Chapter 7: The Goddesses II

Although Haruka and I still don’t exchange words whenever I come over to her house, I think I’m slowly forming a dependency on her presence. 

Somehow I just can’t get in the mood to paint unless I hear her familiar foot stomps echoing across the room. It was sort of like my reggae playlist that I always played in the background whenever I wrote. Only this new playlist consisted of pants and grunts and the sound of a machine that seemed like it was being abused into oblivion.

There were also the sounds of curse words on this playlist. Because Haruka cursed more than Jorvan whenever someone interrupted her death runs.  Whether it was her mom nagging her about her schoolwork or one of her friends at the door, constantly ringing the doorbell.  Of course she always pretended not to be home but there was always one person who always managed to worm her way in.

Like Haruka, April Smith was considered one of the five goddesses at our school and I have to admit I always thought she was the most attractive of the five. They all had their beauty and charm but there was always something about April’s mischievous smiles that made my heart skip a beat.

 “Ms. Nakamura was right about you, Kalil. Oh my god, that looks gorgeous!”

And although she kept messing up my name, she always greeted me with a cheerful smile. 

Haruka was as exciting as a box of rocks but around April she seemed like a different person. She seemed more lively, less grumpy and she was always smiling. And laughing too because April was always telling jokes and making fun of people.

For the longest I was always on the outside looking in on their lives but one day things began to change.

“Oh we’re going Ms. Negative Nancy.”

“No-we-are-not.”

“Haru!”

“I said no!”

 “Jalil, give me a second. Just keep doing what we discussed earlier.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

 “What’s with the shouting match in here? Do I need to put you two in timeout?” 

“Ms. Nakamura, please talk to your daughter. She’s trying to back out of our audition. Again.”

 “I never agreed to it. You signed me up without asking.”

 “Of course I did! If someone doesn’t give you a push, who knows how long you’ll hide in this house.”

“I’m not hiding."

“Says the girl that’s too afraid to play in front of anyone. Don’t make me drag you there.”

“I wish you would drag me there. And I am not afraid to play in front of people. I just don’t want to. That’s a big difference.

“Un huh”

“Don’t un huh me. I’m serious.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really.”

“So you can play in front of other people?”

“That’s what I just said.”

“Okay, we’ll see.”

 “Kalil, get in here!”

Although I had been eavesdropping, I was genuine when I asked “What’s the problem?” when I entered the room. I honestly had no clue why she wanted me.  

“Kalil, good news! Haruka Nakamura, yes the Haruka Nakamura. Haruka has just agreed to put on a very special performance for your ears only, right here and right now.”

“Isn’t that right, Haru?”

“No the hell it is not. April, what are you-”

“No no no. You just said you can play in front of other people. Play in front of him.”

“I never said I would play right-”

“Oh come on, Haru. I know we’re not being shy here? If you can work-out around him in those skimpy booty shorts every day, you can let him hear you play the piano too.”

 “If you call those booty shorts one more time-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, chop chop, move along.”

Despite Haruka’s moaning and groaning, April somehow managed to convince her. 

 “If you speak about this at school, I’ll kill you.”

Granted, she still didn’t seem too happy about it but I calmed her by telling her that I wouldn’t tell a soul.

And yet as soon as she started playing, I wanted to tell the world.

Because Haruka Nakamura played like a god.

Or rather she played like a goddess. A goddess that filled my ears with a delight that I had never known in my seventeen years of existence.  A delight that I was convinced should be shared with the world.