It was every night now. Every night, Liesl would lie awake in bed, still running her hands over her goosebumps and still giddy from the events that had transpired before she retired herself to her room. As far as Liesl was concerned, she had a perfect life; she was due to go to university once summer was over, she was studying music, and it was all she had wanted to do. But, her ever-present mother would disapprove of her actions over the past two years. Liesl would climb onto the roof of her two-story house to lay down and get a better look at the stars and moon. She started talking to her new neighbor, Florian, after discovering that the house across the alley was inhabited. The two got closer and closer until they would talk for hours and hours on end about anything they could think of.

Liesl had always imagined that her first kiss would be from a handsome man that her parents set her up with, but she was pleasantly surprised when Florian held her face between her hands and confessed her love for Liesl. After that day, the pair’s relationship had grown to the point where Florian was constantly showering Liesl in affection, remarking on her singing or beauty. She would always say how lucky she was to have Liesl to love. Liesl, however, wasn’t able to express her feelings to the same degree as Florian. She thought that the angle of Florian’s nose, the way her hair floated in the breeze, or how her arms moved when she went in to kiss Liesl was far too beautiful to be diminished by the boundaries of spoken language. So, she laughed and would lean into Florian’s touches, bringing her roses or snippets of sheet music that reminded Liesl of her. They would sit on the railing of Liesl’s balcony and stare at the alleyway that separated them, almost preventing them from seeing each other in the dead of night, or they would stare at the night sky and count the stars. The two had plans to go to university together and run away once they had gleaned all the knowledge of the world they could. Both Florian and Liesl had confessed that their parents were putting pressure on them to marry. Florian had admitted that she yelled at her parents when they suggested a husband, and Liesl had always thought that her parents would never enforce a marriage upon her despite them desperately hinting at their want for a son-in-law. However, Liesl’s thoughts proved false one fateful summer day.

On that summer day, Liesl awoke by sunlight streaming in from her open windows. She could hear quiet scoffs and looked in the direction of the sound; now standing next to Liesl’s dresser, her mother was hanging up a lacy dress, smoothing out the fabric and shaking her head in disappointment.

“Oh, do wake up already. We have a busy day ahead of us,” her mother sighed, turning around and rubbing her temples, “I don’t know what you do at night, but it is no excuse to waste the day away in bed.”

Liesl’s mother, Mrs. Blicken, was a very busy lady. She constantly went to board meetings or Sunday afternoon tea parties with her friends. She had brought Liesl to one of these parties when she was younger. And while Liesl enjoyed the refreshments, she thought that the company was about as delightful as listening to her old math teacher lecture the class on why proper ladies should take their time learning needlepoint instead of quadratic equations. Mrs. Blicken was also of the opinion that Liesl should spend her Saturdays learning the art of flower arranging as opposed to, as Mrs. Blicken so eloquently put it, ‘carousing with the ruffians.’

Liesl yawned and stretched, throwing off the heavy blankets and stepping into her slippers. She picked up a cup of coffee and turned to her mother, “I was awake, mother, just thinking about what the day would bring me.” She took a drink from her cup before looking her mother in the eye, “And, it seems awfully important to you, so tell me, what are today’s plans?”

Mrs. Blicken smiled, running her hands over Liesl’s roll-top desk. If she opened the top and looked at the paper in the typewriter, she would see a song dedicated to Florian. Liesl prayed that Mrs. Blicken did not open the desk. “If everything goes according to plan, you will become Mrs. Matthews before the year is over.”

“Matthews?” Liesl paused, wracking her brain for all the possible suitors her mother had mentioned, not remembering a Mr. Matthews in the lineup.

“Your father and I have been talking to the Matthews family for some time now, and we have agreed that it would be beneficial for both families if you and their son, Damien, were to marry.” Mrs. Blicken replied, “The wedding will be in two months, so you better tell whomever you’re sneaking out to see that you will not be able to act foolishly anymore.”

“Mother, I’m not sneaking out to see anyone,” Liesl lied, setting the now empty coffee cup down on the dresser, “‘You shouldn’t listen to rumors that have no proof.’ That’s what you always said to me.”

Her mother frowned, clearly not believing her daughter, “We’ll see about that… Now, I will take my leave to prepare for tonight’s dinner. Wear the dress I brought up, and try to be on your best behavior. Nothing must go wrong this evening.”

Liesl sighed and nodded, sensing that now was not the correct time to argue with her mother. She wasn’t sure there ever was a suitable time, seeing that her mother could sniff out lies from a mile away and had a rebuttal for everything. The best way to get away with ‘improper behavior’ was to avoid the subject entirely and, when asked, give a half-truth. Liesl found that half-truths were far more believable than lies or sometimes the whole truth. For example, Mrs. Blicken might believe that Liesl was sneaking out to see a boy from a lower-standing household, but she would never think that Liesl was seeing her neighbor since Mrs. Blicken convinced herself that Forian and Liesl were the best of friends and nothing more.

Liesl’s thoughts turned to Florian; what would she say about this arrangement? It wasn’t Liesl’s fault, yet she did feel guilty at the prospect of marrying someone who wasn’t Florian. She didn’t want to marry Damien Matthews, but she couldn’t see a plausible way out of the situation.

Later into the day, after Liesl had a late breakfast and practiced her piano, she heard a knock on her window. Standing on the balcony, there was none other than Florian, the girl inhabiting Liesl’s thoughts for the day thus far. Opening the window, Florian stepped into Liesl’s room and immediately remarked on the dress hung up in Liesl’s closet.

“You going to the world’s fanciest ball or something?” She laughed and swung her arm around Liesl. Florian had always been one for theatrics and jokes, saying that she wanted to be a famous actress when she grew up, “I can’t believe you didn’t invite me, oh how my heart fills with sorrow,” she brought a hand up to her brow in mock disbelief.

“Well, my dear, it isn’t every day you get a marriage proposal. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t overstepping on poor Mr. Damien Matthews by bringing along the love of my life,” Liesl retorted, leaning into Florian’s embrace and sighing, “Why couldn’t my mother have waited until I went away to university? It would be so much easier just to ignore her demands.”

Florian hugged Liesl tighter, “It seems as if Plan R has to be carried out,” she looked down at Liesl with a mischievous smile, “It’s called Plan R because it stands for ‘Run away with Florian from your evil mother who’s forcing you to get married.’” Liesl snorted, but Florian continued, “Not to be confused with Plan ‘Realize you’re madly in love with me and want to move to a different city, get a job, and be happy together,’ even though I would be perfectly content with either one of those plans.”

“Plan R and Plan R both sound amazing,” Liesl laughed, “How about Plan ‘Running away takes a lot of planning, so we might want to get started on that right away?’”

Florian nodded at that and guided Liesl to sit on the chaise lounge in the corner of the room. Liesl sat with a notebook, and Florian stood up taller, reenacting possible scenarios and spilling the secrets of running away that she had learned from books and plays. Eventually, Liesl went to her typewriter and typed up two copies of a plan. They edited the list together, and Liesl typed a second, third, and fourth draft. They continued until the sky disappeared from view, setting behind tall buildings and hazy clouds. Smoke from the industrial side of town partially obscured the sunset, and Florian deemed it time to return to her side of the alley.

“You get ready for your fancy dinner,” she said, “Keep up the same attitude you had this morning; your mother will get suspicious if you’re too complacent. I’ll get started on the escape route.” With that, Florian kissed Liesl’s cheek and climbed down from the balcony as Liesl started to get dressed for dinner.

It was very late at night, and Liesl was drinking a glass of water in her room. The dinner was decent; the food was good, as always, and Damien Matthews was not a demon with horns and a pitchfork, contrary to Liesl’s beliefs. If she didn’t love Florian so dearly and felt one ounce of attraction towards Damien, she wouldn’t be too upset with marrying him. Sadly for Damien, Liesl loved Florian dearly. She felt nothing when she looked into his eyes, which she did throughout dinner, searching for ulterior motives and anything sinister hiding behind his pupils. Liesl did feel bad about running away, Damien would surely take the fall, and Mrs. Blicken would blame him. Both of their social standings would plummet because of Liesl’s actions. She didn’t feel anything but contempt towards her mother, but she only felt pity towards Damien, who was probably also forced into this arrangement.

Changing into her nightgown and climbing into bed, Liesl thought about the plan she and Florian created earlier that day, and all traces of guilt faded from her mind. As the moon climbed higher and higher into the sky, circling the world on its hazy path, and the stars tried to shine through the clouds, Liesl slept, dreaming of a life where she could be who she wanted to be. She would be on a stage, playing her heart out, scanning the audience for Florian, who would undoubtedly buy her a drink after the performance, and smiling before launching into a melody they had written together. She dreamed that they ran away together and that her mother was sorry she ever forced Liesl to do anything. She wished so hard that her dreams could come to fruition, and as the sun crept over the horizon, she woke up and started her day.

A month and a half passed since Florian and Liesl made plans. Wedding chores filled the past weeks, most of which were highly tedious. Then came Liesl’s personal favorite: wedding cake tasting. She had also learned a lot about Damien in their time together. She discovered that Damien’s favorite color was yellow, that he loved philosophy, and that his favorite cake flavor was red velvet with strawberry ice cream. Florian and Liesl had also added the final touches to their plans, and the two had decided to run away in three days, just ten days away from the wedding. They were cutting it close, for sure, but they had very little time, to begin with.

It was Tuesday morning, eleven days from the wedding and one day from Liesl and Florian’s escape; it had been raining, and Liesl couldn’t see anything from her window. Florian was sitting on the chaise lounge when she suddenly jumped up.

“Liesl! I just remembered, I need to buy something for the plan,” Florian exclaimed, grabbing Liesl’s hands in her own, “I’ll be right back; I’m going to the clothing shop across the train tracks. We need new outfits to blend in,” She said and mimed blending into the shadows.

“Okay,” Liesl said, silently yelling at herself for not remembering that sooner, “Just stay safe, alright? The tracks get slippery when wet.”

Florian shook her head aggressively, little pieces of hair flying out from her braid, “Don’t you worry, I’ve made the trip many times and never gotten hurt before. A little rain won’t do anything to me.”

Florian couldn’t have been more wrong. It was late at night when Liesl got the news, three hours after Florian left to get the clothes. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. If Liesl could blame anything, it would be the rain. The police said that Florian didn’t see the train coming, and the train couldn’t stop in time even if it could see her.

Liesl had wanted to dig a hole in the muddy garden and bury herself. She knew that Florian would want her to run away and see her dreams come true, but she wasn’t sure she could do it without Florian by her side. She went to her closet, planning on grabbing the box of supplies they had collected over the last month and a half before she paused. Tacked on the inside of Liesl’s closet was a photograph of Liesl and Florian together after their high school graduation. They were all dressed in fancy clothes and held their high school diplomas. Liesl remembered the conversation they had that night. Florian asked Liesl if she wanted to run away, but Liesl said no, that she wanted to go to university first. Florian was disappointed, but in the end, she couldn’t run away with Liesl if Liesl didn’t want to run away in the first place.

Tears threatened to run down Liesl’s cheeks as she stared at the photograph. She sat down on the floor and cried, not wanting to run away without Florian, but also not to betray Florian’s dreams by marrying someone else.

If only she could move on and find love in her fiance, who really wasn’t the worst person she ever met. If only she could go to university and become a pianist without thinking about Florian every time her fingers hit the keys. If only the reason why she wanted to leave was because of her mother and not because of some girl she met two years ago.

If she hadn’t met Florian, she would have married Damien in eleven days instead of packing her trunk full of clothes, sheet music, and everything she could fit. The jewelry Florian bought her, the photographs of the two of them, half-finished compositions made in the dead of night, all reminded Liesl of Florian’s visits from the other side of the alley. And so, she walked to the train station and boarded the next train to whatever city was listed. She didn’t care, just as long as she was out of reach from her old life. 

The following day, Mrs. Blicken knocked on Liesl’s door and, not hearing a response, opened it and walked inside only to find a photograph of her daughter and Florian on the piano. After weeks of unsuccessful search parties, both families canceled the wedding, and Mrs. Blicken cursed very loudly and unladylike when she finally put the pieces together. 

It was every night now. Every night, Liesl would play for people she didn’t know. People who wanted to have a good night, or people who wanted to forget like her. She slowly forgot her old life, her mother, Damien Matthews, the ladies at her mother’s tea parties, her math teacher, but not Florian. Liesl’s memory of Florian spurred on her passion. It was what got her up in the morning and lulled her to sleep at night. The memories were fuel for Liesl; they were what lit the fire of her music.