Dark Secrets Read Online Free PDF

that he was a big, tall man, but as he stalked toward
us, he became amusingly short and round. I tightened my lips,
trapping the laughter, when I caught sight of his blonde ponytail,
gathered at the nape of his neck, tugging heavily on the few
straining hairs clasping for dear life around the edges of his bald
spot. Stylish .
But, short as he was, he was also still a centimetre taller than
me; just tall enough to be threatening as he towered over me,
burrowing into my soul with an accusing glare. “Miss Thompson, I
presume?”
    Self-amusement turned
to fear and dried my throat. I looked at Bertha, considering hiding
behind her. “Yes, sir.”
    “ And what will you be
playing for us today, Miss Thompson?”
    “ Uh.
Playing?”
    “ We
expect a performance from all our students on the first day.” He grinned,
cupping his hands as he looked around the class. And at that point,
the second head I’d earlier assumed he’d have, showed
itself.
    Everyone in the class
waited for me to respond, or maybe to run away crying. Clearly,
this was the reason for David's smirk in the library. I felt like
saying, “FYI, David, you being here with me does not make this spotlight
on my awkwardness okay. Not even a little bit!” But I bit my tongue
instead, my eyes narrowing when David tipped his head in a slight
nod. It was so obvious. He knew this was coming. He knew Mr Grant
was going to do this. Why didn't he warn me? Then I could have made
some lame excuse to run back home for the day.
    Mr Grant stood back
from his lean toward me, offering the piano stool. “If you please,
Miss Thompson. Or do you require sheet music?”
    Groaning, I shuffled
out of the straps of my backpack and went to dump it on the
ground.
    “ I’ll take this for
you.” David grabbed it and placed it by his feet.
    “ Uh, thanks,” I said,
then walked over to Bertha. The weight of two options dragged me to
slump a little heavier on the stool; burst into tears and run away,
or play a song?
    “ If
you can only play Chopsticks, Miss Thompson, that will be fine,” Mr
Grant said, and I just wanted to pull his ponytail. Jerk. But there
was no way I’d let this know-it-all music professor make me cry in
front of all these kids. I was sure he’d reduced many a student to
tears in the past and it was time somebody taught him a lesson. If there
was one thing I hated in this world more than anything, it was
people using their talents or skills or, worse, knowledge, to make other people feel
small. And that’s exactly what Mr Grant was doing to me. And it
worked.
    Everyone watched. I
hesitated only a breath more, then lifted the cover and touched the
very tip of one finger to the high C, too afraid to press
down.
    “ Ara?” David rested
his elbows on the top of the piano and smiled at me. I did not
smile back. “You’ll be okay. Just play.”
    My lip quivered a
little, tears burning in my eyes. That little bit of control I had
over my life was just about to slip away.
    Mr Grant, standing
uncomfortably close, watched me reposition my stool so I could
reach the foot pedals, then held out a stack of papers. “Your sheet
music.”
    “ I’ll be fine without
that, thank you, Mr Grant,” I stated calmly and politely. Really, I
wanted to take them from his puny little hands and clonk him over
the head. Instead, I traced the columns of black and white for a
second, drawing a tight breath through my teeth. I didn’t know the
weight of the keys or the force it would take to draw a sound from
them. This piano was unfamiliar and old, and after two months
without so much as hearing a piano, I wasn’t sure I could even play
anymore. This could end badly.
    “ Today, Miss
Thompson,” said the intolerant imp.
    David gave me a
reassuring nod, leaning a little closer to watch my fingers as they
found their way home.
    Okay, you can do
this, Ara-Rose. Just breathe . I looked
around the room and grinned. “Has any one here heard of the
band Muse ?”
    Under the cheers of
the