Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
LEVI
It’s finally Friday, and the two kids who had lessons today caught a cold, meaning I get to go home and rest. All I can think about while taking my usual shortcut through the music building is the long nap I’m going to take before going out to eat with the guys.
The carpeting in the building quiets my steps. The hallways are empty at this time of day—the quiet before the storm, when rehearsals start for all the shows on campus.
As I reach the first floor, I hear piano keys from somewhere behind me. I spoke too soon. There’s always that one person who decides to practice till their fingers and throats are bleeding.
I continue to make my way to the exit of the building, and the piano keys start to drift as a voice begins, a very familiar one.
The first lyrics of “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles are sung, stopping me dead in my tracks.
They’re perfectly on key. Her voice sounds smooth, and the piano playing, although simple, is also perfect.
I didn’t know she could play piano.
My feet move of their own accord when the chorus hits.
It’s as if there’s this magnetic pull to the room.
Her melodic voice sounds softer than when we sang together.
I wonder if she’s going to do a different rendition of it.
If not, then she’ll have to kick it up about ten notches for the second half of the song.
I reach the edge of the door, and thank fuck for this carpet or else Stevie would’ve stopped if she heard anyone in the building.
It’s obvious why she’s here today at this time.
The place is deserted, and the piano is one of the oldest on campus, hence people don’t use the room often.
If she needs to be in this room to sing, then she still isn’t confident enough to do it in front of an audience, which makes me feel bad for the poor bastards who don’t get to hear her unique voice, and sad for Stevie, who still isn’t ready, even with Brad’s help.
Is his help enough?
The song’s third verse hits, and her voice gets fuller, more confident, knocking me out of my thoughts.
Then, in the fourth verse, the high notes start to come in, and finally, the chorus again, and Stevie explodes.
She hits every. Damn. Note. All of them coming from the depths of her fucking soul.
As if she’s written it and feels every single emotion within the story it tells.
Her confidence seems to have tripled since I last saw her sing.
Like my body has a mind of its own, I move my head to the doorway.
Praying that her back will be toward me, I find Stevie facing the door while hitting the longest note in the song.
Luckily for me, her eyes are closed, and instead of moving like I should, I remain in position, unable to take my focus off her.
Stevie’s eyes remain shut through the outro, where she plays the final piano keys, and her shoulders relax.
At that moment, I realize that I’ve been so still, my back is aching.
Jesus, this woman’s unbelievably talented.
Stevie’s head lolls down, and a wide grin spreads across her face. She laughs in disbelief. It’s soft and new.
Damn, my back hurts. Straightening to relieve some pain, my guitar case bumps the wall, and my roommate’s green eyes shoot up to meet mine, widening in horror.
Fuck me.
“Levi?” Her voice is back to its regular tone.
I smile, hoping she won’t be pissed. “Hey, Bambi.”
She clears her throat. “How long have you been standing there?”
My roommate isn’t mad, she looks terrified. So, I lie.
“A couple of seconds.” I shrug. “The building’s deserted and I heard someone playing piano, so I thought I’d be nosy and, well, here I am.”
She narrows her eyes and tilts her head. I can see that my lie wasn’t good enough.
“How long have you really been standing there?” Her voice is still calm, but serious.
Running a hand through my hair that’s longer than I usually like it to be, I reply honestly. “A while.”
Stevie lets out a long breath and composes herself. Right as I think she’s going to grab her things and leave, she asks me a question instead.
“What did you think?”
My mouth opens, and I stutter. “W-what?”
She nods and speaks slower. “Was it good enough for the audition? I mean, come on, Levi. You’ve already heard me sing, but this was different. I thought I was alone.”
I can’t help the small flashback to the night we sang together and the two words I said to her. It seems like she remembers it at the same time because her face reddens and her breathing deepens before she looks away.
Shit, not now. I need to focus and give her my honest opinion.
“It was perfect. However, I wouldn’t use that particular piano for the audition. It’s a little too old.”
Her small laugh relieves some of the tension in both of our bodies.
“Don’t worry, I won’t be playing in front of anyone. They’ll have a pianist there.”
As she collects her things, I open my mouth to tell her that she should also practice in front of people now that the audition is so close. But as soon as she stands, she sways heavily, being forced to sit back on the bench.
“Fuck.” I drop my case on the floor and run to her. Kneeling beside Stevie, I take her delicate jaw and turn her to me. Her lips are slightly pale, and I can’t help the panic that rises in me.
“Stevie, are you with me? Are you going to have a seizure?”
Her eyes look hazy and tired. “Juice.” She lifts a finger to her backpack’s side pocket, and I grab the all-natural orange juice I’ve seen her carry around often.
I open the cap and tilt the bottle to her lips slowly. After two sips, Stevie snatches the juice out of my hand and gulps half of it down. Ignoring how impressive it was to chug almost the entire thing in seconds, I ask her again if she’s still with me.
“I’m okay. I haven’t gotten enough sleep the past few days. No auras, only a little dizziness.” She gives me a weak smile, and even though some color has returned to her face, which calms me down a bit, I know I have to drive her back to the apartment ASAP.
Picking her bag up and swinging it back, I take her hand while she slowly stands, and although she doesn’t sway, I don’t second-guess my move when I scoop her up close to my chest.
Stevie lets out a small, surprised gasp, and whispers, “I can walk.”
I snap my head her way. “Please, allow me to do this. The last thing we need is for you to fall and hit your head.”
Although she looks like she wants to open her mouth and protest, I give her a warning look similar to the one I gave her last weekend, and she relents.
I also ignore the surge of satisfaction that runs through me at her obedience.
We walk to the door, where she helps me pick up my case, and then to the car in the lot across the building.
The campus is mostly empty, with everyone getting ready to go to the bars.
One or two people see us and look at me as if I’m kidnapping the girl, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what they think.
The walk to the car takes about five minutes.
Within those short minutes, Stevie fell fast asleep in my arms, her head leaning on my shoulder, and her long legs limp.
Happy that some color has returned to her face and that she’s relaxed, I gently put her in the back seat, not wanting to wake her up.
With the way this girl is fucking sleeping, though, I doubt anything or anyone could do that.
Good. I don’t know what she was thinking going past her limits the way she did and tiring herself out like this. If we were together, there’d be so many things I’d do…
No, no, no. I am not even going to think about that possibility.
After arranging everything in the car, I slowly drive to our place and find parking in front of the building.
I carry her upstairs, which causes her to stir and mumble some random words before I tuck her into bed.
After grabbing some water, I sit beside my roommate with my back against the headboard.
There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave her alone after that. Fuck no.
Stevie barely moves, and anytime she does, I look over to make sure there are no signs of a seizure.
My mind wanders back to her singing, the confidence and emotionality in her voice.
How happy she looked. She must’ve been practicing that song for a while now.
Maybe it was one that she already knew. Her smile was one of pure euphoria, and the piano seemed like it was a missing piece of her.
I remind myself to ask her about that later.
It’s insane how she can go from that happy woman in complete control of herself and everything around her, to this in a matter of minutes.
I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to live a life where a normal moment that any twenty-one-year-old should have is taken away by something out of your control.
I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that Stevie is powerful and what she is going through is full-on shit, but today was the first time I saw it. And to think…it wasn’t even a seizure.
With that devastating thought, my eyes drift closed, and I’m surrounded by darkness, along with the familiar scent of lavender and vanilla.
STEVIE
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I jostle awake, looking around my room, confused about how I got here.
What is that noise, and where is it coming from? It sure as hell isn’t from anything I own.
Turning over in my bed, I come face-to-face with long legs covered in light-washed jeans.
What the…
The legs jump, and I jump with them.
“Holy crap!” I yell when I see Levi waking up from sleeping next to me in the most uncomfortable-looking position. I shoot straight up and look at him.
“What are you doing in my room?”
He rubs his eyes and grabs his phone, making the loud sound stop.
Yawning, he holds up a finger, shushing me as he answers his phone, and I reel my head back in surprise.
“Hey, Jake,” he says groggily.