Upon hearing the door open, Olivia abruptly stopped and whirled around to face him, an uneasy look on her face.
“Didn’t mean to startle ya.” Phil confidently remarked as he walked in, shutting the door behind him.
Olivia didn’t say anything. She just stared at him, her expression not changing.
“I take that silence as ‘I know students aren’t allowed to stay in band room after four.’” Phil broke the ice as gently as he could.
“Are you a hall monitor too?” Olivia finally said something.
“Nah.” Phil replied. “Besides, with the way you acted, I’d say no hall monitor has stopped you before.”
He was hoping Olivia would smile at that, but instead, she simply got off the bench and reached for her backpack.
“Hey, wait.” Phil interjected, taking a couple steps forward. “I, uh…” He waited until Olivia took her gaze from her backpack and stared at him. “I really liked what you were playing. What’s the name of the piece?”
Olivia stopped reaching for her backpack as her gaze fell back to the piano. “I haven’t given it a name yet.” she finally said softly.
“You’re kidding.” Phil replied, breaking into a grin. “You’re fucking kidding. You made that?! You’re talented!”
“Thank you.” Olivia simply said back.
“I know this kinda sounds strange, but would you… would you keep playing it?” Phil continued.
“Aren’t I not allowed to keep playing after four?” Olivia asked him, no trace of accusation in her voice.
Phil blew a raspberry. “Who’s gonna find out? Who’s gonna care?”
Olivia stood uncomfortably, before dropping her shoulders. “Okay.” she said, almost to herself, as she sat back down and began to play. A few notes in, she hit a wrong note.
Phil softly walked over to the stool near the drumset, conveniently close to the piano, and sat down. “Are you nervous?” he asked her.
“Yes.” she immediately replied.
“Why?”
“I don’t know what it is you want from me, and I’ve never played this in front of another person before.” she replied, in a mixture of timidness and aloofness.
Phil opened his mouth to immediately retaliate to the first point, with something like, ‘What do you mean, what do I want from you?’ when he suddenly thought to himself. What did he want from her? He knew she piqued his interest, but that was before he got to dance with Nicole Baker on Halloween. Still, just one dance didn’t mean they were a couple… did he want to take a chance with seeing if he could do something with Olivia? He didn’t even have to date her or anything, he could just be open to her and ask if she wanted benefits later. He read somewhere once that shy nose-in-a-book girls were the horniest and kinkiest… a sex story told him that, but hey, why would they distort the truth?
“You’ve already played it in front of me.” Phil found himself saying. “I’d like to hear it again, is all.” He rediscovered where he was sitting and gestured to the drumset. “Hell, I could even give you a metronome if you want.”
“You play the drums?” Olivia asked.
Phil nodded confidently. “Have been for the majority of my life. I assume you’ve been playing the piano for a while?”
Olivia nodded. “Since I was five.”
“Show me what you got then.” Phil challenged her, looking her straight in the eye. His foot found the foot pedal and he began to give her a 4/4 beat, at 100 beats per minute.
“That’s the exact time scale I was using for the song, wasn’t it?” Olivia asked him.
“If my ear is correct.” Phil nodded.
Olivia moved her hands to the keys, nodding in focus to the beat, and began to play again. This time, her work was flawless, and the anthem of curiosity filled the room. Phil felt it too – he was getting more curious for this girl by the second. As the girl played on, he felt himself getting more and more into the music – before long, he was humming his own parts to go along with the song. As he did so, Olivia’s eyes met his and she gave him a gift, something it was clear she didn’t give often – a genuine smile. It looked almost alien on her face, but Phil thought he preferred this new face he was seeing. Emboldened by her reaction, he turned his hum into a full-forced choral accompaniment. Phil wasn’t sure if his baritone was the best singing voice he had ever heard, but it helped that he was just going ‘ooh’ for a note, and not singing words. Besides, Olivia didn’t seem to mind.
Too soon, the piece had ended, leaving nothing but Phil and Olivia to stare at each other. Phil knew he was going to have to be the one to break the silence, when suddenly Olivia spoke up.
“Did you actually care about my music, or did you see this as an opportunity to talk to me again?”
“What?” Phil was visibly taken aback. “No, I absolutely am here for the music. I’m not like… I’m not…”
Olivia cocked an eyebrow. “You have some kind of interest in me.”
“No, no. I promise. I mean, I’m with someone else now. She and I went to the Halloween Dance together.”
Olivia tore her gaze away from him to look down at the piano’s keys. “How romantic.” she muttered, almost to herself.
Phil chuckled, if nothing else, out of a lack of anything else to say. “I mean, I guess? I dunno, it’s…”
Without further warning, Olivia stood up from the piano and picked up her bag.
“Hey… did I say something wrong here?” Phil asked, almost exasperatedly.
“No, but I feel like you’re lying. I don’t really like it when people aren’t straight to the point.” Olivia responded.
“So what, you think I have this big crush on you?” Phil challenged her.
“No, but there’s something. Something hidden. And if you’re not going to be straight with me, I don’t see this conversation continuing.” Olivia said, a little quickly.
Phil sighed, smiling to himself with indignation. “Alright, great.” he uttered. “Well, can I have the pleasure of sharing another conversation with you in the future?”
“Only if you want.” Olivia replied, almost out the door by that point. She was sure to turn off the lights in the room and shut the door behind her.
She was definitely a weirdie. But hey, that just made her stick out in Phil’s mind more. He just sat in the darkness, with the music still playing in his head, thinking to himself.
***
Being a senior of status, Phil had a strict routine and strict methods of keeping up that routine, to make sure he always kept up his end of the status quo. This meant being polite even in the face of looking two-faced (unless he was sure he could get away with it) and keeping his allegiance to the other high-ups at the school.
This meant high-fiving or fist-bumping other higher-ups in the hallways as he went from class to class. This also meant he chose who to elevate, but he could only do so sparingly. Apart from avenues like Student Council, if the Student Council President gave anyone his time, that eventually meant his time would no longer be valuable. His popularity would diminish, and soon after, his reputation.
He wasn’t sure who refused to say hello first when he and Olivia passed each other in the hallways. All he knew is that eventually, after locking eyes in the hallway, one would look down, and then the other would follow suit. Phil never looked down, except now. At the same time, Olivia was queen of one group and one group alone – herself. She was a nobody, perhaps governed by nobody, but with no status. It was inconceivable that Phil would socialize with her at school, not when he had his more popular friends to socialize with.