AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Turned out some things were just ingrained so deep they were impossible to forget. Some things so essential to my soul they were embedded in my DNA. Like piano. And Ben.
Just thinking of him fluttered my heart and curved my lips in a smile. All this time, I’d believed I wasn’t good enough. I let insecurity and pride rule the way I lived. Even as I fought and clawed my way to a better life, working three jobs and maintaining my scholarship, I wondered deep down if I deserved it.
When I looked in the mirror, I saw my flaws, heard the echoes of Ben’s parents telling him I was beneath him. I’d assumed he believed it too.
I was wrong. So wrong.
All this time, he’d been biding his time, focusing on the future, a future he wanted with me.
I want you so much that no one else was even a thought.
My light squeal blended with the crisp staccato as I continued to play in tune with my heart. Maybe all his swoony words would have meant less, but Ben didn’t just toss together pretty words. He brought receipts to back them up.
Stocks. Money of his own. Real estate. Education. An entire plan to become his own man so he could be who he thought I deserved.
Me.
All this time, I’d tried to be worthy, but to him, I already was.
All this time, I thought he was like the rest of Elite, sleeping his way across campus. The nights I laid in bed after a grueling day of work and class, exhausted and tearful, I believed he was out hooking up with someone who would never be me. Avoiding invitations to hang out, keeping my distance from his friends so I wouldn’t have to feel not good enough for them too.
All that wasted time and hurting just because of pride. If I’d gone, maybe I would have seen that my assumptions were completely wrong. I’d always thought Ben was different. Wasn’t that how he got into my heart?
Maybe I’d been afraid of that too.
Of showing up and seeing proof he wasn’t some playboy athlete, because if he rejected me anyway, it would be even worse.
But he didn’t reject me.
He rejected everyone who wasn’t me.
I’m not just taking your first time. I’m laying claim to all of them.
I wasn’t a virgin anymore. And neither was he.
Him lying about us being engaged was such a small thing compared to everything else. In fact, it was just another way he showed up to love me.
Ben loves me.
I squealed again, the high note joining the crescendo of the piece I played. It continued to swell the vast space with sound, ebbing gracefully even after I lifted my fingers from the keys.
Breathing deep, I closed my eyes, letting the music settle. Even after the notes went silent, the room remained alive with energy in a way only the piano could achieve.
The sharp, loud sound of two palms slapping together made my eyes spring open and heart leap into my throat. I glanced over my shoulder as the clapping continued, the sound disturbing the melody I’d left in the air.
The cuffing of two palms was joined by heavy footfalls from heeled loafers as a tall frame stepped from behind the curtain stage left.
“That was just incredible. Truly inspired!” Director Fields exclaimed, still clapping on his way toward me and the piano.
His sudden appearance caught me off guard, as I’d been lost in thought and music and assumed I was alone.
I really needed to work on assuming things because it was not my best quality.
“Oh, Director Fields,” I said, “I didn’t realize you were there.”
“Where else would the head of the Westbrook orchestra and music department be if not for the stage?” he said, sweeping his arm into a wide arc.
“I suppose that’s true,” I allowed.
