The next day, I awaited lunchtime with nervous excitement. Bella noticed in second period and asked me why I was acting so weird. I still hadn't told her about Leo, but I decided it was time I did, although I tried to keep it as ambiguous as possible. I passed her a note.
"So, you know Leo, right?"
"Yeah, sure, what about him? Wait, do you have a crush on him?"
"No! I'm going to do Solo and Ensemble with him."
"Oh, cool. What does he play?"
"Piano. He taught himself and he's actually really good. We're going to practice at lunch, and he's picking the piece so I'm really nervous."
"Oh, do I see a budding romance?"
"Noooo! He's just a friend!"
"Sure he is." Bella smirked at me.
Although I was quiet, I had the worst poker face, and I could never hide what I was feeling. I shrugged, and smiled at her.
"Astrid, bist du bei uns?" my German teacher asked me.
"Um, ja Frau Wagner. Es tut mir Leid."
After third period I couldn't run fast enough. I nearly ran into Leo in the practice rooms again. Leo grabbed my arm to steady me, but he quickly pulled it away when he realized what he had done.
"Shall we begin?" Leo signed.
"We shall." I giggled.
We grabbed a practice room, and I asked him what piece he had chosen.
"It's called Song Without Words. Felix Mendelssohn. I found it in my attic; there's boxes and boxes of sheet music that the previous owners left."
"I've never heard it. Where's the music?"
He handed me the sheets. "Mine's in my backpack." he bent down to retrieve the music. "I already started learning it last night. It's a beautiful piece."
"It doesn't look too hard. I'll try to sight read what you already know." I said.
Leo gave me a thumbs up. I got my cello set up, prepared my bow and set my music on the stand.
"You ready?" Leo asked.
I nodded, my face scarlet, and we began playing.
The first run-through was rough. It was a long piece, and difficult to sight read on the spot, but I agreed with Leo: it was a gorgeous piece. I had only heard a few of Mendelssohn's works, but I had now decided that he was one of my absolute favorite composers.
When I went to class after lunch I couldn't hide the stupid grin on my face. Thank God Leo wasn't in my fourth period class.
Bella gave me a knowing look. "I'm assuming it went well?"
Yeah I thought, I guess it did
YOU ARE READING
The Boy Next Door
RomanceI heard him play for the first time when I was five years old. Just a few notes, plunked out by his small fingers on the old piano in the attic. I was drawn to the window, and watched him play long past my bedtime. From that moment I was transfixed...
