That Melody

Chapter 12

For the second time he forgot to give her back her phone. It wasn't like he could just turn around to return it. He would look foolish. When it came to Chloe, it was as if Shane couldn't think straight. All he could register at the moment was the sound of her violin and how she looked as her hair played through the air.

Chloe's phone beeped in his pocket, indicating its need to be charged. Shane took in a deep inhale of the fog induced air, trying to clear the rampaging thoughts in his head. He had to think of a place where that pixie headed woman would find it without either being caught or someone else finding it. This was all too much work for him. If it wasn't for his pride, he'd just give it back, but that would bring up too many questions. If it wasn't for his nagging want to be able to contact her at any time, he would just throw the damn thing away. Any way he thought about it gave him a headache.

That's when the idea hit him. The place where only she went was all too obvious now. Come tomorrow afternoon she would be at the same spot she always was; listening to him play the piano under the windowsill. All he had to do was put it in the dead patch of grass where she always sat and Chloe was bound to find it. He could kiss himself for his string of genius going through him now.

Without a moment to lose Shane made his way to that exact spot. He didn't know why he was in such a hurry, his body just felt rushed. It was as if the blood in his veins kicked into overdrive sending the adrenaline pumping through him. His heart pounded against his chest as the lone building came into view. A little bit longer and he would be scot free of this whole ordeal. All he had to do was make it up there and drop it on the ground and all of his worries of being caught would be gone.

It was silly to be worried in the first place. He was a man to be marveled at. When people looked at him, they looked at him with awe. Why was it when it came to this five-foot whatever odd duck did, he think so much about little things? At any other point these thoughts wouldn't matter. It only mattered when she was involved. When she was involved, he cared about how he acted, or more over, how she responded to him. Usually she would just brush him off casually, like she didn't hear him at all, or like she wasn't bothered by him. Tonight, was different, he knew.

Even if it was just a glimmer of light through a crack in the wall, he saw it. She opened up to him. Piece by piece, Shane was collecting small parts of her life so he could figure out the bigger picture. Her father played the piano and that inspired her to pick up the violin. Chloe even said that she used to play to score. Somewhere in the back of his mind he found that hard to believe. Once he heard the music she played, it was near impossible picturing her playing any other way.

~

Her stomach felt sick. That was the first time she spoke about her dad to anyone outside of the family. Chloe's body wanted to tremble but her mind forced her to calm. It was busy trying to figure out what Shane meant earlier. How was he supposed to ruin something then save it? Half of the things he did didn't make sense to her. Why was it this time she wasn't able to let things roll off of her shoulders? This time his words stuck to her like a fly in honey. The more she struggled against her thoughts the deeper in them she became. Nothing about this whole situation made sense.

Plopped down on the ground next to Viola, she zoned out watching the fog roll over the water. How could someone ruin the piano, more than that, how could Shane ruin the piano for her? He was such a strange character. She wanted to put him on the shelf with the rest of the snobby rich kids and call it a day. , she was finding it wasn't that simple anymore. The more time she spent at this school the less her old stereotypes of people made sense to her. Sometimes she found that she actually enjoyed some of their company. As the days passed, Chloe even found herself getting along with Shane. Well sort of. It wasn't as if she talked to him frequently, it was more like he wasn't detestable anymore.