Author's Note
This chapter is admittedly a bit longer than I envisaged. I wanted this story to be all short chapters but I got carried away trying to give a little background on the main character. I'm now torn between making the chapters about the same length that I began with or making them as long as this one is, while there's also just the prospect of writing the chapters and going along with whatever length I end up with.
Anyway, enough rambling about nothing. Proceed!
My fingers ran smoothly across the keys of the piano, a melodic tune ringing throughout the room as each note combined beautifully.
My eldest sister stood to the edge of the gigantic instrument, her facial expression the complete opposite of my own since her ears were cocked intently, scrutinizing every hand movement and poorly timed key with a painful grimace.
"Stop, stop, stop!" She held her head almost in agony, typical of any Nigerian parent.
I inhaled a sharp breath, slightly annoyed as this had to have been the fifth time since l'd been stopped before I could complete the number. "Sissy. I thought that was good?"
"It wasn't. Something was off, you know I pick up on it all. Your mind is a county away."
My lips frowned at the phrase, as she gathered the sheet music nonchalantly. "Sissy..."
"It's fine. I have to work now. Go to the Library to study if you please. You better not be wandering off when we practice tomarrow." She strutted away, probably gathering the things she needed for work. She was a geriatric nurse, having to work at the nursing home not too far away.
"See you Sherry." I smiled at her retreating figure,my head shaking in amusement on its own accord.
This was typical in our household. My sister and I were the only children for my parents and as such we were forced to be all rounded, multi talented and smart girls, but that had more to do with the fact that they were both children of Nigerian parents who both believed they had a certain standard to uphold.
Sherry Willer was five years older than me and was forced to take piano lessons since she was ten years old and straight through highschool. Take it from all the trophies she had spattered about the house, she was a pro player who'd been ridden with the task of teaching me to play for the past seven years.
My mother insisted that it was important because prestigious colleges only chose students with extra pissas. And this was as extra as it got, since we all had no interest in being musically inclined.
Speaking of being musically inclined, my mind drifted once again to the tall blonde with the dazzling smile and an even more dazzling voice. I thought back to the last time I saw him.
"Let me take you some place."
And how poorly I'd handled the whole situation. How I'd smiled awkwardly and told him I had to get home urgently.
I've never been anywhere with a boy, especially not one that I'd been so naturally drawn to.
One that made me happy when he smiled,or made me second guess how such beauty could exist on earth.
One that I could conversate with so easily and listen to so thoroughly, even if it we'd only spoken on two relatively short and bizarre occasions.
I'd glance over to the back of the old house that had become my safe haven once or twice but I'd never spot the boy, thinking that maybe he'd gone back to his home since his granny had been laid to rest for about a week now. Maybe forgetting that I had even existed.
A slight pang hit me in the chest at the thought.
I shook my head briefly, pushing the thought of Ms. Edna's grandson from my mind all together.
