My Little Bird

Part Eight

A/N: The song at the side inspired this part. I don't actually know if the lyrics and the part have any connection. I guess that's up to you to decide. :)

Over the next week, things ran fairly smoothly. I met up with the drama students every lunch time (after arguing with Josie until she finally agreed to meet with Ella for lunches instead) to further organize the event. They agreed to my idea of auditions at the end of November, and we managed to get some seating arrangements down as well as judges.

It also ironically turned out that once comfortable, The Other Guy talked. A lot.

I still didn’t know his name.

Having the event on my mind was doing a decent – but not brilliant – job at keeping thoughts of Daniel at rest. It was Friday, and although he hadn’t been in his room on the previous Friday, I was willing to take the risk. I had an hour before my practical music session, which I could easily fill with probing answers out of the confusing blind boy.

I hesitated outside of the room where Daniel normally went. I couldn’t hear the sounds of any beautiful piano music, so I assumed that he wasn’t there. He hadn’t been there the Friday before, either. But why? Why did Miss Clayton sound so anxious when she spoke about how he wasn’t here every day? I would have shrugged it off as a normal thing if she didn’t look so twitchy and uneasy.

I sighed, leaning against the wall beside the door. There were students walking up and down the corridor around me, but I was zoning out too much to notice them. Did I go in or not? He sounded certain when he told me to back off, and I feared that he would just set off again on a rage.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

The room was empty.

Disappointed, I headed over to the piano and sat down in front of it. I hadn’t really been expecting him to be here but I still felt a little let down. Where was he right now? What was he doing? What was he hiding?

After a few seconds, I really began to notice the magnificence of the piano before me. It had keys polished to perfection, black and white gleaming at me in beautiful contrast. The surface was sleek and black like midnight. Everything about it was so beautiful that I suddenly found my eyes were glued to it.

Subconsciously, I ran a gentle hand along the keys, producing a range of quiet pitches. I had never really learnt how to play piano; with me, it was all about the instruments with strings. I saw beauty in every musical instrument, but I had never truly noticed this absolute glory before.

“I really thought I was rid of you this time.”

His voice startled me out of my trance, causing my hand to jerk and strike a few keys in the process. My heartbeat immediately increased; Daniel was here. Behind me. After I’d been sitting around on the piano that he adored, thinking he wasn’t going to show up. Why was he here? I thought he didn’t come in on Fridays. That only brought up more infuriating questions. How was he having such an affect on me without trying?

Swallowing the initial panic, I turned around slowly to see him leaning casually against the doorframe. He had an eyebrow quirked and his mouth was twisted into that smirk that suited his face so perfectly. When I didn’t say anything and sat there gaping instead, he snorted. “I know it’s you, Harper, you can’t fool me.”

“How?” I stammered, unable to find any proper things to say.

He snickered. “I’ve told you this before. Your pineapple smell really reeks.”

I couldn’t stop the automatic blush spreading across my face. “Shut up.”

“Defensive.”