“It’s easy for mathematicians to lose touch with the world around them. Too easy.” He smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes.
“I’ll practice a lot. I love the Gymnopedies,” I said. And now I had an excuse to learn them.
Eliot reached over and closed my hand around the key, his long fingers covering mine. My heart beat fast as he brought both of our hands up to his bent head. His lips pressed against my knuckles and I felt the heat radiate from my fingers through my entire being as he kissed my hand. An emotion I could not let myself feel pooled inside of me, and I ached with it. Stranger still, I felt his desire through his hot lips on my fingers, even as he released them.
“The Gymnopedies—they’re not hard to get right, just hard to get beautiful. The spaces in between the notes…”
He meant something more than the music, I could tell. I clasped the key in my hand tightly.
“May I take you out for a coffee?” he asked. “Let me repay your generosity.”
“Now?” I wanted to go with him, would have gone with him, but it was so late, and the test for the internship prize loomed in my mind.
He shrugged. “Whenever you wish.”
“Um, yeah,” I said. “Maybe some other time. It’s just that I have a test tomorrow.”
“On a Sunday?” He raised his eyebrows.
“It’s a special thing, for some internship.” I saw a strange look pass over his eyes, but it was gone before I could name it. He rested his hands on his lap and looked back at the sheet music.
“Good night, then,” he said, nodding slightly in my direction. The room felt colder, his voice flat, and I wondered if he had changed his mind about me. Maybe he thought I was lying about the test. I paused before turning to leave.
“Good night.” I left him there, sitting alone at the piano. As I walked through the music hall, I could hear the Satie floating through the air at my back, the ghostly notes finding their way to me in the darkness.
The next day I met Mark in front of the auditorium, the events of the previous night still playing through my mind like a vivid dream. I fingered the small brass key in my pocket. Maye it would bring me good luck on the test. Above us in the sky, gray clouds gathered menacingly, and the wind whipped through the campus, tossing the treetops from one side to the other. With my red hoodie pulled tight over my dark hair, I took the steps two at a time on my way up.
“Ready?” Mark stood on the steps under the awning, waiting for me.
“I’m never ready for these things.” Even after years of being at the top of my class, my stomach still turned over at the thought of being tested. Of being judged, and found wanting. Right now every nerve in my body stood on high alert.
“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”
“Where’s Quentin?” A few students filed into the auditorium, but Quentin was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s already inside. Wanted to get there early and sit in front. His roommate said the guy who won last year sat in front.”
“So he’s trying to set up the perfect initial conditions.” I rolled my eyes and Mark laughed.
I pushed my hood back from my head as we entered the building. Inside, a hundred students milled around the auditorium. Quentin waved to us from the front of the auditorium, and we walked toward him. Nobody else wanted to sit in the very front, it seemed, and Mark and I slid into the row right behind Quentin. Every other seat had the desk extended with a tablet resting on it.
“Check it out,” Quentin said. “Tablets like in the major hall lectures. Think they’re going to be watching us while we do the problems on these? My roommate didn’t say anything about working on a screen.” The tablets alternated on every other desk, so Mark sat down two seats over from me. He poked at the tablet, but the screen was locked.
“Wow,” I said, scanning the room. “I didn’t know we had this many math majors in our class.” I didn’t recognize half of the people there.
“There’s some physics and engineering people, looks like,” Mark said.
“Computer science too,” Quentin said. “Doesn’t matter. All of the past winners have been math majors.”
“Guess everyone wants a shot,” I said. My hopes withered. It seemed impossible that I could beat out all of these people for the prize. Even if I wanted it the most out of anybody there.
“I wonder what the questions will be.” Mark had given up on the tablet and leaned back in his chair. He looked so relaxed, like he was laying out on the library lawn in the summertime instead of waiting for the most important test of the year to start.