As I walked on the sidewalk, I thought back to the previous day.

‘Why’d Soriel want me to come to her recital? Did she invite the others? Ah, it doesn’t matter. I get to go to my first piano recital so I shouldn’t care much about it either way.’ 

I turned a block and kept walking.

‘I hope my clothes are formal enough.’

At that moment, I was wearing a navy blue button down shirt with brown dress pants.

I awkwardly tried to adjust my clothes.

I wasn’t sure if it was formal enough but it wasn’t like I could’ve worn anything better.

Since I just came from school that would mean I would’ve had to pack a suit or something in my school bag.

And it’d be a pain to change into a suit while at school.

Plus, if anyone from school saw me, they’d probably think I’m attending a wedding or something.

Speaking of school, the next thing I began to think about was how my school day was.

‘I was hoping to have a good day, but school today was even more of a pain than yesterday. Especially since Ms. Amber gave us a group project.’

Yup, I was assigned a group project for English class which sucked since I hated group.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a say in the matter.

‘Oh I’m here.’

According to my gps, I had just arrived at the community art center where the piano recital was being held.

‘I looks pretty nice.’

With tall glass doors, a beautiful black brick front wall, a side glass wall, and an exceptionally painted other side wall with unique designs, the center was looking great.

The whole building was pretty large so I could tell a lot of things must’ve gone on in there.

‘I’m not sure what I expected, but it looks better than I thought it would.’

Still admiring the architecture, I entered the building and was greeted with a front desk.

“Good afternoon sir, welcome to the Britannia Community Arts Center. How may I help you today?” The front desk lady asked.

“Uh, well…I would l-like to..”

I began to stumble over my words as I thought of the right thing to say.

‘Crap, c'mon Elliot. Say something, please don’t be an idiot for once.’

Soriel didn’t tell me what to ask the person at the front desk and I didn’t ask so I was pretty much clueless.

Fortunately, I was saved.

“He’s with me!” A voice yelled.

I turned my head to see who it was and when I did, I sighed in relief.

It was Soriel.

Wearing a gold formal dress and with a bright smile on her face, Soriel almost looked like she was glowing.

“Oh wow Soriel, I didn't know you invited someone this time,” The woman at the desk said.

Soriel arrived next to me and scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Well, I decided to try something new this year,” Soriel replied happily.

“Alright then, I wish you luck on your recital. And it was nice to meet you young man,” The lady at the front desk responded.

“Um, it was nice meeting you too.”

Then, Soriel began to walk away and I followed her.

As we walked, I decided to question Soriel a bit.

“Are you close with that woman?” I asked.

“Kind of. I come here every once in a while to help out with cleaning and stuff like that. So overtime I got sort of close with her,” Soriel responded.

After she said that, she turned her head to me and smiled brightly.

“Thank you for coming by the way.”

“No problem. Although I’m a bit confused.”

Soriel, who already went back to looking in front of her, made a curious expression.

“What’s confusing?” She asked.

“Well, I don’t see anyone else from our school here so I don’t understand why you chose to invite specifically me and only me to your recital,” I said.

‘Plus, that woman made it seem like she has never invited a friend before so why would she invite someone now?’

“It’s really nothing complicated. I just invited you because I know you the best so I feel more comfortable performing in front of you,” She responded.

‘Fair enough. I technically am the closest friend she has in our group.’

“Are you nervous about performing?” I asked, in an attempt to subtly change the topic.

“Yeah a tiny bit. But chickens are way scarier than recitals so I’ll be fine,” She replied with a cheeky smile.

‘Her fear of chickens will never cease to amaze me. Did something happen to her that involved chickens when she was little?”

“Oh look! here,” Soriel said.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I checked my surroundings.

“This place is pretty nice.”

It was a moderately large auditorium with a well designed stage, seats, and walls.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Soriel take out her phone and check the time.

“Oh! It’s time for me to get backstage. I’ll see you after the recital!” Soriel said before rushing back the way we came.

“Ok..?” I muttered.

‘I guess I should find myself a seat.’

I walked down a few steps to a row of empty seats and sat down.

‘I wonder if Soriel’s parents are here.’

As I gazed around the area, I noticed that there were a lot of people present.

The only empty rows were the one behind mine and the one I was sitting in.

That also meant the area was extremely loud.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

3:28 pm.

‘It’s about to start…’

Then, I noticed booklets being handed out by a man that was walking around.

Eventually, I got a booklet as well.

Inside the booklet was a list of the names of each pianist, the title of their piece, and when they are going to play.

A few minutes later, all the lights turned off except for the ones shining on the stage.

On the stage was a single piano.

Instantly, the room went silent.

Then, a girl came out onto the stage.

She walked to the front, bowed, and sat down at the piano.

Taking a deep breath, the girl began to play.

From the very start, she played with frightening speed.

The song had no build up, no slow rhythm, it just had a fast and loud rhythm that had an impact on anyone that listened.

It was odd.

It was amazing.

‘Woah.’

The song lasted a few minutes, but it felt like a flash.

It was like a rollercoaster that started with ferocity…yet it didn’t end just as abruptly. The ending note felt meek, almost shy.

I was impressed.

‘I didn’t expect that kind of performance. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone play something like that.’

I didn’t listen to much piano, but usually it was slow and relaxed. 

That was not a slow and relaxed performance.

From there, many different people came out on stage to play their pieces.

Honestly, all of them were brilliant.

I could tell each and every pianist present had an inhuman talent for the instrument.

However, none of them had an impact on me as much as that first one.

Except for Soriel, obviously.

Coincidentally enough, Soriel was the final pianist of the recital.

‘She looks even prettier than she did before.’

As Soriel walked onto the stage, she had an unwavering smile plastered onto her face.

She bowed and sat at the piano, her blonde hair slightly flowing as she did.

Then, her hands softly pressed on the keys.

‘Huh?’

Soriel played softly, her hands gliding across the keys swiftly with every note.

It was unnatural, but more surprisingly, her playing was different than before.

If I had to describe my first time hearing her play, I’d say it was like the sunniest and brightest day in the world. A light gleaming on the water.

But now, her playing seemed to more closely resemble rain.

In the beginning, it started out as a light rain that didn’t dampen the sunlight.

However, over time, the rain poured heavier, with an unusual weight in each drop.

Yet for a few moments, the weight lifted, only to be slowly brought down once again.

Like the sun attempting to outshine the clouds, only to fail and have its light covered anyway.

Her playing made me feel like I wasn’t even in the auditorium anymore.

Like I had become something completely different entirely.

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!

Before I knew it, the auditorium was no longer filled with the sound of the piano, but instead it was the sound of applause.

Soriel’s performance had ended.