Color

I didn’t know why, but I was seeing a very pale yellow. It was a section of hair. I didn’t know who it belonged to. At the time, I thought it was an illusion. It was real. When I was young, we got into a car crash. We were rear ended. My dad held me tight and covered my eyes trying to shield them. He was killed in that accident. I just bawled for what seemed like an eternity. I hadn’t opened them since the accident and when I did, It was all black and white. Since that terrible day, I was colorblind.
“Brandon Harris? Do we have a Brandon Harris here?” The substitute teacher asked.
“Yeah”, “Yes”, “Uh-huh” multiple students replied to the teacher. The teacher put on a frown.
“I want to hear from Mr. Harris! I did not ask anyone else!” She got angry, but I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear her. I was distracted by the flick of color I had thought I’d seen. Multiple students started to point at me.
“Oh, yes? I’m here, Miss-” I piped up and was quickly cut off by the next student’s name. I wasn’t sure what I had seen earlier, but it was ingrained in my head. I had not been imagining.
The bell rung and I was about to head off to the bus, I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. Everything looked normal; my hair was near black colored, not brown. My eyes were pale grey, not blue. I wasn’t going crazy, or was I? I had to leave, the busses were leaving shortly, and I had always liked to be ahead of them. I usually would walk home from school. Then, over at the shortest part of the building, on top of the technology office I saw something, some color. I dropped everything. I ran as fast as I could, filling my shoes with snow, there was color. I remembered what it looked like. I wasn’t about to let the color get away, I was going to find the source of it. Its shape, it was a person, and they were about to jump.
It was in the air, it was small and skinny, and it was wearing a light blue uniform. it was pale, it had blonde hair, and black shoes. It was a girl. I noticed every little feature of color within it in a split second. I jumped and caught her, saving her from the fall.
“Aww come on! Why did you catch me? Do you know how hard it was to get up there? Fun sponge!” She yelled so much. She must have had been insane. I wasn’t big fat, or strong. I was quite weak, the normal guy. So she seemed heavy to me.
“You could have killed yourself, and lay off the food, you weigh a lot. I might have not been able to catch you” I was so naive saying something like that, I also seemed to think I was strong.
BINK! The girl slapped me right across the face.
“That’s mean to say! I weigh 90 pounds, you must be weak!” She exclaimed at me in a fit of rage. Maybe I had been too passive aggressive.
“The real question is why you would jump off a building! It could get you killed, or severely injured!” I exclaimed, I had forgotten about the colors at this point.
“A small fall like this would not have killed me! Plus, there’s a pile of snow, a perfect pillow for a fall like this!” She responded with a calm tone.
“You-” I yelled and stopped as I noticed the snow around me, it didn’t look white, it felt like so much more, it looked like an entire different color.
“Why are you colorful?” I asked her.
“What do you mean?” She responded, confused.
“I’ve been color-blind for years now, but I can see your color, and the snow. Why is this? Who are you?” I said more confused than she was.
“I’m Amanda; I have no clue about your color mishap. Are you sure you aren’t going insane?” She replied to me with hint of mischief in her eyes. She looked like she was about to whack me again.
“No, I am not going crazy, it’s all real. I’m Brandon, and I have been colorblind since I was 9.” I said
“Oh, well, I was taking a tour here today, I’ll be attending the school here soon. I’m waiting for my ride.” She said. I thought she was after my friendship when out of nowhere BONK! She whacked me right on the head.
“That’s for calling me fat!” She exclaimed. I thought she had already hit me once for that.  She was as insane as a mad scientist from a cartoon!
“I’m sorry! Okay?” I responded whilst holding back tears from the excruciating pain she had just inflicted upon me.
“Oh, my grandpa is here, it’s time for me to go.” She told me when she was leaving. I had to remember, keep the color, that’s what worried me the most
“Hey, can I, may I take a picture of you? I’m sorry, that sounds weird, but I want to keep the colors, in case we never see again.” I said that as if she would be gone tomorrow, but I knew I would see her again. After all, she would be attending this school. Why would I just suddenly, have seen her color? She was the sun, the brightness of the colors glowed in my face.
“Sure! I’d be glad to help!” She replied, with a smile the size of Jupiter.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I always liked Fridays, it was the day before the weekend, but that didn’t matter. I was still thinking about Amanda. It had been 2 days since our encounter. Period two was piano class, I thoroughly enjoyed that class. I was pretty good at piano. I tried out for the intermediate class when I was a freshman and made it in. Since I was a sophomore, I was in the third piano class, it’s a challenging class and most students dropped out after the second. It’s like watching the clock tick down as you slowly waste your time when after watching the clock you decide that it was fun.
I walked into class and a girl wearing the school uniform was sitting in a chair that used to be unoccupied. She was new, and she was pale, and blue, and blonde. It was Amanda. The bell rung but my focus was on Amanda, she still was not black and white.
“Hello students! Today, we have a new student joining us, Amanda Simmons. She’s the first person in the history of the school to join the Master Level of piano as a freshman!” The teacher said excitedly. She went down the attendance list of 10 or so students. Then she dismissed us to practice after reminding us of our test.
I sat down at my piano, but I didn’t open it. I sat there, lost in my thoughts. When suddenly…
“Hey! Brandon, right? So you play the piano? That’s nice.” Amanda asked me. I looked at her dumbfounded. Most of the other students started to play the piano practicing the piece.
“Thanks for catching me yesterday, turns out, that fall might have hurt more than I thought.” She said in a lower, calmer tone.
“If you jump off another building, I’ll be there to catch you.” I said, suddenly regretting every word I had just said. I didn’t love her. Did I? She’s just a human, just a color that I have been longing to see. Maybe I did love her. We’d only met. My heart raced. My face turned a faint pink, but then I snapped back to reality.
“Hey earth to Brando” She said. I snapped back to reality as she started talking again. “Thanks, I’ll make sure to call you next time I decide to jump off of something.”
“Um, sorry, my name’s Brandon, not Brando.” I responded in a sheepish tone.
“Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to, it doesn’t matter. Are you any good at the piano?” She asked me curiously.
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty good. I guess, but I bet you must be way better.” I replied.
“How old are you? You don’t look big or small. It’s hard to tell.” She asked.
“I’m 16, I’m a sophomore. You’re freshmen, right?” I replied in a matter of fact tone.
“Yeah, I’m 15.” She said in a cheerful voice. It’s a sign. She would be important in my life, whether it’s love, or friendship. She was truly important. I could see her color.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I exited the same spot after school as I do every day. There Amanda stood; she was standing on a bench near the back of the school, where her grandfather had picked her up the day before. Her first day must have been exciting.
“Hey! Brando! Come over here!” She exclaimed. I walked over to her.
“What do you want?” I replied, ready to go home.
“Why do you come out here, aren’t the busses on the other side of the school?”
“I usually walk; I live about five minutes away, walking distance.” I replied. Trying to dip away so I could leave.
“That sounds fun, can I come with you today?” She asked me. I started to be fearful she was going to slap me in the face again, but this time, everything seemed more genuine. It was her first day at school, and she had made a friend.
“Sure, I guess, why not?” I responded.
We started to walk along the sidewalk and she looked at me with a half smile. She seemed to gloom, lose her fire.
“Why do you play piano?” She asked me, in a lower, calm tone.
“My family likes it, I like it, it’s a beautiful instrument. What about you?” I asked curiously.
“I’m participating in a competition. I have to win the competition. If I win the prize money, I can pay for my surgery. We can’t afford the surgery, so this is my last chance. The piano makes people happy. How am I supposed to continue playing for them, if I can’t play the piano at all?” She replied.
The words she spoke were depressing, and upsetting. She wanted to continue playing for everyone, she wanted to make more people happy than just herself, her family and maybe even her future partner.
“I can see your colors, it’s a sign, someone, something, or life. Either way, they want me to help you. I will help you prepare for the competition. It’s the least you can do for helping me get a glimpse at color once more.” I said
Next thing I knew the trees all turned green. It’s like my words shattered a wall. One with everything green in existence laying on the ground. Waiting for me, and I got to touch and see everything in there. She brought back the color in my life. She was the color in my life. I loved her, everything about her.
“I can see the colors on the pine trees now! They’re green, and my shirt is green! Look, that house is green! How did you do it?” I put my finger down after I had pointed at the several colors I hadn’t been able to see minutes ago. This was my path.
“Thank you, that’s…” She paused and looked at the ground for several seconds.
“One of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.” She smiled.
“Let’s get together after school and we can start working on the piece. Goodbye, I should head back to the school now, my grandpa will be picking me up in about 10 minutes.” She said to me. Then, she started walking toward the school. The colors I had just begun to see were a sure proof sign that I needed to help her win. What if the colors meant something else? Only time would tell, but I had to help her.
She was bringing back the color I was longing to see.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Choipatle? Chipotle? Chipolta? Some Spanish name that I couldn’t pronounce. Whatever it was, Amanda loved to eat there. She would constantly hound down on the tacos. I wondered how she stayed so slim. She seemed happy though, so I never minded. There was one right next to my mom’s apartment complex, so we always met there before going to practice. Usually I never was able to help too much, but I always was able to cheer her on and occasionally catch a mistake. She was good, very good.
It had been several weeks since I promised to help her practice.
“Hey, Brando! What’s up?” She asked smiling as I pulled out the chair and sat down. I was wearing a new green shirt that I had received as a gift. I came to like green a lot since I had been able to see it so clearly. She was wearing a blue shirt with the superman “S” symbol.
“I’m good, thanks for asking!” I smiled back at her.
“You’re wearing a new shirt. I guess you must really like green.” She said in a cheerful tone.
“I just really like the color, that’s all. I think red’s a nice color too, but what do I know?” I replied. After my joke, we both giggled a bit.
“Well, I have decided what my piece will be for the competition.” She told me suddenly catching me off guard.
“Well? What is it, you can’t leave me in suspense over that!” I shouted as quietly as possible.
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!” She said happily. I nearly facepalmed onto the ground after hearing about that.
“I’m kidding, I would love to do a piece of some more popular music, but I’m in particular into Chopin’s Étude Opus 25, No. 5. I like the pace and the sound.” She said to me as I let out a sigh.
“I’ve never heard the piece. Here, let me check it out.” I pulled out my phone and opened up a video of the song. I grabbed my headphones and plugged them in.
We watched the piece together whilst eating our food. Once we finished, we both looked at each other and smiled. It fit her perfectly, that music was designed for her. I just knew it. The music was a puzzle that was made to fit her skin.
“BEEP, BEEP” My alarm sounded as several people glanced at us until I managed to stop the alarm. I desperately wanted to help her with the piece while she first started working on it, but I had switched shifts with a coworker.
“Amanda, I have to go work. The spare apartment key is inside the fake rock. You won’t miss it. I’ve got to go! I’m sorry.” I said to her whilst trying to get out the door and walk over to the local Wendy’s.
“Thanks Brandon, I’m sorry that my piano is broken. I’m sorry.” she said in an apologetic tone. It’s almost as if she had a deep spiritual connection to the musical instrument.
Blue, I remembered it so well, the variation of light and dark. It was so common, and there it was. On every shirt, every pair of jeans, the color blue revealed itself. It all appeared before me.
“Goodbye!” Amanda said happily.
I smiled back and walked out the door. The colors were coming back to me, which was a great sign.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It had been two weeks since I was able to see the color blue. We were visiting a small courtyard, beautiful flowers. Well preserved for the middle of winter. I could see the color of the snow outside, despite its similarity to white. I noticed the difference. The few blue and green flowers were so colorful and bright.
“So why did you bring me out here?” I asked Amanda whilst smiling. She turned her head to me and began to speak.
“I thought you would like to see the colors of the flowers that you can see, in case…” She stopped. I knew what she was going to say.
“Unless you lose your ability to see the colors again.” She finished, upset. It crushed my insides to see her upset. I thought I nearly did lose the colors I had. I came over and rubbed her back comforting her.
“Are you two on a date?” a man said in from behind us. I turned around to see a middle aged man. Somewhere from his 20-40s. He wore a shirt of a color I couldn’t see, and he also wore blue jeans.
“Who are you? We’re not on a date! Say one more word and I’ll shove 50 petunias up your nostrils!” Amanda suddenly turned into a demon as she went off on this man.
“Calm down, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I am William. I noticed your shirt, the piano one. It’s quite fun, is it not? I simply love the piano!” The man said in a simple tone.
“Yeah, we both play the piano. She’s a lot better than I’ll ever be though!” I said happily to William.
“Don’t doubt yourself, young one. You may be better than you think!” William said in reply to my comment.
“So why do you play? Surely you have a reason!” William replied to me. As I was about to speak, suddenly…
“He-lp.” Amanda said in a gasped voice. She looked horrible, sick, blue. I froze, unable to move. I didn’t know if she was sick, or if she had an inhaler that she needed to use.
“9-1-1? There’s a girl, she can’t breathe. We’re in the Robin Meadows, we can get her to the entrance. Hurry!” William said quick to the phone. I was stunned by his speed, and stunned by the slow speed of myself.
“What is your name? Hers?” William asked me frantically.
“I’m Brandon, Brandon Harris, and she is Amanda Simmons.” I said quickly in a state of panic.
I was scared, what would happen, was she going to be okay, did she just need help breathing? Did she have lung cancer, or maybe she had a heart attack and couldn’t breathe. That made no sense. I was lost. What if she dies. I thought to myself. I didn’t want to lose the colors I desperately needed in my life. I didn’t want to lose her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I woke up in a car, it smelled of a sweet aroma, that of a flower.  It must have been William’s car, this guy must have loved piano. There were discs to my right and left, Chopin, Billy Joel. He could have been the famous musician! Then I remembered. Amanda was beginning to suffocate. Then everything was a blur. I couldn’t get up, I felt weak inside. It had to have been a few hours. I must have blacked out due to panic.
All hope was not lost. I looked up at the melted snow. The sky was a dazzling blue, and the grass was a brilliant green. I shook my head and slapped myself. I opened the door to the car and saw William exiting the hospital.
“You’re up, how nice. I just checked in on your friend. She’s all good right now, but she’ll be at the hospital for a bit. They say maybe a month or two.” William said to me.
Everything seemed so peaceful. I had forgotten it was February 4th; the Delta Piano Contest of 2016 would be happening on March 19th and 20th. She wouldn’t be able to practice, what if she loses. My head was spinning with emotion and confusion. She had to win, what if she couldn’t make it to the competition?
“Well, they want her to have no visitors for now. Do you know her parent’s number? I can call them.” William said to me calmly.
“Thank you, William, really. What you did was very heroic.” I said to him ignoring his question.
“I would do it for anyone, stranger, murderer, famous. You name it. Now do you know the phone number of her parents?” William asked me once more in a stern tone.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot. I don’t know her parent’s number, I don’t know if she has them. Uh, I’m not really sure, I’ve known her for two months now, and she talks about her grandfather often. That might be her sole guardian.” I rambled on unsure.
“Brandon, that your name? I can drive you home or we can stay until they let us speak to her. It’s your choice; I have all day to wait if we need to.” William said to me. It was nice of him to do all this for a total stranger.
“I’ll stay, I need to be here. You should go though; I don’t want you to waste your weekend waiting for a stranger.” I said to William.
“Nonsense, I’ll wait, plus, I want to learn about your piano interests. Tell me all about it.” William said to me cheerfully.
“Well, I just liked to play the piano, it was fun, but now I have a reason to play…” I said. I continued to explain to him about how she needed to win the competition to survive. William listened intently absorbing every small detail into his mind.
“So you don’t think she’ll be able to play or practice for the competition? Then why don’t you?” William asked me.
“I’m not as good as she is. I could maybe read the notes on her piece, and hit some of the keys, but I’m not good enough.” I said to William. I wish he could take her place. He might win, if he could play. However it was safe to assume he was nowhere close to the age group.
“Every day, once you get home from school, you can come to my music store. It’s called ‘The Disc’ and we sell lots of music material there, and we have a piano you can practice on. I’ll help you practice, assuming she can’t do it herself.” William made me an offer I couldn’t take. He would take so much of his time. I sat there thinking for a moment about his offer.
“I want to help you; I’ll still be able to work while you practice. I can rent you a piano for your home so you can practice there too. You can owe me for the piano.” William seemed absolutely hyped up about helping me practice.
“I already have a piano, and I live pretty close to that store, we even bought our piano there, I think. If you’re really on board with this, I would accept your offer.” I replied to William. I guess I had made a friend.
“Well, how about you double check with your parents, I’ll go see if we can visit Amanda now.” He replied to me. I wanted to tell him more, but I decided not to. My mom was not really present in my life since my dad passed. She just slept a lot and occasionally made food. She went to her job and came home. William didn’t need to know my life story. I saw William come outside several minutes later.
“We can visit Amanda now, are you ready?” William asked me. I nodded at him and followed him up into the building.
We went into an elevator and I looked at all the buttons. He tapped the one that had an eight printed on it. We walked through all the rooms until we got to the one where Amanda was. I opened the door and walked in as the door began to squeal shut..
“I’m so sorry.” Amanda said to me looking down clenching her fist. She teared up a bit as William left the room.
“I wasted your time trying to help me practice. Now I’ll never be able to play again. I’ll never be able to play the piano again. I’ll be stuck in a hospital for the rest of my life. I wasted your time on a friendship that won’t last. I didn’t succeed last year! I’ll never be able to give back the time I took from you.” Amanda said whilst tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and began to cry.
“Stop it! I’ll win the competition. I want to help you. I will help you. This is what it all means. I was destined to help you win. This is what our god, or ruler of the universe intended. It was you. I’m going to win. For you, I would travel around the planet. You’ve taken my life that was slowly slipping into the quicksand and pulled me out.” I spoke out loud. That’s how I really felt.
“Thank you.” Amanda said through sobbing tears. The color red came to me, a few things gained their color in the room.
“Life has rewarded me, I can see… I can see the red now!” I said to Amanda as we both began to smile. It was a sad joy; I would have to win for her.
My fate was sealed, I would win the competition.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It had been two weeks; I hadn’t been able to visit Amanda as her condition was worsening. Every day was more rigorous practice, but I had to win the competition. I played my piece to my heart’s content. I had 2 more days to practice for the competition. I knew she had less time left than anticipated.
“The best you’ve played the piece yet!” William added in. My telephone rang, it was Amanda.
“Hold on, let me get this call.” I said to William.
“Brando, I can’t talk long, but the competition is in two days, and my condition is a tad bit more good. How are things there?” Amanda asked over the phone. It made me brim with joy to hear Amanda.
“I’m ready to win, Amanda. I can see the purple things now, I progressed in my piece well enough, and boom! Everything purple became purple. It was great!” I said to her over the phone.
“So many colors, it’s like, red, orange, purple, green, blue. You only need to be able to see yellow to be colorblind no more!” Amanda said excitedly.
“Yeah, it’s more weird seeing everything but yellow, but I can almost see it perfectly. Hopefully I’ll be able to see it soon!” I said to Amanda. I smiled, and I assumed that she did as well. The colors were like children that I wanted to raise. I didn’t want to raise children.
“Grandpa! How are you, I haven’t seen you in days! Brando, I’ve got to go, good luck on the competition! Bye!” Amanda said to me.
My body was crammed with determination. I was ready to win the competition once and for all.
In the smallest corner of my body, I felt a doubt, what if I lost, would all the colors be gone?
* * * * * * * * * * * *

I looked at my slender body as I took off my shirt. I put on my blazer slowly buttoning up. I walked into my mother’s room and gave her a half hug as she woke up slightly. Today was the performance stage of the competition.
“Good Luck.” She murmured to me as I walked out the door to William’s car.
“Are you ready?” William said to me as I groggily looked at him.
I shook my head trying to wake myself up as William popped a CD into the stereo. I heard the music slowly build up. It was my piece! I began to move my hands accordingly to how I needed to move them. William focused intently on the road.
I lifted my glasses off my face to wipe them clean.  I was nervous. The competition didn’t stand out to me, but I didn’t want to be one of the people who go on stage and play a piece that doesn’t stand out. I wanted to make the people see the music and feel the music.
William and I arrived at the hotel we would stay at overnight.
“Don’t forget, you have to look perfect. That tie won’t do, but you can choose one of these.” William said as he displayed a row of ties of high quality. I began to prepare for the show.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I slowly walked into the stadium as the performances would begin soon, I hadn’t spoken all day. I had only just noticed. What if I had tried and I couldn’t speak. What if I was suffering from amnesia and had lost my voice months ago. Then I remembered that the person I was trying to save would never even flinch before getting on stage.
Amanda would walk onto the stage and play the piano to absolute perfection and not fear for a second that she would fail. She wouldn’t shake, or be quiet. She would go to Chipotle, and spill a bit of taco meat all over her. She would go watch a kiddie league game of soccer, and then go get dressed for the performance as if she did one daily. I shook my head to wake myself up.
“I’m not scared.” I said to myself out loud, determined.
“You should be, because Enrique Martinez is in this competition.” A teenager next to me said.
“His dad’s a millionaire and since day one, Enrique has been playing the piano. Rumor has it that he has stayed up for more than a week practicing for this nonstop.” The teenager said.
“I have to beat him, I will beat him.” I told the kid. He looked at me and nodded his head denying that I even stood a chance. I clenched my fists, I was not about to lose.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Brandon Harris, you’re next.” The man said. He made sure every person knew it was their turn. The performances were beginning, I was ready.
“Brandon Harris, are you there?” The man asked as I walked up to him and nodded.
This was it, there was a one in a million chance that I would win. No, that was my brain; my heart said that there was no way I would lose. I heard one clap, then two, then the entire audience clapping loudly and happily. The person before me walked off the stage.
I slowly began to walk onto the stage. The piano enlarged as I approached it. I could smell the smell of the auditorium, and hear the whispers of the people in the audience. I pulled out my seat and sat down. I began touching the keys one by one. Some of the notes were in sync due to the notes written on the page. I saw the curtains decorated in many colors. The curtains were yellow. I was seeing yellow.
A wave of relief filled my body. I was calm; I played every note to perfection.
“Why couldn’t you save me?” I thought I heard Amanda said. It was haunting me, the thought of losing Amanda. I continued to play every note to perfection, but I wasn’t listening. I must have looked like I had seen a ghost. I lost the colors. Everything was black and white.
I finished my piece and the crowd started to scream in cheers and applauses. Every color known to man filled my eyes. I knew then that I had won.
I bowed to the crowd as the cheers grew louder. I walked to the back of the stage. I was smiling; it had been so long since I was able to see the beauty of all the colors. I looked at every performer who was to perform soon. They all had their mouths wide open. I popped into one of the seats and waited for the end of the performances. Many people played well, especially Enrique. However, I knew that Enrique had hit the wrong note multiple times. I played my piece to the most perfect extent.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday came around; William had assured me that I was the victor. I had called Amanda to tell her how well I had done, but the results were not released until the following day. Yesterday was the performance day while today we had to attend the results session. All the other contestants sat walked on to the stage as the proctor began speaking.
“All you lovely children came here yesterday to play the piano. You all fought hard and well for the victory of not only bragging rights, but also the large quantity of money associated so you can continue to follow your dreams.” He spoke.
“There were many pianists that performed and many that were most exquisite in their art of playing the piano. However one was destined to win, their piece was played as close to perfection as the human ear can hear. The winner is, Enrique Roberto Martinez.” The proctor said. I lost the colors. They all faded into nothingness, I was only seeing black and white. Amanda was going to die, I couldn’t help her.
“Would you like to say anything, Mr. Martinez?” The proctor asked.
“Yes, I would in fact. If this is any representation of how low a human can stoop. Then I don’t want to be a human. I made multiple mistakes throughout my piece and yet for some reason, the person that played their piece so perfectly lost. It’s because my father cheated. He is on the board of the deciding committee and cheated the results. I know he did. Honestly, we all know the true winner. The true pianist is, Brandon Harris. He deserved that win, it was rightfully his. You tell in the way he plays, with such passion, his reason must be so powerful and pure. Marco Lopez Martinez, one of the judges is corrupt. The true winner is Brandon Harris.”
After five seconds of the most solid silence a human could be in, the crowd roared.
The colors came back to me as I began to cry whilst smiling. I had won, I had won for her, for William, for myself. The colors came back to me for a reason on that day.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Brando, I love you!” Amanda shouted as she hugged me. It had been three weeks since the competition. The organizers took out Mr. Martinez’s scores and examined them. They were clearly biased towards his son and against people who did well. Amanda and I had only known each other for a few months and it felt like we had been best friends for the longest time. She hugged me as she stood up from her bed.
“The surgery was a success, I’m all better now. I knew that you would win! I just knew it!” Amanda said. I hugged her as she hugged me.
“Now, we can both spread the love and wonder of the piano together.” I said smiling happily. We were going to go far.
“So, what are your plans now, Amanda?” I asked her, happily, with several tears rolling down my face.
“I’m going to play the piano for others, so they can hear the beauty.” She said smiling with her cheeks red.
“Then why not I join along? We’ll play so everyone can hear.” I said.
We both nodded, it was over, there was no more pain, or worry, just our friendship.
Since that day, lots of things have changed. Media got ahold of it and everything went crazy! Amanda and I started to play together as a duet for people around the world. We became the most popular pianists nationally and eventually became more than friends. Once we reached 30, we decided we had enough money to settle down comfortably for the rest of our lives. We retired into a middle sized house in a sweet and cozy neighborhood in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. We had two children, William who is ten and Gavin who is seven. I guess I wanted to have kids after all! I don’t regret it for a minute. I met the love of my life and best friend all because I wanted to find the color in my life. She was the color.
I would never ever give it away. The pain I suffered was worth it. Helping another person might be the missing piece to a puzzle you have been trying to solve your entire life.