Emily ◇ Cinderella

Chapter 12

I sat next to Ana, perched on a stool and delicately shifting my hands around the keys. Today's lesson, after Ana's incredible improvement, was chords. I placed her hands in the correct position, watching her shift to different chords in line with the music sheet. I nodded approvingly, turning the pages when she needed them to be turned. 

Her hands stilled at the end of the piece, an easy one I had chosen that Papa brought from England, and her eyes stared into mine for approval. I smiled at her, removing the piece from the stand and folding it. "Well, you seem not to need easy pieces like these any more. Well done." I praised, placing the music sheets in my basket and moving to rise. 

"What sort of pieces will we be learning next? Will I be able to play like you can?" Ana said excitedly, drawing a small, delicate laugh from my lips. 

"Perhaps." I answered, remaining seated next to her. "Here, if you can copy this sequence," My hands swiftly moved across the keys, the transitioning smooth and without fault. "I'll bring you the piece tomorrow." Ana quickly watched my hands, and once I was done, attempted to mirror my actions. It went catastrophically wrong, leading to her pouting and me smiling at her.  "Now, don't pout. You'll become better with practice." 

Ana nodded, clearly becoming bored with the lesson. "Can we spend the rest of the lesson relaxing?" She suggested, her shoulders slumping downwards to accentuate her fatigue. "I'm tired, and I've only just recovered." I could see her manipulation to let her slack off, yet I found it funny, and agreed. She jumped up from the stool and grabbed my hand, leading me to her room. "The house is so quiet without you, Emily. Will has quite lost himself." 

I was flattered, finding myself ignoring the rest of Ana's mindless chatter. Her voice faded into the background, and my eyes wandered down the corridor, meeting Will's frame slumped against a wall, a book in his hand. His lips moved gently as he read, his eyebrows furrowed in relaxed concentration. I looked closer, and found that he had chosen Sense and Sensibility, as I had all that time ago. I smiled, and just as Ana tried to pull me through the doorway, I shouted down to him; "John Willoughby can kiss Colonel Brandon's ass!" Will's head snapped up, his eyes meeting mine, which were clouded with mischief. He grinned at me, which I mirrored just as the door closed behind me. 

I looked at Ana. She was sitting on her bed, one eyebrow raised at me, a small, sly smile grazing her lips. "You love my brother, do you not?" She asked, blunt and shameless. I stared at her, knowing full well that I couldn't dodge the question. Sighing, I left the door and sat next to her on the bed, my eyes staring at the carpet as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world. 

"I do." Ana gave an excited shriek that nearly deafened me. 

"I knew it!" Ana looked so happy she might burst. "I swore I saw something in your eyes. Oh this is positively brilliant!" I laughed at her as she droned on and on about how delighted she was, about what this could mean for our families. Soon, the subject diverted to the ball, which I had forgotten about completely until now. "The ball is tomorrow; I trust that you and your sister, with who Kit seems quite infatuated, are to attend?" I smiled, nodding.

"Yes, we are to attend. My sister has yet to give anyone her name, and I am loyal to her, therefore I shan't use it. I hope you understand" I said to her. She nodded. I saw the look of excitement in her eyes when I said I was going to the ball. She had dragged me towards her body-length mirror, holding a beautiful brown dress against the front of her body. 

"This is the dress I had made." Ana observed herself in the mirror, then met my eyes in the reflection. I saw doubt and insecurity in her pretty blue-green pools. "Emily, do you think I'm pretty?" Ana asked, smoothing her dress front with her spare hand. "Be truthful, don't say yes because we're friends."