Keep My Blood Cool

Chapter Five

High school still sucked as much as Romeo remembered it. He had no interest in the subjects being taught, there was nothing to do during breaks, the food was bad and his classmates were boring. Actually, that was the word he could use to describe the whole thing: boring. However, he knew he wasn't there to have fun. And luckily enough, he didn't have to spend that much time there considering he only had three subjects to work on.

Still, it sucked to be there. It was almost the end of the week and he still felt like an outsider. He hated how people would look at him, knowing he should already be gone but failed to. He also knew how many of them knew about his reputation, but he tried not to think too much about it. It made him noxious and he wasn't that person anymore. Fortunately, the few old friends he had who attended that school managed to graduate somehow, and the others didn't attend that school, which meant there was no risk of bumping into them in the hallways. The last thing he wanted was to deal with those people. If he never got to see those people again, he would be truthfully happy. Which reminded him he should change his phone number, so that was the first thing he took care of after his classes.

When he was done, he texted Savannah so she could know he had a new phone number. He thought about calling her, but she was probably still in class and he didn't want to interrupt. As used as he was to having her around all the time, he didn't want to be a clingy boyfriend. He was aware he couldn't completely depend on her and that most of his journey to self-love was to be made alone. Savannah herself had told him that. And he tried to respect that. He didn't visit her every single day like he'd like. He knew she deserved some space, after all she was supposed to get out of her comfort zone and experience college the way she deserved. She wouldn't be able to make many friends if he was around all the time. They did talk on the phone every day, though, and he was going to see her the next day. She was going to a party and invited him, feeling safer to have him on his side and seeing it as a way to introduce him to her roommate Penelope. It made him a little anxious to be going to a party again. He hoped it wouldn't trigger anything inside him, remember him of the old days. But he was sure that with Savannah by his side, everything would be okay. It always was.

But hell, wasn't it hard to be away from her. It was a Thursday early afternoon, but his classes were done for the week. It was still the first week of school so he didn't have much studying or homework to do either. He also hadn't heard back from his father yet concerning the list of potential professors he had sent him. So, Romeo didn't really know what he was supposed to do. Most of his old hobbies couldn't even be considered hobbies, except for working out. Maybe he should go out on a run. It sounded like the best idea right now. He was so looking forward to his piano lessons. Considering how much catching up he had to do after so many years of hiatus, he knew it would consume a lot of his time, so he wouldn't feel bored anymore once that started. It would be good for him to have something to focus on, too, considering how Savannah would eventually get busier with school too, especially considering how she had a scholarship to keep.

With Savannah still in his mind, like most of the times, Romeo walked inside his apartment. "It's me, Mrs. Young." He yelled at the woman who was cleaning upstairs. He put his keys and jacket in the usual place and it was only then he realized something was different in the room.

His heart almost stopped with what he saw. With all its splendor, sitting in the middle of the room, filling the once so empty space, was a piano. And not just any piano. Romeo walked towards it to take a closer look. Yes, he would recognize it anywhere. It was his mother's piano. It still had the small scratch he accidently made when he was six years old. He still remembered how much he cried, knowing how valuable that piano was for his mother. He also remembered how his mother laughed with that gracious and musical laugh of hers, sat him on his lap and assured him there was nothing more valuable to her than her precious son. And how the scratch, being made by him, only added to the object's value.