I tottered past the door and with a grand entrance; I fell face-first to the floor. There were many pipe chairs with sheet music lying around, some with musical instruments. The room was vastly dim with the exception of slivers of light pouring through, lighting up the speck of dust floating about.

It seemed I had ended up in the orchestra room. I could still hear the music, but with my blurring vision, I couldn’t make out who was singing it. I tried to strain my eyes open, just to see a hint of her figure, but my faltering vision soon couldn’t withstand the overbearing tiredness. It wasn’t long till my consciousness gradually left my body.

By the time I woke up, I noticed I was laying down on a chair. I could still hear the singing. My eyes darted towards there immediately. Someone was seated near me, singing to herself. Her figure seemed pious and holy, you could even say she seemed angelic.

She was a short, cute girl with brown hair. Her attire and accessories were simple, bringing out a homely feeling from her. She noticed I was awake and stopped singing. Her face turned towards me before sending a gentle, cordial smile.

“Wh-what happened? Where did that monster go?” I asked.

“Monster? Are you still dreaming? As you can see, there’s no such monster around here.” She replied, her voice just as captivating as her singing.

“I am not joking! It was scaly, green, yet humanoid and-”

“I never expected you to be such a kid who still believes in monsters, despite how young you seem.” She snickered. Did she just make fun of my height?

“No, bu-”

I ate up the words I was about to say. She might just not be acknowledging the existence of those monsters, but even my family didn’t act oblivious to them. This girl really seemed clueless about them. Maybe it was just acting, but I gave up trying to probe further.

“Nevermind, I-I must be still daydreaming. Anyway, could you tell me what happened after I entered here?”

“That’s what I want to ask you, you came running in all haggard, and suddenly tripped on your feet and fainted.”

“So no one came after me? There was no sound of footsteps or any other noise outside.”

“None, it was completely silent after you came here. You still haven’t answered my question though, just what was happening?”

I stood quiet for a bit, pondering on how to reply to her question.

“Would you trust me if the thing I described was just chasing me down the hallways?”

This time, it was her turn to become silent. She was quiet for a moment before she replied.

“Okay, I believe you.”

That answer genuinely took me by surprise.

“You do?”

“For someone who entered here looking so desperate, it would make sense for something to have been chasing you. Though I still don’t believe it to be some sort of monster or anything. Are you sure it wasn’t a prank?”

I wasn’t sure why, but having someone I didn’t know readily listening to my words felt refreshing. Maybe I was just lonely staying at home with only my family.

“Yeah, that might just be the case. I am sorry but I haven’t introduced myself. I am Isaac.”

Before I realized it, I was talking to this girl very normally. Maybe the life-threatening situation had taken away my inhibitions when faced with the difficulty of talking to women.

“I am Layla, nice to meet you.”

“Um, Layla, do you happen to be the one singing that tune?” I said promptly, in an attempt to switch topics.

“Oh, that? Yes, I sing here quite often.”

“I thought it sounded wonderful. I would love to hear it again.”

She began blushing from my compliment.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yes, I genuinely meant it. You undoubtedly have a lovely voice.”

The more I talked with her, the more down to earth she felt. It felt… humane, like a conversation with no strings attached. Especially her eyes. They didn’t carry the same neurotic emotion which every girl I met carried. Rather, it never felt like her eyes focused on me.

“Thanks… no one ever said that to me, much less listened to my singing. Thank you Isaac, your kind words mean a lot.”

Her face formed a downcast smile. She seemed pleasantly happy with my critique, but I could tell from her look she was hiding some sad memories behind her smirk.

“You can’t be serious. Your melody was by far the best thing I have ever heard. I can vow on that.”

“Okay, now you’re exaggerating.”

“No, if given the chance I really want to hear you sing again.”

She seemed explicitly happy with that response.

“So would now be fine for you? I am willing to perform a bit right now…” she said unconfidently, as she twiddled her thumbs.

In response, I gave her the brightest smile I could form.

“Sure, I will listen to it.”

“Alright,” she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the performance. “Here it is.”

I expectantly waited for her to begin. After a few moments, she began singing. Her song was just as good as before. No, it sounded even better.

The chirpy yet soothing voice mellowed my thoughts out, leaving me in a trancelike state. It was quite like something I had never heard, yet I couldn’t get the sound out of my head.

If given the opportunity, I would love to stay here throughout the day, if not for the imminent threat of the other dangers lurking. It almost made me regret the choice of never coming back to school. I would never hear her lovely voice again.

Her stage show finished soon. She bowed down to the sole audience, which was just me surrounded by dozens of chairs. I couldn’t help but be touched by her singing. Before I knew it, I was clapping, though it only fueled her embarrassment.

“Oh stop it~,” her beet-red face twisted sideways as she tried to hide it.

“Layla, you deserve every bit of my praise and respect. You’re honestly the most talented person I’ve ever met.”

At this point, even I knew I was going overboard, but her flushed visage was a scene worth embedding into my memory.

“Alright, alright, I got another song…” like that we continued our own personal stage performance. Hours went by without either of us realizing. We both were so enraptured in the moment that we didn’t notice that school was about to end.

Layla soon excused herself. She needed to go back home, and so did I. I was reluctant to leave. It was the first time I ever connected with someone so much, but as we left, her eyes never met mine.

Maybe it was a fortunate encounter for me, but for her, it might just be an ordinary day. As I turned around and left, she suddenly gave chase to me. I wondered what caused her to change her mind.

“Isaac, would you mind coming here tomorrow?”

I wasn’t sure whether I’d ever come to school again, so I didn’t know how to respond. I just helplessly smiled at her, but she was still waiting for my response, like an unmoving statue.

“I am not sure.”

She simply stood there, her face twisting into a frown. I couldn’t bear that look on her face. I asked her to accompany me back to the gate as the fear of that lizard girl overwhelmed the awkward atmosphere we had going.

We never talked back to each other along the way, and soon we parted. Near the gate, I stared at her leaving figure getting further and further away, but in the end, I averted my eyes before more regret piled up.