Voice

Leonardo kept his word. Savannah hadn't doubted that he would—rather, she actually forgot about it entirely. So it surprised her a little when Leo told her to get in his car right after their last class let out.

"Your car? Are we going somewhere for lunch?"

"No? The Fermata Pavilion, dummy."

"Ohh. Yeah, I am a dummy..."

The entire drive to the café was spent in silence, although Savannah felt herself growing increasingly more anxious the closer they got to the location. She trusted Leo. But sadly that didn't cancel out her nervousness.

"We're here."

"We're what?"

"Here. You can get out of the car."

"...this car?"

"I'm actually going to change my mind if you don't get moving."

"I am, look, opening the door...it's opened!"

"Now step out of the car."

"Which foot...?"

It took longer than it should have to get Savannah to go into the café. As the other pushed her, she tried convincing Leo that maybe a waitress was a better choice for her, but then she had a twenty second debate with herself as to why she didn't agree with herself. Eventually, she was silenced at the realization the two were inside the café. Moreover, that someone was walking towards them.

"Leo! You're here!"

Savannah recognized Alex.

What is he doing here?

"Where's the boss?"

"Right here," the server said proudly and pointed to himself, "just got promoted."

"I'm being serious. This lady wants to start working here."

At this, an overdramatized gasp was drawn from Alex's mouth, and he faced Savannah with eyes widened to their full capacity. "Savannah? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the campus??"

"Wait. You know her?"

"Well. I can't unknow her if she is my sister. A bratty one too."

"...Nice to meet you too, Alex. How's your girlfriend? You do have to introduce your girlfriend to your sister, you dummy."

"Okay, okay. Stop it both of you." Leo said, trying not to let both the siblings fight right in the middle of the café. "So, as I was saying. The lady wants to start working here."

"Why are you calling me a lady—"

"You are?? That's-" Alex extended an arm and grabbed Savannah's left hand, then began aggressively shaking it. "Welcome to the crew!"

"I-I haven't been hired yet—"

"Leo! There you are."

A new voice entered the conversation. Savannah tensed up, her face draining.

"Mr. Washington, I was looking for you," Leo greeted, smiling slightly as he was smiled upon by the somewhat short, stout older man. "This is Savannah, she's a music major at the same college I go to. Coincidentally Alex's younger sister—"

"We are twins."

"—Great performer, I think you should let her on stage with me. You won't regret it.""Is that so, mm?" A hearty chuckle spilled from the man's mouth. He patted Savannah's shoulder which only made the girl tense up more. "If that's what you think, who am I to argue? It's nice to meet you, Savannah, I'm Callister Washington. Everyone calls me Mr. Washington. Have you and Leo known each other for long?"

"A little while," Leo answered in her place. "So is it alright if she starts today?"

"It's like I said," Mr. Washington began, "who am I to argue with you, Leonardo? You're the reason business has increased here so by all means, this could be me returning the favor. I will need her to fill out a bit of paperwork for me, but that can wait till later today if she plans on staying."

"Thank you, sir." Leo then turned to Savannah and gave her back two quick pats. "C'mon, stage is over there. Left foot, right foot, let's go."

With that, he started once again to guide Savannah, who still didn't seem all there, this time towards the stage where a girl was currently playing a relaxing violin piece. Leonardo pushed her all the way to the small staircase then subtly to the backstage area—nothing big, just a small breathing space essentially with a couple chairs and random pieces of equipment.

"We'll wait here till she's done," Leo told her. He gestured at one of the chairs. "Go ahead and take a seat." The girl listened. "So what do you actually do, you sing, or play piano, or some other instrument? You said you could do one of those but never specified."

Sheepishly, Savannah scratched the back of her head. Confidence escaped her. "I...I know how to play piano, and I sing a lot, too, I guess."

"Great, how about you take the mic and I'll do accompaniment?"

"What?"

"You know the lyrics to Wicked Game?"

"The...Chris Isaak song?"

"Wow, you actually know the artist, I'm impressed." Leo gave an approving nod. "Yeah. So you know the lyrics?"

"I do..." Savannah said under her breath as she also nodded. "I used to listen to his music all the time. Wicked Game was my favorite song."

"Good taste in music. Maybe you're not so bad."

She didn't know whether or not Leo was being serious, but nonetheless the comment made her blush, and a smile slipped onto her face and temporarily made her forget about being anxious. Then the violinist finished her song.

"That's our cue," Leo said. "Let's go."

Savannah's heart sank. "Right...now?"

"No, yesterday. Yes, now."

It hit her suddenly again, that wave of anxiety that made her lose feeling in her face and fingertips, but she tried not to show it as Leonardo urged her onto the stage overlooking the crowd of café guests. For the most part, they all had kind looks on their faces, as did the girl who happily greeted both of them and informed them she'd be heading home now that they were here. Savannah smiled at her and out at that crowd.

She watched with unblinking eyes as Leonardo slid across the piano seat and gracefully hovered his fingers over the white keys. They made eye contact, and Leo gave a nod.

He started to play. Savannah stood in front of the microphone, her sweaty hands gripping the stand as though her life depended on it. Ironically, in that moment, she swore his life flashed before her eyes.

The room didn't look clear. Why were the people all blurry?

She couldn't look forward anymore. Her head facing down, eyes hardly open, Savannah strained herself to force out the lyrics to a song she knew by heart but there was nothing.

Her hands dropped to her sides and she ran off the stage.

It took a moment for Leonardo to realize, as with songs he had committed to memory, he had a habit of closing his eyes as he played. He focused better that way. But it struck his ear in an odd way when no voice could be heard along with the music as it should have been.

Not to mention Savannah made quite a bit of noise hurrying down those steps to get outside.It drew attention. Obviously it did. And for that, Leo felt even worse for the girl, so he acted quickly in speaking to the crowd. "It's alright, everything's alright, everyone, I'll be right back."With that, he hurried down the steps and across the café till he reached the door. He pushed it open and stepped outside.

He found the girl sitting on the ground right beside the door.

Drawing in a deep breath, Leonardo lowered himself gradually until he was sitting right next to Savannah, just out of the way so that the café door could still be opened by visitors.

"...everything okay—?"

"I'm so sorry, Leonardo," Savannah blurted. Her voice trembled as she struggled to find it in herself to raise her head. "I'm so sorry, I probably embarrassed you, I don't know what came over me, I-"

"No, I'm sorry," the other interrupted. Hearing apologies hurt more than giving them right now, and Leonardo had never really been a fan of that feeling. "It's my fault."

"Your fault??"

"I shouldn't have just rushed you out there," he said, voice coated in frustration. "I didn't really think about it...I mean, I do this all the time, I've worked here for a while and I'm used to it, but I threw this all in your face without considering how you might feel. So yeah, 100% my fault."

It warmed her heart to hear that. Although she didn't fully agree with Leo, regardless, Savannah liked how soft the boy's voice sounded when uttering these words. Not cold, not forced, but genuine.

"If you don't wanna go back up there, I'd completely understand," Leo added after some time, "and I'll explain to my boss it was just nerves if you wanted to try again tomorrow or something. So...just let me know, I guess."

"That would be really sweet of you."

Leo made a face at the comment. "I'm not sweet, that word doesn't fit me."

"I think it does," Savannah chuckled.

"I'm just trying to not be a jerk, ya know?"

"Mm. It's working."

"Is it now?"

"Mhm. If you keep it up, I might even fall for you."

It almost hurt to say, but Leonardo's reaction, the little tint of purple on his cheeks that he angrily tried to wipe away as he scoffed at Savannah, that lighthearted reaction made it okay. Savannah smirked at him.

"I'm teasing, don't hate me."

"You're getting cheeky is what this is."

"No, I just like seeing you blush, that's all."

"Stop. Remember whose apartment you're currently lodging in."

"You're right, you're right..."

She laughed it off. While the mood was still something comfortable, Savannah chose to poke fun at matters she wished she could say with more confidence. But at the moment, she feared breaking this tender attitude Leonardo had acquired towards her, so silence was kept.

With some encouragement and a whole lot of internal commitment, Savannah decided to give performing another go. She had nothing to lose now that she had already made a fool of herself. Everyone had seen her run off, and she was sure she concerned them and perhaps even ruined their hopes of uninterrupted live music. That was one of the main reasons the Fermata Pavilion stood out, after all. Nothing could match the performers. Savannah was new, and being aware of this and this opportunity she received only through Leo, she didn't want to take things for granted or let anyone down.

Especially not Leonardo.

"I'm sorry, everyone," she said regretfully the moment she stepped up to the microphone again. "Everything's okay, we're going to start again."

She bowed to the guests. Then turned to Leo and did the same.

"Just 'cus. You can start playing now."

***

At the end of the night, Savannah had a better feel of performing in front of a live audience, although Leo admitted—because the other asked—that the girl still did seem stiff. However he assured Savannah it wasn't anything to be discouraged about. She would get used to it. Moreover, her voice had impressed Mr. Washington enough that the owner practically begged for her to come to the café more often with Leo—frequently, he stressed, if possible. Apparently a handful of customers made comments to him about the two and that they would love to hear them again. It pleased her, and even made Savannah feel better about the incident, too.

Arriving back at the apartment was a relief, though. Savannah felt oddly exhausted, though she knew it to be more so from the anxiety rather than from the physical exertion of singing.

Not to mention she had other things on her mind that chose now to resurface.

The girl didn't appear to be listening. Her eyes seemed to be trained on something that wasn't there, perhaps something in her head that Leo couldn't see. Whatever it was, it painted across Savannah's face something akin to dejection.

"...Savannah."

"...mm?"

"You look depressed. What's up with you? It's not 'cus of you panicking and running off stage earlier, is it? I thought you recovered..."

"No, it's not that," Savannah said in a soft voice. Still, she looked to be distracted. That bothered Leo.

"...then, is it your old job?" He asked tentatively. "Are you still hung up on that?"

Savannah didn't answer this time. She pursed her lips, displeased in one way or another.

That expression. For whatever reason, Leonardo wanted it to go away. He would rather the girl be her annoying, weird self over this despondent, vague character he saw now.

"Anna-"

"Anna? I get a nickname??"

"You reacted way too quickly to that."

A shy laugh. "Sorry, I like it."

"Mm."

"Can I call you a nickname, too?"

"Only if you tell me why you were fired from your other job."

The atmosphere fell again to something dismal and unpleasant, and so abruptly did that eager light in Savannah's eyes fade. She turned from Leo to look at the floor in front of her. Something was wrong. Even her posture looked guilty.

"Do you really not want to tell me?"

"It's not that I don't want to tell you," Savannah said, almost too quiet to hear. "It's just I'm afraid you'll get mad like you did before."

"Mad?" Like before? "Why would I get mad?"

"You told me not to stand up for you. You said it would only get me in trouble, and you were right. It got me in a lot of trouble."

Raw emotion caused her voice to quiver. Leonardo felt his own heart move a little.

"Don't tell me you got into a fight with someone."

"...I won't tell you then."

Conflicted feelings billowed up inside him, a strong presence of anger, but it was lined with sympathy towards this girl who clearly was fighting back another round of tears.

"Savannah, what did I say to you before??"

"Please call me Anna now, it'll hurt less when you yell at me."

It hurt Leo, undeniably. The girl appeared to him as a child, genuinely regretful for something she had done, not stable enough to handle another voice raised at her when she had probably done enough of that herself, internally if not externally as well. Truly, Leo's chest ached because of it.

At times like these, he hated himself for being so quick to anger.

"Was it James?" He asked once his temper finally stowed itself away. Savannah nodded in response. "I knew it..."

"Leo, I'm so sorry," the girl whispered, sniffling. "I'm so sorry, but I remembered the panic attack you had when he showed up before, and, and he was just saying awful, awful things, about me, but more about you, and I couldn't take it, I hated it...I'm sorry, Leo..."

Quietly, Leo made his way over to Savannah and sat beside her on the couch.

"It's okay. I'm not mad at you."

"You don't have to sugarcoat it..."

"Do you want me to be mad?"

"I deserve it..."

"Enough with that." Leonardo sighed, exasperated but not certain whether with himself or Savannah. "Listen, how about we do something to take your mind off it, huh?"

To Leo's relief, it caught Savannah's attention in a positive way. The girl actually looked at him. "Like what?"

"Like, I don't know..." Think. "We could...hang out. Maybe go to a mall...if that's what you want. Or you could pick something else, I don't care."

"We could really do that??"

Though still tearful, some of Savannah's pep sprang back into her, her eyebrows shooting up as she shifted her hopeful gaze over to the other. Made Leo's heart skip a beat, it did, though he discarded of the thought.

"Yeah, why not? Let's hang out tomorrow."