Scales [ON HOLD]

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Why?

   "Jack? Are you alright?" I asked him.

   He nodded and smile weakly, before I looped my arm through his and led him outside the library doors.

   "Where are you going, Octavia?" He asked me, a thin layer of sadness coating each word.

   "Just the piano room." I told him, smiling brightly. Dragging him to the locked door, I remembered the code and typed it in. I opened the door and ushered him inside. Closing it behind me, I sat on a tuba case and crossed my legs.

   "What was it you wanted to say?" I asked him, tapping the piano song I had learnt on the case. Jack exhaled and sat on the piano stool before flipping up the lid and trilling an E and an D#.

   "Why did Sam kiss you?" He monotonously questioned as he began to play Fur Elise. Gasping, I closed my eyes as my head flooded with memories of the fire. The music stopped as he stood up. "Octavia! I forgot, I'm so sorry."

   "It's alright." I smiled. "I'm going to have to get over some day..." I trailed off, holding my head up with one of my hands.

   A tear slowly rolled down my face. I hoped that it would be my last, as I had done many times before. I hoped that as that tear fell, the pain would go with it, leaving the happy, innocent girl I used to be behind. Yet no matter how many times I hoped and dreamed and wished, it didn't come true.

   "Anyway, what was your question?" I asked him again, smacking the side of my face gently so as to snap me out of my reminiscence.

   "Why did you let Sam kiss you?" He repeated quietly, a shimmer of anger spread across his face like a veil over a bride. My eyes widened at his question. I looked down to the floor and blushed.

   "I didn't! He kissed me..." I answered him, blushing madly. I didn't know how he would react to this, but by the sounds of it, it wasn't going to be good.

   "Always getting in the way." Jack whispered and pinched the bridge of his nose, surprising me. He sighed and tilted his head towards me, his crystal eyes were outlined in sadness. Raising the volume in his voice, he asked, "Do you belong to him?"

   "What?" I flicked my head up to see him.

   "Are you... his?" He rephrased he question. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out because of shock at the sudden question. I tried again and answered him.

   "N-No!" I forced. Jack sighed. Walking over, he held both of my hands in his and smiled, gripping them softly.

   "You know you can tell me the truth, Octavia."

   "I have nothing with your brother!" I admitted. I looked down again and rested my head on the wall, shaking my head. "He said that he... loved me. I'm so confused... what do I do now? I've never had anyone love me before!" I asked myself. Jack let go of my hands and kneeled down in front of me.

   "Go and talk to him, simply walk over and clear things up." He suggested. I smiled and patted him on the head, nodding. He blushed and stood up, nearly tripping over a music stand. I laughed and stood up too.

   "Where is he?" I asked him, cocking my head to the side. He shrugged. I put my hands on my hips and tried to surpass the awkwardness that would have surely left its mark. "Well then, since we're here, I want to show you a song I learned! Oh, and I learnt it in about five minutes, so don't expect it to be good or anything." I warned him.

   I walked past him, hopping over each instrument that lay neatly messily on the floor. When I reached the piano, I sighed in relief and sat down. After placing my hands on the keys, I began.

   I was a complete amateur, and you could tell. My hands were all jittery and I had to replay the song once or twice to get it perfect. When I finished, I closed the lid and lay my head on it, disappointed.

   "That was so bad!" I groaned, repeatedly hitting my head against the piano.

   "That was really good actually! Well, good for a beginner anyway." He smirked and flinched when I punched him playfully in the arm. He rubbed the spot I punched and mouthed an 'ow'. Smiling, I tapped the space next to me and he sat down.

   "What else can you play?" I asked him, resting my head on his shoulder. He lifted his hand up and stroked my hair.

   "I can play many a song," He said. I lifted the lid back up and began to tap the right hand notes on the piano to the tune of Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember as many as I could from all the times I had watched the synthesia and wished I could play, but I couldn't recall anything. "and yes, I can play Moonlight Sonata." He added. I smiled and clapped my hands together.

   With my head still on his shoulder, he let his hands fly over keys as they dramatically played the entire song. I hummed along and even tried to copy what he was doing, but I only made it sound weird and so I stopped. I was in awe of how well he could play. He didn't even need sheet music-which I thought was amazing.

   Halfway through the song, I stood up and cleared a small area on the ground by moving all of the annoying instruments out of the way. Dropping safely to the floor, I listened to the music intently and moved my hands to the beat and delicacy. I knew how weird this looked, but frankly, I didn't care.

   When he reached the end, he yet again changes it to his own taste. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him. His eyes were closed as they concentrated on the notes he was playing. Each time he changed a chord, a frown flickered onto his lips as his eyebrows furrowed. Each note he played sounded sadder and sadder as his expression became sorrowful.

   "Jack?" I called out. He didn't seem to hear me, and so I put my hand on his shoulder. He stopped playing and smiled before turning around to look at me. "Are you alright?" I asked him, worry splashed all over my words.

   He nodded. Remembering what happened halfway through English, I huffed slightly and pulled my hand away. He looked at me questioningly.

   "Why..." I struggled to find words. When I did, I chose them carefully so that it didn't sound weird in any way at all- not that it would've anyway. "Why did you push Sam away in the English corridor?"

   He loosened up a bit and placed a hand on top of mine on his shoulder. I blushed and waited for my answer. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again instead.

   "Well... my brother is rather brainless... and..." He slowed down and smiled. Pulling me into a warm hug, I blushed a lot harder and flinched when I felt his hands slide around my waist. He whispered so quiet that I couldn't hear anything, even when I held my breath, my hearing wasn't good enough. I just sighed and returned the hug, waiting for him to finish whatever he was saying.

   "I wouldn't want my Angel's first kiss to be imperfect, would I?" He breathed.