The Violin and the Flute

Henry and I had spent 2 whole hours doing nothing but playing silly child games and laughing. Some of those games included my favorites like the rhyming game, eye spy (in the kitchen), and rock-paper-scissors. The last game we played was thumb war. Oh how I love that game. I was beating him, badly.
“Ah! Rini! You’re cheating. I know you are.” I grinned as I pinned his thumb down for the 6th (hundredth) time. He grunted and let go of my hand before crossing his arms and legs and pouting like a child. I giggled for the billionth time that night. He had turned his back to me so I couldn’t see his face, but I can bet it was the cutest little childish pout. I grinned as I scotched closer. I leaned my hands on his shoulder then rested my chin on my hands. I used my pouty apology voice to cheer him up.
“I sawy Henie. You win on vio-win. Dat make you fee-ow bett-ow?” He tried to keep his face pouty, but when he glanced up at my face he broke into a grin. He nudged me so that I had to sit back on my tail bone, cross-legged, leaning back on my arms. He continued to smile, which I obviously returned full force.
“How about I play some? Then maybe both of us can go to sleep.” I grinned and nodded furiously, and then rubbed my neck from the wipe lash. I never learn. When he stood up I saw just how much Lychee was on his shirt.
“Whoa. Did you make a slip-n-slide out of Lychee or something?” I asked half joking half serious. That’s what it looked like. He looked down and noticed the mess me had made. When he raised his head again he gave me an apologetic look. I smiled and acted like it was nothing. “Don’t worry about it. I know I would have done something similar if you hadn’t already been in the kitchen. You just beat me to it.” I sighed before laughing, which he joined happily. “c’mon, let’s get this place cleaned up before someone wakes up. Then we can work on your shirt.” I began tidying up the discarded fruits on the floor with a damp rag. He crouched down again to help me. When the floor was nice and clean I stood up again and laughed at his shirt. He pouted slightly.
“Well, what about your shirt?” I stopped my laughter abruptly and looked down. Without me even knowing it, I had gotten some drops of juice on my purple spaghetti strap. NO! Oh come on! This is one of my favorite pajama shirts! I quickly rushed over to the sink and grabbed the discarded rag. I began to furiously try to rub out the now dreaded Lychee juice. It was only funny when it was on him.
A laugh made me slow my scrubbing until I had stopped completely. I glare-pouted at the boy who was currently laughing out loud. Literally. He was clinging to the counter he was laughing so hard. I tried to keep my face angry but when he finally managed to suppress his laughter long enough to make eye contact with me, my face broke and we both burst into laughter. I forgot about my shirt being ruined and the nine other people asleep upstairs. All I could think about was me and Henry covered in Lychee juice. To think about it, it doesn’t seem funny, but to be in the room, it was the funniest thing in the world.
“Ha…oh.” He said trying to stop laughing. We finally calmed down enough for both of us to let out a sigh. During our laugh attack we had both managed to slide back down to the floor. He was sitting in our previous corner next to the fridge while I was leaning against the cabinet under the sink. With another sigh it stood looked down at my shirt. It was soaking wet.
“It’s a good thing I sleep in jog bras or this would be awkward.” I mumbled out loud. This caught Henry’s attention. He stared at me for a second, looked down, then quickly looked away trying to hide his blush, but I saw it anyway. I giggled at his child-like face, causing him to glance back at me then turn away again. So cute. I grinned as I walked over to him with the rag. When I was standing right in front of him I slide my hip to the side and crossed my arms. “We really need to fix that shirt of yours. It’s starting to really bug me.” He glanced up at my face and after a minute grinned as well. I extended on hand to help him stand up which he accepted. I then began to rub the rag on his shirt. He jumped back at first, and then let me continue trying to clean.
“Thanks…” He whispered as he held the bottom of the shirt out to cause more tension in the material. I smiled and continued trying to soak the juice out. After a couple of minutes and a completely soaked t-shirt later I stepped back satisfied with the stainless shirt. Unfortunately, it was winter, and wet shirts are a bad thing, even inside of a heated house. Henry began to shake slightly. Since I only spilled a couple drops, I didn’t feel cold, but poor Henry must have been freezing.
“Oh no. Sorry.” I apologized quickly. He glanced up at me with a small smile. His arms were crossed slightly and I could see he was trying to act like he wasn’t cold, but I know better. He let out a small yawn as I placed my arm across his back in a friendly gesture so I could one: try to keep him warm, and two: lead him out of the room so he could change. “C’mon then, let’s get you changed.” He nodded while still trying to not look cold. He continued to shiver slightly as we walked up the stairs and down the hall. “Which one is your room?” I asked.
He began walking to my room, stopped, and then walking into the room beside it. I smiled when I realized our rooms were beside each other. When we were in his room I ushered him over to the bed. He sat down and continued to shake, putting less effort into not acting cold. I looked around and saw, what I assumed was his, suitcase lying at the end of the bed. I knelt down next to it and began untying the top. Did he not unpack yet?
“T-s. Ok-Kay. I c-can get it-t.” He mumbled as he stood up and knelt next to the suitcase. His teeth didn’t chatter much, but it was so obvious that he was freezing. I wondered how he could be so cold from just the wet shirt. He opened the duffle bag and began pulling out a few clothes. Two jackets and some pants, but no shirt. He paused when he pulled out another pair of pants. It looked like he was getting sleepy. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ok, Henry, take off your shirt.” His head whipped up to stare at me. He blinked a few times trying to register what I said. “If your shirt is wet, you need to take it off. If you are not wet anymore, you won’t feel cold.” I spoke slowly because it looked like he was going to pass out.
He seemed to think about this for a second before tugging his shirt over his head. My god he was pale. I blinked at his pale skin before shaking my head and taking the shirt from him. I hung it on a chair, and then knelt back down to find a shirt. I found a black long sleeve shirt that looked warm enough. Henry sat cross legged beside me with no shirt on, waiting for me to give him one. He was half curled up with his hands wrapped around his shoulders. I quickly tugged the shirt over his head. He didn’t move. I frowned slightly. I had to pull his arms away from his body and pull them through each arm of the shirt.
“There, that’s better right?” I asked as I gently shook his shoulders. His body shivered one last time before he looked at my face and gave a small grateful smile.
“Thanks.” I shrugged like it was nothing.
“I guess all Henrys are the same.” He stared up at me puzzled. I smiled as I leant against the bed and sat more comfortably.
“There’s this little kid that lives down the street from my house back home. His name’s Henry. He’s the cutest thing, besides my brother of course.” I laughed slightly. “He had a habit of getting in trouble-mostly with food, so I guess I’m used to having to clean up after guys.” We both chuckled a bit at that. “And there’s my little brother too, so I have mastered the art of cleaning before parents get home.” I smiled sadly at the memories of my family back home. Oh how I miss them. Henry must have noticed my slight sadness because he nudged my arm. I looked up at him blankly.
“Hey. Do you still want me to play something? Or are you tired enough to sleep?” I almost laughed at my answer but managed to keep a straight face.
“I can’t sleep alone.” He stared at me wide eyed. I shrugged again. “Don’t worry about it. I can go for another few days or so before I’ll go camp out with Suzie. Again, because of my little brother, I can’t sleep unless someone else is in the room. Not really sure why, but anyway. To answer your question, if you aren’t tired, I’d love to hear some violin.” I said with a smile.
He grinned and stood up to go find his famous instrument. I moved to sit on the edge of the bed as he pulled out his violin. I glanced at the clock on his side table. It was already 3 o’clock! I stared at it for a few seconds before Henry hit a string. I swirled around to see he was balancing it on his shoulder. I smiled up at him trying to ignore what time it was. He really needs sleep, so I’ll only let him play one song, and then make him go to bed.
“What song do you want me to play?” I paused to think. We couldn’t play anything loud, but a lullaby might put me to sleep. Oh well.
“Can you play tears? I saw a video of you on YouTube and liked the way it sounded on violin.”I asked with my head tilted to the side. I had always loved that song and the video on YouTube just made me like it even more. He nodded his head and played a quick note or two in order to make sure it was tuned. Then he played.
The sweet somber melody that filled the room immediately made my entire body feel numb with bliss. I’ve always loved listening to the sound of the violin, but preferred to play flute. I leaned back slightly with a smile on my face as I listened to his fingers dance across the strings. With each note, my heart drummed with it.
This song always reminded me of home. My smiled lost some shine when I thought of my home. Mom, Dad, Damien, all my friends from schools, well, the ones that liked me anyway. The music faded into the background, but never stopped. My mind wondered to my life at school. Why was I thinking of this now? It must have been this song. One of my friends played this song for me. The day I found out I was leaving.
*Flash back*
“Hey Rini! I just learned a new song.” Joey, my favorite Aussy. And the best violin player in the world. At least, that’s what I always told him. I looked up at him from backing up my school bag. This was my last day at regular school, and then I would be leaving to train under SME. I was so excited, when I saw Joey, I was suddenly sad, but I still did my best to smile.
“Hey Joey. What new song?” I asked with a mildly curious voice. Back home I wasn’t the sweet little girl that everyone knew me as in Asia. Back home I was the short girl with a temper that obsessed over music. He grinned at me.
“Come to the music room. I want to play it for you.” He said while grabbing my wrist and half dragging me to the famed music room where I often went during lunch time to practice any given instrument. We arrived and he sat me down on the chair behind the drums, then he pulled out his violin. I sat and listened to the song. When he finished, he bowed and looked at me expectantly. I grinned and clapped.
“That was beautiful Joey.”He bowed again, and then walked up to me. He had a sad smile.
“I want you to think of me every time you hear that song. Kay? Just cuz you are going away to train to become a superstar doesn’t mean you get to forget about me.” He told me while looking at me with sad brown puppy dog eyes. I smiled up at him and stood. He was still taller than me.
“Ok. I promise. That’ll be our best friend song.” He grinned and nodded. There was a soft tension that began building. To avoid it I immediately added. “But did you have to pick such a sad song?” I said with a chuckle which caused us both to laugh lightly.
We’ll always be best friends Joey.
*end flashback*