When the Cat Met the Wolf

7. Of Roller Skates & Angry Wolves

Arianne groaned for the tenth time that day. She had been practicing 'Guren No Yumiya' for the past hour, and she always failed at the same part. It was extremely fast, and she wasn't used to such a rush.

"Why can't I do it?!" she complained angrily "It's a three minute song, not ten, it shouldn't be so hard!" Ayu looked at her owner sympathetically, as he floated in front of her.

"You are being too hard on yourself, Aria" he observed, and he was right, even if Arianne didn't realize it "It's quick-paced song, you're not used to it. It's only natural that it will take you time to learn it"

"Yeah, but not this long!" she argued. Ayu looked at the clock on the wall, and opened his eyes wide.

"Aria, you're late for Alex's bet with Kim!" he said worriedly. It was Alex's birthday, and Kim and her were going to race across the park, and see who was faster.

At that very moment, her phone rang.

"And cue Alya's call" she said, leaving her violin on the table and grabbing her phone.

As she had imagined it, it was her friend.

"Hey, Alya!" she greeted, trying to sound as cheerful as she could, even though she was in a very bad mood.

"Where are you, girl? Everyone is already here! The only person missing is you!" was her friend's reply from the other line.

"Yeah, about that..." she looked at her violin "I won't be able to make it"

"What?! Why?!"

"Charlotte gave me a new song to practice, and she wants to see me playing it perfectly for Saturday" she replied, and it wasn't a total lie. Charlotte did give her the song, but she had told her to take her time to learn it, since it was hard. And she didn't necessarily need to have it ready for their next class, on Saturday, but Arianne wanted to.

"It's barely Wednesday, Aria!" said Alya logically "You still have time! And you always play the songs right, you shouldn't have to worry about it"

"But this one's gonna take longer" replied the girl shortly "Listen, I'm sorry, I wanted to be there but I can't. Tell Alex happy birthday for me" that being said, she ended the call, not leaving time for Alya to answer.

"Are you really gonna miss the bet because of this song?" questioned Ayu, looking at her in disbelief "There's only one part you are failing at, not the entire song!"

"Yeah, but that part is the most important part of the song. I can't fail at it"

"You said the same thing about the other parts..." said Ayu in a low voice, just as Arianne's cellphone rang again.

"Ugh, what now?" she questioned annoyed, and picked up the phone, to see that the one calling this time was Thiago "You caught me in a bad mood, so if I offend you in any way, I apologize beforehand" was her greeting. She didn't need to pretend with her best friend, and he would see right through her if she was lying, anyway.

"Apology accepted" he replied "What's wrong?"

"There's a song I'm trying to learn, and I'm failing miserably at it" 

"By failing at the whole song, do you mean in just one part?" 

As I said, he knew her perfectly well.

"It has this quick change of notes that I have to do in like just three seconds" she replied, looking at the sheet music "And it's extremely troubling"

"Hey, if you were able to play 'He's A Pirate', then you shouldn't have a problem with this one" he said "Which song is it?"

"'Guren No Yumiya'" replied the girl, frowning as she read the title. She hadn't heard of that song before.