Moonlit Sonata in a Dark Alley

The teacher talked and talked and talked. I, the first student, best grades, always listening, was *not* listening. I wasn't taking notes; I was busy sketching. My notebooks were filled with sketches; I had started doing it a few months ago. Since... well... since I found out I was in love. His figure filled every page... and I couldn't help it. He sat a few seats in front of me, and I stared at him, amazed, searching for every detail, studying him...

His spiky semi dark-light brown hair jinxed me, just like his dark eyes, black, deep. His glance nerved me sometimes. The simple fact of him looking at me got me nervous. And at the same time, it caused me an extreme joy to know that I did, and could always count on Hillel Sven's honest friendship.

"Mr. Vallyes, could you please repeat the question Mr. McCornall just asked?"

I flinched when I heard my name, and I looked at the impatient teacher in front of the blackboard. He must have noticed I wasn't paying attention at all...

"Eh... sorry, sir, I didn't hear--"

Almost interrupting me, he talked, angrily.

"It is my job to teach you, Mr Vallyes, and if you are not interested in what I say, I would thank you if you went and did what you are doing at the principal's office."

I heard a subtle laugh, but I couldn't tell who it was. I mumbled an apology and opened a new page. I noticed Hillel's look over me and I pretended not to feel it. I didn't move my eyes from the notebook until he stopped looking at me.

As soon as the bell rang, I left my books and ran to the bathroom. I knew Hillel would not delay in running after me, so I waited for him locked in a cubicle. I didn't wait much until I heard his voice.

"Zack? You there?"

I opened the door immediately. He talked, I answered. He asked, I gave, whatever he wanted, he'd get it.

He noticed me blushing and asked.

"Something happened? You're weird..."

"No, nothing, felt a little dizzy, that's all..."

He didn't believe a word, obviously, but I smiled, as always, and that calmed him. Even if half of my very innocent smiles were for hiding a sob, he felt better when he saw them. I wanted him happy, I would have done anything for him, even deceive myself so deliberately.

"Hey", he said. "The tickets for the concert were almost over, so I went shopping in the morning."

My heart stopped. That damn concert! My only opportunity to be alone with Hillel, without HIM interrupting. Yes, HIM with ALL CAPS, because he's a capital nuisance at times. I know and I recognize it... we get along, he's my second best friend, but... he is everything in my Hillel's eyes. Yes, MY Hillel. They go everywhere together, they sleep in the same room, they hug each other, smile to each other... and I, well, get jealous! And that's because I know I can't compete with Matthew Sven. Yeah... his brother. His TWIN to be precise. He came back to Hillel's life five years ago, when we were twelve. And they haven't been apart since then. Hillel's best friend is not me anymore, it's US. I haven't been able to spend one minute alone with Hillel since he appeared. And I don't blame him, but I won't dare to say anything about my feelings if Matthew's there. That's why I wanted to tell him in the concert... but now the tickets had ran out! Damn luck.

"I think I'll go buy mine after school", I grumbled. "If they ran out... well, I won't be able to go."

To my surprise, Hillel laughed.

"You're stupid! I bought one for you."

Happiness and hope came back to my soul. Was Hillel saying we would go together... alone? I failed miserably.

"I bought three of them", he added.

I bet my horror was reflected in my face; Hillel looked at me as if I were nuts and asked.

"What's with the face?"

I couldn't answer his question.

"You bought... three?" barely came out of my lips.

"Well yeah... is there a problem?"

I hid my disappointment as much as I could.

"No! Not at all, it's just... I thought Matt couldn't go..."

"Oh he changed his mind. He said he'll study later - though he won't have time -, but that there's no way he's missing that concert".

That bothered me a little. Hadn't Matt said that he didn't give a shit about the stupid concert and that he needed to study ASAP because he didn't understand a thing? Gosh, he's so bipolar! Murphy's Law shot me like an arrow.

"Ah, well, we'll just go, then" I said, pretending to be ok with the news (and yes, I'm a good actor).

"OK, we'll leave from your house a couple hours before it starts, right?"

"Hillel, you guys *live* at my house" I lifted an eyebrow.

"I know, I know, just avoiding confusion."

Less than a second, and Hillel's mirror entered the bathroom. Just as beautiful, but colder... he looked at me, expressionless, with those pale grey eyes. Hillel's look made me nervous, but Matt's made me shiver. He wasn't a smiling caring guy most of the time; he saved that for his brother. I don't understand why I cared for him so much... maybe because he was brothers with... the one I loved, I guess. Still, I smiled and waved.

"Hiya Matty!"

He scowled subtly, but I noticed. He waved back.

"Hey Zack... " he turned to Hillel. "Hey, Hill, can you help me with chemistry in the afternoon?"

Hillel shrugged.

"I understand less than you."

I thought about offering my help, but I waited for him to ask. He looked at me for a few seconds, but didn't talk. Then he sighed.

"I'll ask Mike then..." he said, and went out.

I felt like going out and shouting 'Chemistry if my best subject, I've had straight A’s in all the exams, I can help you whenever you want!', but I didn't. I've always been quiet, and if it wasn't for my grades, and hanging with the Sven twins, I would have gone unnoticed at school. The fact that Matt didn't even think about me to help him with his problems in Chemistry saddened me, but I forgot about it immediately. I concentrated in Hillel again and growled when the bell rang again, meaning the end of the break.

***

We. Were. Tired. The review classes for the upcoming exams were driving us mad. Neither Matt nor Hillel were excellent students, so my work was multiplied by three if I had to help them. We arrived home way later than usual. We were so tired we walked like snails. The usual forty minute walk turned into a two hour one, so it was past sunset when we got there. My mum smiled at us when we came in, and we rushed to my room, exhausted. We let ourselves fall, synchronously, on my bed, and we sighed. We didn't move until dinner.

We ate fast, and we went back to throw ourselves on the bed. We didn't want to study, so we left it for the day. I couldn't stop looking at Hillel, thinking about the next afternoon, the one I had planned for us, the one where I wouldn't dare to confess my feelings anymore.

***

Next day finished fast, thank God. I wanted it to be afternoon. I wouldn't be alone with Hillel, but I'd still be with him, freer than usual. It was not a day with big events. The only remarkable can be a discussion between Matt and Fred Nascher, which ended in a large loss of blood (from Fred) and a visit to the principal (from Matt). It ended up being solved someway I never knew and, at the end of classes, we went back home. We left for the concert almost immediately, after changing clothes (seriously, I would never go to a concert wearing my school uniform). We arrived an hour later and we went in, along with another bunch of fans. The main band sure took it's time to appear, though it didn't bother me at all (I'm hard to annoy), but the rest started to get impatient. Many approached the stage with every minor thought of the band appearing, and I almost died under the feet of a thousand ecstatic fans. Hillel, with a laugh, helped me stand up, and, showing me one of his most beautiful smiles, took me to a safer place. Matt came with us. I had never seen him so happy. He always loved that band...

When the band members came out and started playing, the earsplitting screams of the fans almost ripped my ears off. I could see Matt shouting with all the air and power in his lungs. Hillel listened amazed, playing, almost professionally, an air guitar, but I wasn't listening. All I could do was looking at him. I looked around for an instant. I saw many couples, kissing with passion, forgetting about the rest, the other people, who at the same time, ignored them. For little less than a second I imagined one of those scenes, featuring Hillel and me. I blushed. I thought about confessing everything, more than one time, but I didn't dare. When I saw him, so beautiful, so innocent, I feared losing bonds in our relationship; bonds that weren’t the kind I would like, but that were strong, and very important for me. Hillel had had many girlfriends, and ... well... I never thought he could see me like that. As a friend, yes, as a brother. But never as... something else. The concert felt never ending. It was awesome when I finally put attention to it, but I didn't do what I had to. I didn't tell Hillel. I thought about telling him later, but I didn't decide how later.

As soon as it finished, I felt it too short (after arguing it felt too long; if you don't understand me, don't worry, I don't either). I regretted having to walk home, at almost midnight, across dark neighborhoods. We were just walking when Matt flinched. He looked over his shoulder, frowning. I turned too, and Hillel did too, both curious. Many steps from us, I could see two guys, completely dressed in black, walking toward us. I couldn't see their faces, hidden like their bodies, behind the long coats and hats. I felt they could be following us, but I wasn't sure. Matt was. He looked nervous, almost scared. He turned to face us.

"Hill, Zack, keep on goin', double speed. I'll go checkin'".

We nodded, without a word, half contaged by his fear. We walked for a few blocks without looking back, walking faster and faster. After some minutes, Matt turned again. I noticed horror in his face when he noticed the guys still following us.

"Shit..." I heard him whisper. He looked at us. "Turn right, next alley. We're gonna lose'em."

We kept on walking, without hesitating. We turned right in the next alley, like Matt had told us, and we heard him behind us. He wasn't the only one; sounds of steps, from two more people, were audible too, and my heartbeat raced. A couple of minutes later, Hillel suddenly stopped and gulped. I could tell why. Dead end. I shivered and turned back. Matt was already confronting the guys following us, still walking.

"Hey! What's your prob--?" He stopped. One of them, the tallest, grabbed him by the shoulders. Matt tried to release himself, angered, without any results. "Let go!!"

Hillel and I walked back until we felt the wall against us. The other guy walked toward us to the point we could feel his breath in our faces, but still like that, we couldn't see his face. He was just a little bit taller than me, exact Hillel's height, I could say, but at the same time, I felt in him something that made me feel unconfident, something that wasn't human. He put his hands in his long black coat's pockets, and I could tell he was looking at us unamused. I noted a smile in his mouth, the only part of his face that was visible.

"Hi", he greeted, unruffled. His voice sounded too familiar. Hillel didn't answer his greet, and I didn't either. He laughed softly and looked at my friend.

"You're a Sven, one of the twins, Matthew or Hillel, can’t be sure..."

He turned to the guy holding Matt and snapped his fingers. The giant walked to a lamp post and, without a bit of kindness, exposed Matt's face to the light. Matt looked at the young non-human with fear in his clear grey eyes. The young turned to us again, smiling.

"Grey eyes... that's Matthew. So you..." he talked to my friend" must be Hillel." He looked at me then. "And you're Zack Vallyes."

I swallowed my fear and answered.

"Only my friends call me Zack. Name's Zachary."

He just smiled more.

"Well then, Zachary."

"What do you want?"

"You'll see in a minute."

I didn't understand what he meant, but I didn't take long to see it. His hands were no longer inside his pockets, and I could see he was holding two large black objects, with which he touched our chests. Matt was the first one to figure out what they were. He screamed desperately, trying to release himself from the giant, who just grabbed him tighter. Hillel and I soon reacted, as soon as we saw what Matt had seen. Guns. He was pointing guns at our chests without changing his smiling, carefree look. We instantly panicked. We looked at him in terror, still hearing Matt's desperate cries.

"IMBECILE!! LEAVE THEM, LET THEM GO!"

Without taking Matt in care, he pressed the gun against our bodies. I looked at Hillel. He was pale and shaking, it looked like he would faint in an instant.

"There's one of you that's not walking home tonite..."

Matt never stopped screaming.

"And that will be..."

I can't believe all that went through my mind the second after his last words. My brain almost exploded trying to find something, a flaw in his plan. 'There's one of you that's not walking home...' 'There's one of you...' 'One of you...' 'One.'

My mind was nothing but a huge brainstorm.

And it stopped.

I saw it.

It was Hillel or me.

I looked at the exhausted Matt just a few steps from us and I could almost feel his pain. Hillel was his brother... his twin. His death would be more than unbearable for him. Then I looked at Hillel. He was perfect, despite being white because of the fear. His life... couldn't end. He had to find a girlfriend... and be happy. I smiled, saying goodbye to him in my mind, and, without thinking again, I grabbed the hand that held the gun against my chest. The one holding it looked at me, confused, but couldn't say anything else. I had already pulled the trigger.