Harmony: Sal Fisher x reader

Chapter 6

Y/N's POV
I walked off of the bus with the others and we approached the apartment complex.
I was walking next to Sal and Larry was on his other side. My brothers walked ahead of us.
"Do you wanna hang out with us Y/N? We're gonna chill down in the basement and I'm probably gonna work on my painting. We can listen to music if you want." Larry suggested.
I sighed, "I'd love to but...I really should practice for my performance. It's in 2 weeks! And I have to place or-" I froze with my mouth open and I quickly shut it, swallowing quietly.
"What's with all the pressure? It's not the end of the world if you don't place. It's supposed to be fun, right?" Larry commented.
A chill ran down my spine. "Fun? What part of it is ever fun?!" I realized I'd snapped a little and I took a step back.
Larry was looking at me with wide eyes and I'm sure Sal was too.
"I-I mean..." I was at a loss for words.
Jacob must've noticed because he came to my rescue, "She enjoys it, sure, it's just her placing is our main source of income so there's a lot of pressure."
I nodded and gave an awkward smile.
"It's your main source of income? What about your mom?" Larry asked.
Me and my brothers exchanged glances, "She um...she doesn't...work." I spoke out.
"Why not?" He pried.
"Um...I don't really know." Nathan answered.
"Can we talk about something other than my mother? Please?" I spoke quickly.
Sal gave me a look and I awkwardly smiled.
Larry dropped it as we approached the apartment. We walked into the lobby and all walked to the elevator.
We stood awkwardly for a minute as Larry inserted the card to go to the basement. He and Sal got off and turned to wave at me and my brothers. I gave a smile in response and the doors closed. We made our way up to the fourth floor and exited the elevator. Nathan walked off to his apartment and me and Jacob walked to ours. I jammed the keys in the door and swung it open. Jacob walked in and flopped on the couch.
I chuckled and walked off to my room. I sat down at my keyboard and took off my backpack. I pulled out my sheet music and placed it onto my keyboard stand.
I turned it on and began to run through my music.
Life was going to be interesting now.

Time skip
It had been about a few months since we moved to Addison Apartments. Id been doing well in my piano competitions and my brothers were so proud of me. I wouldn't lie though, I'd started to become very angry. Angry with myself, with my mother, just at life in general. I took it out through my piano though. I'd started composing a song called "Vengeance."
I was considering entering a competition for original music as opposed to already written music but knew my mother would never allow it. She hated when I used my creativity and worked outside the box.
I'd become close friends with Sal, Larry, Ash, and Robin, although Robin never got close with the others. Robin and I were both piano prodigies and were constantly neck at neck at competitions, but I typically placed higher than her. She played with more emotion than me, so I'm sure it was more beautiful to listen to, but I followed the books more, which earned me higher scores.
It was winter break and I was stuck up in my room practicing my music as always.
My mother looked over my shoulder holding her stick.
I spaced out while playing and as I looked away from my music I felt a wack on the back of my head.
"Pay attention." She snapped.
I swallowed bitterly but went back to my music.
I felt a hit on my back. I winced.
"Fix your posture." She spoke harshly.
I sat up straight and sighed.
I continued to play my piece on loop and my hands were starting to cramp.
"M-Mom my hands are s-starting to hurt-" Right as I spoke my finger slipped and I played a wrong note. I froze but my hands kept moving as I continued to play the song, hoping she hadn't noticed.
"I heard that. Don't think you're off the hook just yet. I don't care if your hands hurt, this competition is the key to your success. Scholar musicians are going to be there. You need to make a good impression."
I sighed and stopped playing, deciding I couldn't keep going.
"I need a break. I don't want to hurt my hands and not be able to play during the competition."
My mother groaned loudly, "Fine. We're done for the day, but don't expect me to go easy on your tomorrow you ungrateful brat." She snapped and turned on her heel to walk away.
"You're the ungrateful one..." I muttered under my breath.
I was met with a solid slap across my face and I fell down to the side, hands quickly coming up to hold my face.
Tears pricked at my eyes and I looked up in horror at my mother who was staring down at me with disgust.
"Don't talk back you bitch. Learn to hold your tongue. It'll carry you a long way in life."
She stormed out of my room and slammed the door to my room.
I sat on the ground, stunned.
I didn't even notice when the tears started slipping down my cheeks for a while. I backed up to be against my wall and curled up against it, pulling my knees into my chest.
I cried quietly for a minute before there was a soft knock on my door. I raised my head out of my knees and wiped my face with my sleeves.
"Y-Yeah?" I spoke out.
"Y/N? You ok? I saw mom storm off after yelling at you...she didn't seem very happy. Are you alright?"
I sighed and tucked my face back into my knees.
I heard the door open and felt a presence next to me. I peeked out to see Jacob sitting next to me. He gave me a small smile.
"S-She hit me again..." I spoke out shakily.
Jacob gently grabbed my face and turned it to the side. He stared at my cheek that'd been hit.
"It's bruising up already...how hard did she hit you?" He asked.
I sighed, "Enough to knock me to the ground."
"Yikes...I'm sorry...I don't know why she's like that to you." He awkwardly rubbed circles on my back.
I chuckled, "It's ok, at least I have you and Nathan to get me through it."
He nodded and pulled me in for a hug. We sat silently in each other's arms for a while.