Sighing to myself, I close my briefcase and stand up from the desk, making my way downstairs to my garage. I enjoy teaching piano—I truly do—but sometimes it's hard to stay motivated when your only students are rich kids that have no interest whatsoever in learning the instrument, and are only taking lessons because their parents forced them. At least it's nice getting to play on the pianos they have; it's not unusual for some of these families to have a Steinway, though I do feel that it's a waste for such a beautiful instrument to only get used twice a week by a child who has no concept of its beauty. Shaking away my negative thoughts, I get into my car and start mentally preparing my lesson plan.
Today I have a new student: Elizabeth—or Lizzy, as I'm told she likes to be called. Her father hired me a week ago to teach her piano. Though I would never admit it to anyone, I much prefer female students to males. Most of the girls at least try to pay attention, while even that is a struggle with the boys. So, with a newly renewed attitude, I set off for Lizzy's house, hoping that she'll be better behaved than most of my students.
***
Before I can even knock on the door, it swings open, and I'm greeted by the sight of a tween girl in a sundress beaming up at me. "Hiya, Mr. Stevens!" she exclaims, her contagious grin and cheerful bouncing bringing a smile to my own face.
"Hi, yourself. Lizzy, right?" I respond, finding myself drawn in by her bubbly demeanor.
"Yeah! Daddy said you were gonna teach me how to play the piano."
"That's right. Why don't we head inside, and you can show me to your piano." Nodding in agreement and practically buzzing with excitement, the child takes my hand with hers and tugs me toward the doorway. I try to ignore the feeling of her warm palm against mine; she's old enough that her body is halfway between girl and woman—giving me an uncomfortable fluttering in my stomach when I'm presented with a clear view of her bare legs while she leads me inside.
"It's just over here! I'm suuper excited to learn how to play! I've been asking Daddy to teach me for a while, but he's too busy, so he finally just called you instead." Lizzy looks sad for a moment, but in a flash her cheerfulness returns, and she clings to my arm until we reach the music room. It really is fit to be called a music room—a large and spacious room with intricately designed walls and a sloped ceiling. One wall is almost entirely glass with a maroon loveseat beside it, giving a pleasant view of the backyard that opens up onto a couple acres of land, and providing ample natural light to the space. There are a few other instruments near the edges of the room, but the focus is clearly on the Steinway & Sons grand piano that serves as a centerpiece and focus point for the music room.
Letting out a whistle of admiration, I take in the piano and its surroundings, causing Lizzy to giggle, squeezing my hand with hers. "It's cool, right? I've always wanted to play it, but Daddy said not until I took lessons first." I can only nod in approval, my attention brought once more to our intertwined fingers. I know she can't be doing it on purpose, but it's killing me how flirtatious this little girl is being.
"Well, shall we get started?"
"Yeah!" Lizzy eagerly takes her place at the piano, opening its fallboard and giving one of the keys a tentative poke. "Oooh! Pretty!" she exclaims, though all she did was play a single note. Her attitude continues to be wildly communicable, and I can't help breaking out into a smile at her childish enthusiasm.
"Do you know which keys correspond to which notes?" I ask, unsure of her prior musical knowledge.
"No..." she responds, looking crestfallen as if she had somehow disappointed me.
"That's alright, that's what I'm here for. Let's start by walking through them together." Lizzy's father booked me for the whole day today, so I could "get to know her", as he put it, though I'm pretty sure he just wanted to keep her out of his hair. As such, we take our time going through the keys and their notes.
***
"Can I try playing something now?" Lizzy pleads, giving me another one of those smiles that I'm quickly growing far too fond of. I hadn't planned on actually having her do anything beyond learning the keys today, but she's so eager that I can't possibly refuse.
"Sure, but don't get frustrated if you can't remember where everything is right away, it takes time to memorize. We'll start learning to read next time, so how about I just call out notes for you to play, and you press them? Let's try Mary had a Little Lamb."
"'Kay!" Lizzy responds, bouncing on the bench while she awaits my instruction. I begin slowly calling out the notes for her, and Lizzy gets the first few unprompted, but then pauses, unsure of where to find "G". I can tell she doesn't want to ask, so I step closer to her and lean over her small form, placing my hand over hers. I realize as soon as I do that I've made a mistake—in this position, Lizzy's body is practically nestled into my own, and I can smell the floral scent of her shampoo against my nose. It'll be okay, I try to convince myself; I just have to show her the one note, and then I can pull away from this dangerous situation.
Letting my hand guide hers, we find the correct note together, and Lizzy presses it with her pointer finger, giggling happily as she does. Immediately after we play the note, I try to pull my hand away, but find that Lizzy has trapped it in place with her free one. Before I can ask what she's doing, the little girl turns back on the bench to face me, my hunched position over her leaving our faces inches apart. "Lizzy..." I gasp out, her curious eyes staring up into mine. I know what she's about to do, and I have to stop it, but I can't—I won't.
Moments later her soft lips find mine, and then we're embracing, gently kissing in this awkward hunched position with our respective feelings only amplifying the experience—her, feeling curious and excited, and me, feeling guilty and aroused. Our kiss remains innocent and childish throughout its duration, neither of us pulling away or seeking to deepen it further. After another minute of this sweet embrace, I pull away, trying to hide the panic that is causing my body to stiffen from the neck down. "L-Lizzy, you can't do that, you're too young, and I'm—"
"Hey!" Lizzy exclaims, interrupting me; her pretty cheeks are rosy with the blush of a shy schoolgirl, but her voice is that of an angry partner. "I'm already twelve-years-old! Y'know girls in the Middle East get married at my age?" she continues, her voice rising with anger at my apparent rejection.
"That's not really the point, Lizzy, we still shouldn't—" This time Lizzy cuts me off not with words, but with another kiss, this one rougher but shorter than the last.
Pulling away, she stands and makes her way toward the loveseat beside the large window, tugging me behind her. I'm too taken aback to resist, and allow myself to be pushed into a seated position beside the child. "Mr. Stevens?" Lizzy whispers, the look in her eyes sending goosebumps up my arms. "I was wondering if you could tutor me on some other stuff too..."
"W-What kind of stuff, Lizzy?" I ask, though it's perfectly clear just what kind of stuff she's referring to.
"You know, other... things. All my friends always talk about them, but I have nobody to teach me..." she murmurs, her barely audible voice far more sensual than a child's has any business being.