Heartstrings

Chapter 7: Thursday

Emma's Perspective

Jalen had driven all the way from Montgomery with two of our friends from orchestra so we could practice a new piece our conductor, Mrs. Yolanda had given us.

The piece - a version of Rusalka, Op. 114: Song to the Moon by Dvořák - was so lovely. It featured two harps, the entire orchestra, and a violin solo that Mrs. Yolanda had taken the time to rewrite for cello so that I could have a senior highlight in the winter concert.

The four of us sat in the middle of the empty, but perfectly acoustic basketball court at the highschool with Cassidy and Jun on first and second violin, and Jalen on bass. We'd practiced the song for nearly two hours now and had finally gotten it just right. As we all held out the last note we held our breath at the end and then simultaneously let it out as we burst into laughter.

- Emma, that was really good.

- Thanks, Cassidy.

She beamed at me and looked over at Jun. Both of them were actually sophomores and were very good in their own right - Cassidy had joined the youth orchestra that we were all part of quite late in her freshman year and had moved up to the second chair in the first violins. Jalen chuckled and shuffled his sheet music -

- Are you guys ready to go? We should probably head back to Montgomery before it gets too late.

- Yeah you guys have a long drive ahead. Thank you so much for coming down to practice, this was so helpful.

I replied as I stood up and walked over to my cello case. I began packing up and Jalen walked over to me just as I snapped my case shut.

- You know, Emma... I know you have your heart set on Columbia and writing, but you should totally consider doing music. If anyone could do it's you. Have you thought of applying to any of the big music schools? Juilliard? Curtis Institute?

I laughed, a little humbled that he thought I stood even a sliver of a chance getting into those schools.

- Thanks, Jalen. I mean... I've thought about it a little, but I don't know... cello is really sacred to me as a hobby and creative outlet... and I don't want to adulterate that. You know? Plus you know how I feel about performing.

- Yeah. True. Those are all good reasons. I'd just hate for you to rule it out. Are you still nervous about this solo?

I slung my cello onto my back as we all walked out to the parking lot.

- Well, not as much as I was before. This practice really helped, and it's also different performing with an entire orchestra behind you as opposed to being alone on the stage. You know?

Jalen chuckled a little and gave me a friendly nudge -

- Hey, why do you think I chose the bass? I never have to perform solo.

We all loaded our instruments into the trunk and piled into the car. I hopped into the passenger seat and gave a little smile to Jalen as he got into the driver's seat.

As we drove back to my place, I stared out the window and let my mind wander to Jake. Lately he'd been reading Great Expectations, and asking me questions, and he'd even gotten excited about the plot a few times. And I have to admit... it was really endearing. I'd been trying to put some space between us lately, but he was making it so damn hard. He had figured out that nerding out over books was my weakness, and he was totally using it against me.

When we arrived at my house, I stepped out of the car, popped the trunk, and grabbed my cello.

- Bye guys! You all are seriously the best! Drive safe.