"He's doing great!" Mr. Larch remarked. I stared behind the door, which had a window so we could hear as well as see his performance. He was on his last piece, which was a jazz version of a popular song. He normally played classical pieces, but this year he bit off a little more than he could chew. This was his first jazz piece, but as usual, he never fails to impress. Every piece was perfect.
He was on his last piece when the choir girls came to fawn over him.
"He's so cute!" One gushes.
"I know, and he's so good! What's this song called?"
I rolled my eyes. It was rare to find vocalists who really knew music. "Fly Me To The Moon, everyone and their dog has covered it." I sighed, not out of annoyance or frustration, but out of habit. I tried to tune them out and listen.
At school, Daniel and I used to practice after school in the piano room. There were usually three pianos in there, and he would play this song for me. He would sing as he played and I would join in with an impromptu accompaniment. Time would always stop for us, and we would lose ourselves in the rapture of the moment. I collected those moments, those memories, and treasured them as much as any person would gold. If I didn't have music, if I didn't have Daniel, I would have already been dead.
"Hoffman!"
The sudden noise, rather the lack of noise, drew me back to the present. Daniel was already collecting his things and heading out with a confident smirk stretched across his face.
"Is she even listening?" Another boiled.
"I swear, just because he likes her, she thinks she's above everyone. Honestly, she's not even that good. If it weren't for Daniel, she probably wouldn't have made it this far."
My ears burned and every reserve for my patience was used. Choir girls are like cheerleaders for the musical people.
"Not too shabby." I greeted Daniel as he closed the door behind him.
"Screw that!" He bolted toward me and picked me up and spun me around in a tight hug. He then put me down, breathless and red with excitement. "How was it, really?"
"Fantastic!" I breathed, still dazed from the spontaneous hug, which, mind you, I'm not the biggest fan of. "It's like you weren't panicking last night about that last measure."
"Ha.Ha." He said sarcastically. He couldn't hide the sparkles in his eyes from his excitement. "When are you up?"
I nervously felt my stomach.
"What's wrong?" He felt my head, and them I noticed how close we were.
"Nothing, I just remembered about the student. He was the new transfer we got, you know, the odd one who started a band for the competition?" He gave me the most ridiculous blank stare, mouth agape and one goofy eyebrow raised, I couldn't help but laugh. I took a breath, and gave him a quick recap of what had happened.
"It just stopped?" He pondered this for a moment after I had finished. "And you say he was surprised to hear you?"
"More like he was surprised to see me." I uneasily corrected. His haunting blue eyes were engraved into my vision. I could almost feel them watching me from my memory.
"Did anyone else see him?"
"I don't know. It wasn't a vision. People are still talking about it in the halls. As for the guy," I paused. He vanished so quickly, "After the suits came in, he vanished."
"What does your gut say?" Daniel asked after a small pause.
"Find him." I met his strong brown eyes with mine.
"Amelia Hoffman," Mr. Larch read. "Your up."
Before I could take two steps away, Daniel grabbed my arm, "Are you sure you want to play right now? We can ask them to wait, explain..."
"I'll be fine." I interrupted, "I practiced for three months straight, and it's not like I was the one who was choking." With that I entered the room and allowed Mr. Larch to quickly close the door behind me.
I approached the stage casually and greeted my three judges respectively. "Amy Hoffman."
They nod, their attention mostly focused on their papers and my pieces laying exposed before them. The center one looks up to me and smiles, "When you're ready, Amy."
I was taken by surprise by his over familiarity, but then again, there's always a creepy judge. I started up the stairs and took my seat. Without hesitation, I began to play my first piece, then my second. By my third, my stomach started to tighten again.
'Not again.' I cautiously shifted my eyes, careful to mind my place on the piano. From the short glimpses I could spare, I saw nothing. I returned my focus to the piano and met the reflection of two haunting blue eyes. I held my breath, and I could make out the reflection of a smirk, and fealt him exhale into my neck.
~~~~~~~
AN:
CLIFF HANGER! HANGING FROM A CLIFF!! AND THAT'S WHY HE'S CALLED CLIFF HANGER!!!
GAAAAH! Sorry for the delay! Went to visit some family. ^^; fun fun. I'm starting classes in a few more days so the rest of my time goes to prep.
Hopefully you like this? This is an experimental story, so it's not my best. I'm hoping to upload another series later. ^^
So, Daniel seems pretty into Amy, however she's in a whole other world. Some kid's been sent to the ER, and the same suspect is breathing down Amy's shoulder. Is her performance about to suffer? Are those three months going to go to waste? What does he want? Who is he?
STAY TUNED!!^0^
P.s.
choir girls are actually nice. C: well, the ones I've met, however I thought it would be interesting to have them act as the cheerleaders of the group. So, for those of you who don't know, don't take that to the bank. ^^;
