Nightingale Academy

“Here is what we generally call our Music Wing.” Amaranth pulled me around a corner and grinned down at me. “It's actually only a part of the west wing of the school and the reason it's called the Music Wing is because the music classrooms and auditorium all reside in this side of the building.”

Amaranth gently led me down the hallway, pointing classrooms out, entrances to the auditorium and several times he pulled me into a room that I would regularly use, whether it be my actual class or a just-in-case-you-feel-the-desire-to-cut-class closet. I was sure that I wouldn't remember any of the classes or hallways the next day but just walking around the empty school with Amaranth, holding his hand, well that made everything just fine with me.

“Right in here,” he continued. “Is the only room with a grand piano in it....Well,” he changed his mind. “Aside from the auditorium.” He led me in and sat down on a chair in front of the piano.

“Do you play anything?” I asked him, pinching the fabric covering the piano between my fingers.

He smiled softly. “A couple instruments. I'm nothing great. Do you play?”

I shrugged, blushing. My playing isn't up to par. I had quit violin in my second year of high school. Piano was a must but I hadn't learned anything with an instructor so it had to be awful. “I used to play a bit.”

Amaranth curiously stared at me, causing me to blush more. “Stop staring,” I whispered, feeling embarrassed but a small smile tucked at the corners of my lips.

Amaranth chuckled and stood up. He clutched the cloth on the piano in his hands and slid it off and onto the floor. He sat back down and flipped the key cover open. “Duet?” he asked me.

“I don't play well.” But my fingers gliding softly over the ivory keys. The piano was beautiful. Vintage, yet flawless.

“Then I'll just have to teach you.” He lightly placed his hand over mine. His other hand circled my body and he placed my hands on the keys. “Just follow my rhythm.” His breath hit my neck and I stiffened, refusing to release the shiver crawling down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck raised as I felt his chin rest on my shoulder. Then his fingers started moving and mine followed, directly beneath his.

The heavy and sad notes of Beethoven's Love Story caused my heart to leap as they morphed into the more upbeat part. My fingers carried themselves and Amaranth's hands moved away. I continued playing, allowing the song to hurt me. I let out a shaky breath when the song ended and my fingers slid off the keys and into my lap.

“That was beautiful, Lily.” I smiled softly as Amaranth placed two fingers against my palm. “Really. You poured yourself into that song.” He was silent for a moment and slipped his fingers between mine. He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my knuckles. I watched him smile at me and I blushed, looking down. His fingers wove through my hair and he moved closer, his face content. My breathing stops and he notices. A grins spreads itself onto his face and he tells me to breathe.

I blush deeply and look down at my hand still resting in his. He placed his palm against the back of my neck and pulls me closer. His lips press themselves against my forehead and he caresses my face as he pulls away. He turned back to the piano, fingers on the keys and plays a song I don't recognize. It's sweet and happier than Love Story and it made me smile. Amaranth looked back at me, smiling back.

“This one's by Yiruma. It's called Beloved.”

“It's adorable.” I smile.

“I thought you'd like it.”

The song ends and I feel better. Beethoven's Love Story brings back too many childhood memories. Just the sadness within itself is morose enough. But Amaranth seems to know how to put a smile on my face. I blushed at the thought and watched him pick the cloth up off the floor. He slides it over the piano and takes my hand, pulling me off my seat. He leads me back out into the hallway and closes the classroom door.

“Do they just leave all the classrooms unlocked?”

Amaranth shrugs. “Most rooms are locked if they hold something valuable, like the grand piano, but today it's opened because I asked the headmaster if he'd unlock it. I had planned on going there to brush up on my playing.”

“But instead you're stuck giving me a tour.”

He laughs. “What a wonderful person to be stuck with!” He slides a finger down my face, circling my left dimple as it blushes. My skin tingled and I let out a breath when he slid his hand down the length of my arm and slipped my hand into his palm. “Let me show you our gymnasium and we can go back to our dormitory and see if Azure and Haven are done terrorizing people yet.”

I giggled, despite my distaste for giggly girls and followed him down new hallways, my hand loosely held in his. He opens up the large gym doors and steps into the gymnasium. It's enormous! I already felt insignificantly small compared to other people and rooms and in this school, but the gym was just ridiculous. Three times the size of my old school's and that was a pretty big school with a fairly big gym. Nightingale made Frank H. Peterson Academy, my former home, look like a dump.

I heard amused chuckling and looked over to Amaranth. He was now standing by the bleachers, making his way up to the top. I pouted to myself and followed him up. He sat on the top most bleacher and I slid in next to him.

“Do you play any sports?”

I shook my head. “I only dressed out to get the credit,” I shyly answered him. I stared down at the basketball court and imagined myself shooting a basketball into the net, only to have it bounce back and hit me in the face. I cringed.

Amaranth snickered next to me. I braced myself and looked over at him. I pouted as I watched him smile at me. “What's so funny?”

“I kind of imagined you as being this sort of real athletic person. Well maybe not athletic but I could see you body checking everything into the wall to score a goal in floor hockey.”

I unattractively chortled at the vision he placed into my head and blushed, embarrassed by the animalistic sound that came out of my mouth. “Well, that's slightly correct. Just this time imagine me as the one being body checked into the wall multiple times.”

Now Amaranth frowned. “People push you around!?” He places a hand behind my shoulder and moves me away from the wall as if check for any visible bruises. “But you're so small! I can't imagine anyone trying to purposely hurt you like that!”

I bit my lip. “Well, not on purpose. Sports in my school are a big thing. The girls in my gym class were really competitive too. Besides,” I shrugged, trying to make him think it wasn't a big deal. “I just stood there anyway; I was in their way.”

Amaranth shook his head, his brown hair shading his eyes in a curtain of dark locks. He looked at me through his hair, sapphire hidden by wisps of taupe. I think he said something. His lips moved but I hadn't heard anything. Maybe he had only been breathing but I reached my hand to his face and brushed his hair back to the side. His hair was thick and smooth under my fingers and his eyes radiant. A smile crept from the corners of his lips and I blushed again, pulling my fingers away.

“Sorry,” I whispered, eyes cast down to my lap, hands held between my thighs. I always had to make a fool of myself.

Amaranth chuckled next to me. How could he laugh at my expense? Wasn't he just rueful of the way other's treated me a second ago? Now he was taking glee in my mortification.

“Don't be embarrassed, Lily. I do weird and uncalled things around you too.”

I peeked at him from the corner of my eye and smiled slightly.

He laughed again and relaxed against the black of the wall. “I hope you like it here, Lily. I doubt Nightingale is all that great but the people are nice for the most part.” He smiled, brushing his fingers through his hair. Long and slightly curly. It looked as soft as it felt.

“I already like it. So far.”

He turned his head slightly and smiled. “I'm glad. You'll love the teachers too. They're great, really. Plus, they're actually interested in their students.”

I nodded curtly and smiled back. “Classes start tomorrow.”

“They do. Are you nervous?”

I frowned slightly. Azure was in most of my classes. Amaranth apparently had two classes with me, excluding the obvious breakfast, lunch, dinner periods and the time in between. I smiled. “Not really.”

He grinned. “We should go back now. Lunchtime is nearing.”

I nodded and took the hand he offered me. We climbed down the bleachers and made our way towards the cafeteria. He held my hand all the way there, not sliding it away when we entered the crowded cafe. He led me all the way into the kitchen and picked up two trays. He set them down and made his way down the isle, placing food on both his and mine.

He picked up a pear and raised a brow as he looked at me. I smiled and nodded. He put it down on my tray with a napkin under it. He piled two pieces of pizza on his tray and one on mine. He scooped himself ice cream into a large bowl and placed a small bowl of strawberry ice cream for me. I noticed it was soy and wondered if he stalked me while I was home as well. That didn't matter though. I couldn't fully understand why I wasn't bothered by his stalking. Maybe I was way into deep. Maybe I was just too enthralled by him. Nevermore, he was pleasant and gentle. He couldn't be some creep that watches me shower and dress, right?

He carries our trays back to the table we sat in this morning. Azure and Wynona are already seated next to each other and grin at us. We sit down across from them and I nervously smiled back.

“As you can see,” Azure motions to Wynona. “This fine lady has separated herself from Hayden for a whole three hours. Quite the feat! But you two.” She pointedly stares at us, smirking. “You two have been together all morning. I daresay, I am quite interested to hear what my new best friend and my brother have been doing together this whole time.”

I blushed and stared down at my food. I swiftly picked up my pear and stuffed it in my mouth. I may not be able to seal my lips from saying anything stupid, but I sure can stuff my mouth enough to start choking and have someone call the paramedics.

Amaranth chuckled, lightly pulling the pear out of my mouth. He wiped the pear juice from my chin with his finger and playfully glared at his sister. “Don't terrorize Lilith. You'll make her choke and die.”

Her eyes go wide and she goggles at me. “Sorry, Lilith.”

I smile, gulping down the pear in my mouth and take the fruit back from Amaranth. “It's fine.”

Now she smirked. “Oh, I know it is.” She suggestively wiggled her brows at me and Amaranth. I blushed again. The pear found it's way back into my mouth and I was forcing as much of it into my mouth as possible.

Amaranth sighed. “You're really going to have to find a new way to keep yourself from saying things, Lily.”

.:.

I sat on the comfortable living area loveseat with a book in my hands. Though it was opened in front of me, I stared at the stars instead. Astronomy was my favourite topic that I learned about in Earth Science. It had been the shortest, but I enjoyed it the most. I love the phases of the moon and the stars and how the knowledge of them is so minimal. The thought of them constantly expanding, gravity pulling them closer and outward, the possible collisions. It brought shivers down my spine. Or that could be Amaranth's gaze.

I sighed. “You can come down, you know. It's not like I don't know you're here.”

I heard a far off chuckled and then he was next to me. How he sat down so quickly surprised me and I froze in shock. He chuckled again and I snapped out of my daze. “H-How'd you get here so fast?”

“What do you mean?” He continued grinning.

“You were over there and then...and now – Oh, never mind.”

He turned his body so it faced me. His hand supported his head as his elbow balanced itself on the sofa. “You hardly sleep. That can't be good for your body, Lily.”

I liked how he called me Lily only when he was talking to me. He calls me Lilith when he's speaking to someone else. Some how, this made my nickname all the more personal.

I shrugged. “You already known that I was born this way. I can't do anything about it. And in all respects, I'm quite healthy, thank you.”

He smiled. “I know you are.” He sniffed a bit. “I would know if you weren't, but humans need at least eight hours of sleep each night. The most you get is three or two.”

My sleeping pattern is a sensitive subject. It used to be because I couldn't change it. Now it was because I've grown quite accustomed to it and I've developed a sort of liking to it. It made me unique and without this sleeping pattern, I would be nothing. My studies would crumble and I wouldn't be able to enjoy my day. Not without my night.

“Hey, don't get mad. I'm just worried for you.”

I met Amaranth's eyes and felt my lips lift obscurely. I hadn't noticed I was scowling till now. “Oh,” I whispered. “No, I'm not mad. I just, kind of like it that I don't sleep. When you sleep, you're vulnerable. When you sleep, you miss the night sky.”

Amaranth reached his hand outward and grasped mine. “Well then, as long as you're happy.”

He smiled softly, his eyes stared straight into and back out of me. He was adoring me again.