It was at the age of 12 that my uncle died. It was then that I learned that Danielle had married him. It explained to me why she never ran off. She had full custody of us in the end. We stayed in the house for a few more months until we moved in with a man named Fredrick. He was an older man but he was really nice. How Danielle knew this man, I never found out. Not that I even mind.

He was like a Grandfather to me. He taught me just about everything I know. From playing the flute to speed reading to even shooting a rifle. He told me stories about how he fought in wars and how he was awarded a bunch of medals. He was strict because of that aspect. I didn't mind though. It was better than how I was living before. I liked waking up at sunrise saluting to him. It was fun. 

He was a good teacher because of this. Just as he taught me to play the flute and violin, he taught others too. There was student that came by almost every day. A brunette with strange pieces of hair sticking out and old man glasses. His name was Roderich and we didn't like each other at all. You see, we were complete opposites. He was this prissy upper class boy and I was a poor ADHD ridden child. It was the battle of the well-mannered and the ill-mannered. The most natural of enemies. 

To be fair, I was the worst person to him. 

"Leave me alone!" He whined while I was poking him with a pencil out of boredom. He couldn't really escape me either. You see, he was in a wheelchair because of this back problem that he had. Fredrick had told me to look out after him while he waited for his mom. 

"I don't want to." I smirked. 

He groaned, "Why are you like this?"

"I don't know-why are you like that?" 

"You are the worst."

"I can be worse than the worst." 

"Please don't be."

"But that's no fun." I pouted. "You're no fun."

"I can be fun." 

"Prove it.

He thought for a moment, "How about a joke?"

"Okay."

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Who."

"That joke sucks and you know it."

"What do you want from me then!?" He whined.

"Something interesting."

"You're not worth it." He crossed his arms and looked away from me. I was, of course, offended. As an unstable child, I did things impulsively. Next thing I knew, he was on the ground. His wheelchair knocked over and I was standing over him. The fear in his eyes is forever burned into my brain. He was about to say something when I cut him off.

"What are you going to do? Stand up?"

He didn't come for a lesson for a little while after that. When he came back, he changed a lot. He was nicer to me but also more distance. He wasn't quite scared of me as he was intrigued. He would watch me with this intense stare.

It was about a month after that he started talking to me again. A friendship blossomed between us then. We didn't talk about the past or anything. Not yet anyway. We simply talked about whatever was interesting. Often times it was about music. It was his whole world after all.

I looked forward to talking to him after his lessons because the information was still fresh in his mind. He was would explain it to me in the most boring way but he always ended up playing it. The way he played the piano was mesmerizing. He did it so effortlessly.

I tried to learn the piano because he made it look so easy. I wasn't patient enough for it. I preferred instruments like the violin and flute because there was less hand movement.

Sometimes we played together and put on a little concert for Danielle and Fredrick. We would play some fairly hard pieces like Fur Elise. None mesmerized me more than pieces from Chopin.

"What are you doing?" I asked Rod after his practice one day.

"I'm trying to figure out this new song." He answered, concentrated.

"Can I hear?"

"Sure." He played the first few measures. It was a slightly somber tone. A tad bit of hope added into the mix for good measure. I was entranced. I didn't realize that Rod had messed up and stopped halfway through.

"That's so cool." I murmured.

"You think so?" Rod asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It's awesome!"

Next thing I knew, all I was hearing was Chopin when Rod was at the house for his lessons. And each time, a big goofy grin would fill my face.