Christine, a bassist in her high school orchestra, is picked-on and alone. Then the new kid, Erik, changes everything… but can things last between the old-school nerd and the new-school jock?

Chapter One:

Christine walked to orchestra with a heavy heart. Her first relationship had just ended with her boyfriend, Roaul, dumping her right before homecoming. It was just two weeks away, and now she felt like the only girl at school without a date to the dance. On top of that, all of Roaul's friends were in orchestra, and she knew today's class would be yet another excuse to bring her hell on earth.

When she walked into the orchestra room, she greeted Mr. Barrett warmly; the warm-hearted old man had never been anything but kind to her, and she was extremely grateful to have that small comfort in a class like hers. She greeted a couple of the violinists, made some nice small-talk, and then took her bass off the rack. She pretended to be focusing on rosining her bow and setting the bass in its rockstop when the rest of the bass-section walked in.

The guys from her section, Mike, Scott, Alex, Eli, Ian, and Buck, were all older than her, although the youngest two were in her grade. Mike and Scott were freshman (as was Christine), while Eli, Buck, and Alex were seniors, and Ian was the only junior. They all had one thing in common; a love of picking on her. Christine could not go ten steps in the hall without hearing somebody throw an insult at her; usually one of the bassists.

When Mr. Barrett started class, the bass section started talking. They joked, they debated, they shared philosophies on life, but mostly they just talked. Today, Christine was the subject of choice.

"I heard he dumped you. Did you cry?" Scott asked, motioning towards his eyes as though it weren't obvious.

"Did you beg him to take you back?" It was Alex this time, and he turned to Eli and pretended to grovel and beg. Christine turned away, disgusted, trying not to break down in tears in front of the boys. The only one who ever cared if she cried was Mike, so he held back a little on taunting her. Buck thought it was his Christian duty to care, so he tried to be polite, but her tears really didn't affect him.

"I bet the only thing you'll miss is the sex, isn't it?" Eli hurled the insult at her like a weapon. They liked to joke about her being a whore, even during the most sensitive of situations, since it was the one thing she'd argue against. Ever since Christine told them that she planned on being a virgin until she was 25, they'd been hassling her, propositioning and harassing her for any kind of sex.

That was just too much. Christine put her bass down on its side, motioning to Mr. Barrett that she needed to go, and left the room as her eyes welled up with tears. She had to push past Mike, who moved as if to stop her, and saw the pained look in his eyes. She hurried down the hall, past the band lockers and the choir room door, but stopped short when she heard an incredible voice. She paused beside the door, leaning against the wall, and just listened for awhile. When the singing ceased, she stepped inside to compliment whoever had such an extraordinary voice, and saw him.