Frolique

Chapter 5

Orion gulped. He was summoned again by the teacher after seeing his rival cry. His legs wobbled as he walked towards the room where his teacher was.

"That was..." Orion whispered to himself, pausing. "Surprising."

He looked around, thinking about her. Was she able to stop? Did she notice him leave her alone? These he didn't know until he saw Galilei walk towards him.

He opened his mouth to say something.

"Gali-"

"I'm fine," Galilei said. "Nothing happened. You saw nothing. We're cool. We're cool."

Orion looked at her eyes with concern. She looked at him with still composure.

"Are you-"

"I am fine," Galilei repeated.

She laughed a bit. "Funny how you saw the person you dislike cry, huh?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "More like I pity you."

Galilei squinted at Orion. "Why is that so?"

"Well, you've experienced how it feels like to be inferior to someone like how it happened with me," Orion said. "But yours has been going on for a while."

Silence settled. Orion felt bad when Galilei stared at the floor.

"W-well, forget what I've said," Orion stuttered, remembering what he was supposed to do.

He walked immediately to the teacher's office. A few seconds passed by, then he forgot.

Damn! That's the second time I've left her already.

---

"Maybe I should go straight home," Galilei said as she walked alone on the sidewalk. They were dismissed early, but a classmate asked her to explain their lesson since it was a bit confusing. She hesitated, but she did it and went out late.

She looked at the intersection to her house.

"Wait," she remembered.

She ran towards another street. "It's Friday!"

---

The door to the vintage cafe opened. Galilei entered silently and was surprised to hear sounds coming from somewhere close.

"A piano?" she whispered to herself as she entered the small space. She knew there was one, but she didn't dare to ask the owner if it still works.

Well, guess this just answered my question, thought Galilei as she peeked and looked at the piano.

Fritz Kreisler, Love's Sorrow.

Her mother taught her how to play it on the piano since she was a pianist. A few years later, her father, who was a violinist, gave her the sheet music for the violin, while Leo used it as a lullaby for her when she was younger. Since then, she'd hum it all the time when she's doing something and when she's in a good mood.

The playing went on for a few more seconds and stopped. The person turned around to look at the counter but was terrified when he saw who was at the doorframe.

"Oh, Galilei," Orion gasped as he saw her.

"Get used to it, idiot," Galilei said, approaching the bench. "Ed's got a serious case of writer's block so she can't write really well."

Orion moved in his seat to give space for Galilei. She sat at his right and looked at Orion as he continued to play the piece.

"Nice playing," she said as he caught up with where he left off.