Romeo Must Die

Chapter 2 ♛

I slowed down a bit when the time on my phone finally showed 07:30 and I eventually stopped running at some point. Without taking my earphones off, I walked to my house.

I lived in a calm and quiet neighborhood; most of my neighbors were old couples or thirty-year old women who couldn't find a husband yet. 10 houses were aligned on each side of the road as you passed through, every house had a front yard, some had different flowers, some had tables and chairs and some had dog kennels.

My house was the fourth on the right side, which automatically means that I had to say 'hi' to at least six people as I walk by. Fortunately, my neighbours were quite sweet; they weren't the kind of people who talk about how thin you are every time they see you.

I went in and immediately headed to the shower. After taking a long, hot shower, I got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Today was one of the rare days that I didn't have to work. Boss said I was free for a week, and that I should spend my week getting closer to Romeo.

I got to school an hour before classes started, for some unknown reason that my brain thought of. I started walking to the building entrance, jumping from square to square, trying not to step on the lines, you know, kind of like the hot lava game.

I continued playing this game until I finally reached the doors and when I did, I walked in and went straight to my locker. After entering my combination, I took out my Chemistry textbook and a random notebook with different band names on it. I put my stuff on my desk in the Chemistry class and then went to the music room, my hiding place.

My mom used to teach me how to play the piano. She started when I was 4, against my will, saying that 'I'd love playing it after a while' and she was right, a year later, you probably wouldn't see me a feet away from the piano in our house. Even though my mom died when I was 6, my love for the piano didn't disappear. I still play it, just not as usual.

I closed the door and without looking at the other instruments, walked to the piano. There were different sheets on the music. My eyes wandered over the papers and I sighed in contentment. They weren't familiar to me, which meant that I was going to try to play one of them. I chose the third paper and started playing, slowly gaining speed and confidence as I read the notes.

---

"You play?"

I flinched and looked at the door, only seeing the new student-Romeo, leaning against the door frame.

"Yes- I mean no... Kind of.." I could feel my face turning red, embarrassed that I was caught.

The corners of his lips curled into a tiny smile, "That's nice."

I politely smiled, not knowing what to say next. I wasn't really comfortable playing in front of other people, especially people that I have just met and I probably would not begin playing again until he left. Just as I was starting to get impatient, he started talking.

"Do you mind giving me a tour? I couldn't find half of my classes yesterday and I don't want that happening again..." He laughed half-heartedly.

No.

"Sure."

"Get close to him."

I swiftly stood up and walked out of the room, not stopping until I realized he wasn't following. "Are you sure you want a tour or are you just bored?"

"A little bit of both, I guess." He let out a bark of laughter while I just rolled my eyes, irritated.

"Well, I don't want to walk aimlessly around the school with some boy, so we should find something entertaining to do until the warning bell rings."