Ryden Oneshots 【2】

Black and White Piano Keys [1]

Summary: "You are the words to my music. You are the chorus to my melody. You are the beauty behind the beast."

*

He wasn't there because he wanted to be. He was there because Spencer had gotten tired of all his bitching and moaning about his English capstone project and dragged him there. It wasn't that it was horrible; he'd just rather be trying to figure out how to pass the very last class he needed to graduate instead.

Ryan Ross was a senior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UNLV. As a senior in the English department (he was an English major), it was required to take a capstone class, which was kind of like an assessment of whether or not you were deemed worthy to graduate. Ryan thought it was just another elitist move on the University's part.

He only thought this, of course, because he couldn't come up with a project idea for his final portfolio presentation. Everyone had a project already and was excitedly preparing for their last semester of school; everyone except Ryan.

He'd been wracking his brain for the past two weeks since school had started, and he couldn't come up with a thing. Some were writing novels, others were writing screenplays, some were making lesson plans for future classes, and Ryan, he had nothing.

Ryan loved writing. It was his life, literally. When things weren't going the way he wanted, he always sunk into his notebooks, scribbling late into the night until all light had faded and the scratching of his pen was a mere sound in the darkness.

Spencer, his best friend and confidante, knew this. So when Ryan had stopped complaining and started writing, he knew it was time to get him out. Out of the apartment, out of the writing department, away from his favorite spot by the fountain outside the library. He'd taken him somewhere he'd never been before-the music department.

Ryan didn't know why Spencer had made him come, and he wasn't happy when Spencer announced they were going to see the music department preliminary concerts. They did this at the beginning of each semester in order to compare and contrast the student's performances at the end of the semester. Ryan never even knew this happened.

Of course, he didn't know much beyond his own college, and he wasn't particularly interested. He was one of those people who got easily lost in their own worlds, ignoring those around them, even if they didn't mean to do so.

Spencer knew this too, so when he forced Ryan out of the apartment and into the music building, Ryan was surprised. He wasn't happy, though. He didn't see how seeing a concert of amateurs would help him come up with an idea for the capstone.

He was forced into a seat near the front, settling himself in one of the red-cushioned chairs. In front of them, a stage rose from the ground and a variety of instruments sat in corners, waiting to be used. Ryan assumed most students had their own instruments, but then, a piano would be hard to carry around.

"Spencer," Ryan whispered in a pained voice as he fidgeted in the chair. "Can I go now?"

"It hasn't even started." Spencer rolled his eyes and poked Ryan to stop his twitchy movements.

Ryan frowned, but settled down. He sighed loudly, though, as to accentuate his boredom. Spencer just ignored him, knowing he got like this sometimes.

Ryan was resigned to watch the performances and settled into his chair, sliding as low as he could go. There weren't very many people in the small auditorium, but Spencer had said it was open to the public; it was just that few people knew of it. Ryan thought that should have been a clue.

Bored, he listened to the short introduction given by some man in a suit, and then watched uninterestedly as a girl holding a flute tightly walked onto the stage. She looked extremely nervous and her hands were shaking as she raised the instrument to her mouth.