Of When She Was Free [Story]

The feel of the practice room vibrating to the music, leaving a tingling sensation in her fingertips.

The sound of the cello accompanying her melody, along with the occasional yell heard from outside as students left for home.

The smell of sweat from the late afternoon heat beating through the window.

All was a distant memory.

A memory of when she was free.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she abruptly sat up in her chair, the rapping of the teacher’s ruler on
her desk causing her to yelp in shock. She froze, stunned as the entire class snickered at her reaction,
the teacher giving an exasperated sigh as she stared down the now fully-awake student in front of her,
lips pursed into a curl that Clementine knew meant: “See me after class.”

It hadn’t been the first time that Clementine had fallen asleep in class.
In fact, she was entirely positive that the teacher was going to fail her for falling asleep,
despite her perfect scores that no one was able to explain. Many teachers had tried to
catch her cheating before, but she never did, so they never caught her. It was a constant
game of “see me in my office” and “take this test in front of me, alone, and you can’t
leave until you finish.”

Perfect scores anyways, top of the class.

Maybe she was just a genius.

Of course, maybe it had to do with staying up late into the night due to music lessons
and studying. She did actually learn the material, just not in class. Her afternoons were
filled with held-back tears and clenched fists as she sang her throat dry, the only companion
to her pain being the cool flush of water down her throat. Dinner breaks were short, no longer
than thirty minutes, and then it was time for piano lessons. They didn’t stop until well past
nine, but studying would be on her mind until almost two in the morning, three at the latest.
Four hours of sleep would ensue, and she would start the cycle all over again.

To actually admit that you’re cracking is almost close to null.
Once you reach that null point, it’s only then that you realize how close you are to the edge.