Guitar Lessons (Winter Wright/Kenny Clark)

It was nearly half a semester into the new year of college at Bear Mountain University, and winter break had just begun. Many of the young adults had returned home to see their families, meet up with friends, and mainly get out of the dorms for a while. Say for a few who would use this time to study in peace, enjoy the quiet campus, and even pick up a few side projects. One such student was Winter Wright, the white-haired girl who had been waiting eagerly for this upcoming break so she could write more music and get back to doing more shows with her band White Glass. What she hadn't expected, however, was Kenny Clark to come to her with a request.

"Can you please give me some Guitar Lessons? I know you're probably busy, but I'm willing to pay you even, please, Winter?"

Normally, Winter would have said no, not because she was the kind of bitch just to reject helping someone, but Kenny wasn't...musically inclined. She had known him for most of her life, a quiet kid who usually stayed with his clique of friends, but as high school ended and college started, he started branching out. She knew that he was only coming to her because he'd started coming to the live shows. And even then, that was only due to Nicole dragging him there in the first place. Still, Kenny was a nice guy, and Winter couldn't bring herself to say no to the request...but that didn't mean he would be happy for it. If she did this, Kenny would learn how much music meant to her and that he wasn't in for a fly-by course.

So, sitting on her bed with a light dusting of snow drifting down outside her window, she heard the knock on her dorm door, and the bassist got up, walked over to the door, and pulled it open. Standing before her was the shaggy-headed, brown-eyed teen who eagerly smiled back at her. "Hey! Awesome, I can't thank you enough for doing this, Winter! I'm really excited!" Winter crossed her arms; her tight leather jacket squeaked, and she stood unmoving.

Kenny stared back at Winter, who only stared at him, her bright blue eyes looking somehow beyond unimpressed. "Uh...Winter?" Kenny spoke up, almost intimidated by the white-haired girl who seemed quite content with making him sweat for a few minutes. Finally, Winter let out a low exhale through her nose; her heavy knee-high boots clunked as she took a few steps to the side allowing Kenny entry.

"You know you're late, right? Or is this something I should expect while doing this?" Winter asked, her voice dryly sarcastic,

Kenny all but winced, "Shit...sorry, I know, I know, but I had to run down to Dartwin," He lifted the guitar in his hand, presenting it, "Can't exactly learn if I didn't have one, right?" Winter looked at the flashy deep green guitar the teenager had picked out for himself, and then she let out a very soft scoffing laugh, "What? Is there something wrong with it?"

Winter lightly shook her head, "Did you also stop to get a few tattoos and maybe some rockstar clothes too? Oooh, maybe paint your nails black or something?"

"What?" Kenny laughed uncertainly, "No, I just -- Uh, I'm confused."

"You're asking me for lessons, and you're bringing in that," She moved to the edge of her bed and sat against the baseboard, "Do you even know how to hold the thing?"

Kenny shifted slightly, and his lips tightened into a slight frown, "Yeah, of course, I know how to hold the damn thing, Winter."

"Cool, show me."

"Huh?"

"Show me how to hold a guitar." She simply returned with an expectant motion to his flashy guitar in hand,

Kenny warily raised a brow, "Is this some sort of trick or something?"

"How could it be a trick, exactly?" Her dry sarcasm returned,

"I don't know, but your tone is telling me I'm about to look like the biggest jackass..."

"Just show me how you fucking hold the guitar, Kenny." The teenager let out a sigh, but as told, Kenny lifted the guitar and attempted to hold it properly. Winter watched silently until he was settled and then stood up and promptly took the guitar away, "Yep, you've got a lot of work to do."

"What? What did I do wrong?!" Kenny watched Winter take his guitar and open the sliding door of her closet, stuffing it inside, "Hey, what are you doing?" Winter let out a little hum, rooting inside momentarily before returning with a simple, older six-string. "What?"

Winter didn't flinch, only marching back to him and handing it over, "It's my old one. It's exactly what you need as a beginner." Kenny let out a very soft whine.

"But..."

"No buts, Kenny. You asked me to give you lessons, and that's what I'm gonna do. But I'm not here to fulfill some rockstar fantasy." She crossed her arms again, "So, here's your chance. Do you want to learn? Or do you want to find someone else to play pretend with?"

Kenny sighed long, "No...No I want to learn."

Winter finally cracked a smile, "Good." The white-haired girl reached out, pulling out her desk chair and moving it to the edge of her bed, "Sit down. We'll start with the basics. I take it you know cords at least, right?"

"Yeahhhh...Cords...sure..." Kenny grimaced while sitting down,

"Oh boy, we've got a lot of work over these next few weeks." Winter sat across from him, and the virtuoso began her lesson, teaching Kenny the basics of guitar step by step, and to his credit, Kenny was a studious student. And despite just how clueless he was, Winter had to admit, by the end of the lesson, she wasn't regretting taking him on anymore.