It All Began With A Letter

Chapter 13: Wish You Were Here

I sighed as I stared at my feet, hitting the cement, as I kicked another pebble and watched it scatter a few yards away.

After Mr. Jackson had seen my 'talent', the rest of the day was pretty awkward. Strange enough though, I got this weird fuzzy feeling in my stomach and it felt as if a burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

For the rest of the school day though, I had tried ignoring both him and Asher. I wasn't in the mood for any drama. I saw Mr. Jackson once in the hallways and he gave me a warm smile. I just ducked my head and scurried away, acting like I never saw it. Ducking my head hadn't really helped though because soon I ended up ramming into someone.

When my head snapped up, I saw it was Tyler. He gave me a warm smile as I stared blankly at him. Then when my brain started working again, I bent down and helped him pick up his books. As I reached for his notebook, he did the same and an immense amount of sparks shot through my body. The day just seemed to be getting odder.

Finally, at the last bell, signaling it was time to head home, I packed up quickly and was about to burst through those school doors, bound for home, but then a voice called me.

"Riley!"

I groaned and turned back around to see Mr. Jackson motioning for me to walk over to him. I shut my eyes for a brief moment, trying to calm myself, before walking over.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

"Um, well I was going to head home..." I stated.

"Do you want to, um, you know?" he asked. I instantly knew what he was talking about. Piano lesson.

"Uh, there are still other people besides you and I in this building so no thanks!" I told him as I spun on my heel, walking once again to those heavenly doors that would release me from this hell.

"Riley!" he called out loudly. Then in a lower voice he added, "I don't mean right now or here. I was thinking you could stop by my house at around five?" he asked.

I thought about it. Another odd thing about today was that ever since I had played that piano, I felt an even bigger urge to play it.

I agreed and he quickly gave me a piece of paper with his address written on it. What was with all these people giving me papers with their info?

Right now, I was on my way home. I passed by a park a few blocks away from my house. There were children playing on the playground, in the sandbox, on the jungle gym, and playing on the seesaws. There was also a basketball court where some guys were playing basketball, two on two.

Then I remembered. Shit! I was supposed to go to the girls' basketball game!

Oh well! It's not like you had a ride home anyways. Plus, you have piano lessons now.

As I walked by, the boys winked at me. All except one. I recognized him from somewhere before realizing it was Daniel, a kid in my neighborhood. I hung out with him sometimes during the summer. Then again, I didn't really have a choice. His mom and my mom were kind of close and went to the beach together sometimes, dragging their helpless kids along with them.

But it was never really that bad. Daniel could be pretty funny actually and I considered him as a.... brother.

I shook my head at the thought, trying to keep all those other thoughts out. I gulped and waved at Daniel as he waved back. Then I took off in a full sprint down the street, turned the corner, and continued to my house.

By the time I reached my house, I was out of breath and panting. My back hurts from having my backpack slam against it so many times due to running. I stopped outside my house, too tired to move anymore, and collapsed on the lawn, letting the fresh breeze run over my body and cool me down.