No Rules To Love

Chapter Five-Part One

The door flew open with excessive force. I flinched as it hit the wall. Perhaps that was a little too aggressive.

I dumped my bag at the side of the room, put my water bottle beside it, and suppressed yet another sigh. It surprised me I had any air left in my lungs at all after how much I had exhaled since I met Hunter. I shook my head as the man in question sat down at the piano and began to play the first few bars of Somewhere. His fingers danced across the keys with expert dexterity. Of course, he could play the piano.

Before we could go any further, I opened my mouth. “Listen, do I have to sing right now? I know the song by heart and there’s no point if Johnny’s not here. I’d rather not use my voice more than is necessary. Got to protect the vocal folds and all that.”

The mesmerising sounds drifting from the piano came to an abrupt stop. I heard the piano stool scrape against the wooden floor. I flinched at the sound and worried about the usually spotless laminate flooring. Hunter stood before me, his arms crossed in front of his chest, with a smug smile on his lips.

“Why?” He asked me, smirking. Someone needed to wipe that perpetual smirk off his face. I worried I was going to be the one to do it. But there was no way I was letting him rile me up that much. “Afraid that there will be so many sparks when we sing you won’t be able to cope?”

Who the hell did he think he was? We had only met the day before, and that was only a brief conversation. In said conversation, he managed to both irritate and insult me. And I was going to ignore the one confusing compliment thrown in there. So, no, I would not notice sparks when we sang together. That would be absurd. I’d probably feel quite the opposite. I would say I’ll have what he’s having but I would not like to live in Hunter-land. Not if he was thinking stupid things like that.

I rolled my eyes, scoffed, and folded my arms across my chest in one smooth motion. I mimicked his arrogant stance. “Oh please, like that would ever happen,” I said, almost laughing. But I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a smile. “Do you even listen to what you’re saying?”

“Whoa, chill out. I was only joking,” he chuckled, holding up his hands in a surrender position. Okay, so maybe my biting words weren’t what I thought. They appeared to amuse him more than anything else, which, in turn, infuriated me more. “Why do you dislike me so much?” He seemed to ask completely out of the blue. It shocked me at first.

Once I regained composure, I snorted, rolled my eyes, and replied. Sarcasm was dripping from my voice with every syllable.

“Erm, I don’t know. Perhaps the first time we ever spoke, you insulted me after being in my way, no less. And then you walk around like you own the place! What’s worse, the teachers let you! Why do you even hold such authority? Why can they not see your arrogance? Here’s a tip for you: get your head out of your arse, it’s not a hat.”

Hunter looked at me, blinked once, and then burst out laughing. “That last line was brilliant!” He exclaimed through his laughter. “Where did you get that one from?”

So, he completely disregarded everything I said and focused on the last insult. Wonderful. Pondering the insult, I looked down at the floor, a little embarrassed. I had such a little imagination that I couldn’t even come up with a good comeback myself. Not the way to get one up in this argument. And not only did he notice, he pointed it out, too.

“Pitch Perfect, but that’s not the point!” I mumbled, desperate to deflect the conversation away from my crappy insult. “The meaning still stands!”

Hunter still laughed to himself, especially after my little confession. But it didn’t take long for him to sober up. He had a fresh expression in his eyes. Something that looked like remorse, but I didn’t believe it. I didn’t think people like Hunter were capable of feeling remorse.

“I suppose I was a little harsher than I had to be. I was in a bad mood and I let it affect me.” He admitted, averting his gaze from mine. He scratched an eyebrow with his forefinger. “The truth is, when I met you yesterday, you intimidated me a little.”

“Me? Intimidating?” I squeaked, thus proving the opposite. I studied Hunter for a little while after he had said this. He looked like he was serious, but that was impossible. There was no way I was even a little intimidating. I was the least intimidating person I knew. All you had to do was glance at all the musical theatre paraphernalia in my bedroom to realise I was as soft as a cushion. I couldn’t even make a baby cry. I wouldn’t want to, of course. Looking at Hunter now, he seemed almost abashed and a little embarrassed he had admitted his confession to me. Could it be this arrogant act was just that, an act?

“Well, yeah.” He said, keeping up the bashful façade. “You were the first girl to resist my charm. I mean, look at me.” He gestured to himself and his mood had flipped once again. “It’s not a surprise that no-one can resist this.”

And once again, he was back to the arrogant Hunter that I knew and didn’t love. Surely, this was all a joke? No-one thought that highly of themselves.

“Here’s me thinking we were getting somewhere,” I muttered to myself, not caring if he overheard. Then I said, a little louder. “I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than stand here listening to you talk about how much charm you do or do not have. But seeing as there are no pins around, I guess I’ll have to settle for singing with you. Anything to stop you talking about yourself.”

“Finally, now we’re getting down to business!” Hunter exclaimed almost joyfully, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. It appeared he had ignored my insults, much to my chagrin. He sat back at the piano; hands poised at the ready above the keys.

I shook my head at Hunter’s almost drastic mood change. I mean, it would almost be endearing if he wasn’t so annoying. The sheet-music was in my bag and I fetched it. I then went to join Hunter at the piano, sheet-music in my hands, yellowed from use. Hunter seemed to notice the pieces of paper in my hand as he shot me a disapproving look.

“The show is at the end of the week, and you’re still not off-book yet?” Hunter asked me, shaking his head, clicking his tongue.

“Oh, please.” I scoffed, offended by his accusation. “I came off-book weeks ago. What kind of student do you think I am? The sheet-music is for you. You’ll need the sheet-music if you’re playing for me.”

“Oh, please.” He mocked me, making direct eye contact. “Somewhere is a classic song; of course, I know how to play it. Now stop stalling and get your perky little ass over here and start singing.”

I blinked, not sure how to take that statement. Was it a throwaway comment? Or had he taken time to inspect my rear end? As a 21st century woman, should that offend me? More importantly, why was I bothered in the first place? I settled for a roll of my eyes at how demanding he was being. And it was also a straightforward way to mask my overthinking of his words.

In haste, I stuffed the sheet-music back into my bag and speed-walked back over to the piano. I figured that the faster I started, the quicker it would be over, and I could return to the other room. I had more important things to rehearse than a duet I’d been singing since I was in the womb.