~~***~~
Over pizza, her father quizzed Jonah. “Lyra tells us you are quite artistic, Jonah.”
Jonah shot Lyra an inscrutable look. “No sir, not really. I painted our basement, but that was more due to an interest in astronomy than in artistic ability.”
“Ah, I see. Do you have a telescope?”
“A small one, yes sir, but Jet and I pay to use a high-powered scope at an observatory in New Mexico. I can star gaze over the internet.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about that—quite ingenious. Is that something you plan to make a career of?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, or maybe physics. I’m taking an on-line calculus course through NYU that is really fascinating. I’m sure I will go into one of the sciences.”
Gordon and Olivia exchanged a look.
Calculus, thought Lyra, fascinating?
“And do you plan to attend New York State?” her father continued.
“I’m not sure. Jet would like me to go Ivy League, but I’ll need a scholarship or it will be out of my reach financially.”
Gordon nodded. “Well, it sounds like you’re on the right track, son.”
When they’d all had their fill of pizza, Lyra stood up from the table. “Jonah and I are going up to my room to study.”
“Why don’t you study in the den, honey,” her mom suggested.
“Well, Jonah wanted to hear me play and I don’t want to drag my cello all the way down here.”
A crease formed Olivia’s forehead. “Oh, okay.”
She and Jonah turned toward the stairs.
She had one foot on the lowest step when her mother’s voice stopped her. “Keep your door open, Lyra.”
Lyra smiled. “Sure, mom, no problem.” Her parents were old fashioned, but at least they cared. She winked at Jonah and whispered, “Darn. Guess we’ll have to behave ourselves.”
Jonah walked around her room looking at the pictures on the walls, ribbons and trophies she’d won growing up, her collection of blown-glass figurines, and the books on her shelves—meager compared to his.
He stood for a while at her window. He opened the sill and stuck his head out. He looked down. “Hey, you’ve got a ladder…you can climb out onto the porch roof.”
“Yeah. My fire escape.”
“Can you get all the way to the ground?”
“No point climbing out to escape a fire, then breaking my neck jumping from twelve feet up,” Lyra joked. “Yes, it picks back up on the left side of the lower roof.”
“That’s cool.” After staring out a minute more, he pulled his head back in and shut the window. “Do you ever climb out there just for the fun of it?”
“Yeah. When the weather is nice, I like lying out there. I listen to the loons and coyotes, and I look up at the…Hey, you could bring your telescope over here. That would be so cool!”
He was smiling broadly. “That’s what I was just thinking. It’s a perfect platform and you don’t have any outside lights to black out. It would be perfect.”
“Why don’t you go get it?”
“Nah, there’s no visibility tonight with all the cloud coverage.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Plus, I want to hear you play.”
“Oh yeah.”
Lyra pulled out her desk chair and took her cello from its case. She sat down, turned on her tuner, and drew her bow across each string, making minor adjustments to the keys. Then she spent a few more minutes warming up. Jonah watched with avid interest from her bed.
At first she was nervous. The only people she ever played for were her parents and Barty. But she’d been playing too many years for the jitters to last. She played Music of the Night with the CD. Lyra didn’t look at him while she played because she knew it might distract her into losing her place, but when she’d finished, she lifted her head to see his reaction.
Jonah smiled, his expression serene. “That was magnificent.”
“Thank you.”
After a moment he asked, “What do you have to play for your audition Saturday?”
At the mention of the audition, a dozen butterflies took flight in Lyra’s stomach. “A couple of technical etudes and Spring by Vivaldi.”
“Oh, I love the Four Seasons.”
Lyra was surprised. Not many kids her age had ever heard of it.
“Have you ever heard The Planets by Gustav Holst?” he asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s fantastic. It’s in eight movements— Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and so on. Next time you come over, we can listen to it down in the basement. I haven’t done that yet since I finished the room; it’ll be awesome.”
Lyra’s brain was still stuck on the phrase next time you come over. A little thrill of anticipation went through her.
He insisted she work on the pieces for her audition, and though that meant him hearing many wrong notes, false starts, and growls of frustration, Lyra practiced; she knew she needed to.
After about forty minutes, she put it away for the night.
“I’d really better get home now.”
“Okay, I’ll walk you half way,” Lyra offered.
“No you won’t. You shouldn’t be walking around in the woods at night.”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “I’ll be on my own property.”
“You think criminals never trespass to commit their crimes?”
They’d reached the stairs and Lyra, not wanting to argue, changed the subject. “Thanks for hanging out with me today. I had a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Gordon and Olivia were in the living room. Gordon offered to drive Jonah home, but he declined the offer.
“Double standards,” Lyra grumbled under her breath as she walked him to the door.
“Superhuman strength, remember?” Jonah muttered back, looking at her pointedly.
“Right.”
He flashed her a grin. “See you tomorrow.”