Metamorphosis, Junior Year
Here is an excerpt from Ovid's journal:
Perfect Pitch
The minute me, my friend Jack, and his girlfriend walked into the Abyss, this underage club, I knew I was in one of my envious moods. Through the dark of the room, I could see Orpheus (that's what I call him now—lyre, saxophone, what's the difference?) warming up with his band, his jet black hair under the spotlight. He came over, all smiles, and led us to a table near the front.
"He's got perfect pitch," Jack laughed, after Orpheus hopped back onstage. "Someone farted in math the other day and he yells out 'B flat!'"
When the gig started, Orpheus was so damn smooth on the tenor sax, I could see all the girls at the nearby tables leaning forward. By the time he got to his killer rendition of "Soul Eyes," he really had 'em going.
I mean, Jesus, Orpheus got a girlfriend in record time, right after he moved here to northern California from Chicago, last spring. Dalia, no less, "Miss Independent." I wish he'd bottle what he's got with girls—I'd buy a couple cases. Course, so much of it's tied up with his music. It seems like he connects with the girls through his eyes when he's playing.
But, he's not a player. He's real into his girlfriend Dalia. I wouldn't be surprised to see him serenading her under a window. And he'd go to Hell and back for her. All the way. No question.
Orpheus and Dalia
Doesn't the rain need the clouds?
Doesn't the ocean need the sand?
Doesn't the wind need the sky?
That's how Orpheus needed Dalia.
And Dalia liked it fine
until she stopped liking it.
"I love you, Orpheus,
like the lightning loves the thunder,
like the mountain loves its trees
but it'll never work between us
if you don't give me some fucking space.
Give me some space
and we'll be great again.
Just prove you can do it.
Just for a few weeks."
Orpheus didn't call her
didn't msg her text
didn't text her e-mail
didn't find her between classes
until he felt like
rain without a cloud
sand without an ocean
wind with no sky to blow around in
and he sent her a text
just once
just that once
"miss u”
And it was over.