The Piano Key (Ti)

"Who's there?!" he called out louder this time, trying to sound tough. "Come out or else I'll be the one to come to you."

He jumped down from the chair attached to the piano. He was small for the instrument that his feet couldn't reach yet the ground. He just stood there for a while, hoping that whoever is hiding will reveal itself first.

The dried leaves crunched behind the tree, then a she-bug slowly appeared, her head lowered. She was taking little glimpses at him as she moved forward. She stopped by the bushes. Dylan leaned his head forward and peered at her. He was a short distance from where she stood and he couldn't recognize her with her hair covering most of her face.

When Dylan called out the second time, Luna felt panic rising all over her body that she shuffled around, scratching her head with her brows furrowed. Finally she decided that there's no escape so she walked out slowly, lowering her head and red with embarassment. She took small glimpses at him and stopped by the bushes, keeping a distance between them.

Suddenly, she felt something creeping on her feet. She couldn't see it because her lower half was in the bushes. She tried to ignore it at first hoping it will disappear, but it seemed to be creeping up her legs. Unable to endure it she started shouting, running and jumping towards the clearing.

"Luna?" Dylan said her name with a puzzled face when he saw her. The little bug Kariza was bullying? How did she ended up here by the edge of his town? It was quite far from the town center.

She kept kicking with her left feet. She was thrashing so much she lost her balance and fell. Dylan rushed to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he kneeled beside her.

"Something's on my leg! It won't fall off," she cried, still kicking. Then he saw a black spider crawling up her knee.

"Hold still," he told her. She was trembling, but obeyed and managed to keep her leg still. Dylan scooped up the spider with his hand and threw it away.

"There, it's gone now. It was just a little spider."

Luna sighed in relief. She wiped away some tears that fell. Dylan helped her up.

"Thank you. You saved me twice today," she bowed at him and smiled.

"No need to be so polite. You're welcome." He smiled back. Then he frowned.

"Uh, what's wrong?" She was staring strangely at his face.

A sad look fell on her face as she stared at his left cheek. It was still red and a little swollen. "I'm very sorry. You got hurt because of me." She apologized and lowered her head.

"Oh." He touched his swollen cheek. Looking at Luna who was almost going to cry again, he felt bad for making a girl cry. "H-hey, don't cry. I'm okay. It's not your fault." He consoled but she just kept silent with pursed lips.