Pieces of Love

Chapter 5

The sun had long set, but Jacob and I were still practising. Or to be more exact, we were having a break. It was exactly two days before the competition. We were at my house this time and I was lying sprawled on my bed, absolutely exhausted. Jacob was examining my bookshelf out of boredom.

At that moment, I was feeling discouraged and anybody who knew me well knew better to approach me when I was in a bad mood. This time, I was feeling particularly nasty and Jacob was trying to keep his distance from me. My violin was carelessly placed on my bed and I was staring at the ceiling, trying to clear the negative thoughts that kept on making an appearance in my mind. I could almost feel Jacob's stare burning into the back of my head at this point.

"You read Harry Potter?" Jacob asked suddenly, surprise evident in his voice. My eyes, which were previously closed, flew open and I couldn't help but smile. Had I mentioned that I was a huge Potterhead? I had read all the books and watched all the movies. The Potterhead in me just couldn't help but light up every time I heard something related to Harry Potter.

"Yes I do," I said, getting off my bed and walking towards him. "Why did you ask?" the suspicions in my head showing itself. "I read it too," Jacob said, eyeing me carefully. My eyes widened and a huge grin appeared on my face. I was calm and composed on the outside but on the inside, I was jumping for joy and prancing like mad, knowing that I could share my obsession with someone. The crazy inside soon made an appearance and I grabbed Jacob's hand and dragged him to my bed and started bombarding him with questions.

"It's funny really, how one minute you were down and sombre and once I mentioned Harry Potter, you brightened up," Jacob commented when I wasn't interrogating him. I laughed but something moved in me.

"I read it when I was nine. It was like my whole life changed. My first dream was to become a writer, so that I could write these words down and affect the lives of others. The impact of these words was really amazing. Although I had finished the series long ago, I couldn't help but read it over and over again. Every time I feel sad, or angry, I would always pick up a Harry Potter book and flip through the pages again, remembering the time when I first started reading. It was like magic. Sure, I read plenty of other books and they were all great, Harry Potter would always be my absolute favourite," I sighed as I traced a finger along the soft bedsheets.

"I know, it's pretty cheesy," I continued and gave a small laugh, raising my head to look at Jacob. He shook his head. "I find it pretty cool actually. It can come in handy in times like this," he said, staring at me intently as if I was a puzzle. I lapsed into silence, my gaze falling on my violin that my parents bought for me when we went to Paris.

"Jake?" I whispered, fear in my voice as I thought of the competition. "Yeah?" he replied. As if he sensed my fear, he scooted closer to me, "What's wrong?" I looked down, unable to look at Jacob in the face. "What if we don't win?" I mumbled, twiddling with my thumbs. Jacob was quiet for a moment.

"The reason I joined this competition wasn't to win. I mean sure, if we win it would be pretty awesome. I joined because I wanted to have the experience of performing in front of a huge audience. I wanted us to play a duet because you are my friend. I don't expect a spectacular performance from you. I just want you to give your best shot at this competition, that's all, so don't worry," he finally said softly.

I smiled, reassured by his kind words. Jacob seemed to be on the act of wanting to hug me when I looked up and he awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away. "We should get back to practising," he claimed as he stood up and walked to the keyboard in the corner. Unknown to Jacob, I was greatly touched by his words. "Let's do this," I whispered to myself as I grabbed my violin off the bed.