Beautiful Symphony

Chapter 14

My date with Elliot that day was great. We ate amazing food, I learned amazing things about the town, and we held hands. Held. Hands. It's silly that a seventeen year old girl is so thrilled with hand holding, but I'm a special case. He took me home shortly after, leaving in a somewhat awkward moment.

    I sat in the music room, contemplating which song I wanted to play. I still hadn't found all of the pages to "Endless Love", so I decided to just practice instead. I had found myself playing the piano much more often since I had met him. He had this amazing effect on me that I hoped would never fade away.

My fingers danced across the keys, practically gliding over them. Sometimes, I could just let all of my worries go, and just play. Music was my happy place. Part of me wondered if I would lose that happy place some day. I was nearly 18, and that meant a long drive into adulthood lay ahead.

I had considered music as a career around the time when I was 14. Music was just a great way for me to escape from reality, and the thought of doing that and getting paid for it sounded pretty great. But I was not, how you might say, star quality. Not that a piano player has to be the life of the party, but in the music industry, being confident and chatty was important. There was no way you could get anyone to notice you if you hardly said a word.

  I did have to admit that since we had arrived in Maine, my voice was making more of an appearance. If you had met me in middle school, you probably would have thought I was deaf or something. The doctors called it "Selective Mutism". I hated that it had a name. If you give something a name, it makes it more terrifying. I also hated thinking that I was sick. Everyone looked at me as if I had some disease. I didn't feel sick, I just felt empty. If talking wasn't necessary in any situation, then why bother?

I had gotten a little better over the years. It had been five long years, and no person could stay silent for that long. But it wasn't just silence. It was a new state of mind, one that wasn't all that comfortable. I was afraid. Afraid of everything. I couldn't go one day without worrying myself to death. There was always this little voice in my head. It said things like, They don't care about you. What if they die too? Then what? You'll have nothing. You'll be nobody. Maybe you should die, too.

It sounds dramatic, I know. But it's real. And it nearly destroyed me. But I fought back, and got to where I was. It wasn't where I started, but it was so close that I could see the starting line from where I was. And that was good enough for me.

I wondered if I could do this "dating" thing. Elliot seemed to be a pretty good guy, but could he handle a muted introvert like me? I knew that I would have to go back to school when summer was over. Will I still see him then? Maine was a long way from my hometown. I didn't even know if this relationship was going anywhere, yet I couldn't help thinking about the future. Our future.

I wanted to talk to him. Wait. Talk to him? Talk to a living person? Voluntarily? That was a shocker. I was hesitant, but I picked my phone up. I held it in my hand for a few seconds, just staring at it. I had no idea what to say. I headed back up to my bedroom and plopped myself onto the window seat. I opened the window and let the cool beach air in.

I ran through a million possible things to say. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to talk about. I twirled my thumbs around the digital keyboard, asking the letters to come together and form a word. I must have been pretty concentrated, because I didn't even hear Crystal walk in. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

I let out a small shriek, and my phone was tossed out of my hands, heading out the window. I fumbled over the window sill and caught it, freezing in an awkward pose. I let out a huge sigh of relief, and turned back to her. She was giggling. We made eye contact. And I broke into a fit of laughter. We both giggled a while longer, and finally calmed down. She grinned at me.

"You are so vibrant lately. It's amazing what this vacation has done."

I smiled, and looked back down at my phone. My smile faded away. I was so nervous. She saw the worry etched onto my face.

"What is it? Are you okay?" She placed a hand on my arm. I looked back down to the screen.

"Oh my gosh. It's a boy, isn't it?"

My head snapped back to her and I said, "How did you-"

"Honey, that's the most expressive face I've ever seen you make. I know what heartache looks like."

Heartache. That was a part of love. Love. It was way too early to be in love. I shook my head at the thought. I sighed and shut the window. I laid face down on the bed. She sat on the foot and let out an excited giggle.

She wanted me to tell her. Should I? I didn't know if I wanted to share my secret, especially with my step mother. But, as of lately, Crystal didn't seem all that bad. And I didn't really have anyone else. Other than Dad. I rolled my thoughts around a few times before sitting up. I started.

"Well, he came from a tree."

[Hello, lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :) The story hasn't made a huge jump in votes or views, so please please please vote and comment! It would really mean a lot. If you have any thoughts or suggestions for this story, please let me know!! Questions are always welcome. Have a great day, and keep reading! ;) ]