Steven grimaced and folded his hands under his
 
 arms.
 
 "I don't know why all this is so important. It has
 
 nothing to do with the way I play piano," he
 
 complained.
 
 "If that's all you want, get a job in some smoke
 
 filled dive," Howard told him.
 
 Steven glared at him. What a time to begin
 
 bickering amongst ourselves, I thought, with our
 
 teachers about to meet us. Why was it my
 
 expectations rose and fell with roller coaster
 
 emotions? One moment I was feeling optimistic about
 
 us all enjoying this experience, and the next I was
 
 dreading another moment in this house. I gazed about
 
 the table, searching everyone's face to see if anyone
 
 else seemed to have similar feelings. They all looked
 
 lost in their own thoughts.
 
 A grandfather clock ticked the hour.
 
 And, on cue, our teachers began to enter the
 
 room. With Howard practically leaping to his feet
 
 first, we all stood.
 
 A short, bald man with dull brown watery eyes and a complexion as pale as tissue paper took the seat directly across from me. He didn't smile so much as he turned his lips into each other and pulled back the corners of his mouth. He was plump, a little barrelchested, with a necklace of fat hanging at the sides of his throat. His ears were far too large for his head. They looked tacked on at the last minute, mistakenly
 
 taken from someone else's assigned features. Right behind him came a far younger-looking,
 
 tall, slender man with hair as black as Ice's, styled
 
 with a soft wave from his forehead back. He had
 
 bright hazel eyes with specks of green and a thin,
 
 straight nose above very soft-looking lips. Unlike the
 
 bald man, he wore a pleasant smile. He nodded at us
 
 and gave Rose, in particular, an additional and wider
 
 smile.