STARGIRL

24. Nate's Hatred

Arabella was seated on the piano's small bench, her fingers gracefully moving around the white and black keys creating a beautiful and symphonic melody.

Nate watched her quietly from the living rooms archway, his face contorted making it easy to tell he was upset with her presence overall.

He cleared his throat and Arabella immediately stopped playing and tensed up. She rested her hands on top of her lap and clenched them so hard she could feel her nails clawing into the skin of her palms.

Suddenly, his hand fell onto her shoulder and he groped it tightly. Arabella sucked in a good amount of air as he kept squeezing it.

"I told you to stay out of my way when it's just us." He muttered strengthening his grip. Arabella refused to react to the pain so instead she cleared her throat and straightened her posture knowing it would turn into a bruise.

"I thought you were leaving soon." She softly muttered as Nate removed his hand from her shoulder and proceeded to take a seat right beside her on the piano's bench.

Arabella's left hand was now bleeding from her fingernails piercing the skin, she finally loosened her grip and moved a bit away from him on the seat without being too obvious about it.

Nate cracked his neck by moving it to the left and to the right, he raised his hands up until his fingers were on the piano keys themselves.

"Where'd you learn?" He solemnly asked her, "I learned when I was in college."

Arabella stayed quiet for a moment as he began to play a small rhythm. Finally, she cleared her throat, "I was in band for 4 years at my middle school."

Nate looked at her. All he saw now was a disgusting sinner, not the saint he had grown so obsessed with since he laid eyes on her. Her innocence had been long gone and he hated her for that and he hated himself as-well for thinking she was pure.

He frowned, turning downwards to look at the piano keys he hovered his fingers above the keys, "The four hand sheet music for KV. 381, put it up."

Arabella hesitated for a moment before reaching up and taking the sheets off the piano rack only to put them back up as soon as she had flipped to the proper sheet music.

"Allegro." He stated firmly as Arabella placed her fingers on the keys too.

In a few moments, he had began to play the songs first movement and so did she. Nate's hands moved quickly amongst the keyboard with no hesitation but Arabella felt immensely overwhelmed to keep playing as quickly as he was.

It was like a test, she didn't know what twisted mind game he was playing but she wasn't prepared for it. She never was.

Arabella's fingers felt limp after a few more seconds, she wasn't even that good at playing piano at all it was just an after school hobby so she wouldn't have to go straight home.

The young woman's fingers seemed to move automatically instead of being controlled, she had no clue what she was doing but the melody was rich and it registered in her mind that she must've been doing a good job.

That was until she accidentally pressed down on an incorrect ivory key.

There was a throbbing sensation in her face, her head was snapped downwards to face the carpet and her shoes. Her hair covering her face so the smug expression written over it wasn't visible.

She was pissed.

Nate had suddenly smashed the keys of the piano with closed fists a few times in a fit of anger. Suddenly, he frustratingly shoved his face into his hands and then ran them through his dirty blond hair.