All Chapters of They Chose Their Duet, I Chose Freedom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Madeline's POVBack in the dorm, I couldn't help checking my phone one more time. There wasn't a single message. Even though I knew they probably wouldn't care, my chest still tightened painfully.I turned off the screen and started packing up the music textbooks piled on my desk. My roommate came in from the balcony, looking confused."You're back early today. Did they go with the sheet music you stayed up all week writing?""That doesn't matter anymore."I sorted through the books one by one and packed them all into a cardboard box, my mind drifting as I did.Last week in our major class, the professor assigned another group project. Reid Sullivan and Aria Merrill pulled me into their group without a second thought.For some reason, I wanted to try my hand at the ensemble piece. The two of them thought it over, then agreed with a smile, telling me they'd let me join if I could write a flawless arrangement.I was so encouraged I wrote nonstop without taking a break. But the ar

On Monday, I submitted my transfer application along with my portfolio. Then I remembered I still had a sketchbook left in the practice room, so I headed over during a free period.The sound of music drifted through the door, and I stopped on instinct. I'd heard it countless times growing up. It was Reid and Aria playing a piano duet.I waited until the piece ended, then pushed the door open with a blank expression. I ignored their surprised looks. "I'm just here for my sketchbook. Keep going."Aria awkwardly turned her face away. Reid stood up and walked to the storage cabinet. "I'll help you look."After some digging, the sketchbook turned up at the very bottom of a forgotten corner, buried under a thick pile of scores. I carefully moved them aside and found the pages covered in coffee stains. Something went off in my head like a bomb, and I gripped the ruined pages so hard my fingers ached."Why is there coffee all over this?"Aria said quietly, "We didn't have anywhere to put

Third-person POVA week had passed since Reid and Aria returned from their competition together."Maddie's competition ended, didn't it? How is she not back yet?""I'm not sure either. Let me text her."Reid hit send, but the message bounced back immediately, marked undeliverable. He stared at the message box, and something sharp stabbed through his chest. Aria noticed him frozen with his phone in his hand and asked casually, "Did she reply?"Reid tightened his grip on the phone, his voice completely flat. "She blocked me."Aria's hands stilled. She pulled out her own phone and sent a message. She stared at her screen, and her breathing picked up. "She blocked me too."Aria blinked, still not processing it. Reid's brow furrowed, and he started walking toward the women's dorm in long, fast strides."Is this about the grad school thing? About not putting her name down? Is she that upset?"Aria hurried alongside him, her voice tight with urgency. "But you weren't wrong. Her part

I followed Cedric to a small studio. It wasn't big, but every inch of it was packed. He pulled me over to a little couch in the corner and sat us both down."When I was a kid, my parents didn't support me going into art either. They thought painting was for people with no real future, something you only did if you weren't smart enough to do anything else."It wasn't until my grandmother went to bat for me against the whole family that I was finally allowed to study art. That's when I learned that there will always be someone who believes in you."My heart gave a quiet thump. Cedric looked straight at me, his eyes soft."The truth is, the exhibition wasn't the first time I saw you."I stared at him in surprise. He took my hand and slowly traced his thumb across my palm."It was that fall, at the secondhand bookstall by the side entrance of the art school. I saw you sitting on the ground, flipping through a book and sketching at the same time. The setup was pretty rough, but you lo

Time slipped by, and before I knew it, fall had arrived. Cedric and I talked about staying a little longer before heading back, but he told me, with a suspicious amount of secrecy, that he had a surprise for me. So, the plans were put on hold.On the first day of fall, Cedric dragged me out of the house bright and early. In the car, he told me to close my eyes, and I did as I was told.When the door opened, the familiar smell of paint and turpentine hung in the air, and I already had a feeling I knew what this was."Okay!" His voice came from behind me, buzzing with excitement.I opened my eyes slowly, and in front of me was a sea of pink. He'd painted an entire wall in soft pink, and even the couch and coffee table had been swapped out to match.I couldn't find the words. On the windowsill sat a little potted plant we'd picked out together. An easel stood by the window with a portrait propped up on it.Cedric had painted me.I stepped closer and leaned in to look. In the painti