The Secret Life of Emily Blu

Chapter Sixteen

"Do you want to play it, or do you want me to?" Hardy asks.

I glance up from the sheet music I'm fine tweaking before class starts. "I really don't care. It's up to you."

Hardy leans back in his seat, deep in thought. He scrunches his brow slightly and I'm struck again by how handsome he is. "I think you should play it. I don't think I'd do it justice."

"That's not true, but okay."

Hardy picks up his pen and starts twirling it around his fingers. He looks like he wants to ask me something but isn't brave enough to.

"What is it?" I ask, turning my full attention to him.

He gives me a once over. "Have you spoken to Bethany yet?"

I set down my pen and nod slowly. "She came over to where I was at lunch and spoke to me. Why?"

"What'd she say?"

"She apologized. Mostly. She made it clear she doesn't like me, but she also made it clear that she never intended to hurt me."

"Good," Hardy says, visibly relaxing. "Did she say anything else?"

It's on the tip of my tongue to tell him that she thinks we are going to date and that she warned me away from Jonas, but none of those things seem like Hardy's business. Frankly he doesn't need any encouragement.

"No, that's it."

Before Hardy can ask anything else the bell rings for class and Ms. Jefferson comes out of her office. "Alright class, we're going to play the pieces we composed. Who wants to go first?"

"Emily does," Hardy offers before I can stop him.

"Hardy," I hiss.

"Emily, what instrument do you want to play?"

"We composed it for piano."

Ms. Jefferson claps her hands together. "Perfect. Please come up."

I make my way to the piano and spread out the sheet music we'd come up with. I take a deep breath and start to play. The song technically has no words, but I'd come up with some as I wrote, and I hummed them along. I might not have written them down, but I'd memorized them easily.

When I'm done, the class claps enthusiastically.

Ms. Jefferson frowns at me. "This isn't a singing course, but it seems like you have words to the song. Do you want to do it again and sing?"

"I don't want to take any more time away from the class," I hedge because I do want to sing. I haven't sung for an audience for over three years, and it feels like a little bit of my old life is being handed back to me.

"Go for it," a couple students say.

Hardy chimes in, "Please, Emily."

I shrug. "Okay."

I restart the song, this time singing along.

There's a darkness inside me

That eats up all the day

I'm surrounded by nothing

And I can't feel my way out

I'll die before I leave this place

I'll be eaten from the inside out

Some one let the light in

I'm drowning