Shining Through

Aidan smiled softly and closed his eyes as he rehearsed the music for Friday night. He was sort of looking forward to it if he was honest. Without realising it, he started swaying in time with the beat of the music, letting his arm rise and fall gracefully, moving the bow over the strings of his violin. The sound of a piano joined in with Aidan’s slow melody, bringing a wider smile to his face. Once the song ended Aidan opened his eyes and turned towards the piano only to find that whoever had been sitting there a moment ago, was no longer there. Aidan sighed softly and laid his violin in the case before zipping it up. He revelled in the silence of the music room momentarily and then opened the door and stepped out into the bustling hallway. The school day had just ended and students were desperate to get out of the prison-like building. Aidan went to his locker and pulled out his bag, which he’d stuffed in there earlier when he’d been on his way to the music room.

For some reason, Aiden suddenly turned and looked to his right. His green eyes met a set of hazel ones and he felt his breath catch in his throat as it always did when he met Dino’s eyes. He nodded a vague greeting before turning his attention back to his locker. It was better that his eyes didn’t linger too long; Dino was a footballer. And the athletes didn’t mix with the music geeks. No matter how much Aidan wished they could, he knew he and Aidan would never be more than what they were now – acquaintances at best. Even if Aidan knew Dino’s secret, that didn’t mean anything. Aidan wished Dino had the courage to just be himself, be the person who he saw. Because that person was amazing and so incredibly talented. But Aidan wasn’t deluding himself, he knew it wouldn’t happen.

A few minutes later, Aidan was out of the school building and crossing the parking lot to his beat up car. Most other people in this area had expensive cars – mostly Minis – but Aidan didn’t care. His car got him from A to B, and that’s all that was important really. His drive home was relatively short, only about 15 minutes, and once he was home, he had at least 3 hours to himself before his dad got home. These were the hours that he used to practise his violin. He wasn’t allowed to once his dad was home. He dumped his bags just next to the front door and then went into the study. Before his mum passed away, she would sit in the room with him and listen for hours. She was always supportive of Aidan’s music. And his dad had never had a complaint before, but once she died, his dad instantly hated Aidan’s music. Once Aidan had set up his music stand and spread the sheet music out, he took his violin out of the case and started playing softly. He was always more hesitant at first, just in case his dad was around somewhere. But after a little while, Aidan would forget about his dad and just play.

The room had turned slightly darker when Aidan stopped playing. He blinked and looked around him before quickly flicking the light on. Something had snapped him out of his trance, had brought him out of the calm place he goes to when he plays. He walked out of the study and saw something on the floor by the door, having just fallen through the post box. Aidan frowned and went over to it and picked it up carefully before realising that it was a black face mask. He quickly opened the front door and saw a black car parked in front of his house. He looked through the window and saw Dino sitting behind the wheel, looking at him intensely. Aidan smiled softly and looked down at the mask again, holding onto it more firmly. Dino smiled and then started the car and drove away, wheels spinning in his haste. Aidan was touched, though, and didn’t care about how quick Dino had tried to get out of there. He closed the door again and went back into the study. Falling into the seat his mum had always sat in to listen to his music, he stared down at the black mask. It wasn’t big, it would only cover his eyes, but it didn’t matter. Dino had given it to him to wear on Friday.

The next few days passed quickly. Aidan didn’t really see Dino again, and he didn’t come back to the music room. Not that Aidan expected him to; he only usually came about once a week anyway. Finally, Friday arrived. It was the senior prom in the evening, with a masquerade theme. Aidan was nervous, but at the same time incredibly excited. He couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen, what Dino was going to let happen. A portion of the school’s orchestra was going to be playing for first half of the evening, while it was still relatively quiet. “Isn’t black and white quite clichéd?” Aidan’s friend Alyssa asked during rehearsal and he shrugged.
“Isn’t the whole idea of prom clichéd?” he asked in return. She seemed to consider the possibility for a moment before shrugging.
“I guess,” she said before picking up her flute in time for when Mr Heath, the conductor, was bringing the flutes in.

Aiden got home that afternoon and went upstairs straight away. He didn’t have time to practise today, but it didn’t matter because he didn’t really need the practise. Not for that evening, anyway. The audition he had in a month’s time was a whole other matter. He did, in fact, need to practise for that. But one night off won’t kill him. By 7 o’clock he was showered and dressed. Sure, it was a masquerade, which implied dressing up, but Aidan wasn’t dressing up. He didn’t have the money, nor was he all that confident in a sophisticated suit. He pulled on a tight pair of black jeans with grey and white patterns on them – the nicest jeans he owned which made his ass look good at the same time – and a white button up. Just because he wasn’t wearing a suit or tux like everyone else didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to make an effort. He threw a grey blazer over the top and looked at himself in the mirror. His blonde wavy hair was falling into his face, as it always did, but there was nothing he could do about that. Aidan realised he needed to get it cut, but it was just finding the time. He gazed at himself critically for a moment, taking in his reflection. He was too skinny, too pale, his nose slightly too big. He wondered why Dino, the boy who was built like a god, was interested in him at all. If he even was interested that way. Maybe he just liked playing together, maybe Aidan had completely misread all the signals. Maybe Dino just liked having Aidan there for when he wanted to temporarily escape his life. Not that he had anything to complain about – his life was pretty perfect. If only Dino was comfortable to be himself, then his life would just be amazing.

Aidan sighed and stopped analysing his appearance. There must be something that Dino liked, Aidan reasoned with himself as he picked up the mask that was on his bedside table. Otherwise Dino wouldn’t have given him the mask. Aidan was still slightly confused about that whole thing. He didn’t understand why Dino had done that. But he figured he’d find out tonight.

He grabbed his violin and car keys, keeping hold of the mask. Aidan was kind of excited to see what it was going to be like tonight. The music, the atmosphere, the people, the outfits. It was all going to be completely out of the ordinary. Aidan couldn’t help but wonder what tonight would hold. There were so many possibilities due to the fact that they’d all be in masks. No one would know who was who unless they’d come together, or knew what the other was wearing. Dino would be anonymous. Aidan smiled softly as he realised the potential for the evening. He could talk to Dino, dance with Dino. He could kiss Dino, if that’s what the other boy wanted. A thrill of anticipation skipped down Aidan’s spine. He really hoped Dino wanted that, because Aidan had wanted it for almost a year.

He drove quickly to the hall where the dance was being held. All the musicians were getting there half an hour early to set up their music and to go over any last minute rehearsals that Mr Heath wanted to do. People started arriving at 8 o’clock, not many, but some. The musicians started playing through songs almost robotically, while Aidan was keeping his eyes peeled for Dino even though he didn’t even know what he was going to be wearing or what his mask would look like. So, really, he had no hope. About an hour later, the hall was starting to fill up considerably. The orchestra played to the end of their final song and then Mr Heath dismissed them.

Aidan milled around at the side of the hall, feeling slightly awkward. He considered just packing up his violin and going home. But if this was his one and only chance with Dino, then he wasn’t going to miss it.

A body suddenly pressed up against Aidan from behind and an arm wrapped around his chest, holding him firmly against the muscular body behind him. His breathing instantly sped up and his heart started racing. “Dance with me,” the person behind him said. It wasn’t so much of a question as a demand, but Aidan wouldn’t have said no anyway. And Dino knew that.