Page 52 of Bad Teammate
“Look, I’msureyou were good at piano, Katerina. But saying you were just as talented at piano as your brother is at hockey?” Amused, he shook his head. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but Ireallydon’t think you understand how good he is. He could go down in history as one of theall-timegreats.”
I turned away from Derek, my gaze settling on the Steinway.
I considered it for a split second.
Butno.
He didn’t deserve to hear me play.
And he certainly didn’t deserve my virginity, either.
“Hey, come on!” Derek called after me as I stormed out of the room. “Where are you going?”
18
Derek
Katerina’s bedroom door slammed shut, leaving me alone on the couch, cradling my head in my hands.
The hell have I gotten myself into now?I wondered.
I thought I was paranoid about getting caught with Katerinabefore.But now, more than ever, I realized what a terrible idea it was to get involved with Niko’s sister in the first place. Did sheactuallybelieve she was just as good at piano as her brother was at hockey? For that to be true, she’d basically have to be a child prodigy at piano.
Or,more likely, she was crazy. And as everyone knows, you can’t trust a crazy person. If she was jealous of Niko, there was no telling what she might do. She might tell him what we’d done, knowing it’d upset him.
Why didn’t you listen to Hath?
Thinking fast, I realized my only hope was to appease her.
After I neatly fixed the bed sheets on the couch, I went down the hall and knocked on her bedroom door.
“Go away!” she yelled, her voice muffled.
“I just wanted to let you know that you can have the couch if you want it, okay, Katerina?”
“I said,go away!”
“Alright, I’ll leave you alone. But if you change your mind, just come get me.”
Jeez.
I went back to the living room with a sigh. I stopped in front of the Steinway that cost a small fortune and never got enough love. I glided my fingers over the curve of the piano’s smooth rim. Slowly, the wheels in my head started turning. I remembered the classical music she’d been listening to in the hall, her excitement at wanting to go to the symphony.
Could it be possible?
She and Nikodidshare the same genes, after all.
Did prodigies run in the family?
But if what she was saying was true, wouldn’t she have played my Steinway at some point over the past two nights? Wouldn’t she be drawn to it like a moth to a flame? Wouldn’t she have to practice for hours, daily, just to keep those elite, prodigy-level skills sharp?
C’mon,I thought.She’s not a prodigy, but she’s not a crazy person, either.
It had to be hard growing up with a brother as talented as Niko. Seeing him excel at hockey at such a young age probably chipped away at her confidence until she didn’t have any left. It was understandable she’d be sensitive about her brother’s fame. It’d even be understandable if she liked to cling to some belief, some little lie, that made herself feel better—like, she’d been every bit as talented at piano as he was at hockey.
Poor girl,I thought as I returned to the couch.
I heard the bedroom door swing open once more. Her feet came stalking down the hall.
