THE SINGER WHO STOLE HIS HEART

The school hall was empty after 3:30. Everyone had gone home, but Joy was still on the stage. Her school uniform was old. Her school bag was torn. But when she opened her mouth to sing, everything changed. She closed her eyes. "If you leave me now... who will I sing for..." Her voice filled the whole hall. Sweet, painful, and pure. It was the only place she could forget that grandma was angry, that her school fees were not paid, and that she had no mother. She did not know someone was listening. In the back row, in the dark, a boy was sitting. Michael Peters. The new boy everyone was gossiping about. The school owner's son who just came back from UK. Expensive shoes. Expensive watch. Cold face. He coughed. Joy jumped and stopped singing. Her heart beat fast. "You? What are you doing here?" she asked, holding her chest. Michael stood up slowly and walked towards the stage, hands in his pocket. "So you are the famous school nightingale," he said with a smirk. "Not bad. For a charity case." Joy's face turned red. "I was just... I was practicing for the choir." "You were loud enough to disturb my sleep in my father's office," he said. "If you want to shout, do it at the market, not in my school." Joy wanted to cry. "It's not your school!" "It is. My father owns it. And I own everything inside it." He walked past her, close enough that she could smell his expensive perfume, and left the hall. Joy stood alone, embarrassed and angry. But what Joy did not know was... Michael stopped just outside the hall door. He did not walk away. He leaned on the wall. And listened. A few seconds later, Joy, thinking he was gone, started singing again, quietly this time, with tears in her voice. Michael closed his eyes. For the first time since his mother left them, his chest felt warm. "Damn," he whispered to himself. "Who is this girl?"