Ambrosia

Chapter Two

Gabriel announces his departure and I say goodbye to him. Now time to start my favourite task of the day: homework.

Three hours later, after much slogging through our heavy trig workload plus various other assignments, I am finally finished. I lean back in my battered green velvet easy chair and stretch some of the tension from my neck.

I take in my surroundings, my room, a complete contrast to the wealth display that Katerina is so fond of. Almost everything is thrifted, from my easy chair to my 1920s writing desk, my brass frame bed and patchwork coverlet and my floral vintage ottoman at the bottom.

Retro fairy lights, that I picked up at an auction, are strung around the walls, with one covered in a montage of snapshots of mostly the boys, Alex, Freya and me and also a few of our wider friendship group and the rest covered with a variety of posters, from my nature posters to my music ones, that range from the 1975 to Tchaikovsky.

A tall, slightly cracked mirror stands against another wall, beside the Japanese privacy screen that serves to hide my clothes railings, as a makeshift wardrobe. My clothes are strewn around the room, floral camisoles and deep jewel coloured maxi dresses mix with frayed denims, my leather jacket and more than a few velvet waistcoats, most of which are botched needlework attempts that I wear anyway. It's no surprise I don't have a boyfriend.
My violin sits on top of the old brown Steinway piano in the very corner, another auction gem that I simply couldn't leave behind.

I begin to hang my garments up on wire hangers and correct the mess around me, moving slowly through the room. I am an extremely messy dresser. I settle down on the cracked leather piano stool, the rich scent of it filling my nose as I gently ease a tune from the ancient instrument.

I play Tchaikovsky's October, a sad and haunting melody with gorgeous harmonies. You can tell it was composed with raw emotion. I become completely lost as usual in the music, in an almost trance like state.

Immersed in the music, I can hear someone speaking, quietly. Still playing, the voice gets louder. It is male, deep and gravelly, Gabriel.

"She is a genius on that piano. So gentle and full of feeling. God, I wish I could play like her."

Where was he? I turn to look at my bedroom doorway, expecting him to be standing there. He isn't. Why is he talking in the third person? And what does he want? He is sucking up to me too much for him to be innocent.
The voice gets louder.

"I hope these dreams stop. Rosia is too good of a person to have to suffer. I wish there was something I could do."

This was getting seriously weird. Gabe was no where to be seen and this was not the way he or anyone at all, in fact, spoke. But he wasn't anywhere near me that I would hear him speak.

"I wonder does she know. Has she noticed that I am in love with her?"

My hands fall off the keys with a clank as I gasp. This was so wrong. What was freaking happening? Shit, this was bad, so bad. I grasp my head in my hands and try to shake the voice out. What the hell was this? Some kind of crazy hallucination?

"Dammit, she's so beautiful. And funny. And smart. Way too good for me. And she is so not into me at all. Catch a grip, Gabe. I mean we are on two totally different leagues. She looks at me like a kid brother. Besides, Madelines the girl for you. You shouldn't even be considering it."

My head spins as I cover my ears and shake my head from side to side. Gabriel's voice almost sounds like the voices from my dreams, tinged with a strange ethereal echo, delayed and disjointed, yet still distinctively Gabriel.
My eyes snap open and I gape at the sight.

An undulating stream of energy flows through my open bedroom window, from Gabe to me, a glistening silver wisp with turquoise highlights. I look out my window, directly opposite his, and see that he's sitting in his low weights stool, his back to me, pumping irons. The strand is coming from his head.

I am hearing his thoughts.

"Keep going, Gabe. 97, 98,99,100. Gotta keep those biceps in check. Madeline loves a muscular man. I wonder what Ambro-"

With a small shriek, I cut the connection, closing the door to his mind. I don't know how I do it but I do. The wisps disappear gradually, floating, dissipating into the air.

What in the name of God had I done? I literally walked into Gabe's mind just as easily as I walked into this room.
The scariest part was I didn't even realise that I did it.