It was late in the day when a short figure walked into Meyer Hall. Nicole Ellis wasn't a music student but she had a taste for it the sweet sounds of a piano. Walking as quietly as she could past the offices, she turned the corner and headed up the stairs. A bundle of sheet music tucked protectively under her arm.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, every now and again skipping a step just to make her trip a little bit faster. She tripped over the last one but managed to catch herself, after trowing her papers up in the air. The freshman's sheet music fluttered to ground and one flew back half way down the stairs. "Crap!" she muttered softly but in an angry tone. Scampering back down the stairs then back up to retrieve all of her papers. She finally had them all together again although in a messy bunch instead of the evenly stacked pile she had previously had.

Looking down the hall she could see no one around and was much obliged to sneak into an empty, sound-proofed room. Closing the door behind her, Nicole seated herself at a grand piano. Sticking her music up on the ledge above the keys, she felt a little embarrassed. She had come to Weatherfield for art, not music. Besides she was no good at playing the piano. At least not like any of the students who specialized in it.

Shifting her weight around on the stool, she flipped her straight brown hair behind her back, although when she leaned over it just fell right back into her face. She wiggled her fingers and cracked each of her knuckles to loosen them up. She hadn't played in quite a while so she knew she would be pretty rusty. Stroking the keys as if she were trying to get the piano to trust her, she paused and placed her fingers in the correct position. Shifting her brown gaze up to sheet music she started to push on the keys. Every now and then making a mistake, she tried to keep going but often found herself starting the whole song over again. She smiled to herself when she finally started to discipline her fingers into the way the needed to go so that the song might be played with perfection.

Nicole was absorbed in her music, to busy trying to to get it right to notice that some one had entered the room. Her tongue was clenched between her lips and peeking out of the corner of her mouth. Her brow furrowed as she started to play the instrument a little louder with frustration. This was so silly! Why was she here anyway? She couldn't play the piano well enough for anyone. Thoughts of doubt flashed through her mind likewise but she continued to play without falter.

Suddenly fingers touched her shoulder. Nicole jumped, her fingers making an awful banging sound on the piano. "Hey," said a low voice. Turning around she saw a tall, thin girl with black hair looking down on her. Her jaw dropped down sightly and her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. She was caught! Oh she knew this was a bad idea!

"I've not seen you around before. You new?"

The freshmen almost started to hyperventilate. "Um no, not really. I'm a...a freshmen, so kinda but not really?" What she blubbering about? She was acting like such a dork. Her face reddened again. Nicole didn't want this girl to think of her like some wimpy nerd. She struggled to smile. "Oh I'm not a music student, I was just messing around a little," she tried to chuckle but it came out weakly. What should she do? Well of course the only polite thing would be to introduce herself. Nicole smiled a held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Nicole, I'm majoring in art here."

"I'm Nicole," answered the girl instinctively after Chance introduced herself. Her smile melted into a expression that was dumbfounded by her own stupidity. Her lightly freckled face flushed a deep pink, embarrassed. "Idiot!" she scolded herself wanting to slap herself right then and there but decided against it as it might scare the crap out of Chance. She gave a deep sigh frustrated with herself for not thinking before she spoke. She always seemed to have a problem with that. Why could she never think?

"I just thought I would come and try to see if I could still play as well as I used to," Nicole answered her question trying to shake off her earlier mistake. She didn't want Chance to think that she thought she could play. Or that she was terribly bad at it. It would be nice if everyone thought she used to be a lot better at playing but was just out of practice. This was probably why she never played for anyone but herself. Nicole had always felt embarrassed about her own piano skills. It was like everyone expected her to be better because she had played it more then other who where better. It was probably because of her small fingers. Looking down at her hands stained with dried paint she frowned. She had better stick to acrylics and pencils what she was good at. Even though she wasn't as good as some others.

"Nope, paints , pencils and brushes are all you will find in my room," Nicole shook her head a bit sadly, "I sold my piano to help pay for my tuition. I didn't think I would really need it here. After all I don't play well enough to major in music and I needed the money." She smiled sweetly up at Chance. She seemed like a very nice person and Nicole decided that, unless her attitude changed rapidly, she would like her. Was Chance her real name? Or a nickname? Well it sounded more like a nickname but she never could be sure. It was a catchy name though and Nicole liked it.

"What instrument do you play?" she asked curiously looking over at the case beside the other girl. Nicole had never really explored any other instruments beside the piano. When she was little she always thought she wanted to play the flute or the drums but her mother hated drums and the piano would be more convenient to learn, so the piano it was.

{{That's alright}}

Bright brown eyes observed the long stick-like instrument. It was nicely polished, though you could tell it was not new. It looked as if it played nicely, though Nicole hardly knew enough about flutes to judge their quality. She could only judge by her common knowledge of instruments.

"It looks nice," she commented looking back up at Chance, a relaxed smile set upon her lips, "It looks like its in very good condition." Nicole wasn't quite sure how good the condition of the flute really was, she never knew much about them in particular except that you blew through them and they made music. It did seem like an interesting subject to learn about. And she had never actually seen someone play a flute, except for on TV. No one she knew back at home had ever played the flute. Maybe that was why she used to want to learn to play the flute. To be more distinguishable among her friends. Not that it mattered now. She doubted that they were still friends.

"I used to want to play the flute when I was little," Nicole muttered absent-minded. Afterwards wondering if she really should have given Chance that little insight on her past. After all the had just met and didn't know that much about the other.

Chance's question was one Nicole had never thought to ask herself before. And it certainly was one to take into consideration. Painting with her acrylics was something she loved to do but then again it did get old. And that happened she did have to force herself to paint. And she loathed having to do that.

"Well I think with me its both," she answered not sure exactly how to explain herself, "I love to paint but sometimes I do get tired of practicing. It doesn't happen a lot but sometimes I just don't want to do anything at all, especially when I see no improvement in my work." Nicole knew she was lazy. She could see it in herself just as well as anyone else could. She had been told for years by her parents and teachers. Her lack of belief in herself was another thing that held her back from working on things she wasn't particularly skilled at. Such as piano for instance. But painting and drawing had always come naturally to her and so she concentrated more on them then anything else.