Ours

10- It's A Date

Over the next few weeks, I begin to show up at Alexander's rehearsals more and more often. I always sit at the back, and he always seems to notice me regardless, jogging up to my seat each opportunity he has. We talk until he has to be on stage again, pleasant conversations of little consequence that always have me arriving to class a right before I have to be there, but with a smile. The director never says anything, at least not to me. If she says anything to Alexander, he never mentions anything. I always have to leave partway through his rehearsal to go to class, so we never get to talk in person after he's done. He texts me every time, though, sending me a message thanking me for coming, even after I start showing up regularly. I once asked him why, and he replied, 'I don't want you to feel like I don't appreciate it'.

One day, Alexander surprises me. As I'm heading down the dormitory steps, I see him at the bottom, waiting for me with a smile. 

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I thought that if we walk together, we'd have more time to talk, instead of only when I'm offstage." 

I smile back at him, matching his pace as we head towards the theatre. "I like that idea,"

~ 

I spend the other half of my mornings during the week- when I'm not at Alexanders rehearsals- at the piano hall. I practice the Coldplay medley incessantly, as well as my other pieces. Sometimes, I'll see Professor Murphy. Most of the time, it's just me working on it alone. 

I find the sheet music to another one of Coldplay's songs online, and begin to learn it. As soon as I get the basic melody down, I look at it with the rest of the medley. I change the pace and cut out a few verses, trying to find a place where the transition between songs will be smoothest. I spend hours playing through possible versions, my hands and papers turning gray with pencil lead as I add and erase different possibilities. 

I take note of everything I try, as well as why I didn't think it worked if I don't use it. I'm not sure what exactly I'm expecting to use these notes for, but I figure it will be a good thing to have in case Professor Murphy asks, or if I'm working on future medleys. 

Alexander not-so-subtly asks about my practice times, and I'll tell him my approximate schedule. Whenever I do, he'll meet me outside in the hall when I'm finished, and we'll spend the afternoon together. We'll amble around campus aimlessly, or walk through town, or just sit in the grass in the sunshine while the wind shifts the leaves around us. I spend the majority of my afternoons with him now, but never once do I tire of his company, or wish I was alone. 

~

I learn that Alexander has one sister, Paige, who is a year younger than him. He tells me that, apart from their light hair and terrible eyesight, they have almost nothing in common. He fondly calls her a 'massive nerd' and reminisces about how she would often tell him off for practising his lines late at night, when 'any sane person would be asleep'.

Mostly I listen to him as he talks about anything and everything that fascinates him. He'll see something, his face will light up, and he'll turn to me with a massive, adorable grin and start to tell me a story or explain something or just generally proclaim his love for whatever he saw. Sometimes, I try to ignore how cute he looks when his eyes light up like that. Most often, I'll just smile and laugh or agree, not bothered that I don't have a lot to contribute. 

He asks me questions as well, and I can tell he's trying to get me to talk more. There are some things I can talk about. My music, my passions. School now. Mostly, I try to divert the conversation back to him and the things he loves. I don't trust myself to share all of that with him yet. I don't trust that it won't drive him away. I have nothing to tell him about my family. I don't dare tell him about my Dad. I don't trust myself to talk about Mom.