The Virtuous

Chapter Eight: Bravo

I couldn't take the craziness anymore for today. I had to find some way to lose myself. Thankful the piano offered me that sort of sanctum and I breathed in relief as I walked into the empty room. I was an hour early and I knew my professor wouldn't be back for a while, however even if he did, he wouldn't of minded me using his beautiful jet black baby grand.

I pulled out my sheet music for the piece I'd recently taken a particular interest in, "Ave Maria".

I set my music up on the stand and let the bad vibes and energy that I'd held pent up inside me for the last week flow out into my fingers and into my piece.

I'd fallen in love with the piano thanks to my father.

Being a music teacher and also coming from a very music oriented family like he did, he found a life-long companion in the guitar, preferably his acoustic. However he also dabbled in several other instruments including, drums, electric guitar, violin, trumpet, clarinet, and the Bass.

From an early age, my dad influenced music of all genres into my life. He used to stick giant bulky headphones over my mother's tummy just to see if I would kick to different influences from the music.

When I was about five he began introducing me, one by one, to all the wonderful instruments that existed in the world of music.

I tried each one carefully but found nothing I liked about them.

Then one day, I came home from school and heard my dad playing some song in his study. I quickly perked up at the sound because it was one I'd never before encountered. I quickly ran to his study and found him sitting in front of some long board like instrument with black and white keys. The sound it emitted was heavenly and I couldn't stop myself from staring at him in awe as he played a piece that he later informed me was entitled 'Serenity'.

I was mystified by his 'Keyboard' and begged him to teach me to play it. The only way dad could explain my unnatural taking to it was 'Like a duck taking to water'; I and the Piano were simply meant to be.

After that, my father bought me a beautiful piano and took it with him to his house when he moved out. I had missed it terribly when I lived with my mother. Even she could see it pained me to be without my prized possession and she too, eventually invested in a beat up old piano and stuck it in my father's old study. It wasn't my original but it was certainly better than nothing.

I played nearly every day, even when I got into high school. When I got into my senior year I began to draw away from playing it so often because I knew I would be terribly disappointed when I left to go to school and couldn't take it with me. Thankfully though, when I'd signed up for my course my teacher had insisted that our class was welcome to come and use the piano in his room whenever we wanted. For this small favor, I had been eternally grateful because it was times like this, where my life was falling apart, that I needed to find my long lost companion once more.

My fingers drifted over the keys with ease and I played with a skill that I knew could far surpass my fathers. I closed my eyes and released myself into the music.

The notes began to float around me. I remembered how things used to be simply; how I used to even consider the simplicity boring. How dumb was I? Didn't I know how upside down everything else would turn in my future?

Clearly, I hadn't.

The last few notes drifted out and I slowly pulled back, feeling elated yet drained.

"Bravo."

I turned and saw Levi standing in the doorway. He smiled and brushed his dirty blonde hair out of his face while giving me a breath-taking grin.