by Lizzie Vega
“Hardly,” she hissed back, slapping at the music in front of his face, “I gave up everything for you and this is how you pay me back? Again.”
The memory had played hundreds of times in Ethan’s head. This time it surfaced just as he crossed the quad and headed for his dorm room. Close to home, he panicked for a moment and dug furiously through his bag to find a late assignment. Knowing the English instructor wouldn’t tolerate another lame excuse, he spun around and headed back to music building. He thought of alerting security that he would be quickly in and back out of the practice rooms, but realized it was, at least for him, still early in the evening.
Quietly back into the building and down the back steps, he made his way down the poorly lit hallway. Having heard a couple of students exiting from the front of the building, he tried to be stealthy. Given the late hour, Ethan thought he’d had the building to himself as usual.
Just as he rounded the corner, the pleasant sound of a violin filled the long hallway. He slowed almost to a stop, cursing himself for being forgetful. No way, he thought, do I want to do small talk with anyone tonight.
A few more steps on the carpeted hallway, the sound grew louder. Someone was at the end of the hall warming up with a series of almost playful and very random snippets of songs.
At first, he was annoyed that a student would be so overt to warm up in the hallway when they should be sequestered away in the honeycomb of rooms provided for exactly that purpose.
How tiresome, he thought, ducking behind a pillar in the hallway to make sure he stayed hidden from view. No doubt some freshman overachiever yet the more music he heard, the less likely that was the case.
Moving up the hallway, Ethan stopped behind each column, thankful it was big enough to hide behind. He eyed the door of his coveted practice room and sighed. If he were to retrieve his paper, he’d probably have to interact with this person, and he was definitely not in the mood. Then the music caught him.
A flurry of familiar notes floated down the hall as he recognized a classic Mozart intro. Leaning out into the hallway, he tried to catch a glimpse of the performer. To his trained ears, this was no ordinary violinist. Four or five measure sections, each played with rich perfection, then suddenly a passage from a 70’s rock band that he’d heard on the school’s oldies FM station.
Another peak around the column yielded nothing. Sneaking up one column closer, he caught a shadow on the wall as someone swayed gently in time with the latest selection. There was no rattling of music sheet music. The transitions between the songs were too fast, too clean to be anything but pure and flawless improvisation.
He leaned out to see the artist and froze in place. A young woman stood at the end of the hall, her bow arm sweeping gracefully back and forth then scurrying aggressively through the next change as she played a quick burst of crystal-clear notes. She stood facing the wall wearing jeans and the school sweatshirt, long blonde hair in a ponytail.
As far as Ethan was concerned, she might have been wearing a full-length gown and standing in the middle of a concert stage. A blistering flurry of notes and she bowed down toward the floor, then rose up as her fingers slid up the neck of the violin. Ending in a sweet vibrato, it appeared the random performance had come to an end.
Taken as much by her beauty as her talent, Ethan gasped audibly.
She turned and looked down the hallway, her eyes wide.
Spinning back around the column, he froze. If only he’d been more obvious, if only he was more outgoing. If only he had the nerve to say hello. “Shit,” he thought, “I’m gonna come off like a stalker. She’ll call security.
“Is…is someone there?”
Her voice gave him chills, not because he was suddenly scared to death, but because it was as sweet as the music she had just played.
In one of the last recitals before his mother’s death, there had been a girl that had turned his head. Had a suggestion not been offered to him by one of the other performers that day, Ethan would have shyly stared and kept his distance. “Compliment her music,” he’d heard, “we all like that.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Stepping around the wide column, he saw her staring back at him. Her eyes got wide as she saw him.
“You’re…” he stammered, beads of sweat quickly forming on his brow, “You’re amazing.” He shifted uncomfortably as a wisp of prickly heat ran between his shoulder blades.
Maybe it was the dimness of the old building, but she took a step forward, gasping, “You…heard me?”
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he pointed over his shoulder, “I forgot an assignment, I…I’m,” he paused as she began to walk toward him, bow and violin clutched in her hands. She looked down the empty hallway, then back at him, stopping a few feet away.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said almost in a whisper, “I couldn’t help but listen.”
She took a half step to the right and Ethan followed her with his eyes but suddenly realized how badly he was gawking at her, “Sorry. I don’t mean to stare.” His eyes dove to the floor, “I’m just not…good…”
“You….” she whispered as Ethan’s heart skipped another beat.
“She’s gonna call security” he thought in a moment of spiraling panic, “She’s gonna scream.”
Instead the girl took another tentative step toward him. He looked up to watch her eyes fill with tears. She smiled at him, jaw trembling, “You…can see me,” she whispered.
Her voice was so quiet, Ethan leaned in a little to make sure, “Well, yeah. Of course, I can.”
She sighed, looking down at the floor as a tear fell to the carpet. She looked back up at him, her engaging smile renewed, “I…I’m Sara.”
“I’m Ethan,” he choked out awkwardly trying not to continue staring at her.
“Yeah,” she said, her now bright eyes darting away then right back to him, “I know.”
Her response startled him. It only took a moment for him to begin to think of all the unpleasant stories she would already have heard about him. Taking a half step back, he started to turn away from her. Out of the corner of his eye, she started to reach out for him, “Please don’t go.”
A burst of conversation came from down the hall as two students came out of one of the practice rooms. In his effort to sneak quietly back into the practice hall, he’d completely forgotten they might not be alone. He turned around to look at them.
“Gotta go,” he heard from behind him.
When he turned back to her, she was gone.
Chapter 8
“Why so early?” Kelli asked as they walked into the Union lounge, “2pm sharp, four chords. Not like we’ll miss anything. It’s the third time we’ve done this and as stalking goes, you can do better.”
“You gotta trust me on this,” Mikayla said as she pulled on Kelli’s arm, “We gotta get there before Amanda stakes out a seating group.”
“Oh, I get it. You want to sit closer. Today’s wingman lesson will be about how to hunt and capture the tall and lanky boy. Has he seen you yet? Not that you’re not a standout.”
“Stop…but thanks. I don’t think so. There just something I want to see. I need to be closer.”
“Note to self,” Kelli giggled, “Wingman lesson two will be about appearing needy.” They walked into the lounge just as Amanda landed in their regular seating spots with Ashley and Brie.
“Crap,” Mikayla said, “It’ll be weird if we don’t sit with her. She will tease the hell out of me.”
“Yes, she will,” Kelli laughed, breaking away, “Don’t worry, I got this. The next one closer to the piano is open, go grab it.” Kelli veered over to Amanda just as Ashley joined her. Mikayla watched as Kelli leaned down and whispered to Amanda and for a moment, feared her secret crush would be revealed.
Amanda made a horrible face and stood up, wiping her hand across her rear and looked down at her chair. It was only seconds before she gathered up her bag and the three walked over to join Mikayla.
Kelli was sounding motherly.
“Like I said, I don’t know if that’s the exact chair he puked on, but better to be safe than sorry,” She winked at Mikayla, nodding her head up and down for encouragement.
“Yeah,” Mikayla joined in, “I heard it was super gross. Hope they got it all.” She shrugged at Kelli and got a wink in return.
Nervously checking the time on her phone, Kelli reached over to pull Mikayla’s bag off her lap and started rummaging through it. “Help yourself, I guess,” she frowned at the seemingly random invasion of her privacy.
Kelli grinned, pulling two dollar bills out of Mikayla’s bag, “Sorry, I’m out of ones,” She made sure to catch Mikayla’s eye, “I’m so thirsty. Would you be a dear and get me a diet coke out of the machine?” She pointed down a strategic hallway, “The vending machines are down there.”
“Huh?” Mikayla asked, “But…Oh.” She snatched the money out of Kelli’s hand with a horrified grimace, “Sure…oh God. Be right back.”
“Use the second machine. So much better than the other one. Have fun.”
Mikayla turned back and glared at her as she walked slowly away only to hear Amanda begin to scold Kelli for being so bossy to their new friend. With a nervous glance to her phone, Mikayla made her way cross the lounge knowing she was on a possible collision course with her reason for being there in the first place.
With only minutes to spare, she inserted the wrinkled dollar bills only to have the old machine it spit the second one back out. Hurriedly flattening it, she caught movement down the hall as she fed the money back into the machine. “Dark jeans,” she thought, “dark shirt, yeah maybe.”
With a loud thunk, the soda can dropped heavily into the machine dispenser. Grabbing it quickly, she turned to look at him. Uncombed hair and a satchel over his shoulder. It was Ethan. All she could think of was the ice-cold soda can in her hand as her heart thudded in her chest. His blank expression told her nothing.
Eyes down as usual, he didn’t acknowledge her as he approached. Walking so close to the opposite wall, his shoulder was almost hugging the sheetrock.
She wanted to say hello. Something told her she needed to say hello. The darling little boy she’d seen in the online photos, looking so uncomfortable in his performance suit and tie, he needed someone to reach out to him. In a few seconds, he’d turn the corner and the moment would be wasted.
She shook the can once, then pulled the tab.
The carbonated beverage spurted from the opening with way more force than she’d anticipated. Screeching from surprise as the cold soda sprayed right in her face, it noisily evolved into embarrassed laughter. He slowed, briefly glancing her way and for a half second, their eyes met. For Mikayla, it was enough.
“What’s this?” Kelli asked wide-eyed as Mikayla returned from the hallway, her light-colored sweatshirt heavily spotted with soda, “but nice fashion statement.” She reached across and moved Mikayla’s bag, “Best seat in the house. Car crash begins shortly.” Mikayla slurped the top of the can, then made a face as she sat down, handing the can to Kelli, “How can you drink this?”
“Thanks,” Kelly deadpanned as she set the can on the table in front of them after taking a minimal sip, “So parched.”
“Oooh, indirect kiss,” Amanda snarked as Mikayla got settled.
Kelli’s head turned slowly to Amanda, “What are you, five? How do you even know that phrase? Now shut up for nine seconds,” She jerked her thumb toward the piano, lowering her voice, “Houston, we have a problem.”
Amanda laughed then complained as usual, “Why do we even have to be quiet, it’s so dumb.”
Mikayla was stunned by Kelli’s response, “Fine, we’ll come to your spring voice recital and gossip all the way through it. Phones, texting, everything. I get it, Manda, it’s weird but in some crazy way, it’s this guy’s thing. You’re a performer. Be respectful of that.”
Amanda scoffed, leaning her head back on the lounge chair, “Fine. Weirdo.”
“Thank you,” Mikayla said under her breath, the sniping not lost on her as they watched the unconventional performance begin.
First, as always, he tested the same key for tuning but this time, both he and Mikayla found it to be in perfect pitch. She caught Kelli’s eye, and her friend responded with a subtle head tilt back toward the piano player.
Close enough now to see him clearly, Mikayla saw his mouth moving as if he was talking to someone, un-nerving her further as she watched as him slowly close his eyes and nod his head, counting out a tempo. Mikayla hit record on her phone.
A soft five note violin intro began just before his fingers touched the keyboard. Expecting the piano, Mikayla gasped, her eyes darting to Kelli. As the music filled the lounge, a soft wisp of blue vapor surrounded Ethan on the piano bench. Swirling quickly around him as the mystery violin played, his first chord on the old piano produced a similar arc of color, this one a deep green. Like smoke, the colors moved around the piano and then spun in a gentle tight circle, just off to his right, in between Ethan and his covert audience.
“Accompanist,” she whispered, looking at her phone to make sure she had pressed record. A second passage played, the violin reaching into a high treble vibrato. Mikayla struggled as a lump formed in her throat. Whatever, she wondered, no whoever was playing this music, had stepped right into her heart.
Quick to glance around at Kelli and the others, she tried to keep her composure as the music continued. Her eyes welled up in wonder as Ethan played the expected four opening chords to the piece, the waves of color, greens and soft blues began to fade. The piece seemed to stop in the middle of a measure. Mikayla closed her eyes, forcing out the tears, trying to will the beautiful sounds to continue.
It was not to be. The wonderful performance, however brief, was over.
Opening her eyes, Mikayla looked over at Ethan as he said something, then gathered up his satchel and just has he stood, he looked up with a hint of a smile on his face. But he looked pale, more so than she’d seen in the hallway. He hurriedly made his way back across the lounge and down the hallway. Through her tears, Mikayla looked down at the soda can, “I should have said something.”
Kelli cleared her throat and looked at Mikayla, her eyebrows up, expecting a comment or at least a smile. Amanda was rolling her eyes, “So weird. Plus, now it’s boring and I don’t need to see it anymore. Anybody wanna grab dinner?”
Brie accepted first, then Ashley.
Mikayla wasn’t listening. She tapped her phone to stop recording and glanced at Kelli. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, “Sorry, bad day. Gotta go.”
Grabbing her book bag, she walked out of the Union lounge without a goodbye to the rest of her friends.
“Rain check on dinner for me,” Kelli offered as she stood up and stretched, “I have a club meeting at 5 so I’m gonna pass. Thanks for the invite.” She took off in the opposite direction of Mikayla. As she rounded the hallway, she sent her a text.
“WTF? You OK?”
After several minutes without an answer, she sent another, “Seriously, are you alright?”
Poised to send a third, a return text came in from Mikayla, “I’m fine. Sorry.”
A moment later, “Not okay. I need to talk to you. Only you.”
A few minutes later, they met at the music building. Kelly took one look at Mikayla and hustled her into the first empty practice room. By the time the door closed on the soundproof chamber, Kelli also had tears in her eyes.
“What, Mik,” she blurted as she handed Mikayla a full box of tissues, “You’re freaked out. What is happening?”
“Can you keep a secret? I mean, really keep it?”
Kelli nodded, “I’m annoyingly good at that. I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“I’m…I’m either losing my mind or something is happening in the lounge,” Mikayla began, “What did you hear today when he played? Same four chords?”
Kelli hesitated as Mikayla pressed further, “Did you see anything unusua
l?”
“I don’t know what to say,” Kelli said, looking away, “What set you off? You look like you’re sick.” She put her hand to her mouth, “Oh no, you’re gonna hurl-“
“No, I’m not sick,” Mikayla said strongly, “But I might be going crazy. You can’t repeat this to anyone. Answer me, the same four chords?”
“No, actually more like six or seven today,” Kelli said, “It kinda surprised me. I don’t think Amanda even noticed, cuz, ‘y know, it’s dumb and boring.” She saw Mikayla’s eyes brighten, “That’s a good thing, right?”
“I have synesthesia,” she said softly causing Kelli leaned back from her. “It’s not contagious. It’s a visual color thing.”
“Oh wow,” Kelli leaned forward, her eyes wide and searching Mikayla’s face, “What did you see?”
“Sometimes, when I hear certain music, and it’s not always the same, I associate colors with the notes. My senses sorta tune into it.”
“You saw colors with Ethan’s playing. Wow, that is so ridiculously romantic. What color?”
“At first, it was only a soft blue, shades of blue actually. It went around the piano for a couple seconds, then greens. After that, it gets weirder.”
“No way,” Kelli gasped, “Did he talk to you in your head?”
Mikayla chucked and Kelli was happy to see it. “Mmm, no. I’d be in a rubber room right now. Did you see him just before he started? Like he was talking to someone?”
“Talking to himself. That’s makes some sense, I guess. I’ve heard him mumble in class too.”
“He nodded his head, Kel, then a violin played a perfect intro. His chords, the few you hear, they go on for six more measures. He’s accompanying someone.” A tear rolled down her cheek, “I’m losin’ it, right?”
“And you heard all of it?”
Mikayla nodded, “None of you guys reacted but it was like someone was standing on my chest, I wanted to cry. It was…the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.” She put her hand to her heart, “I can barely...talk about it.”
