L U C A

After nearly an hour, Luca was called backstage with Shawn as his company. As Luca paced around the small room, he could hear the woman play the piano on stage. She had chosen to play Valse No. 5 by Chopin, which made Luca doubt if his own choice was good enough.

"Luca Miller!" Only when the selection committee called Luca onto stage did he realize that the woman before him had finished playing.

Luca took a step forward, but he froze before he could even leave the backstage. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his breathing had become short. He started to feel dizzy.

For a split moment, Luca felt like he was nine again. That he was back in the little theatre, looking anxiously at his father's empty seat in the audience, counting the seconds as he waited for him. But his father hadn't showed up. He never did.

Luca slightly jumped when he suddenly felt Shawn take a hold of his hand where he kept it by his side, and gave a gentle squeeze.

"No matter what happens, no matter if you get this part or not, we're all going to be proud of you," Shawn whispered to him, gazing down into his eyes. "You know that, right?"

All Luca managed was a small nod of his head, but it was Shawn's words that pushed him forward and onto the stage, guiding him. His voice was the remedy he'd needed all along.

There was only a piano placed in the middle of the stage, and the enormous hall was empty except for five judges on the front seats; four men and only one woman, seated in the middle.

"You may begin," the woman said after Luca politely greeted them. He realized that she had a faint Italian accent.

Luca felt weak in the knees, and yet he mustered the remaining strength in him and sat behind the piano. He began to play the first song, but after he was done and looked over at the committee, he saw them whispering together. They didn't look very impressed.

"Thank you, Mr. Miller," the middle-aged woman said in a blank voice. "Now please play your second chosen piece."

Luca placed his shaky fingers back on the piano. He closed his for a single moment and took a deep breath as his old memories fell down upon him like merciless raindrops:

He had woken up in his bed, and as he yawned, he'd seen the snow falling behind his bedroom window. All sleepiness vanished from his eyes, replaced by an excited glimmer, the way it happened to every other seven-year-old when they woke up on a snowy Christmas morning.

Luca pushed the blankets off him and immediately rushed out of his room without changing his pajamas or combing his hair. He ran down the stairs with a broad smile on his face, but he froze when he entered their hall and let out a gasp. There, right beside their Christmas tree, there was black piano with a red ribbon on top of it.

"Merry Christmas, Darling." Luca turned around at the sweet sound of his mother's voice. She was walking toward him with his father right behind her, both smiling.

"Do you like it?" Mr. Miller asked with a cup of coffee in hand.

"I love it!" Luca squealed happily. He made a run toward the piano, but he stopped himself in mid-way, and instead jumped in to hug his parents.

"I'm glad you like it," his mother said, chuckling.

"I'll get you a piano tutor. A proper one. The best one in town," Mr. Miller said proudly, patting Luca on the head and ruffling up his hair.

The following week, they hired Miss Bradley as Luca's music teacher, and within only six months he could play better than any of his peers. At nights, whenever Luca began to play the piano, his father would always come down from his office and his mother would walk out of the parlor and into the hall to hear him play, with proud smiles planted on their lips.

On the night of his eighth birthday in July, Luca played Für Elise by Beethoven for his parents, which he had been practicing for the past few weeks. His mother claimed that it was her favorite so far, and at that split moment, Luca felt like the happiest boy alive.

But little did he know that this was the last time he could grasp this happiness in his hands before it would slip away from him forever.

***

Luca felt trapped between his past and his future. He felt broken. Torn. But he always tried to put his pieces back together. To stitch the parts of him that had fallen apart.

So, he let out a breath, slowly opened his eyes, and began to play. Not Moonlight Sonata, but his own song, and he played it from his heart, the music pouring out from the depths of his soul.

From the backstage, Shawn could see the judges look at each other in confusion, checking the paper Luca had filled out. This was not the song they had expected to hear.

Shawn laughed to himself proudly as he watched him. "He did it. That son of a bitch did it."

When Luca was done, he noticed that half-way through the song he had started smiling uncontrollably. His heart was beating loudly, and he had never felt so alive. When the judges said nothing, he pushed back the piano stool and stood up, turning to face them, anxiously waiting for them to speak as they talked to each other in hushed voices.

"You'd written that you were going to play Moonlight Sonata," one of the men stated.

"Yes, sir. I was." Luca nodded lightly. "But I changed my mind."

"And who is the composer of the piece you chose?"

"I — I composed the song myself," Luca said, the warmth of a pleased blush planted on his cheeks like a kiss.

The judges glanced sideways at each other, until the Italian woman finally said, "Is that so? You seem a bit young for that."

The committee then began discussing something together again, so quietly that he could barely hear them. Luca turned his head back, locking eyes with Shawn who was watching him from backstage.

"Amazing," Shawn mouthed and then winked at him, giving life to the butterflies in Luca's stomach.

"Thank you, Mr. Miller." The woman gave him a smile at last. "You're one of our finalists. Please remain here until the end of the auditions. We'll announce our final decision by then."

"Of course. Thank you." Luca nodded before quickly walking backstage, sure that he would burst from happiness any moment.

By the time the auditions came to an end, only six others remained in the theatre other than Luca, and they were soon called upon the stage again, asked to stand in a line, side-by-side. Luca was slightly intimidated by the age difference between him and the others.

"First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming," said the Italian woman. "It was a hard choice, but this time we decided to go a different way than we usually would, and to take in newer talents with promising futures."

Luca's heart leaped in his chest. He felt like his soul would fly out of his body from happiness the next moment when the woman went on, saying, "Mr. Miller, we have decided to have you as part of our team. Congratulations. The rest of you may go. Thank you again."

Some looking disappointed and some sending glares at Luca's direction, the other six pianists walked off the stage.

"Mr. Miller, you will have to come back here on Sunday at 10 a.m. to receive our schedules and sign the contract," one of the other judges said after a while. "The rehearsals will start after Christmas break."

"Of course, sir." Luca nodded, trying to suppress his goofy smile. "Thank you for the opportunity."

Pushing down the urge to dance around happily or to jump up and down, Luca rushed off the stage and went out, where Shawn was awaiting him right outside the theatre doors in the fresh air, pacing around anxiously.

At his sight, Shawn suddenly halted and looked over at him apprehensively. "Well?"

Luca smiled broadly. "I got it."

Shawn's mouth fell open in surprise before he let out a loud laughter, punching the air in victory. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I knew you had it in you!"

Luca barely got the time to reply, when Shawn suddenly caught him off guard and wrapped his arms around Luca, bringing him into a bone-crushing hug. Luca wanted to hug him back, but he let out a surprised gasp when Shawn picked him off the ground for a few seconds with his arms still wrapped tightly around him, before putting him back down.

When Shawn finally pulled away, Luca caught a few people passing by giving them odd looks, but he didn't care. He'd never felt happier in his life.