Dark Wolfe

17- Hot Potato Pursuit

(Song of the chapter: 'Its Nice To Have A Friend' - Taylor Swift)

AVALON

I sat at a piano playing Elton John's 'I'm Still Standing'. I hummed the notes to myself a millisecond before my finger descended on the keys, as I was in the habit of doing. My hands flowed over them like a stream, creating a cascade of sound so rich it pooled all around me, enveloping me within its depths. Gladly, I let myself submerge.

And then the song finished, and I opened my eyes and found myself on solid ground, my butt parked onto the piano bench in the Music classroom.

Mr. Franz was scrutinizing me, his expression nearly owlish because of his glasses. I met his gaze, lifting my hands from the keyboard to prop my chin.

"I can also play the melody backwards," I said with a shrug.

"Indeed?" He removed his glasses and nibbled at one of the tips.

"How long did it take you to learn to play it?"

I scrunched my brows, trying to remember.

"Maybe a full afternoon," I said hesitantly. "Or well into the evening. I'm not sure."

Mr. Franz considered me. "Did you know how to play any other songs before you learned that one?"

I bobbed my head.

"Which was the first you learned how to play?"

I couldn't help my lip from tilting up in a smirk. "Baby Shark d-doo, d-doo, d-doo."

A loud snort came from the corner where Kit was tuning his guitar. I didn't look at him, but my amusement grew at the look of distaste on Mr. Franz's face.

"Would you like me to play it for you?" I asked him, batting my lashes innocently.

"Heavens, no." He scowled. He stepped closer to the piano, and put his glasses back on in order to peer down at it.

"Walk me through your process," he instructed. "How do you learn to play a song?"

"Well," I sat up straighter, feeling the ache that had been developing in my back lessen, "First I hear the song, obviously. If it gets stuck in my head, I go over to the piano and try to reproduce its melody. When I first started, I would play each key on the piano and compare it to the tune in my head, and if my memories didn't get the sound right, I'd replay the song on my phone and get it to match that.

"But that got frustrating, so I memorized the keys on the piano instead and the notes they produced. Then, whenever I heard a song I liked, I'd try to match every note to the key it would sound like. Kind of like I was rewriting the song in another language or code. And once I got good at that, it became easier to play stuff. I'd visualize which keys I needed to play first, then I'd try and do just that. Afterwards it was all just practice and practice till I could play it perfectly without any pauses."

Mr. Franz was silent for a few beats.

"Hmmm. I see." He opened his mouth to say something, then for some reason decided not to and closed it.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Which songs in your opinion were the easiest to completely learn?"

I shrugged, running a finger down one key. "It's always easier when I really like the song."

"Ever learned one that you didn't like?"

"Nope. Didn't bother to."

Mr. Franz turned around. "Kit, open up your playlist," he commanded. "I need you to play a song that's absolutely appalling, something nobody in their right mind would ever listen to."