Gilded Black 🌈 ✔

4 - Enchanting Melodies

Will had believed that Ivory was an outcast, just like him. It was quite the opposite. In the days that followed, he found out that she was popular. That people liked to talk to her and that she was already invited to two parties. Once he had swallowed that truth, he thought she would turn her back on him soon. He was not interesting. He was not social. He didn't like attention. 

These worries however were groundless. Every day she saved a seat for him in the canteen. It made him a bit suspicious, he didn't understand what she liked about him. Still, he kept returning to her. Quietly he listened to the conversations at the table that always bored him; about sports and pop stars and their gossip about weird people like him. He didn't feel comfortable around them, but what else could he do? 

At least he wasn't alone. People weren't calling him names, they didn't make fun of him. The rumors about the zombie boy that had done the rounds at his first day, were silenced. Ivory was the reason for it, he believed. 

But why? 

He just didn't know. 

He wasn't the only one surprised by the girl's friendliness. After one day, he already discovered that El and Ivory didn't exactly like each other. She never complained about it, she didn't speak a lot to him in the first place, but he could see it in the look in her eyes and when his brother started to question him about his new friends, he had a feeling that she was the one behind it and that she had shared her worries with Jonathan. 

He couldn't explain Ivory's interest in him. Up to now he however had no reason to distrust her, and so he tried to keep those feelings away. She made school a better place for him, what else could he long for? 

This morning she had asked him if he wanted to meet after school. He was a little anxious about it, it also felt a little quick, but he hadn't dared to tell her no. Never before a girl had asked him to hang out and it made him nervous. She had suggested to go to his house. He wasn't sure if he liked it; it was a familiar place, even when he moved into it so short ago, but it also felt like he was allowing an intruder inside his life. 

But he couldn't hide from the world for the rest of his life. She was nice, there was no reason to turn her down. Nevertheless, the prospect to meet up after school distracted his thoughts, while he was worrying about what Jonathan and his mom would think of her. What if they agreed with El? Or what if Ivory discovered that he wasn't as nice as she thought? Would he end up alone again? 

The thoughts kept racing through his head while the hours passed by. After his last class he had an appointment with his mentor, who asked him questions about his first week. He answered them like the good boy he was, although he found it hard to stay focused on the conversation. 

He felt relieved when the man told him to go home. Leaving the classroom, he limped through the empty hallway. Once he neared the music room he heard a beautiful melody, making him stop. It felt like he was not only hearing piano play, but also a violin and a harp; instruments that weren't exactly common in high school – and especially not after classes. He wasn't sure what happened to him, but the Celtic sounding melody grasped him and pulled him towards the door. Through the crack, he peeked inside. 

There was only one person in the music room, playing on a keyboard that was apparently able to bring forth a lot of different tones. He was sitting on the left side of the room, his back towards the wall so Will could see him from the side. The boy's eyes were closed while his fingers glided across the keys of the piano. His face was relaxed, as if playing the notes didn't demand any concentration. 

Will's mouth felt dry. 

Since the day they met, he hadn't spoken to Onyx anymore. He had seen him now and then, but he always had the feeling the boy wanted to forget about their meeting. To keep staring at him didn't feel right, but he simply couldn't tear away his glance. It felt like the music notes were trying to lure him deeper into the room and he had to brace himself to make sure it didn't happen.