowhere, I slammed a bunch of keys before huffing and resting my head on the piano. I hated this.

       There was a slight knock on the door before it opened so I looked over to see Harmony walk in. "Hey," she said. "I figured I would find you here. Everything okay?"

       I sighed. "Nope. I'm supposed to be writing a song for my songwriting class and I'm so lost. I have no idea what to write about and I haven't been able to create even the melody. I'm screwed. I never should have come to this school."

       "Landon, don't be ridiculous," Harmony said as she sat down beside me on the piano bench. "You're, like, the best song writer I know and everyone gets writer's block from time to time. It's nothing new."

       "It is for me," I said as I picked up my notebook and flipped through it. "I've written down so many ideas that I planned to use in the future but even all of these aren't useful."

       "Okay, here's an idea," Harmony said. "You take one of your songs that you've already written and hand that in. Problem solved."

       "I can't," I said. "For multiple reasons. One, that's technically cheating. Two, we have to follow the guidelines given to us and none of my songs that I've written and never used fit the guideline. And three... Nope, those are the only two reasons but they're good enough."

       "Then modify one of the songs so it fits the guidelines," Harmony said.

       "That's the thing," I said. "I can't. I can't do anything because of my stupid writer's block."

       "Is there something that's bothering you?" Harmony asked. "Something that's getting in the way of your writing?"

       I hesitated for a bit, not sure if I should tell Harmony. Even though she was my best friend and knew that I had stage fright, she always tried so hard to get me to perform. She never pushed me and if I told her to stop, she did. But I had a feeling she would try to assure me that everything was going to be okay.

       That wasn't what I needed right now.

       "We have to perform the song we write," I told her anyway. "And even though I performed already by auditioning for the school, I'm not ready to perform here. Cordelia is a performing arts school. There's no way I could refuse to perform."

       "Landon, there are a lot of people here that don't perform," Harmony said. "The people wanting to be makeup artists, work with costumes, stuff like that."

       "But I auditioned by performing," I said. "Obviously they're going to expect me to perform, which is why they put me in a vocal class even though I didn't sign up for it. I really don't think I can do this. The more I think about it, the more I don't want to write this song."

       "Who's your songwriting teacher?" Harmony asked.

       "Miss Griffin," I said.

       Harmony smiled. "You know, that's actually a good thing. I've had her before and there were times where one of my classmates didn't want to perform. She was completely fine with it. She knows that pushing people who have stage fright only make things worse so if you talk to her, she'll for sure won't make you perform. If anything, she'll only ask you to get someone to perform for you. And lucky for you, you have a pretty amazing best friend that will gladly perform for you."

       "Seriously?" I asked. "If I tell her I don't want to perform, someone else can do it for me?"

       "Yes, seriously," Harmony said. "I wouldn't lie about that. So... Knowing that, do you think you can focus and try writing a song."

       I looked back at the piano then flipped through my notebook. "Nope. Not today. I'm too stressed. I think once I know for sure that I won't have to perform, I'll be okay."

       "Ask your teacher tomorrow," Harmony said. "I know she'll say yes but I do understand that you need to hear the confirmation from her. And once you do, you'll be perfectly fine to write the song. And I'll perform it."

       "It will be during class," I said. "You'll be in a different class."

       "Landon," Harmony said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "You have a lot to learn from being at Cordelia."

       "It's my first year," I said. "That's pretty obvious. So... What exactly is this all about?"

       "Some people have to be a part of another person's presentation all the time," Harmony said. "If we do, we just need to get proof from the teacher of the student we'll be presenting for and they let us skip class."

       "All of this is so confusing," I said. 

       "Long story short, you're going to get an A on your song," Harmony said.

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what's this???? did i update???? HECK YEAH I DID.

i was (finally) watching TNS season 6 after the canadian show finally decided to air here in canada and for some reason, it made me want to update this even though the two actors i have in this book from here aren't in season 6 lol.

OH WELL. AT LEAST I UPDATED.