He had always been confusing to me.
I think we consider ourselves to be friends.
I never could tell if he meant the things he said.

I had this preconceived idea about him,
based on what others have told me.

"Don't trust him."
"He's a player."
"He seems nice, but it's only a cover."

I was at the band and choir competition, looking for my friend.
I flung open the door of the vocal warm-up room, the fieldhouse,
and my heart stopped.

He was the only one there, yet he seemed to fill the room.
Twirling around,
singing his heart out,
jumping from piano to piano, playing the accompaniment to his song.

He must've stolen that voice from the cosmos,
for I've never heard anything so celestial.

He turned to me, still singing,
but I'm not sure if he really saw me.
He saw those empty bleachers as packed to the brim, all listening eagerly.


There is something indescribably vulnerable about singing.
I was awestruck, at a loss for words.

How could someone so emotionally raw be characterized as---manipulative?