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Chapter 15: Nostalgia

Silence filtered through the night as she walked down the streets on ten o'clock at night. Crystal didn't had the thought to wear a jacket, the chilly air made it seem like she's blowing smoke through her lips. She snuck out the hideout, away from Aeon, away from everything, even if it was just for a little while. She wanted to clear up her muddled thoughts that seemed to have altered her decision making. Was she wrong to seek something beyond what was laid out for her? Because to others, it may have seemed that she's being too selfish despite getting the good things in life, and that was a realization that kept her up to this hour.

The stores began to close one by one, leaving the street empty with a few light flickering from the tall lamps. Crystal refused to give in to the cold and continued her way to Meena's house. Unfortunately....

"Oh, Meena isn't back yet. I thought she'd be with you. She said that both of you got a part in the show, isn't there a late night practice for tomorrow's preview?" Meena's mother was the one who greeted her on porch.

Crystal didn't go back to the set, so she probably had missed that info. She thanked the woman and proceeded to go to the theater next. To be honest, her feet were already sore from walking on the main road. There's too many thugs in the alleyways that she couldn't risk going to the shortcuts.

But then she stopped.

Why was she afraid of that in the first place? She's a Riot Starter, a part of the infamous gang.... who.... had just got caught by the cops. It was silly of her to even hesitate about something, let alone consider being proud of what she was. All these emotional conversations did a number on her in just a day. Maybe rehearsing a little for the preview tomorrow could take her mind off things. Without Aeon.

The inside of the theater looks a little empty up front, and Crystal chose to enter through the main hall where she could take the path through the stages to get to the studios. This place was supposed to look magnificent as it had been the best theater that this place could offer, velvety curtains and seats full of audiences, but as far as she's concerned, it's a shabby old theater with a lot of repairing to do.

"Hello?" Crystal arrived at the backstage, seeing no one in sight. She climbed up the stairs, still empty, then to the rest of the floors but it's still void of any presence from the supposedly rehearsing contestants. Assuming they've already left, Crystal decided to explore the whole place. It's crumbling to pieces, floorboards scattered above her in a line and piles of scripts littered some of the rooms in the hallway. There's even a bucket for the leaks on some corners. What had caught her attention was this one single office room with a piano near the door.

She was only in this contest for Meena, but somewhere within that context lies her willingness to compete her own talent and show everyone—or rather show someone— that doing multiple talents at once could also be a successful performance, thus her offer to Moon to make Aeon her backup dancer that day. This time however, she wants to do it alone.

The piano reminded her of a simple past. A corner memory of what her mother wanted her to be. The elegant lady that'll reach high up into the spotlight. At a young age of three, she started working to boot, practicing and practicing and practicing pieces that'll earn her a throbbing palm by the end of the day. Crystal rarely adored the piano, but when she did, it was when Johnny came into her life. It's been three years since they broke up, she still remembered that song in which she taught him on piano and by waltz.

The girl sat on the chair, dragging it closer to the instrument. She tested each and every keys before started playing the song.

Years ago...

"You're hitting the wrong keys, Johnny," Crystal giggled and corrected his fingers' position. "Relax your fingers, will ya?"

"How'd you even move them separately? It's so confusing."

Should I try to hide, the way I feel inside my heart for you?

"Practice. Every single day, every two hours, try to move your fingers in different order," she shows him by playing from left pinkie and right thumb to left thumb and right pinkie. "This technique is the first thing you'll need to get used to."

Would you say that you would try to love me too?

"You're already so talented. Why'd you need to learn singing from me?..."

Crystal lightly punches him on the shoulder, "It's interesting, especially if you'll be able to do it while playing this thing, or if you're dancing. Wouldn't that be cooler?"

In your mind, could you ever be really close to me? I can tell the way you smile

His fingers gently caressed her cheeks, feigning ignorance to the awkward and half flustered expression that the girl have, "You're already amazing, Crystal."

Each and every day they met, she feel deeper and deeper to this natural born singer who have strummed her heart strings into oblivion.

If I feel that I could be certain then, I would say the things I want to say tonight...

She pulls his hand on her waist and the other on her left hand as she first started teaching him what a waltz is. It was a harmless fun they've had, a harmonized activity in which both of them wanted to share to one another. By then, they've known each other for five months, a short while later came their confessions, and eventually the start of their relationship.

None of them knew of each other's secrets, and that was good enough. Crystal thought he was her escape, the key to find the blissful life that she often seen in books and dreams.

They were merely teenagers after all. Teens who simply wanted to be loved unconditionally....

"Johnny?"

Crystal had hit the wrong note in shock, turning her head towards the window just in time for the old iguana to peek in.

"Oh dear. Crystal, how long have you been up here?"

"I-I'm sorry. I was looking for my friend Meena, I was told she'd still be here."

"Meena? She's with Mr. Moon, preparing for the show tomorrow."

'Preparing? With the koala?' sounds like she's still being a helper around here. Well, that can't be helped, for a short while that she was here, Crystal could tell that this theater is severely understaffed.

"I was about to turn off all the lights. Do you mind helping me, Crystal? We can wait for your friend while having a nice cup of coffee."

She sighs in relief and closes the piano's fall board, going along with the task until her best friend could show up.