Ivory Keys

Lotte sat within the cluttered Studio, under a desk. Armed with a scrapbook and four dozen pictures, she was eliminating pictures from making the cut into her scrapbook or sifting through her pile to find the perfect ones. She had an intuition, and got a feeling whenever she saw a good shot. This was the picture of the Courtyard. Of a group of students. The only thing she didn't have a picture of was herself.
Ethel eyed a piano in the corner of the room, colored onyx and shiny. It's ivory keys beckoned her, and she sat down at the instrument. She had a piano at her summer villa, and she had taught herself through listening. Her sister would always beg her to play, and she hadn't done so as much for the younger girl. She gave a melancholy frown, let in a deep breath, and started playing a song. It was a slow, wistful song, and the melody carried out the feeling of longing and hope. It was a beautiful song, and Lotte looked up at the girl. She could play the piano in her form? Lotte must have been the only one who could heard the song.
But she wasn't.

Noa ran a hand across the paint-chipped paneling on the side of the wall. Her feet made a soft click-click on the marble floors, the only noise that floated through the halls, well that was until she heard it. A beautiful melody that practically made her float over to the source without thinking. In fact she floated all the way into the room before realizing what she'd done... And that there was no one at the piano, but there was music still there. Noa's mouth formed a small "o" and she looked around frantically for the source of the sound, not noticing Lotte, who was only a few steps away. "Hello?" She whispered, her cheeks reddening with each sweeping glance across the room.

What was that clicking? Lotte had realized they were footsteps only when they got very close, and was startled. Someone would find her strange if they were to discover her location. She jumped up, still under the desk, and hit it with her head, letting out an "Oof! as her head made impact with what was above her. She already had a concussion from the mission in Nepal, and this did not help.

When Lotte hit her head, Ethel stopped playing, mishitting the final keys and therefore making this sudden out of tune chime emit from the piano. The girl rushed to Lotte's side, holding her arm. "You have to be careful." she whispered. Lotte frowned, but said nothing, moving her pupils towards Noa. Ethel shifted her gaze, and sure enough, there was another person in the room.

Noa winced at the sound of Lotte hitting her head on the desk, following by a procession of beautiful ending notes. But the last one was misplaced and the sudden key change made her jump slightly as well. Looking around, she saw a medium sized desk and crept over, her eyes wide. "Are you okay?" She called out in a quiet whisper, before approaching closer. What if this was a trap? What if someone popped out suddenly and- and hurt her? Frowning slightly, she decided to approach anyway. When she met eyes with a girl who was no doubt, under the desk she felt a mixture of guilt and relief. Glad it wasn't some prank, but genuinely upset about hurting some girl she didn't know- even it wasn't on purpose. "I-I'm Noa." She whispered quietly, blushing and shifting her weight from one foot to another.

Lotte looked up at the girl. She was almost about to jump up and give a handshake, but she remembered the desk. The damn thing was getting in the way of her energetic personality. With a huff at the piece of school furniture, she made sure to slide her head out from under it, making Ethel move slightly, and then hopped up, her dark brown hair bouncing momentarily.
"Hi! I am Lotte!" she said with a smile, outstretching her hands to Noa's and snatching it away from her, shaking it up and down. "You have a nice name."

Not daring to watch the new girl get out from under the furniture, the girl kicked her black oxfords across the floor causing a large skid mark and quickly stopping. Shocked as this girl grabbed her hand in a firm handshake and took a confused step back; suddenly overwhelmed by the whole ordeal. "Hi Lotte." Noa said with a small blink with wide eyed curiosity. Nodding, in her way of accepting the complement she mumbled a quiet 'thank you' and took a look around. Suddenly feeling a surge of courage she cleared her throat and said, "Was that you playing the piano? It was really pretty." The young girl snapped her mouth shut and hoped she didn't say anything too embarressing.