Wrong Number

Fourteen

Her composition started like I'd heard over the phone: shy beginnings with happy and joyful times. The simple sketches portrayed like a motion picture depicted a small girl meeting a little boy that immediately held her hands as they skipped through the park. When her music turned graceful and romantic the two children grew up, still holding hands but now strolling through a forest. The piano alone portrayed so much love but when paired with the drawings of a young woman resting her head on the man's shoulder with his arms wrapped around her, the feeling was overwhelming. She toyed with this melody for much longer than the happy childhood and I took a second to look at her face. The soft smile with half closed lids showed that she was living the memories.

Suddenly, her smile slipped and her fingers started tapping a bit more aggressively. I tore my attention from her freckled face and looked at the sketches that showed a sort of argument. The figures were flailing their arms, clearly upset until the man pulled his hair at the roots while the girl turned away crying. He stormed off into a pick-up truck as she sat on the porch gazing after him. The images slowed to show the truck driving away while Lydia's fingers slowed to a steady sound similar to a heartbeat before her fists pounded on the keys as a semi ran through an intersection and crashed into the pick-up truck.

Tears were pouring out of Lydia's eyes as her fingers found the right notes and aggressively pounded while the sketching of a girl ran towards the wreckage. Everything was silent for a split second before the screen depicted a church, a tombstone, and finally the girl hunched over the fresh dirt with her head in her hands. The piano softly started in on a slow, solemn tune. The girl in the drawings walked through the halls of school without noticing things around her, went to the grave with grief, and sat alone thinking about the man often. I took a second to look at Lydia again, the beautiful stranger who'd been through so much. I felt a tear drop down my face and saw my friends showing similar reactions.

The music slowly took on a hopeful tune and I flung my eyes to the drawings once again. They depicted the girl lying in bed and calling the man's phone with a speech bubble stating: "Hello this is Tyler, leave me a message!" over and over again until finally there was one stating: "Hello?" in dark, bold letters. I stopped breathing and had my eyes glued to the screen even though I could feel Kyle, Max, and Lindsay's eyes on me.

The pictures didn't change much besides the words in the speech bubbles and the smile on the girl's face beginning to reappear. The music of the piano eventually turned into a graceful melody with a different type of love emanating from Lydia's soul. It sounded deeper and meaningful.

"I know you don't know me at all, but if you ever needed to talk just give me a call."

"How are you doing?"

"Why do you think it was your fault?"

"Tell me about him."

"I'd like to know more about you"

"Can I call you again tomorrow?"

"You sounded like you needed someone."

"I know we never met but I really care about you."

"I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy."

"I'm lucky you came along."

The girl then started sobbing and the screen changed. A man took the girl's place in the sketches who wore glasses, was moderately built, and had short, dark hair; it was me. He was talking on the phone now with panic depicted on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Please, sweetheart, calm down."

"It's just you and me."

"Calm down and talk to me. I'm here."

"I'll always be here for you. Always."

The sketch returned to the girl who smiled softly, put the phone down, and walked through a few scenes to the man, me. He wiped her tears until that bright smile returned before wrapping his arms around her tightly. The two were shown intertwined while the piano quieted and the auditorium erupted in applause while I gazed after Lydia, whose smile was soft and perfect, with more than one tear streaming down my face. The curtain closed and my friends pulled my stare from the dark red drapes and brought me in for an embrace. Eventually stopping the tears, I took a deep breath and pulled my vibrating phone from my pocket.

"Lydia, that was incredible." It was like radio silence on the other end for a few long seconds.

"I want to meet you."

"Well I'm here, I'm the nerd in the glasses."

"With the white shirt? And sunflowers?" I spun around frantically, trying to find her in the crowd. "I saw you when I was on stage. You're right, I could feel it."

She hung up the phone and I immediately pulled away from my group and fought through the crowd to get to the aisle. Lydia had her small arms wrapped around my torso as soon as she saw me and I enveloped her in my large frame. Tears flowed from her eyes as she cried against my shirt. We just held onto each other, lost in our own world.

"Hey," she said with a small laugh while wiping her face. I chuckled and brought my own hands up to dry her tears.

"Hi," I answered before pulling her in for another hug. "It's nice to meet you."

Lydia laughed in my arms and snuggled in closer. I would never be more grateful towards the universe than I was at this moment because this girl was going to be my always.