Work Text:
"Exactly how long have you been standing there?"
Grant smiles at Skye from the doorway to the high school music room. She's sitting at the grand piano in the room, a shy smile on her face.
He takes a step towards her, "Not long. I saw you in here as I walked by. Thought I'd stop and see what's going on," he drops his backpack to the ground and then leans against the piano.
"I've always loved the piano," she tells him, looking down at the keys in front of her. "But I've never had lessons and I don't even know how I'd go about teaching myself how to play. So sometimes during lunch or after school I'll come in here and just sit. Ms. Larson doesn't mind me coming in here." She shakes her head, "I know it probably sounds silly."
"No, it doesn't."
Skye looks up at Grant, "It doesn't?"
He shakes his head, "Nope. It's not at all silly to have a dream."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a dream."
"Then what would you call it?"
Skye tilts her head in thought, "Wonderment."
Grant smiles and nods his head, "That's a good way to put it."
"Yeah." She looks down at the piano again, "I don't know what it is about the piano that fascinates me so much. I think it might be because you can make so many different sounds with a piano, and they're all so beautiful, no matter what sound you're making."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too." He moves around behind Skye to the other end of the piano bench and sits down next to her. He lets his hands hover over the keys before taking a deep breath and resting his hands on the ivory keys. He takes another deep breath before starting to play out a smooth, flowing melody. Skye watches in awe as his fingers fly gracefully across the keys, creating the most beautiful sounds she's ever heard.
When he finishes playing, he pulls his hands off the keys and rests them on his pant legs.
"Wow," is all Skye can say. "That was…amazing. Really amazing."
He ducks his head, "Thanks. It's uh—it's just something I came up with."
Her eyes widen, "On the spot?"
He chuckles and looks up at her, "No, I didn't come up with it just on the spot. I've been working on it for a while."
"Well it's really good."
"Thanks. I like to play around with different melodies. But that's all I ever have, just the melodies."
"How long have you been playing?"
"For as long as I can remember. My mom is the one who taught me how to play. She was really good at the piano; she used to play the most amazing songs for me to fall asleep to. She could have been a professional, but she had to take care of me, my brother, and my sister. She was a single mom."
"Was?" Skye asks hesitantly.
Grant nods his head and looks down, "Yeah. She uh, she died when I was in sixth grade."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Thanks," he gives her a small smile.
"Can I ask how she died?"
Grant nods his head. He looks at Skye, "She was really sick. Had been for a few years. It was pretty hard on my older brother and sister. We moved in with my Gramsy after my mom passed; my brother and sister weren't too happy about moving because we went to a different city so they had to leave all their friends. I wasn't too good at making friends back then, so it wasn't as hard on me as it was on them."
"Wow. That must not have been easy for your Gramsy either."
"It wasn't," he tells her honestly. "But we all managed to get through it. I stopped playing piano for a while, because I couldn't play it without thinking about my mom."
"And now?"
"Now," he takes a deep breath, sitting up straight, "I play it in her memory." He looks over at Skye and smiles, "When I play, it feels like she's right there beside me, encouraging me and rooting me on."
Skye smiles, "That's really great. But now I have a question for you. And it's okay if you say no."
"I think I'd like to hear the question first before I possibly say no."
"Oh, right." She looks down, playing with her hands in her lap, "Teach me how to play?"
"What?"
"Will you teach me how to play the piano?" she repeats, looking up at him. "I understand if you don't want to, because it's something you shared with your mom, but I want to learn how to play and you know how so I thought it'd be a good idea. But now that I think about it, you might not want to, and that's totally okay because—"
"Skye!"
"Yeah?"
He gives her a small smile, "I'd love to teach you."
"Really? Because you don't have to. It was something special you shared with your mom."
He smiles, "It's fine, really. In fact, I think she'd be the one telling me to teach you. I think she'd want me to share my talent with someone."
Skye smiles, "Awesome. Thanks."
"No problem. So, do you want to start right now, or…?"
"Um, not right now. I have a bunch of homework and stuff. But uh, maybe tomorrow? During lunch?"
Grant nods his head, "I'll be here."
Skye beams, "Awesome. Okay. This is great." She stands up from the bench and picks up her bag, swinging it onto her shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Tomorrow."
Skye gives him a small wave as she turns and makes her way out of the music room. A smile is on her face the whole way home; she's finally going to learn the piano.