Monday morning... the first day of the summer semester. And Kyle's first day of teaching.

God help me.

Kyle's first week back in London had been uneventful, which was exactly what he had wanted. His flat in Knightsbridge had been fully furnished when he arrived, and apart from having to venture out for groceries the other day, he barely left his place the entire week. Reg tried to convince him to 'live a little' and enjoy his time here in London, but he just could not bring himself to warm up to being back in his hometown. As far as he was concerned, the less he saw of this bloody city, the better.

Kyle Lancaster

He knew he didn't have any old buddies he wanted to meet up with or any family members he wanted to visit while here. Well, that wasn't entirely true - there was his Uncle George, who might actually be happy to see his nephew again. Kyle might pop by the music shop at some point in the next few months to say hello.

Apart from his uncle, though, and maybe Reg, he really didn't have anyone here. And that was just fine by him.

For the most part, Kyle was determined to just grit his teeth and get through this teaching gig until the end of the summer semester. And then he could leave this cursed city again and go back on tour, where he belonged. This masterclass would just be another thing to add to his long list of musical accomplishments, and that was about it.

So, on this bright and early Monday morning, Kyle reluctantly got ready to head over to the Royal Academy of Music for his first ever masterclass. He knew that one of the benefits of teaching a masterclass was that he didn't need a lesson plan or a syllabus - the class was mostly focused on the students and their musical abilities, and Kyle would simply listen to them perform for him before offering his own musical advice. He wondered vaguely if he could get away with just letting the students play their instruments and not saying anything the entire lesson.

Probably not.

Kyle now got into his rental car and began to head over to the Academy, wishing the ten-minute drive was a lot longer than it actually was. He thought idly about stopping somewhere for a cup of tea, but figured there was going to be some in the teacher's lounge at the Academy. Despite his reluctance to be a teacher, he figured it would be bad form to be late on his first day.

He soon arrived at the Academy: it had been years since he had last seen this place, and he couldn't help but admire how beautiful the structure of this building was. It reminded him a lot of some of the places he had performed at throughout the EU.

He parked in the employee car park before heading inside. His classes were going to take place in one of the small performance halls up on the fourth floor, so he figured he'd stop by there first to make sure everything was in order before grabbing his cup of tea.

Kyle followed the signs up the staircase toward the performance hall he was meant to be teaching in. He could hear the faint strains of a violin playing in one of the classrooms, and it made him think of Chloe, which he quickly tried to push out of his mind.

The closer Kyle got to his classroom, however, the louder the violin music got. He frowned as he began to realize the sound was coming from the small performance hall he was supposed to be teaching in. Was another masterclass being taught there or something?

He approached the doors leading to the performance hall and listened to the violin music coming from inside. Whoever was playing was clearly very talented: a cold feeling of dread began to fill his heart when he realized there was a good chance the violinist in there was Chloe.

He closed his eyes and resisted groaning to himself. Of course, on his very first day as a teacher he would have to face that shrew again.

Might as well get it over with.

He opened the doors to the performance hall and stepped inside. He stopped in his tracks.

The woman playing violin at the front of the room wasn't Chloe, which Kyle couldn't help but feel a rush of relief about. She had long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a plain green cardigan and a pair of skinny jeans; she didn't seem to notice anyone entering the room as she concentrated on the piece she was playing. Kyle listened for a few moments, recognizing the piece as Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G Minor Presto - an impressive number, to say the least. Kyle could tell this girl was very talented, and he quietly crossed his arms as he stood and listened.

Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G Minor Presto

She played until the end, finishing the final chord with a flourish of her bow. She grinned to herself, clearly proud that she had finished the piece, but her smile quickly faded into a look of surprise when she heard someone applauding from the doorway.

"Impressive," Kyle said, clapping as he slowly began to walk toward her. The woman, clearly still surprised to have seen him here, blushed as she stared at him. "That's a pretty difficult piece... you're very talented."

The girl finally offered him a small smile. "Thank you."

Kyle smiled back, noting she had an American accent. He stopped a few feet away from the dais where she stood, gazing at her: he hadn't gotten a good look from back near the doorway, but this woman was actually quite pretty: she had bright green eyes and a splay of cute freckles along her nose and cheeks, which complemented her long red hair rather nicely. However, he couldn't help but notice she looked a bit old to be a student here, and he vaguely wondered if she actually went here. "If you don't mind, I have a class to teach right now. So if you could pack up and practice somewhere else, I'd appreciate it."

She blinked, staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"

Kyle raised an eyebrow. Was she being dense or something? "Did you not hear me? I said I have a class to teach here. Go practice your violin somewhere else."

The woman blinked again, and her eyes suddenly shuttered into a stoic expression. Kyle could tell she was annoyed. "What do you mean you have a class to teach here? I didn't see anyone's name on the schedule."

"The schedule is for performances and workshops - not classes," Kyle explained to her as if she were slow. The condescending inflection in his voice was clear, and her green eyes flashed with anger. "I teach a class here Monday mornings."

The woman didn't move as she continued to glare at him, giving him a onceover. "You look a bit young to be a teacher," she said in the same condescending tone he had used on her.

"And you look a bit old to be a student," Kyle shot back. "Are you even supposed to be in here?"

The girl's cheeks blushed an even deeper red, and Kyle wondered if maybe he was onto something. However, she refused to look intimidated as she glared back at him. "Is my playing really so terrible that you have to question whether or not I belong here?" she asked, gesturing to the violin in her hand. "Just a moment ago you said I was talented."

"And you are. But as you may already know, talent isn't the only thing that makes a musician," Kyle said knowledgeably, walking forward and stepping up onto the dais beside her. She looked surprised at him approaching her. "You might be talented, but you're clearly out of practice."

She blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked, clearly offended.

"Your wrist was tight," Kyle pointed toward her bow hand. "Probably because you were holding your bow using a Russian grip. Your hand and wrist would move a lot easier with the more widely-accepted Franco-Belgian grip."

The girl looked down at the bow in her hand, not saying anything.

"Your upbow was choppy too," Kyle went on, placing his hands on his hips as he observed her thoughtfully. "That was likely due to your stiff posture. For Bach's Sonata No. 1, your upbow needs to be more light and legato, and you were standing too upright for it to sound the way it should have. I also noticed at least four bad string crossings during your final phrase, and several of your notes, including the final chord, were a bit sharp. This leads me to believe you're not practicing intonation very much. Would you like me to keep going?"

The girl finally looked back up at Kyle, her expression a mask of suppressed anger. "You play violin?" she asked, her voice stiff.

"No," Kyle smirked, and her eyes flashed with surprise. It was true, he had never played violin before, but after having dated a violin virtuoso for a year he knew more than he thought he ever wanted to know about that particular instrument. "I already told you, I'm a teacher. Or do you still not believe me?"

The girl pressed her lips together, not saying anything, but Kyle knew he had bested her on this one. He watched in satisfaction as she silently turned to put her violin back in its case, but his attention was suddenly caught by the instrument's tailpiece.

Four fine tuners.

Four? Kyle couldn't help but blink in surprise when he noticed that. He had just heard this woman play Bach, for God's sake. And she could play rather well, despite his criticisms... how was it she still had four fine tuners on her violin? A woman of her skill level should have had only two, at most. There was absolutely no way she could have been a student here at the Royal Academy, then. Being accepted at a prestigious conservatory like this one with four fine tuners on your violin was like being allowed to compete in the Tour de France with training wheels on.

Who is this woman, exactly?

She noticed Kyle watching her, and seemed to realize his eyes were trained on her violin's fine tuners. She grimaced, not saying anything as she quickly closed the lid of her violin case and snapped it shut.

At that moment, the doors to the performance hall opened and a small group of students walked in, talking amongst themselves. They all looked excited as they glanced up toward the front of the performance hall, seeing Kyle standing there beside the piano.

Kyle lifted his hand to the students in a small wave, feeling suddenly resentful of the red-haired violinist who had prevented him from grabbing the cup of tea he wanted before his class began. Kyle turned to look at her, but she resolutely refused to meet his eyes as she picked up her sheet music along with her violin, and stalked her way toward the door.

Kyle simply watched her leave, ignoring the swelling number of students now entering the performance hall for his masterclass. He had a feeling he hadn't seen the last of her... but he didn't know at the moment if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Maybe he'd figure it out. Right now, though, he had a class to teach.