An Endless Serenade

I'd first heard of the school when I was thirteen. After one of my piano lessons, they'd mentioned it to my teacher, seeing if she thought I was good enough to go. When the answer was affirmative, I'd snuck to my room to research the school. Within the first five minutes of browsing the website, I fell in love. Then when I found out the tuition, my hopes were crushed. It was way more money than my parents made. However, after discussing it with both my parents and piano teacher, I'd made it my goal to study hard in high school so hopefully by either junior or senior year I would be considered for a scholarship. During my junior year, I'd received a letter from the school, asking me to come for an audition. By that point I'd been playing the piano for over ten years, so I passed with flying colors, earning myself acceptance with a full scholarship for my senior year.

It was at that point my parents requested that Paul give me a place to stay so I could attend. The man in question agreed easily, claiming he was more than happy to have company in his lonely abode. So now I was at his apartment, waiting for him to return home so I could bring my luggage in before it rained.

"Mom, is Paul nice?" I inquired, turning to give her a questioning look. It worried me I'd waited so long to ask that.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What? You don't remember? You used to play with him all the time!"

"Yeah, when I was like, six. I don't remember things from that long ago," I told her, crossing my arms. "I don't want to live here if he's an ass."

"He's not! And watch your mouth!"

"You sure?"

"If he's not nice, just punch him. I'll bet he's nice after that," my dad commented with a sly smirk.

My mom looked aghast. "Chris! You shouldn't say that!"

I grinned at her expression. "Chill, Mom. I won't hit him... Unless he's a pervert. Then I might."

"Allie!"

"I'm kidding!" I responded with a laugh. "Geez. You take things too seriously."

She scowled at me. "You take way too much after your father."

"Hey, the way you said that makes it sound like you think it's a bad thing," my dad replied, flicking her nose.

"D-don't do that!" she cried, slapping her hand away.

My nose wrinkled in disgust. "Could you guys stop flirting, for like, five seconds?"

My dad gave me a pitying look. "You just can't understand the act of flirting between couples since you just broke up—"

"Chris!" my mom hissed, cutting him off.

A sheepish expression crossed his face. "Whoops. Sorry, Allie Cat."

On the outside, I kept my face normal, shrugging nonchalantly. On the inside though, my gut wrenched. "Whatever. What's done is done."

"I'm sure you'll meet a lot of sweet guys at your new school," my mom insisted, smiling encouragingly at me.

I waved her off. "I'm going to focus on music."

"I want to know if you date any guys," my dad told me seriously, an ominous expression crossing his face. "Even if you don't tell me, I'll know."

"I won't tell you because you'll scare them away."

"I will not."

Staring at him flatly, I thought of the numerous amount of guys he'd scared away. "Yes—"