When I reached my locker after school, he was already there, waiting for me. I dialled the 3 digit combination and the metal door swung open with a click.

“137. Does that happen to be your birthday? 13th July?” He raised his eyebrow.

I dumped my unwanted books into the locker, slammed it shut, and turned back to him, almost shouting, “I’m sure your Intelligence Quotient is high enough for you to realise that lock combinations are supposed to be a secret?”

“Fine… sorry, my bad. Chill alright?” He backed off.

I shouldered past him, only to have my left arm grabbed tightly, “You’re going the wrong way. My house’s this way; by the back gate.”
“Weirdo,” I muttered under my breath.

Liam’s house was a long way from school. We had to walk several miles before boarding a bus. And that’s not the end. After alighting, I found myself at an unfamiliar place, populated with dense natural vegetation. The umbrella crowns of those gigantic trees created a continuous canopy, blocking out sunlight from the undergrowth. This was perhaps the best reason there is to the humidity and damp smell from the leaf litter and grass.

“Shortcut,” Liam explained when I asked him as we hiked through the woods.

My legs were about to break when I finally caught a glimpse of sunlight peeking through the gaps of tree trunks. As we approached nearer, we finally reached a clearing. Right in the middle, was perhaps the most marvelous house I’ve ever seen.

It probably had about three or four storeys; maybe a basement and an attic too. It was a mansion of magnificent architecture, complete from the marble white brick walls to the Olympic – sized swimming pool. It seemed like a building from the heavens since it reflected so much sunlight with such high intensities. The back view of the house was already so beautiful. It was hard for me to imagine the front, which perhaps had 2 garages, a neatly pruned garden the size of a football field and maybe even a veranda.

Liam cleared his throat in a business – like manner and continued in a low voice, “Excuse me, Miss Triste. I would like to kindly point out that if you’re done scrutinizing the building, proceed this way please.”

“Alright, Mr Delizia. It’s a wonderful mansion you have here. I would be simply delighted to have a look around,” I grinned playfully.

“Hey! You’re smiling!” Liam reverted back to his natural voice.

I glared at him.

“Oops, sorry,” He cleared his throat once more, “Please follow me, ma’am. It would be an honour to have you with us today.”

The back gate creaked open and Liam led me in. He opened one of the many doors and we walked into what seemed like a kitchen. A black woman in a cotton blue uniform walked looked up from the sink and smiled at us.

“Oh, Natasha. This is Eliza. She’ll be staying for dinner. We’ll be in my room, and anything, I’ll call you,” Liam spoke casually.

As we stepped into the hall, I was amazed at how impressive it looked. There were 2 spiral staircases leading up to the second level corridor.  To the left corner of the front door, was a raven black grand piano. Not a baby grand piano, a full sized one. There were also a few violin stands and a few velvet covered chairs. I sort of guessed Liam was born in a musical family, but all these seem a little obsessive over music.

I could have stood there all day if not for Liam, who held my hand and dragged me to the opposite end of the hall.

“Is the staircase not there?” I asked stupidly.

“We’re taking the lift. I doubt you would want to climb the stairs after walking in the woods,” Liam chuckled.

My jaw dropped.

“You have a lift in your house?!” I gasped.

“No. I have 2 lifts actually. Is there a problem?” He looked right into my eyes.

Ding.

We stepped into the lift and he pressed a button that led us to the fourth floor. After the lift stopped, we took a right turn and Liam opened the second door.

The room was as magnificent as the rest of the house. It looked more modern though, more like a teen bedroom, compared to the corridors, the lift or the hall. The bed was made nicely, and the study desk was tidied up neatly, with organized shelves. And next to it, was my favourite instrument.

“You play the guitar?” I ran over and held up the six-stringed instrument.

It was gorgeous. The strings were all in tune, from the first to the last and the beautiful black tinted, polished wood was free of fingerprints. It didn’t look like Liam had touched it in awhile. Then, I realised my actions and placed it down softly where I found it.

“Go on. It’s been awhile since I touched that baby. Play me something,” He closed the door softly and sat cross legged on the floor, waiting for me to begin.

“If you insist,” I picked the guitar up again and sat cross- legged infront of Liam, strumming a few chords.

Before I knew what I was doing, I noticed my left hand was moving on its own, from fret to fret, and my right hand was strumming on auto pilot. I was humming a tune. Neither did I know what tune it was, nor which song I adapted it from. It just sounded decent. And right infront of me, Liam was jotting everything down in shorthand on a pad of manuscript.

“Hold up. What are you doing?” I tapped the strings lightly, ending the vibrations.

“Just analyzing the beautiful chords you used in your song. It’s worth studying,” He looked up from his work.

“You think it’s original? I’m most likely just playing something I heard over the radio or the web,” I snapped.

“I’m a hundred and one percent sure it’s an original composition. It’s got your style. Now I’m sure we came here for a reason,” Liam gathered up his manuscript and went to start up the computer.

I place the guitar back where I found it. It would be awhile before it was played again.