Monday (8 days away from camp)
Nick arrived at school like every other day and attended his classes. Still receiving shoves, names etc. as he walks down the halls between classes.
Finally, the lunch bell rang. Nick gathered his belongings before they were slammed back down onto the table. He looked up and saw three girls surrounding his desk with fake smiles plastered on their makeup caked faces.
"Hiiiii, Niiiick!" the girl in the middle cooed.
"U-Um... Hi?"
"We feel like we were a bit harsh on you for the first week of school. The whole cohort has been. But seeing as you're still here we're giving you a chance to redeem yourself for playing such a disgusting instrument." She demanded.
Nick was frightened and felt his hands sweat. He only just noticed that his desk was surrounded by most of the class. He sank into his chair and nodded his head slightly at the girl.
"Good. As you can see, we have transported a piano in here. We want you to play it. If we like what we hear, we will accept you. If not? Things will only go downhill. Understand?" She ended with a smile so forced it felt like there were invisible ropes at the corner of her mouth being pulled by a machine to form a smile.
"O-Okay..."
This will be a piece of cake. He has been practicing all weekend. This should be fine right? Right...?
The students scattered and all sat in their seats, mobile phones at the ready to record his performance.
Nick looked up and saw the baby grand piano at the very front of the classroom. Everyone sat in silence as they waited for him to approach it.
Nick looked around at all of the students waiting for some sort of cue. He glanced over at Alex who was only glowering at him from afar. He shuddered and faced the piano ahead. He walked up to it and sat down on the bench. He held his hands up and froze, wide eyed.
The piano's legs began to lengthen, growing in size, looming over Nick. It's black paint becoming an abyss of void. Keys chattering up and down like teeth of a large creature. The top panel flapping open and closed sending phantom banging sounds into his mind.
No... Not again...
Nick began to sweat, his hands getting clammy, legs beginning to shake. He began to have flashbacks from when he was a child...