It all started when I was walking passed the piano room in my school. Yes, I mean a piano room not a music room two entirely different things. You see my school is the Academy of Music, and no, it’s not a college. It’s a boarding school where snobby little rich kids’ parents send them so they can become famous and people who are actually serious about music… like me. I’m not quite interested in performing though. My ultimate and true dream is to play Czardas on a big grand piano in an empty auditorium completely and utterly alone. Then afterwards I guess I’ll teach music or something like that.

So, anyway, I was walking passed the piano room when I heard this melody. It was such a sad, melancholic, and complicated melody that must have taken many years to learn in the long run. I thought that maybe it might have been a teacher playing the song, but then again I already knew that no one in the school –not even the headmaster- was this skilled. Out of all the piano students, I knew that I was the most skilled (some teachers say I’m even better than the headmaster himself) so it couldn’t have been any of them.

I decided to open the door after a lot of pondering of who it could be behind that door. It was a boy with auburn hair and green eyes who was more or less about one year older than I was. The way he played the piano was simply amazing. The way his fingers graced the piano was unbelievably beautiful. It’s so hard to describe just how beautiful it was. Everything, every note, every sound, every bit of it was so perfect. I knew right then and there I had a longer way to go with my music than I thought. Suddenly the music stopped and the boy turned his head to me.

“Hey,” he said, “My name is James.” I am painfully, oh so very painfully shy around new people. I could feel my face blush bright crimson red.

“I’m…I…um…un,” I started out and he started laughing. He finally stopped laughing when he saw that I was beginning to cry of embarrassment. James got up off the piano bench and walked over to where I was standing and touched my hair. He was really quite tall compared to me and his hands were significantly larger than my own.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” James said sincerely.

“D-d-don’t tou-,’ I was completely cut off because of one BIG reason. He kissed me. I never thought that kissing would be particularly nice especially if the first kiss was with someone you barely knew. Yet, here I was giving- no being stolen of my first kiss and I was actually liking it. Then common sense took over and I pushed him away.

“Why the heck did you do that?” I managed to say clearly with my hand covering my mouth.

“It would be such a waste if I didn’t kiss such a pretty girl to cheer her up when she cried,” James smiled. I scowled and my face turned red this time from anger. I turned my hand into a fist and punched him right in the face. After that I ran quickly away because If I stayed any longer I would be late for morning announcements in the auditorium. I managed to run through my maze of a school and got to the auditorium in time to sit down with the rest of my ninth grade class.

“What took you so long, Kanon? The announcements are about to start!” My friend, Ren, said to me from the seat behind me.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” I said.

“That bad?”

“Yes.”

“Well, anyway, I hear a new boy from Florida is transferring here today. I wonder if he’s cute.”

“Is that so?” I said. I had a feeling I knew who this boy would be. Lo and behold, a minute later, there he was introducing himself as a pianist, and of course the headmaster was going to make him play the piano. There goes my status quo of being the most skilled pianist in the school. I looked over at Ren to see if she was just as annoyed as I was. She wasn’t. Instead she looked at James like he was the hottest boy in the academy which he probably was as much as I do not want to admit it. I should’ve known it wouldn’t affect her at all. She plays the violin not the piano.

“James will be entering the tenth grade class,” the headmaster said as James finished his piece. Well, at least we would never be in the same class.

“I don’t like that dude,” I said to Ren.

“Oh please! He’s hot! You just don’t like him because he can play better than you,” she said. Maybe it was partly because of that, but it was mostly because he stole my first kiss which I liked but still!

“No!” I lied, “It’s because he did something before he came down to the auditorium and made me late.” Ren smiled like a cat. If cats could smile it would look like how Ren smiles when she thinks she’s found something interesting.

“Oh? What did he do?” She questioned. I really wish she wouldn’t be so nosy! Sitting next to me my friend Winter began to wake up.

“What? Who? When? Where?” said Winter in a sleepy voice. He normally sleeps all the way through announcements. I guess he woke up because they’re taking longer than usual.

“The super hot new kid did something to Kanon that made her late!” Ren grinned and Winter raised an eyebrow.

“So the new kid already took Kanon’s virginity?” Winter guessed. I could tell he was trying to be funny, but he was also being a fail at it.

“No!” I blushed. The announcements were just about over now.

“Children, you may proceed to your classes,” the headmaster said.
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My classes went by faster than usual, and I was happy that I didn’t see that horrible James all day. At 3:00, ten minutes after class was over, I went to play in the piano room. I looked around and saw that no one was there except for me of course. So I sat there at one of the pianos and let the music take me. The piano makes such beautiful sounds that can, like a book, take me to different places without moving me physically. I was so engrossed I didn’t even notice that someone was behind me until he hugged me from behind.

“You’re not too bad,” James said. There’s just no avoiding him is there? Oh well, you know what they say “go with the flow”.

“One day I’ll show the whole world a brand new sound,” I said as I turned around to look at him. Where did that come from? I don’t intend to show the world anything. James laughed.

“You used to say that a lot when we were younger,” he said. Younger? I don’t remember him from when I was small.

“I don’t remember you at all,” I said coldly. He looked into my plain brown eyes and caught me in his gaze and kissed me again… so I punched him in the face again.

“Ouch! I remember you clearly,” he said as he rubbed his face. “You were so cute, and you still are. I missed you.” Geez, this dude is a total sap!

“You’re a total sap,” I told him. For some reason I was finding myself liking him more and more.

“I know,” He said happily. “I also happen to know that you’re beginning to like me more and more. Why don’t you date me?” He grinned like Ren does, like a cat. James was either teasing me or was very blunt. All I knew was that I was blushing like crazy.

“You’re teasing me aren’t you?” I said. James looked at me softly. I can’t stand it when a boy looks at me like that.




“No. I’m serious. I’ll show you a ‘brand new sound,’” He said. My head was spinning. Was I really going to trust this person who claims to have known me before who I can’t remember?

“Fine,” I was surprised to hear myself say, “But only if you make me fall in love with you within a month.” There it was again, the Ren smile.

“Deal,” James smiled.