Two weeks. It was going to be two weeks for me to be able to take the brace off and play comfortably. I would still be in pain according to what my dad said, but it would feel as if I was pushing on a bruise, not pushing on a broken bone.

When Mr. Zee heard that, he squealed in delight and I walked away, pursing my lips. Man was he weird. The recital was going to take place a little over a week before school ended, but a couple of days before every final for Seniors started. That gave me enough time to re-learn the song and since my singer was in his seventh period class, I could just stay and practice with her.

As each day passed, I noticed something different with Nathan. He never tried to approach me, -which I appreciated- but I did see his eyes looking at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention. He always had a small smile on his face, and ever so often, he would blank out only to come back with a small scowl.

If I was to be honest, I would actually say I missed him. I missed our friendship and all the talks we used to have. He actually understood me -well from what I thought- and he didn't want to change me. He never objected over my change, and he never made me do things I didn't want to do without my permission first. That was one of the things I actually liked about him until I found out he was just playing with me and he wasn't being honest. So I didn't really know him. He was just a stranger to me when I thought I actually knew him.

My inner rantings always kept me occupied when I wasn't paying attention in class and the ability to not used my hand like before was beginning to irritate me. Ms. Hoff began to give us practice essays so we could be ready to write one under two hours, but I always gave up after half an hour. My arm burned and ached if I even dared to continue and I was not one of those lucky persons who could also write with their left hands. Lucky ambidextrous people..... So I almost always ended up turning in my essay with one or two paragraphs missing. She would just sigh, shake her head and waved me away.

How rude!!

Before I knew it, the two week mark came by and I was sitting down in my dads office as he poked and prodded my wrist.

"Does this hurt?" he asked as he placed pressure on a certain spot.

"Not really."

"How about here?"

"No."

"Here?"

"Nope." he moved his cold hands to a couple more spots and my answers were the same. I smiled as he finished and then I moved my fingers, wincing lightly as the pain from the movement quickly faded away.

"So can I play? It's part of my final."

He nodded quickly and then smiled. "Don't over use your hand though. It might be healed, but you can sprain it all over again if you don't watch what you're doing. When is the recital again?"

I rolled my eyes and zipped my lips closed. He glared at me playfully and I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his chest as much as I could without my glasses breaking. "Ask mom. She knows."

He kissed my head and after another squeeze, he released me and murmured, "Alright. Go home. Be safe and no more sitting out in the cold rain. I don't want to see you in this hospital as a patient ever again, okay?"

"Yes sir!" I giggled and saluted him like a soldier. He laughed, messed with my hair and I walked away, skipping here and there as my happiness flowed throughout me.

*

*

*

The next day, I got to school right before third period -I had decided to sleep in and boy did I sleep in. Why I hadn't done that before, I had no idea but I was loving it!! Since I had taken my brace off in the middle of the week, that gave me three extra days to practice and actually meet my singer. I was actually excited to do this!

The entire time I was sitting in English and Math, I was bouncing up and down in my seat, having a hard time concentrating on the final things the teachers were going over before the tests. I had to literally hold myself twice so I wouldn't bounce out of my seat, ready to get my fingers on a keyboard and start to play.

Lunch couldn't go by any faster, but what made me stop for a couple of seconds was what happened in the middle of it. I was sitting down in one of the booths at Subway, enjoying my sandwich when Nathan walked in, looking down at his phone. He smiled, rolled his eyes and tucked his phone into his back pocket before looking up. He caught my gaze and we stared at each other for a couple of seconds before I looked away and bit down on my sandwich. I heard him chuckle, but I ignored him and continued on like nothing happened. That was the first contact we had had since that night and it didn't feel... awkward. I still hadn't forgiven him yet, but those few seconds we gazed at each other, I couldn't help but to go back to the times when he was sitting across from me, throwing his chips in my direction trying to catch my attention.

Those were good times.....

After finishing my sub, and awkwardly walking out the place with Nathan hot on my trail, I made my way back to school while he still followed me. I didn't even bother looking back, or even acknowledge him as I passed his class and went straight to mine, going straight to my seat.

"I see happy news!" Mr. Zee smiled in delight as his eyes zoomed in on my brace-free hand and I smiled back. I ran my hand through the few strands of hair that had released from the loose ponytail and nodded. He handed me the familiar papers and after a quick warm up, I began with the familiar song.

I spent the entire two periods, going over the song while I ever so often rested my hand. It did hurt if I started to overplay so I only played for twenty minutes, rested for about ten and then continued again. When it was time for seventh, I walked over to Mr. Zee and asked him the vital question.

"Who is my singer?"

"Hope Sanders. She's a Senior as well and she's very shy. Why?"

"Oh well I was hoping I could meet her today and start to practice with her since we have a little over a week left to go...."

"Yeah. Of course. Is your hand up for the task?"

"I'll manage," I laughed and he nodded. I stood to the side as the room slowly started to fill in. It wasn't a big group -eighteen max and I frowned slightly. This class is way bigger than both of my piano classes, combined. So how was each girl having their own piano player?

It seemed like he read my mind because he walked over to me and whispered under his breath, "I gave them two choices. Sing in front of whoever shows up for the show and get a 100 no matter what happens or sing in front of the class and do a handwritten portion. Your grade depends on how you do on both. I was surprised when the exact number of girls decided to sing in front of everyone, so it actually worked out great...... Oh! There she is!"

I looked up just as a red-headed girl walked in. Her face was covered in freckles and her big blue eyes widen when she saw me. She immediately looked down and bit her lip as she went to her seat and waited for the bell to ring.

"Actually Hope can you come here please?" Mr. Zee called out and she slowly stood up. Once she was standing in front of us, he continued. "This is Claire, your partner. She is finally able to play so you will be spending today's period with her. You two can go into my office and practice there."

I nodded and turned around while I heard her gulp and whisper a quiet "Okay," before following me. Once we got there, she slowly closed the door and stood as far away from me as she could, not even bothering to look at me.

Just being in the same room with her for about ten seconds made me realize how alike we were. I wasn't used to being around people and was shy myself when meeting someone new, but she just took it to another level. The only difference between us was that being bullied was not what caused her shyness. She was naturally shy and I knew it was going to be hard to crack her shell.

"Well then let's get started huh?" I said, breaking the silence and she flinched.

I groaned silently to myself. What a great way to start!