Playing piano with short fingers is hard.
As Alena sat at her best friend's ebony baby grand, however, her fingers danced across the ivory keys with ease.
It was not impossible though.
She felt Thalia's eyes on her fingers as they skipped their way through the arpeggios of Beethoven's Für Elise. Both friends were monitoring every movement and even then, Alena could probably play the piece blindfolded. When the final chord echoed through the large room at last, Alena forced herself to sit as the notes died away. She felt her hands grow clammy as they rested—restless—at her sides.
She didn't want to look behind her.
She stared at herself, a hazy shadow, through the polished wooden paneling at her feet—let her eyes wander to a hanging off to her right that looked upside down.
Grey staircases criss-crossed throughout the scene, sideways, right side up, upside down. Faceless figures roaming in impossible ways entered arched doorways where forests, or tables, or others waited. The entire scene was set in shades of gray and white.
She couldn't stall any longer.
Alena chanced a peek at her friend to the sound of enthused clapping, Thalia's blonde head bobbing in approval.
"So good! I'll have to find you a harder one!"
Skeptical of Thalia's apparent amazement at her performance, Alena heaved herself from the cushioned seat. Thalia immediately replaced her on the bench, delicately running her spider-like fingers over the keys so as to not make a sound.
Despite the silence, Alena knew that Thalia could change the silence in an instant; where Alena can only practice the two times a week she comes to Thalia's house, Thalia had played piano for years and Alena personally heard Rachmaninov, Schubert, and even Liszt trickling from open windows.
"I can't believe how good you've gotten, not everyone is able to throw Für Elise under their belt in a month!" Thalia's eyes darted from the sheets of music to Alena's sheepish composure, the grin on her face never faltering.
The sound of Thalia's phone began to echo from the hood of the instrument, glinting in the sunlight that poured into the room. "That's probably your mom." Reaching over the music, she grabbed the ringing phone, accepting the call as she handed it to Alena.
"Magdalena, please come home for dinner, y agradece a Thalia." Alena ignored her mother's unnoticed switch from English, though the weariness that dulled her voice through the speaker worried Alena.
"Of course, I'll see you soon." Thalia shot her a quizzical look, her icy eyes locking with Alena's as she hung up. "Thanks, for everything." She meant it. Most friends wouldn't offer to teach piano to each other twice a week.
As she hoisted her backpack over her shoulder, Alena scanned the room. Although she would never admit it, Alena felt a pang of jealousy; the carefree environment Thalia lived in, where she could teach her friend piano, was worlds away from the weight that Alena felt in concern for her family. The music room she now stood in never failed to scream at her what Thalia lived with every visit.
Glittering trinkets.
Glossy floors.
Beautiful instruments.
Taking a deep breath, Alena made her way towards the front door, eager to be home for her mother.
"I'll try and come back in a few days, probably Saturday."
