I felt the corners of my lips tug upward involuntarily as I closed my eyes, feeling the calming aura that only the sound of a violin could produce. In my twenty-one years of existence, I had honestly thought that I would never truly appreciate the sound of violins.

***

Complaining endlessly as my mother had not-so-nicely dragged me into an orchestra, I had expected to fall asleep the moment they had drawn the curtains open. Being a drummer in a heavy metal band, I had a reputation to protect. Orchestras were supposed to be boring. Old people surrounding you as their so-called ‘ancient’ odor wafted through the room, a snore here and there; this was definitely not a place for a heavy metal drummer. But my mother, whom I had paid a short visit to, insisted that we go, muttering something about how deafening our music is and how too much of it would be horrible for my psychological state. Despite all my protests, however, she had managed to persuade me into tagging along with her. (Well, not so much persuading. More forced, really.)

From the corner of my eye, I saw my mother glare at me as I yawned. I was getting impatient and the constant yawning of the elderly weren’t much help. On the contrary, they only contributed to the sudden heaviness of my eyelids. I fidgeted in my quite uncomfortable seat, tugging slightly at the collar of the vaguely itchy tuxedo my mother, who once again, forced me into wearing.

After what had felt like an eternity, the curtains were finally drawn open, revealing the instrumentalists with their assigned instruments, seated in a certain order. The conductor entered the stage, giving a bow before facing the orchestra and tapping his conductor stick on the sheet stand, signaling them to get ready.

The first part of the show was a blur. I had not paid attention to much of it, falling asleep during the first five minutes.

***

I was awoken by my mother, who shook her head in annoyance. As soon as she had told me that they had called for a twenty minute intermission, I immediately excused myself, saying I had to use the restroom. There, I splashed some water on my face, trying to wake myself up.

I went back to my seat, just in time, as they started to dim the lights. As I tried to make myself comfortable once again, my mother leaned over and whispered, “Please try to stay awake this time.”

I shrugged at her and whispered back, “No promises.”

She sighed, getting comfortable as well.

The curtains were raised and I felt my eyes droop again.

Then I saw him. Someone I had never met before, yet I knew I would never forget his face.
Porcelain skin with a permanent blush upon his cheeks, making him look like an innocent kid; luscious dirty blonde hair that I wanted to run my hands through; an adorable button nose that twitched like a bunny’s; light azure orbs that could easily captivate my fierce green ones; full, pink, pouty lips that I wanted to capture in mine.

He gave the audience a crooked smile. He looked to be in his early twenties; and I couldn’t help but notice how much younger he looked when he smiled. He scanned the audience once, as if trying to know them.

He raised his violin up to his chin, positioning his bow against the strings. His sapphire orbs scanned the crowd once more and stopped directly at my emerald ones. I could have sworn he gave me a smile as he started playing his instrument, closing his eyes and getting into what he was doing. As he did, only one thought ran through my mind; he will be mine.

***

I reopened my eyes, only to be met by his once again. I hadn’t even realized that I was smiling throughout his performance. I gave him a slight nod, a tiny gesture that he did amazing. I saw as his eyes lit up as his smile widened. And I had a feeling that it wasn’t because the audience (including me, of course) was giving him the loudest round of applause any of the performers had ever received; I had a feeling that it was because I gave him that nod, that reassurance.

He took a bow before exiting the stage, shooting one last glance at me, giving me a small smile.

I had not paid any attention to the rest of the show, although it seemed like I did, for I was smiling the rest of it, making my mother happy as well.

I couldn’t get the boy out of my head. Would we meet again? Would we part forever? Do I have a chance with him? These questions were left unanswered as my mother pulled me up from my seat, practically dragging me.

I was in too much of a trance to notice that she was heading towards backstage. When I did, it was too late to fix up my hair, which was messed up from leaning my head back against the seat, in case I ran into the beautiful being I had encountered not too long ago.

She made her way through the instrumentalists, muttering an “Excuse me” as she passed them. She stopped in the middle, standing on her toes as her eyes scanned the sea of people. When she had finally found who she was looking for, she beamed and continued dragging me with her.

I was wonderstruck when I had realized that it was the boy from a while ago, standing with whom I assumed was his mother, seeing as she was too old to be a sister or a girlfriend.

“Kyle, honey, you were amazing!” My mother gushed. Before I was even aware of what was happening, my mother had turned to me, inconspicuously pushing me in front of her. “Sweetie, this is my best friend, your Aunt Lila’s son. Why don’t you two introduce yourselves to each other while Lila and I catch up?”

Before I could respond, my mother was already walking away with an aunt I didn’t know about.

“Hey! I’m Kyle,” he said, shooting me that same smile from when he was on stage as he held his hand out for me to shake.

“It’s a pleasure,” I replied, reciprocating. “I’m Cher.”

“So Cher, how’d you like the show?”

“To be honest, your performance was the only one I liked. I’m not really into classical music,” I shrugged.

“Oh? And what kind of music are you into?”

“Heavy metal,” I replied proudly.

“Really? You don’t look like it. You look too innocent. Do you play any instruments?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I actually play drums in a heavy metal band.”

“Cool. Maybe you could teach me sometime?” He asked, flashing me a million dollar smile.

“Only if you teach me how to play violin,” I smiled cheekily.

And in that moment, I knew that this would not be the last time I would see him; that this was only the beginning for us.