Under The Mask

Chapter 3

That was pathetic. You’re a waste of space. He hated it, he’s going to tell you it was amazing but he’s wrong because you messed up so many notes. It sounded like you didn’t know what you were doing. Go get lessons, you can’t play piano. The only thoughts that circle through my head are those, and as usual I believe that I am nothing. The voice is right – it was horrible. I messed up almost all of the notes and it did sound horrible. The only reason Mr Doltin’s jaw hangs on the floor is because he thinks I’m terrible, just like everybody else.

“Niall that was incredible, seriously, you’re brilliant at piano. I can’t wait to hear you play again sometime. When you’re ready, come through to the other room. I have something to show you.” Mr Doltin darts out of the door as quickly as he could, not evening turning back to smile at me.

The silence of the large room trembles over my body. See, he hated it and couldn’t wait to get away – he hates you and your piano playing. Nobody likes you and nobody ever will, you’re going to fail everything in life and get nowhere… just give up now. I stand up, closing the piano and putting the delicate keys to rest. I grab my bag and sling it over my shoulder, knowing that when I get home I can just jump on my bed and cry.

I peer through the window on the door into the main room to see a chair in the middle of the room with a spotlight illuminating it from the. Apprehensively, I open the door and hear “Sit on the chair Niall.” come out from the blackness. The voice was unfamiliar so I did as I was told, not questioning the authority.

The music starts as soon as I dropped my bag and my bum hits the seat. The music is loud and I know exactly what song it is because I considered learning it on the guitar, an acoustic version of course.

The introduction to Nicki Minaj’s ‘Automatic’ rips through the room with various flashing lights dancing around each other on the floor. A beautiful voice sings “I can’t control the way I’m moving my hips, but you never ever seen it like this, I’m a monster on the floor I can’t quit, no no it’s automatic, it’s automatic.” The voice leaves my ears and is replaced with a spotlight on two girls who are stood on the balcony in the classroom.

I had never noticed before but at the side of the room there are a set of stairs, leading up to a platform behind the teacher’s desk. The two girls almost battle it out, rapping the song together but allowing each other to have small one-line solos. The spotlight leaves me and is put onto the top left side of the platform to let the girl who sang the chorus in the beginning to light up. My spotlight is stolen and she sings her chorus once more.

The chorus finishes and the music fades out slightly to be replaced by ‘Heart Attack’ by Demi Lovato. The two mix together perfectly and the transition flows smoothly. The girls are then replaced by three boys who are evenly spread out across the first-level platform. They start singing all together and are surprisingly very good at singing the song. I glance at each of them individually, avoiding eye contact as much as I can but taking in as much as I possibly can from each one of them. However, I find that each one of them is staring straight back at me, ripping me apart and tearing out my flaws.

The notes form a melodic tune together, and even though the chorus is high, the boys keep their tune steady and don’t try to exert themselves too far. The three voices mould into one powerful voice that almost blows me backwards off my chair completely.

“You make me gl-o-w, but I cover up won’t let it sh-o-w. So I’m putting my defences up, cause I don’t wanna’ fall in love, if I ever did that, I think I’d have a heart atta-c-k.” The music stops completely and the strobe lights stop. All three of the boys each have their arms in the arm for a few moments before dropping them for effect. Regular lights flick on and a voice from behind me startles me but starts to shout up to the first-floor.