The Theater

Mi Na was helpful in explaining the rules, more helpful than Liam who told him to refer to his handbook, which was, by itself, less helpful than Liam. 

Noah ended up with Mi Na in the grand library stacking books and holding carts in place for her as she explained:

"You can't do things when most students will be out and about. You can't mop the floor when students will be around--safety hazard or something. You can't really do much of anything. Which means that you won't be getting any sleep tonight."

Noah had sighed at the idea. He was brutally low on energy, his knees felt as though they were rattling. Without his phone, he couldn't help but fret what his mother was doing. By the time night rolled around and those that were punished remained on campus (which was only four of them, including Noah), he was nearly grateful to climb the steps and find a mop and bucket waiting for him. It even looked unhappy to see him, but he guessed that it was better than staring at his darkened ceiling and fretting what his parents were cursing him with.

He had never mopped a floor in his life. He had a maid that came once a week, when he was a child, he had helped her with her cleaning; now he saw that she was only letting him play with her and that he was only making a bigger mess as each time he swept the mop along the ground, it left strange lines and he frowned deeper at each pass.

There was a church bell nearby, Noah realized partway into his mopping of the corridor. He could hear it ring every hour. He was losing even more hope when each hour ticked by and he grew more and more tired until it was so hard to focus on his task he didn't know whether or not he was doing well. He thought he was getting pretty good at mopping the further down the hallway he went, seeing the marble shining in the moonlight and low burn of the lights that were mounted to the ceiling high above him.

Noah turned down a hall and saw nothing but a single set of doors at the end. The hall was short and labeled "Mitte Rechts" in bold letters that spread across the doors, breaking only where the word did. He huffed as he realized that this was the hall Mi Na had meant all along. He had left his blazer in the last corridor, his shirt sticking to his chest and back as he pulled his mop and bucket along towards the doors, he had learned that it was easier not to walk through his own mopping only minutes ago.

He had scrunched the water out of the mop, a disgusting task that made him curl his nose at the sight of the dirtied water that he then was supposed to spread on the floor. He did not place his mop on the ground, however, hearing the stroke of piano keys inside sidetracked him.

Noah checked his watch on his left wrist and saw that it was past two in the morning, the moonlight streaming in through the cross-iron windows on either side of him. He leaned closer to the doors; he was a bit startled as he confirmed that he was hearing music, a slow rhythm of piano notes. He recognized it as the same tune Liam had been humming.

In his curiosity, Noah carefully turned the elegant handle to one of the doors, hearing it open silently, he looked inside to see that he was indeed looking into the balcony of a theater. Red, velvet seats were darkened by the night, a single skylight streamed in the moonlight far above, all that filled the air was the soft tune that was being played.

Noah left his bucket and walked further inside, stopping as he heard a voice begin to sing. It was beautiful and distant, he could hardly make out words but heard the singer stop and swear. 

Noah heard a small clang on the keys before the tune started back up again, solidly playing again and he began to approach the edge of the balcony, keeping low as it seemed that someone was rehearsing but Noah had thought he was the only student left in the entire castle.

He wondered, for a moment, if it could be a teacher. The thought didn't last long as he peered over the railing, between the wooden space and the copper handrail to see the stage far below. It was smeared in the moonlight, pale and blue, it shimmered off of the pianist's brown skin and the black varnish of the piano itself.

A student sat at the bench, carefully tracing out the keys and he looked to be hard at work in his task. The moonlight made his short, curly black hair look blue as he strummed out several chords before he began to sing once more. It was a song Noah recognized, one that he felt he had heard many times before but didn't know all the words to. 

His voice was hardly loud enough for it to be more than the pianist singing to himself, but the theater carried it so smoothly it felt as though Noah was down by the stage. His piano kept with him, seeming to make up for several instruments as he played. Noah watched him for a while longer, seeing how he moved quickly along the keys and paused occasionally to start over again. It nearly felt healing to his body and mind after the last week, specifically the last day. 

Abruptly, the singer and pianist stopped. It wasn't the pianist that messed up, but a loud noise that made Noah jump and he looked back to the opened door and saw that his mop and fallen from its place and landed harshly on the marble. 

Noah looked back in time to see the pianist stand, he held his hand over his eyes to block the moonlight.

"Is someone up there?" He called, his voice was just as clear and nice to Noah's ears as his singing voice; he had an English accent, Noah noticed. But Noah knew that he didn't have a moment longer to admire the tall man on the stage, he had been caught and his heart was hammering in his throat, threatening to choke him.

"Hello? Someone there?" He called again, moving towards the stage steps.

Noah scrambled to get off of the ground, not realizing when his foot had gone numb but he fell on his way towards the door all the same. His heart was hammering harder than when he had broken his father's vase in his office; he felt as though he were being chased out, that his very life was over if he dared stay a moment longer.

"Wait!" The man called again but Noah hardly heard him as he raced by his mop and bucket and down the steps.

Noah ran until his body forced him to stop; he ducked into an adjacent hallway and slumped against the wall, glancing around the turn to see if he had been followed. After seeing that no one had followed him, Noah felt both relieved and silly for running so quickly. 

"Mr. Cooper?"

Noah flinched so hard that he knocked into the statue he hadn't noticed was beside him until he was moving to catch it. He looked through it to see Headmaster Berg staring at him from down the hall. 

"Headmaster," Noah gasped as he held onto the golden statue, he forced it back onto its pedestal, uncertain it would have fallen at all, yet he held it for a moment longer. 

"What are you doing at this late hour?" Headmaster Berg asked.

"I, um," Noah gasped, leaning away from the wall and glancing behind him again when he was certain he heard footsteps but none were behind him. "I was mopping by the theater," He finished. 

"So why are you outside my office?" Headmaster Berg demanded.

"I, um," Noah pointed behind him but stopped, remembering how Liam had said that sneaking into the castle was a punishable offense. Noah was certain that the tall, dark-haired man was not amongst those that were given their tasks by Ms. Rae; a student that had snuck in after hours to play the piano seemed too innocent for Noah to forcibly punish. 

"Did you see something, Mr. Cooper?" Headmaster Berg asked.

"No," Noah finally shook his head. He had to lean over, putting his hands on his knees as he panted for air.

"Then why have you run all the way here?" Headmaster Berg asked.

"Because I, um," Noah scrambled for a lie, "wanted to let you know that I was finished."

Noah couldn't meet Headmaster Berg's eyes, partially from his slouched position, yet mostly because he did not want to. He could never lie, it was something that debilitated him around his parents. His emotions were too raw, too much for anyone to endure. People saw through him the moment they looked at him. He hoped that his clear exhaustion would make up for his inability to lie--make the Headmaster take pity on him. 

"Mr. Cooper," Headmaster Berg said as he approached him, stopping only a few feet from him. "I highly doubt you are done with your given task and I highly doubt you are this exhausted from it."

"I am," as he was not lying, Noah met his eyes, pleading with him to simply let him leave.

Headmaster Berg looked so angry that Noah felt his breath hitch in his throat. 

"I do not tolerate people like you, Mr. Cooper," Headmaster Berg said. "I do not like those that will not do as they are told. I do not like liars."

Noah looked back over his shoulder, feeling as though he needed to check that he wasn't about to be attacked from behind again. He dropped his head again, thinking that he must be hearing his own heartbeat in his ears. Maybe it was even echoing off of the walls. 

"This game you are playing will not work forever, Mr. Cooper. You will exhaust yourself one day." Headmaster Berg continued as he walked by him, "You cannot be a student forever, you cannot leech off others forever, you must leave this school at some point."

Noah flinched at his words, he could almost hear them in his father's voice. His mother's, even. He had been accused of leeching all his life. Memories flooded to his mind of him being a child and how often he was accused of not paying attention, not doing better, not being enough. He already knew he wasn't enough, Noah thought, did anyone else really need to tell him?

"Mr. Cooper, I see that you still have not finished your task." Ms. Rae's voice came over him and he looked for Headmaster Berg but he was already gone.

Noah gestured vaguely, wishing he could argue but he was too out of breath for another word to leave him. He wanted to collapse, even cry as he realized he was in for another scolding. He wished the mop hadn't fallen, given him another moment of peace. 

"Should you be here in an hour—should I catch you out of your place," Ms. Rae said, she was wearing what looked to be her pajamas and cotton robe, seeming to have walked over for the sole purpose to join in scolding him. "You will be given your second penalty!"

Noah nodded weakly, unable to meet her eyes at all. He didn't want to look at her, she felt like a monster looming over him. Soon, she went in the same direction the Headmaster had and Noah stumbled the opposite way, carefully retracing his steps until he found the mop and bucket on the ground outside of the open door.

There was no music, no singing. Noah got too curious after a minute of mopping and looked back inside, seeing that the stage was empty, the piano pushed aside. He wondered, for a moment, if anyone had been there at all.