Hearts Parade of a Lyrical Life

Locked into a Missed Opportunity

Saturday, September 23rd

I woke up way earlier than usual, I was so filled with excitement of the upcoming date I couldn't sleep for any longer than 6 hours. Even that felt like too long to go without seeing Ryan. I quickly got myself dressed and ready, despite not having plans until later. I make myself breakfast and sit beside Amanda. She was sitting flicking through a magazine and slowly eating a bowl of cereal, she looked up at me prancing in.

"You're not usually up early on Saturdays." She remarked.

"I have plans today, I suppose I'm looking forward to them." I sit down beside Amanda and start to eat my meal.

"What plans?"

I point to my mouthful and Amanda waits as I swallow my food before responding,  "Keyboard practice with Jon." Technically I did have keyboard practice so I wasn't fully lying, Amanda seemed unconvinced.

"I didn't know you liked Jon so much." She smirked before flicking to the next page of her magazine. I don't respond, deciding it was best if I didn't talk myself into a corner. It was obvious Amanda could tell I was lying anyway, best not to draw more attention.

I finished up my food and cleaned away my dishes before returning to my room. I didn't know what to do with myself as I waited for the afternoon to come. I resorted to studying to pass the time. I opened my notebook and saw Ryan's poorly written notes, it was the first thing of his that I had in my possession, something about it felt so special to me. I copied down every word and kept the note secured in my diary for safekeeping.

————

The day went by slowly, but at least it went by, I made my way to the practice room to meet with Jon as we had planned. He was waiting for me by the door, as usual. When we enter the room the door closes behind us with a 'click'.

We sit down at the keyboard and Jon takes out the new sheet music, it looks about the same as the last one. Jon was clearly picking songs with easy to play piano melodies with me in mind, or rather, finding more simplistic versions of the original melodies. Either way, he was making my job easier which I thought was thoughtful.

We got started with the new melody, I had been practising quite a bit in my free time, so I was able to recognise most of what was written in the sheet music. Jon decided to sit back and let me try to figure it out by myself, chiming in every so often to aid in help where it was needed. My practice had clearly paid off as I picked up the melody for the first verse and chorus within an hour. We decided to practice playing together.

Jon counted us in and played slowly alongside me, we had a couple of issues with pacing, I often sped up, losing the rhythm while playing, but after more time with Jon as an anchor we were able to play more in sync. It was only the first verse and chorus, though, after almost two hours of playing together, Jon suggested I could learn the rest by myself, as I had already managed to figure out the main parts myself. It would be good practice, and that leaves me more time to get ready for my date. I packed up the sheet music, satisfied with my practice. Jon goes to open the door to leave.

The door won't budge. He tries again, nothing. I move him aside to try and pry it open myself, in disbelief at how it could get stuck all of a sudden, when I notice that the lock has sprung back into place and closed itself. "It locked itself somehow, try opening it with your key." I say, feeling a little more relaxed as the problem didn't seem too dire. Jon takes a set of keys out of his pocket and puts it into the lock, but as he turns the key, it snaps off in the keyhole. Jon looks at me, grimacing. "Jesus Christ Jon I said to open it not snap it in half! We are so fucked." I go and sit down leaning by the wall, frustrated.