The melody in our hearts (3 page)

Valerie’s days suddenly became very busy, and months seemed to fly by at twice the speed they had in the past. When she wasn’t in Ryan’s room doing homework, she could be found at the Music Club, with Ryan playing an old piano one of the members had brought in and Valerie sitting next to him on what they called “his throne,” enjoying the look of his fingers flowing on the black and white keys.

They inevitably started talking about their future and, although they came up with several different plans, the one thing they were sure of was that, no matter where life would take them, they would always be together. Ryan’s plans always gravitated around music: His biggest dream was to become a professional pianist, in spite of his father telling him he’d end up playing for tourists at a pub in Temple Bar, Dublin’s restaurant quarter. It took Valerie a little longer to understand what she wanted to do when she was older, but she eventually did when Ryan broke his leg during a soccer match, and she realized that taking care of sick people was something she liked and seemed to be very good at.

~
Two
~

A couple of years later, though, something happened – something that would change their future forever.

Valerie was fifteen, so she didn’t need to be accompanied by Grandpa to the Club anymore, as most of the time Ryan would come and pick her up and they would walk together, finding both their grandpas already there, chatting and playing cards with their friends.

She had been going over the same chapter of the history book for at least half an hour, and she couldn’t remember a word of what she had just read, when her phone rang. She was suddenly thankful to whoever was rescuing her from that boring homework.

“Hey Val!”

The happy tone of his voice cheered her up immediately, and she sat up on her bed.

“Ryan! You’re my hero!” she said, and he laughed on the other end of the line. “Please tell me you’re coming to rescue me from this boring history homework I’m doing.”

“I am, actually,” he said, still chuckling. “I thought we could go to the Club and hang out for a while. I was doing math, but I’m starting to feel sick. Shall we meet in fifteen minutes at the cross-road?”

“Great idea! See you there then,” she said and hurried to her closet to get changed.

When they got to the Club, her grandfather was already there, chatting with his friend Frank. He smiled and waved at them. They greeted everyone and noticed that the music had stopped. Seamus, whom they all called the dee-jay because he used to put on the records when Ryan or Valerie weren’t there, waved at them, and they knew that meant that he wanted Ryan to play.

While Ryan walked toward the piano, Valerie went to get them some drinks. After a moment, the familiar notes of “
Strangers in the night
” were echoing in the room. She smiled and thought she would never get enough of hearing Ryan play; it was as if, every time his fingers started to stroke the keys, time suddenly stopped and she was teleported into another space and time, where she could spend her days listening to Ryan play the piano just for her, where nothing else mattered except the sound of the music.

When she went to sit by the piano with Ryan, she saw his grandfather come in, followed by another old man she had never seen before. They stopped to speak to a couple of people, then they continued toward Ryan and herself.

“Noah, this is my grandson, Ryan,” Thomas said to the man as he approached them.

Ryan looked up from the piano and stopped playing.

“Ryan, this is Noah, an old friend of mine. He’s here on a guided tour with a bunch of American tourists. Isn’t it a small world?”

 “You play very well, kid,” Noah said, smiling approvingly. “Your grandpa wasn’t exaggerating when he told me you were a great pianist!”

Ryan smiled and shrugged, feeling self-conscious for a moment.

“So, I suppose you’re gonna pursue a musical career?”

“I don’t know yet,” Ryan said, shrugging again and brushing the forelock of hair away from his eye. “There aren’t many choices here. I guess I’ll enroll at Trinity College; they have a Department of Music there.”

Noah laughed and Ryan looked at him, trying to understand what was so funny about what he had said.

“You know, this must be your lucky day, kid,” he said, patting Ryan’s shoulder. “I was a teacher at the Berklee College in Boston. I retired a couple of months ago. From what I’ve heard, you’re really talented, and you could enroll easily enough if you wanted to. I’ll send you some info when I get home; there’re plenty of choices there if you plan to become a professional pianist.”

Ryan looked at him wide-eyed and so did Valerie. She knew too well how important music was to him, and she knew that he’d be accepted anywhere in the blink of an eye. He would go to Boston, and she would lose him.

Forever.

She felt a lump form in her throat, and she blinked twice to fight back the tears that had immediately welled up in her eyes at the thought of losing Ryan.

“You think I could make it? I mean, Berklee is only for the best of the best. I’m not sure they’d want me.”

Noah nodded, fidgeting with his whiskers, as if he were lost in thought.

“If you’re willing to come to Boston for a couple of days, I could make sure you get an audition. Then I could show you around, and you could see if you like the place. I have no doubt you’ll make it.”

Ryan looked at his grandfather, who was just as excited as he was, and then turned back to look at Valerie, who had remained silent the whole time. Though she was trying to fake a smile, he knew her too well and could see beyond that smile. She wasn’t happy at the news of his going to Boston.

“Did you hear that, Val?” he said, pretending he had not seen the expression on her face, knowing they would talk about it later. “We’re gonna spend a weekend in Boston!”

“We?” she asked, bewildered.

“What, you don’t want to go with me?”

Her face cracked into a smile, and the expression of incredulity on her face showed him that, even if for just a moment, she was feeling better.

“Of course I do! It would be grand!”

Noah looked at Thomas and smiled, then he said he had to go, as his travel companions were probably waiting for him. He shook Ryan’s hand and hugged Thomas, then he walked out, saying he’d be in touch soon.

As soon as Noah had walked out, Ryan stood up from the stool and hugged Valerie, jumping up and down with joy and making her laugh.

“We’re going to Boston! We’re going to Boston!” he screamed, and everybody in the room turned to look at them, jumping and laughing like two kids.

~
Three
~

The moment they got off the plane, they were overwhelmed: They had both grown up in Dublin, so it wasn’t as if they weren’t used to living in a city, but as soon as they stepped outside to look for a taxi, they felt as if they had landed on another planet.

Ryan had never been to Boston before. His grandfather was originally from Ohio, so the only times Ryan had gone to visit his relatives, they had visited a few places in Ohio and a bit of Kentucky, but they hadn’t gone farther than that. To be in Boston now was more than he could dream of, especially considering the reason why he was there. He was as excited as a kid on Christmas day, and during the ride to the hotel he didn’t seem to be able to sit quietly in the back seat.

His grandfather had told him at least twenty times that he should relax and take it easy, or else he’d screw it all up, but that didn’t change the way he felt. He kept fidgeting in his seat, looking out of the window and pointing at buildings, cars, and street signs as if he were a child seeing the world for the first time.

Valerie was excited too, in spite of that niggle at the back of her head that would occasionally gnaw at her brain, reminding her that Ryan would soon leave her and never come back home, leaving her alone. Apart from a school trip to England a couple of years before, she had never left Ireland. Everything here was so different, so big, so new – she could barely find words, apart from “oooh” and “ahh” and “wow,” every time Ryan pointed at something outside.

Thomas was the only one who was totally relaxed and at ease, and he even managed to doze for a few minutes before they got to the hotel.

After they had checked in and left their luggage in their room, Valerie and Ryan went out on their own, while Thomas stayed in the hotel room to recover from the jet-lag.

They spent the afternoon walking up and down the streets, stopping to take pictures of everything, and looking in amazement at everything like little children, too excited to feel jet-lagged or tired.

When it was close to sunset, they stopped by the river, drinking two Cappuccinos they had just bought at Starbucks. Ryan put his arm around Valerie’s shoulders, pulling her close to him; she hugged him back, with her arm around his waist, and they remained silent for a while, simply enjoying the view and those precious moments together they were sure they would cherish forever.

When her stomach informed her it was almost dinner time, they laughed and decided it was time to go back to the hotel.

The following day, the day of the audition, Ryan woke up at dawn and couldn’t go back to sleep. He kept tossing and turning in his bed, wondering what it would be like to play in front of the teachers at Berklee. He had never been ashamed of playing in front of an audience, but the people at the Club in Dublin had never really judged him or told him he had made a mistake or played the wrong note. They had always enjoyed listening to him and, he guessed, even if Valerie had started playing the piano and had been totally out of key, they would have clapped their hands and enjoyed the music anyway.

He knew there would be a tough selection at Berklee: There were thousands of students who wanted to enroll there, but only the very best would be chosen, and he wasn’t sure he was one of the best.

He guessed they would rather choose someone who was actually living in the United States, rather than have some guy come over from across the ocean, someone who might feel homesick after a month and give it all up. Even if Noah had told him he had a good chance of being accepted, he was sure Noah had said it only out of kindness because he was a friend of Grandpa.

He sighed and rolled onto his right side to look at Valerie in the other bed, and saw she was awake and looking at him with a grin.

“You can’t sleep, huh?” she whispered, and he smiled, happy that she had agreed to go to Boston with him to share this great experience.

“I’m nervous,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “What if they don’t like me?”

She chuckled, without worrying too much about waking up his grandfather, who was snoring soundly in the queen size bed next to the door.

“They can’t possibly
not
like you; you’ll be an official student right away, we both know that. You are the best pianist I’ve ever known.”

“As if you’ve known many pianists….” He chuckled. “I’m the only pianist you’ve ever known, and I’m your best friend, so your opinion doesn’t really count!”

She kicked off the blanket and sat up, glaring at him.

“If you don’t want my opinion, then don’t ask for it.”

She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed, then he stood up and sat by her side.

“Sorry,” he said, hugging her. “I meant no offense. You know I’ll always want your opinion, no matter what.”

She ruffled his hair and he chuckled.

“You’re forgiven for this time only. Come on now, let’s get ready for breakfast. It’s going to be a tough day, so we need to have a huge breakfast.”

With that, she stood up and reached for his hand to pull him up. They looked at Grandpa Thomas and decided that a few more minutes in bed would do him good, so they woke him up only after they had showered and got dressed, and were ready for breakfast.

As soon as they walked through the doors and stepped inside Berklee, they felt as if they were stepping into a dream –
his
dream come true. He felt like he belonged there, and he suddenly felt something inside him telling him he was right where he should have always been. He turned to look at Valerie, and he saw she was staring at everything in awe.

She smiled when their eyes met, even though she felt a deep pain in her chest, knowing that this was the perfect place for Ryan and that she would soon lose him because the Berklee teachers would simply love him.

She was trying to be optimistic, to think of what a great opportunity this would be for her friend, and she only wanted the best for him. She wanted him to be happy, and she knew that, if he managed to enroll there, he would be for sure. She had to be happy for him too, because that was what true friendship was all about.

Noah, Thomas’ old friend they had met in Dublin, was waiting for them by the elevator and waved when he saw them. They walked toward him, and they all shook hands, then he led them toward the room where the teachers were waiting for him; when they got there, Ryan suddenly tensed and squeezed Valerie’s hand, hoping she could pass on some courage to him. She squeezed it back, but she was just as tense, even though she was positive that he would definitely amaze the teachers.