Part Five

Running her hands down the ivory keys she hit them delicately and then hit them hard creating the desired effect. Playing a pop song she had heard on the radio this morning she hummed along lightly. Although she had picked up the music she had missed the lyrics, it had a nice melody that was for sure. When two of the boys came up next to her and started singing she started to play even better, maybe this could win her some friends.

“How did you learn to play that so quickly?” The boy asked sounding amazed.

“I heard it on the radio this morning and it just seemed to stick with me. How did you learn the lyrics?” The boy was about to say something when he realised what she was getting at.

“My name’s Justin.” He said as he offered his hand.

“I’m Kirsten.” She replied as she shook his hand gently.

“I know who you are. You’re the prodigy who is supposed to enlighten us all and teach us so much. So what have you got to teach me?” He asked smiling. Kirsten shifted up on the piano stool so he could sit down. As soon as he sat down she took on teacher stance.

“Okay quick tip, when you’re playing a complicated piece which requires you to play very low, very high and medium notes it’s better to move your left hand over your right hand than to move both hands because it’s more likely you’ll lose your place!”

“But isn’t it inconvenient to lean one hand over the other?”

“Yes but in the long run it’s easier because you’re only moving one hand and you’re keeping the main melody hand on the melody which kind of makes sense.” Kirsten smiled at him trying to make him see that she was being friendly and not criticising him.

“God I‘m so stupid! You must think I’m so dumb now!” Justin said laughing.

“What can I say compared to me you all are!” Justin pretended to look ashamed and then playfully pushed her shoulder.

“One day we shall have to play piano together and see who is best then! I’ll bet I’ll beat you!” Justin pushed her shoulder again and then winked.

“Oh really?” Kirsten said and pushed his shoulder back. The friendly banter continued whilst they kept pushing each other until the conversation became too ridiculous and they both just started to laugh loudly. At this point Christian walked in to class. He was late and he knew it but he didn’t care, Jane had decided that she would come into school today and had then decided that she wanted to mess around in the janitors closet whilst they should be in class. When he saw Kirsten sitting so close to Justin and how happy she seemed he felt jealously stir up inside of him. Justin was an idiot, a talent less idiot who wasn’t even good looking. He was a human for gods sake! Why was she being so friendly with him? Walking over to the grand white piano he leant over the cover and smiled at the both of them.
“So what are you both up to?” Christian asked trying to sound happy.

“We were just playing together. This girl is a genius! You should spend as much time as you can with her, she has already taught me so much! But now we’re stuck on a complicated piece. Neither of us can remember the coda to Chopin’s first symphony.” Kirsten looked at Christian and how softly his hair fell around his eyes, he was so beautiful it was hard to believe that he was human. The way his eye’s glittered greenish silver and how he walked oozed style and grace. By leaning over the piano and looking as gorgeous as he did she felt her heart race, she wanted him like she had never wanted anyone before, seeing how he was affecting her she reminded herself that this was scary and most importantly wrong.

“Shift up and I’ll show you.” Christian stood close to Justin signalling for him to go away with just body language but it didn’t seem to work. This guy either couldn’t take a hint or just really didn’t want to. Staring hard at his head Christian tried to access his thoughts but found them to be complicated and messy - a guy with a lot of issues. Sighing at his defeat Christian sat down on the other side of Kirsten and stretched his fingers slightly. Starting to play he made sure he didn’t falter, not wanting Kirsten to see him fail. Playing harder and stronger than he ever had before he even added the extra notes that you could play if you were fast enough. Apart from Chopin and a select few, not many were good enough to play this symphony the way Christian was. After finishing he leant back and grinned at the keys, he was getting to be a better pianist every day.

“Wow Christian that was amazing!” Kirsten said as she looked at the keys which he had just been hitting with such passion.

“Yeah that was cool. I’m going to go… work…on….my…project!” Justin got up off the piano bench and stalked off over to where the only other girl in the class sat. Obviously Christian’s superior piano skills were too overwhelming for him. Christian grinned in his mind, he had gotten rid of any form of competition. As that thought ran through his brain Christian realised something was wrong, what was he competing for? For some reason he had just felt the sudden need to get rid of Justin, as if it were wrong for him to be with Kirsten. If he was doing it for a heritage reason that would be fine, no human was worthy to sit with the maiden who could someday lead the witches but inside Christian knew that wasn’t the true reason. Yes he didn’t think Justin was worthy to sit with Kirsten but it wasn‘t because she was the maiden.

“How did you remember all those notes? That’s quite a complicated symphony!” Kirsten asked as she lightly tapped the highest key.

“I have a good memory. If I play one song then the notes will be stuck in my head forever. I even know all of the notes to songs I can never play because I don’t have enough hands!” Christian blushed slightly as he bared something which he thought was nerdy of himself.

“Me too! I have memorised so many songs it’s unbelievable! Just every now and then I forget a small part of a song. What’s your favourite four hand piece then?” Kirsten turned on the piano bench so that her one leg was tucked under the other, immediately Christian edged away, just in case those feelings came back.

“I would say Femke Jansen the world is changing.” Christian replied without even thinking about it. It was the first song his mother had ever taught him as a small child.

“Goddess! Me too! I love that so much! My mother taught it to me when I was small.”

“Mine too. Want to play it? It will be the first time I have heard it played completely since I was younger. I only ever play the male part.” Kirsten nodded and moved to the higher side of the keys. Resting her fingers on the keys she breathed slowly as she remembered all of the notes and the rhythms. As Christian started to play the introduction she couldn’t help but feel the distant memories of her mother come flooding back. She missed her so much…

Playing slowly he tried to make each key sound exactly how it did in his head, whenever he played this it had to be perfect, he felt that if he faltered or made it less than perfect then he would be tarnishing the memory of his mother. Not that she meant anything to him anymore… After years of hurt and pain he had made her memory one full of spite and hatred, and still every time he played this it had to be perfect. As the piece grew faster he enjoyed the sound of the song in it’s full state, it sounded so beautiful live that he knew his memories would never do this song justice again. As his hands rushed over the keys just trying to hit every note he caught a glimpse of her fingers also moving as manically as his own, white nails with a black flower drawn onto each finger nail. Without looking closely he knew which flower it would be - the Nerine. It had to be, that was the sign of her family and of course the sign of her kind.

The dynamics grew greater with each note that was struck making them both smile at the exact same time and as the song grew on they both moved closer and closer to the middle of the piano until they both went to strike the same key and as they did the world stopped. Flashes of light blasted through each of their heads making them stop playing but their hands still gently touched each other and remained poised over the keys. Small shivers of electricity started at their fingertips and then ran up their arms until they exploded in their brains sending dizzying aftershocks through their entire bodies. Kirsten drew in her breathe whilst Christian sighed quietly and contentedly as the flashes of warm hazy light still ricocheted through his body. The longer their hands were in contact the more the intensity grew making ecstasy seem so close and yet so far away as the fear and wonder which pounded through their brains made the questions over take the pleasure. This was so exciting and new and because of that, they both knew it was so obviously wrong…

Walking into the class she smiled as the usual pile of geeks leaning over the black piano grinned goofily at her. Classical civilisation had been a revision lesson so she already knew what was going on, deciding that she was just wasting her time she had walked out and decided to come and see Christian. Looking over to the white piano in which he always sat she glared as she saw a girl sitting there with him. Neither were playing or speaking for that matter. They were both just sitting there looking shocked and enchanted. As if the spell had been broken by her watching the scene they both turned to look at each other and then started to play the middle of a piece she didn’t recognise as if there had been no gap in their piece. Seeing a small smile play at Christian’s lips she felt anger boil up inside her so she turned on her heel and stalked out. Something was going on and she knew she didn’t like it… If someone thought they could take Christian away from her then they were greatly mistaken and if she had to do something to prove that, then so be it…

~ Hello! I’m sorry this chapter was kind of… well… crappy but it had to be done so that the rest would make sense. Well it should hopefully make sense. Anyway I hope you’re enjoying this fic as it is one of my favourites and is all new for me. Take Care everyone oh and everyone who has half term next week have a great time! Love Taz~