Page 63 of The Kiss Of Death
Leaning in closer, I whispered the stark veracity, “My birth.”
“Gunther, Maria, Min, and Loic, you’ll form our quartet to open before the third years take over the Halloween Black and Red fundraiser ball we host in a week,” Delgado announced, his gaze falling on all the students who hadn’t been selected—me included. “Now, don’t get too excited. It’s a privilege to perform chamber music in the grand salon, but the pressure is high.”
All four selected students had more chances to grace the stage of the grand Pantheon Opera after its renovation, but I wouldn’t let myself be defeated. I swallowed the silly hope I had that maybe Delgado would pick me after having worked my ass off to prove to him I had my place here. I raised my hand to answer all his theoretical questions every chance.
“Congratulations,” I said to Gunther, sitting next to me, who wrinkled his nose in a grimace, turning his back even further to me.
“My reputation is at stake here, and you’ve all been nothing but a disappointment. I hope you’ll prove me wrong,” Delgado continued his usual uplifting motivational speech, interrupted by the coughing of Maria, who had a nasty cold. “Does anyone have any hand sanitizer? I hate germs.”
Instead, I noted the first victory of today. I’d be going to my first Halloween ball with friends!
I’d never been to a Halloween party before. I would simply look out my window at the kids gathering in our streets with their parents, but none of them dared to approach our house.Dad wouldn’t allow me to play with them because of the lack of security, and he thought it’d trigger my nightmares.
“You’ll learn the Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25,” Delgado said as Maria raised her hand. “Yes, Maria, only the four of you; the others will continue to work on challenging your mediocrity. Music is an art, for God’s sake!”
I was trying to find the page from the previous lesson when I came across Lucie’s score. The sheet music was a tapestry of darkness and despair—nightmares, horrors, pain. There wasn’t a single touch of light in her composition. This didn’t make sense.The day he was born.Levi was her child, who wouldn’t love her own child? What if something else had happened that day?
“Miss Mercier?”
There must’ve been something I’d missed. Maybe the second music score would be different? Lucie was a genius. She didn’t leave anything to luck. If only I could—
“Miss Mercier!” Mr. Delgado’s screaming voice snapped me back to reality, making me jump on my chair and break my pencil. Gasps echoed from the students as he approached me with heavy steps. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, sir,” I replied hastily, concealing the music score beneath my notes.
“Hand it over,” Mr. Delgado ordered. “Now.”
I swallowed. I couldn’t give him the music score; Levi had entrusted me with it. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. It’s just doodles.”
All eyes were on me, whether they were glaring or laughing at me. In Delgado’s class, it was a cutthroat competition for first place.
“She was composing,” Gunter, the teacher’s pet, chimed in.
That little—
Mr. Delgado paced like a shark smelling blood, and we engaged in a silent battle for control of the music score. Heeventually wrestled it from my hands, scrutinizing it with a puzzled expression.
“Colors?”
“Yes,” I swallowed, trying to seize the opportunity. “I’m working on synesthesia, just like the book of the composers you asked me to write an essay on.”
“Well, it looks like you did your homework after all.” He winced as if he could hear the discordant sounds emanating from the music score. “But the harmonies, nothing works together. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’m experimenting,” I said with a flawless smile. “Contemporary music is all about experimenting, am I right?”
Mr. Delgado squinted his eyes and hummed as Maria pained to conceal her coughs.
Gunther turned to me. “You’re welcome, Unifier.”
“Miss Mercier! Learn Miss Perez’s violin part just in case. If she sniffles and sneezes like a hippopotamus on the day of the gala, she’ll scare the crowd.”
Maria shot me a nasty cold stare. “But I’ll be fine in two weeks and—”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Miss Mercier, don’t be so slow. Switch groups, now.”
I nodded and rushed next to the top four students, belittling myself in a corner, my heart bouncing in a staccato rhythm. The class was a battle between Maria and I on the violin, the rest of the group ignoring all my interactions since I was only a replacement. Gunther was slowly warming up to me though when he realized I was as serious as he was about music.
The bell finally rang. We gathered our belongings, and Mr. Delgado shouted one last instruction at us, “Don’t forget the rehearsal sessions!”
