like a hero to me.’
Hero looked up into the mirror at James, who was standing in the doorway.
‘What was it you said? “I heard your nan gave birth to your mum by taking a shit.”’ James laughed so hard that he had to steady himself against the door frame. ‘That’s genius, bruv. I’m definitely stealing that one for later usage.’
Hero grinned, then regretted it immediately when his split lip reopened. Blood welled over his teeth, filling his mouth with a warm, metallic taste.
‘So why were those guys bullying you, anyway?’
Hero grabbed some loo roll, packed a wad of paper between his lip and his teeth, and began recounting the last few weeks, starting with standing in the music room next to Fi after their first class there.
‘Hey. So what instrument did you pick?’ she asked.
‘Piano,’ he replied.
‘Can you play?’
‘A little.’
‘What grade are you?’
He shuffled his feet. ‘I took my grade eight last year.’
‘Wow. Would you play for me?’
‘Sure. What instrument do you play?’
‘The violin. I’m not too good, though. So how about tomorrow?’
‘Eh?’
She was grinning at him. ‘Will you play for me tomorrow at lunchtime?’
‘Wait, wait, wait,’ James interrupted from behind.
Hero dragged himself back to the present.
‘You pulled a girl on your first day at school? Man, you’re my hero, buddy. Go on.’
Hero grinned tentatively, mindful of his lip, and took a deep breath. ‘Well, the next day, lunchtime arrived, and we met outside the music building.’
Fi’s hair bounced as she ran over, and Hero’s heart seemed to jump in rhythm to it.
‘Hey, how’s your day going?’ he called.
‘Boring,’ she said with a sigh. ‘And yours?’
‘Okay. Still seems easy. Shall we?’
Upstairs in one of the practice rooms, he sat down at the piano and swallowed dryly. The fur on his tongue had absorbed every drop of moisture in his mouth, and the heat in his face was hoovering the energy from his trembling hands.
‘So, any requests?’ he croaked.
She shrugged. ‘Anything.’
‘Well then, I think you’ll like this.’ He launched into Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’.
‘Whoa,’ she murmured.
He played all of the most famous part, the part he knew she would be familiar with and appreciate.
‘You know, Beethoven was losing his hearing when he composed this piece, and you can hear the sadness in his heart all the way through it.’ He looked out of the window to hide the rush of emotion. ‘Imagine that. You dedicate your whole life to your one true love, your passion, and then through no fault of your own, it’s ripped away from you. I don’t think I could handle that.’
He glanced back. She was watching him intently with shining eyes.
‘This next piece is different.’ His smile trembled as he gathered the music in his head. His throat and chest tightened in anticipation. Then deliberately, as the piece demanded, he began ‘Meine Freuden’.
The electricity of the music drew her like a magnet to lean closer over the keyboard.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.
She moved sideways so that she was looking directly into his eyes.
He could nearly feel the heat from her blushing cheeks; he was mesmerised. She closed her eyes and pushed her lips against—
‘Whoa, bruv.’ James leaned back, amazed. ‘So your second day at a mixed school, and you got your first kiss? I am so proud of you. C’mere.’ He opened his arms for a hug.
Hero obliged, wrapping his arms around his brother.
‘Growing up fast, eh, buddy?’ James ruffled his hair. ‘So tell me—and I’m pretty certain I know where this is going—what did that have to do with Martin?’
‘Well, that day after school, I was putting my books back into my locker . . .’
‘Hey, Hero.’
There was a little laughter. He turned around to see Martin and his three friends.
‘I hear you’ve been getting it on with Fi,’ Martin said.
Wow, good news spread fast. He shrugged and gave what he hoped was a humble, friendly smile.
‘Stay away from her. She’s mine.’ Martin loomed over him, blocking what little light there was in the corridor.
‘I’m not sure you can really own people, you know.’
With no warning, Martin shoved him backwards against the lockers and held him there by the throat. Hero struggled for breath. His head felt as if it were going to explode, thumping in time to his heartbeat.
‘Don’t talk back to me. Just stay away from her, you little shit.’
Martin dropped him to the floor and stomped off with his friends.
‘So why didn’t you just stay away from her?’ James enquired.
‘Well, I did. But then Fi asked me why I was ignoring her. She was worried that I didn’t like kissing her. So I told her that I really enjoyed it and wanted to do it again, but Martin—’
‘As I thought,’ James muttered. ‘So she told Martin to leave you alone?’
Hero nodded.
‘And that made him even more angry?’
He nodded again.
‘You’re growing up real fast, bruv. Girls will be the end of us all, you know.’ James paused for a moment, tapping his finger against his lips. ‘Look, from now on, I’ll be watching over you. I’ll always be there to protect you. But just in case I’m a bit late, remember these rules: Sometimes you stand and fight. Sometimes you do nothing. And sometimes you run, brother.’
Hero dabbed at his lip dubiously. ‘I’ve never seen you run from a fight.’
‘I never run from a fight if I know I can win. But trust me, if I was
