Nevermore

Chapter 36

L U C A

With the day of his piano audition drawing nearer, Luca would spend every chance he got in the music room. All the music lessons had been temporarily called off until they could find a new teacher, creating the perfect opportunity for Luca to practice in the empty and quite room.

    The place still felt haunted for Luca each time he walked through its door, as if he expected that Mr. Carter would show up any second. Only when he began to play the piano could he forget about everything else and let his memories die for a few hours.

    There were usually no distractions while he practiced, but that day, Luca was surprised when the door to the music room suddenly opened and Shawn peered his head inside.

    "Hello," he said with a little smile. "Can I come in?"

    Luca took his hands off the piano and nodded. "Sure."

    "Don't let me stop you. Keep playing." Shawn shook a hand at him as he closed the door and walked inside.

    "But... what are you even doing here?" Luca asked with a chuckled, watching Shawn curiously as he dug into his bag, searching for something.

    "I ... um... I came here to give you this," Shawn said as he took out what looked like a sandwich wrapped in plastic bag, handing it to him.

    Luca remained seated on the piano stool with the sandwich in his hand, staring down at it with a blank expression. Shawn didn't remove his eyes from him, as though waiting for the smallest reaction.

    "Er... you missed lunch... so I... er... I made you a turkey sandwich while I was at the Dining Hall," Shawn said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "It was no trouble, of course. I just... you know... I thought you might be hungry."

    "Thank you," was all that Luca managed to say. He didn't dare to speak another word, afraid that he would lose control of his emotions again and jump up to hug him. He then unwrapped the sandwich and gently tore it in two, offering one half to Shawn.

   "Oh, thanks." Shawn took it from him before pulling a chair closer to the piano and next to Luca. "So when are the open tryouts?"

    "In three days," said Luca, taking a bite from the turkey sandwich. Grown up with many private chefs, and yet this was the most delicious sandwich he'd ever had.

    "Are you nervous?"

    Luca nodded. "Terribly."

    "I can come with you, if you think it might help. For support."

    Luca's head snapped up at those words. "Really?"

    "If you want, of course." Shawn shrugged.

    "But it's all the way in London."

    "I know."

    "We even have to miss Professor Myer's class."

    "So?"

    "Shawn, there are going to be a lot of people there. It'll take hours."

    "Relax, Luca! It's not the end of the world!" Shawn laughed, taking a last large bite of his sandwich.

    Luca smiled to himself, whispering, "That sounded weird..."

    "What?" Shawn said with his mouth full, making Luca grimace.

    "I said it sounds weird," Luca repeated himself, still grinning, "you, calling me 'Luca'."

    Shawn stared at him. "That is your real name, right? You haven't been giving us a fake identity, have you?"

    "I meant that you'd been calling me Sunshine since the day we met. It feels a little strange when you call me by my name."

    Shawn laughed. "Oh, right."

    Luca was quiet for a moment, glancing over at him. "Just out of curiosity... why did you stop?"

    Shawn raised a teasing brow at him. "My, my! Don't tell me that you miss being called Sunshine!"

    Luca suddenly felt his face heat up, and so he briskly looked away from Shawn, hoping that this would stop him from blushing. "N-no."

    "If you say so." Shawn smirked, but then he shrugged again. "I dunno... I guess I felt like you hated being teased so much. But for the record, I only tease the people I like."

    Luca felt his stomach lurch. "What do you mean?"

    "Well, for instance, I used to tease Arthur all the time last year."

    "Oh." Luca nodded, glancing down at the remainder of his sandwich in hand. The feeling of disappointment surged within him. He hated the fact that he allowed himself for even a second to be hopeful.

    Shawn is not like me, Luca thought to himself as he felt a lump growing in his throat. He could only ever love a girl the way that I love him. We're not the same.

    "I used to call him 'carrots'," Shawn said, snapping Luca out of his thoughts.

    Luca blinked at him a few times. "What?"

    "Arthur. I used to call him Carrots. Because of his hair."

    "I don't even remember this." Luca found himself chuckling. "Then why did you stop calling him that?"

    "Because the last time I called him Carrots, Arthur pulled down my trousers in front of everyone. In the middle of the Dining Hall."

    Luca bit the inside of his cheeks to prevent himself from laughing, and as a result his face began to turn red, snorting.

    Shawn sighed. "Go head."

    Luca burst out in laughter at the thought of it. He held his stomach as he roared with laughter, and soon Shawn joined him, laughing along with him.

***

The sun was slowly sinking down into its grave by the time the two boys reached London and got themselves to the Wigmore Hall. The people who had come for the auditions were more than Luca had anticipated, and most of them were older than him and possibly more experienced.

    "So what are you going to play for the audition?" Shawn questioned, gesturing down at the sheet music Luca was holding.

    "The selection committee expects us to play two songs for the audition. For the first one, we had to choose between the songs they had listed for us. And the second is anything of our own choice."

    "And are you going to play the one you had composed yourself?"

    Luca shook his head as he was glanced around, observing his opponents. "I'm going with Moonlight Sonata. I want to play it safe."

    "Safe?" Shawn scoffed. "Look around you, Miller. All these people you see here? They can all play that Moonlight song. This isn't the place to play it safe. This is where you have to show this sorry bunch that you're more talented than all of their arses combined!"

    Two women who were standing in front of them in line turned back and threw a glare at Shawn. Luca felt himself blush in embarrassment, but he chuckled all the same, suddenly feeling better.

    He knew that Shawn's compliment wasn't exactly genuine, because he hadn't heard many people play the piano anyway. But his words somehow made Luca feel calmer.

    "Thank you, Shawn," he whispered softly.

    Shawn smiled. "You're welcome, Sunshine."