His Tainted Heart

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That night, two pair of blue eyes haunted Adrianna’s dreams, bringing back fragmented memories of her past.

She was sitting in her tree house playing on the small electric piano that was given to her as a gift for seventh birthday. The whole room echoed with the soft melodic notes of an old classical song as her fingers danced on the keyboard. She had been practicing for weeks to perfect her favourite musical piece and today was the day that she wanted to get every note correct without her piano teacher helping her. 

Adrianna was so focused on her goal, that she didn’t even notice when someone climbed into the tree house and plopped into a chair behind her. It wasn’t until a voice interrupted her that she became aware of another presence in the room.

“You’re playing the song wrong,” stated the dark haired boy with a smirk on his face.

For a moment, all Adrianna could do was stare at the boy with her mouth open in surprise. The last time she saw him was over a week ago after she tried to bandage his cut. She didn’t expect him to come back after that, but here he was sitting in front of her, criticizing her piano skills. She huffed angrily and stomped her feet on the ground. He was really starting to make her mad, and people who make her mad are placed on her bad list.

 “No I’m not!” she said defensively while crossing her arms together.

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not!”

“Yes you are. Some of your notes are flat, which means you’re hitting the wrong keys,” he explained in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Adrianna stuck her tongue out at him. “Like you can do any better.”

“Actually, I can,” he declared with a smug grin before sitting beside her.

When he began to play, the song did sound better then when she played it, but she was not going to admit that to him. Besides, he was only a little better than her. She just needed some more practice before she can perfect the piece. As she watched his fingers move fluidly on the keyboard, she started to notice some dark blue and purple bruising on his arms and face. Without thinking, she reached out to touch the bruise on his left cheek.

Immediately, the boy stopped playing and grabbed a hold of her wrist before she could touch it.

“Don’t,” he hissed, turning his cold blue eyes at her.

Adrianna let out a small whimper before her lower lip began to tremble in fear. The look he gave her was venomous and held little warmth in it. She shivered under his menacing gaze. None of the boys in her class ever looked like that, even if they were angry at something. When she tried to pull her arm away, he squeezed her wrist harder to the point where it started to hurt. Tears started to form in her eyes and roll down her chubby cheeks. “Stop it! You-you’re hurting me!” she cried.

The anger on his face suddenly disappeared at the sound of her cry. His cold gaze was gone, replaced by a small hint of sorrow. He immediately let go of her arm and looked down at his feet as if ashamed. “I...I... I didn’t mean to do that...” he said quietly.

When she didn’t answer, he looked back up to her. He regretted it as soon as he saw her face. Her eyes were red from crying and she was starting to hyperventilate. He began to panic, completely unsure of what to do with a crying girl. “What do you want? Money? Candy? Chocolate?”

Adrianna continued to wheeze and cough before she managed to calm down a little. Then without warning, she wailed through her hiccups, “I-I want a hug! I want you to make it stop hurting! I want you to kiss my booboo!”