heart strings♥

They were seven years old…

 

“Tententanananenenten,” he sang as he strummed the string that made no sound and placed his little fingers on the chords, imitating how rock stars play a guitar.

His toy was his only companion as he waited for his parents to pick him up from school. He was under the tree by the school gate and he sighed as he thought how long it would take this time for his parents to pick him up, or send someone to do so. His dark blue eyes searched through the gate and sighed again when there was still no sign of anyone. His gaze flew to the guard who was at his station reading a book. He shook his head, causing his ashy blonde hair to bounce. He couldn’t understand why grown-ups could enjoy books that had no pictures and had big words.

“Tantananan tenenen ten,” he continued.

“What song is that?” a voice suddenly asked… a girl’s voice.

The little boy sprang to his feet and his eyes searched for the source of the voice. “Up here,” she said. He looked up and saw an angel. Well, that’s what he thought she was. Her hair was like his, only longer and tied in pigtails. Her eyes were also blue, but brighter. Her complexion was milky pale like his. She jumped down, wearing their school uniform with shorts underneath. “Are you my twin?” he asked aloud. He asked because she was like the girl version of him for she had the same hair, eyes, and complexion. The girl laughed, her laugh sounding like music as she brushed her skirt and said, “No, I have never met you before.”

She sat next to him and asked, “Can you play again?”

The boy looked at her curiously and then he shrugged, “Well why not?” he thought. But before he played, he said, “Alex.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Alex.”

“Oh, I’m Raysa.”

He started playing and soon the girl began singing. The lyrics were made up of random things she came upon in her creative head. Surprisingly, she had a beautiful voice that blended well with his made up melody.

“Hey, why don’t we make our own song!” she suggested then launched multiple questions at him. The questions were mostly about favorites, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and more information that the little boy thought irrelevant to making a song yet he still answered. “Well, my brother said that lyrics can be made from simple information,” she had said.

The little girl found out that his birthday was the day after tomorrow and she immediately had a wonderful idea for his present.

So disappointed was he when he already had to go home and leave his new friend behind. "I'll see you tomorrow!" the little girl said waving happily.

Alex didn't wave. He smiled and went in the car. Looking back, he could still see her waving goodbye.

The next day, after school, Alex went to the place he met her and searched. He climbed the tree but she was not there. He ran around school looking for the girl but he never found her and he stopped when he felt embarrassed about being so attached to someone he had just met. He went back to the tree and sat there with his toy guitar, deciding that she should be forgotten and meeting her was nothing special. He thought he had gotten rid of making expectations. Expectations always led to disappointment. He learned that from his parents. We'll pick you up, honey. We'll spend Christmas together this year. We'll be there for your birthday, sweetie. We'll go watch a game son. That's what they always said. And that's what they never did. He learned never to hope they would. Their words were full of empty promise that only made him cry at night. The girl he had met yesterday was no different, he decided. She said "see you tomorrow," well, it was already tomorrow and she was nowhere in sight. Alex hated the painful feeling in his chest. "She was nothing special," he grumbled.

But still… he ended up waiting and expecting her to come… which she never did.

Their school was filled with children from wealthy families. Some of them spoiled, some are not, and some think they’re better than others while some just don’t care. Well anyway, as soon as the bell rang, the cute little girl ran to where she had met her new friend. She knew he was special, for she often forgot people’s names. But she actually remembered his. Her mind grew excited to see the look on his face once she handed him the big long box that was wrapped in blue, and it was also the reason for her not being able to meet Alex the day before.

When she got near, she called out to him but he didn’t even glance at her. She thought he didn’t hear her, so she tried again, louder this time. Still he didn’t look. When she was standing in front of him, she felt like she was being ignored. She looked at him, slightly confused, “Hey!” she said. At least this time she got his attention.

“Here!” she said excitedly, and shoved the box on his lap. At first the boy just stared at her, and then he sighed and looked down at the blue box. “What is this?” he said not too politely.

“Open it and see!” she said unaware of the boy’s unfriendliness.

He frowned, but did as she told him. He ripped the wrapper and when his eyes caught sight of some part of what’s inside, he ripped it up faster until he saw it fully. His cute blue eyes went wide in surprise as he held the thing. It was a real guitar, not too big, but just right for him. He slowly looked at the girl who was grinning adorably, “Is this for me?” It was only then that he realized the date of that day.

“Happy Birthday!” she said messing up his hair. “Sorry I couldn’t come here yesterday… I had to go home early to get my parents to help me buy it.”

At first, Alex only stared at her. His own parent had long forgotten his birthday, and yet this girl whom he had only met recently, had gone out of her way to buy him a gift. A big adorable smile appeared on his face and he thanked the girl.

Raysa was glad he liked it. She had never actually seen Alex smile until then, and the transformation was incredible. She decided that to make him smile like that more often. She gave him a toothy grin as he started playing with his present. She scooted closer to him and handed him the list of chords. They both stared at it in confusion, wondering what all those dots and lines meant. In the end, they couldn't understand one bit of it, and ended up laughing about it.

The next day, Alex couldn’t wait until after school to meet his new friend. He had asked her what class she was in yesterday so now, he walked out of his own when it was their recess and entered Raysa’s classroom freely. Some kids stared at him, wondering why he was there as his eyes searched for Raysa. Then a cheerful voice helped him see her, “Alex!”

She was sitting by the front row of chairs and wearing the same pigtails that bounced and danced with each of her movements. She was also waving her hand in the air.

He smiled and went to her, not caring about the stares of Raysa’s friends who were near her when he squeezed himself in her seat with their shoulder touching.

“So, why are you here?” she asked happily, delighted by his visit to her classroom.

An adorable grin flashed across his cute face, “I learned how to work with the chords you gave me.”

Raysa smiled widely, impressed. But then, a frown appeared on her face and she took his left hand. A small gasp escaped from her lips when she saw that his fingers were scraped and bandaged. “You idiot!” she said.

Alex tried to jerk his hand away but she just held it tighter. He blushed and said, “I wanted to learn how to play as early as I could…”

“And now, you have to wait for these to heal before you can even play again,” she shot back, squeezing his hand softly.

"It's no big deal," he grumbled.

"You shouldn't---"

“You two are like lovers…” a little girl giggled. Soon the whole class joined in to tease them, so Alex felt the need to leave. The two of them had flushed cheeks at the annoying teasing they received. Alex got up from the seat, “See you later,” he said to Raysa before he turned and left the noisy room.