HER

"Don't you ever get tired?" Mrs. Davidson inquired softly at the empty room that had been a lovely company with my piano play collection for the winter ball.

"No, I'm fine." I smiled when she walked in front of my piano and smiled back. She was the one who kept encouraging me to keep playing even after my mom died, it was my therapy.

I was destined to keep playing as the passionate hunger kept increasing within me when I grew up.

It was an escape from the amber-eyed guy I had seen. I had been thinking a lot about him, he gave off the scary face and the haunting past vibes but it only made my curious side appear even more. Every time I stopped now, I would start thinking about him so I instantly focused more on the piano keys, the guy faded into the back of my mind.

"I'm going to lock up now." She announced regretfully for stopping me, I let it go as I nodded and closed the piano lid.

"I'm sorry I made you wait." I apologized as she patted my shoulder.

"It's okay, I had a meeting." She explained and I stood up with my bag that Alexa packed for me after school. I usually play after school for two hours, this time I went for three hours as the gloomy weather started to get clouded indicating a storm was approaching.

We both bidded each other goodbye and I took a stroll to my home that was nearby. I saw a silhouette of a guy in front of me but I didn't pay much attention as I saw the music notes I had in my hands.

I bumped into someone's back as the music sheets flew from my hand to the ground. I quickly bent down and took them before the wind made it the victim of the Michigan storms.

"Are you fucking blind or some shit?" He yelled and the familiarity of the amber eyes I had forced myself to forget came back again, he was tall and strong with sharp structure and curls that were swaying from the slight wind.

He had turned to face me as I self consciously put the baby hairs behind my ears when I finished packing the music notes and stood up to face him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. There were only the two of us as his eyes began speculating me like I was an insect he couldn't wait to get rid of.

"Are you following me? Are you a part of the cops' plan to put an eye on me?" He asked in a rushed tone with furrowed eyebrows. I fidgeted in nervousness since I not sociable towards anyone and my only attention was the piano.

"No," I replied, my voice wavered as he stood intimidatingly with his hands in the sides of his jacket pockets.

"Then why are you following me?" He snappily asked.

"I was walking to home." Something shifted in his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair at the mention of home.

With nothing left to talk about, he turned around and began walking casually. I was left wondering about the guy who had been chased by the police. I was shocked that he was this late outside, didn't he have a concerned dad or an anxious mom waiting for him?

I rang the doorbell when I reached my house, my caring father opened and hugged me. I hugged him back as he let me enter quickly, afraid of the storm.

"How was your day at work, dad?" I asked as I hung my coat and placed my bag beside the stand. Dad was in his early fifties with a kind face and a smile gracing his face. He learned to let go of mom and never tend to go for drinks to tame his anger after my mom was defeated in the arms of cancer.

"It was okay." He replied, he had been dazed off lately, lonely even but I did my best to keep him company and be like the son he never had. Like the baby that didn't come out of my mom's womb when she died, didn't make it alive. We knew about the boy after mom died. He died along with her.

"That's great." I made dinner and placed it on the table in the dining room, dad's pay was enough to make us live in a small cozy house. I wasn't asking for more and I was the optimistic side of the sad house with the lonely dad.

"How was your practice?" Dad asked as he held my hand for prayer before eating. We finished praying and conversed.

"It was good, I think I'm almost ready for the winter ball," I announced and he sent me a happy smile, squeezing my hand.

"That is fantastic news, you worked so hard for it." I didn't want to mention the money they would give me for working as the school pianist in events. I had to surprise him when he comes to watch me play on stage. It would make him even more elated.

I had worked so hard to help us live the way we were living now, I finished working in three jobs and concentrated on the soft melodies to chase my dreams. Dad got promoted to a sales manager in the environmental Michigan company for manufacturing eco-friendly stuff. It wasn't his dream, he wanted to be in a band but he was discouraged after what happened to mom.

Some dreams weren't meant to be chased.

The boy that had anger issues continued to dance in my mind, his amber eyes spoke volumes, he was pleading for me to save him yet he was independent alone. I dismissed him from my thoughts as I concentrated on my dad as he talked about the news. I couldn't take the act of peace maker when he didn't want me to.

"Are you going to die?" The seven year old me said after I discovered that both of my parents went to the hospital when mom's case worsened.

"I am going to die, but I am alive inside your heart." She poked her needle that was in her hand for life support at my chest as my little fingers wrapped around hers with a smile.