Bagatelle

3.

The bell finally rings.

Brett gets up from his chair and starts walking the hall, as he does everyday.
Today, though, he has to go to work afterwards. So he is even more in a hurry than any other day.
He puts on the hat of his grey hoodie. It's almost winter, he thinks as he gets up the stairs and looks at the window.
The yard is full of girls and boys. Both no trace of the strange dude.

Well, it's not there. I guess I was worried about nothing. He reaches the door of the music room, and repeats the daily routine.

This time, he plays a piece from Liszt. For some reason, he feels like playing him today.

He always starts a bit rigid. But little by little, his fingers feel the temperature of the cold keys, and begins to relax. Feeling liberated.
Free from everything.

He always closes his eyes, but when there is a part he enjoys especially, he likes taking a peek on the way the keys are going up and down. It feels magical.
This are his hands, moving.

Soon, he finds that melody that his brain is always trying to find. He plays a new one everyday. He doesn't bother on writing them, maybe because he doesn't know how to...

It's only him, and the music. Dancing on the air.

The melody today, though, feels a bit more dark than other days. More violent.

He takes a big breath, and the notes softens.

Oh, It's here. He follows the lead his own fingers are tracing. Until he arrives to the place he was looking for.
He stays there for a couple of minutes, walking around.

It's time to leave.
And the playing stops.

He fixes his glasses, and is about to leave, when the door slams...again. Shit.

It's him. The same guy from yesterday. He’s wearing a pink sweater, and today he has his hair even more messed up than Brett's. And his eyes have a strange shine.
He holds a big black case on his back, and for some reason he seems a bit more...decided than he was yesterday.
Oh, no.

He stands in front of Brett, without saying anything. Looking at him from above, smiling. Why?

He asks Brett to go back with a sign on his hand.
Why is he not speaking? Brett groans annoyed, and tries to run. But this time Eddy is not willing to let him go.

He takes him from the shoulders, taking advantage of his height, and pushes him back to the chair with a quick movement.
Brett surrenders. He's not quite a fighter. It's annoyed and tired, but too lazy to put up a fight.

The taller boy takes out a violin from the case. Brett watches the instrument with surprise, he has never seen one of those from so close.
Eddy notices his interest, and his smile widens.

He starts tuning the violin.
And tuning it.
And keeps on tuning it.

Brett loses interest again and is about to leave, when the boy finally starts playing the violin.

The sound, is rough and even for someone as Brett who has never listen too much of that kind of instruments, it seems clearly off.

But the melody it's...interesting.

He watches Eddy's face, suffering. His eyebrows frowning, his lips pouting a bit and his fingers trying to move the quicker they can, but failing most of the time.

This guy needs a lot of practice, he thinks. But the piece he's playing...it's beautiful. Strong and joyful. It's such a colourful sound.

The piece finishes with a high note. One that makes Brett's sensitive ears shrink of pain.