Carnegie Hall

So...I saw him...

I got to the Hall at about 9:30. A few minutes later I was joined by Zoe and Olivia. We sat around for a while, playing cards and reading. Then they told us we were going to do a sound check. So we unpacked our instruments and headed up a stair well. As we emerged, we were greeted with two huge-ass doors.

We waited for the next orchestra to finish, and then we rushed through the doors. I walked on stage and felt my jaw drop.

It was so beautiful. High arched ceilings greeted me with two concentric circles of lights. The gold carvings gave the feel that the hall was glowing. The red velvet seats added an elegance and carried on up almost meeting the ceiling.

I got to my seat and sat down still marveling at the Hall, which somehow looked old and new all at the same time.

Preeti, my stand partner, laughed, "What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's just-I've never been here before..." I said, slightly distracted.

"Yeah, neither have I"

"I've never even seen pictures..."

"Oh I looked it up earlier."

I nodded.

Our conductor started us off and stopped us after four measures. There was a collective intake of breath as everyone heard our chords echo several times throughout the hall.

It sounded so elegant in this Hall. The Hall seemed to enhance our music.

Our conductor started correcting our playing and soon we were walking back out of the Hall, the opposite way we came. We walked through the room his orchestra was in. He's so pretty...Stop that! He dyed his hair a reddish or a lighter brownish...Of course you would notice that! He's listening to music...He's not going to look at me.

The next time I saw him was the chorus section of the concert.

We were walking up stairs. And stairs. And more stairs. And, oh right! More stairs. All these stairs were tiring, and the view outside was nauseating. When we walked in to the audience, I looked down to the stage. To say the least, I didn't feel much better.

We were herded to seats. Despite the heights and how close together the seats were, I was semi-comfortable in the plush chairs. He sat down into a seat about five seats away from mine.

Adding him to the nausea equation only made it worse. These damn panic attacks. The whole concert hall seemed to pitch itself forward, mocking me.

As the concert went on, I got used to it and felt slightly better. And for the most part, I listened to the chorus, but still I couldn't help my wandering eyes...I kept looking over at him.

That smile he has when he laughs...it's so pretty...

No! Stop!

His eyes light up with joy when he laughs...I wish those eyes would look into mine...

No you don't!

I'm sorry! I can't help it!

Oh great now you're carrying on a conversation with yourself...isn't that a sign of insanity.

I forced myself to look back at the chorus.

But I kept sneaking glances at him.

Just look at me! I wanted to scream at him.

But I didn't.

People were signaling us to leave to get ready for our portion of the concert.

As I walked by him, I snuck a glance at him.

He was looking straight at me. I glanced away.

That was recognition in his eyes! He seemed shocked to see me! Oh, who are you kidding?! That was a blank stare. I sighed.

Before I knew it, we were climbing up stairs, and the new were walking onto the stage. Thousands of faces stared back at us. It was slightly terrifying.

The Hall looked even bigger with people filling it up.

The Hall looked absolutely magnificent.

I sat down and admired how even with the newer technology, the hall maintained its antique look and ancient fell.

It just hit me.

I'm performing at Carnegie Hall.

Our conductor raised her arms and as they fell, we started with a bang.

As we finished "Slavonic Dance" we could hear the finale chord echo through-out the hall inter-mingling with the audiences cheers.

Then we played, what can only be described as magical, "Aspen Fantasy". That too closed with a bang. The crowd applauded and we stood up to bow.

We closed with a mystical piece by the name of "Berceuse and Finale".

After a semi-standing ovation, we walked off stage.

I turned to my friend, Olivia, "We just played at Carnegie Hall!" "I know!!" she responded. I turned to Zoe and repeated my statement. She just kinda gave me a look like I know now shut up. So I glared back and continued on with my conversation with Olivia.

We were almost to the other stairs when I saw him again. He was lounging on the arm of a couch, holding his viola in him lap.

I felt his eyes flick over me, but I didn't look at him. I lifted my head slightly and I looked right past him, I felt confident, because I just played at Carnegie Hall, bitch, and nothing was going to ruin my mood. Not even him.

We got back to the room and put our instruments away. On the way, Olivia told me how her dad saw a comedian perform at Carnegie Hall. She told me how the comedian opened with, "Look at this...Mother fucking Carnegie Hall."

So after I put my viola away, I looked at her and said, "Hey, we just played mother fucking Carnegie Hall." She laughed and said, "Yeah we did!" She pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. But I didn't really care because I was hugging her just as tight. And in that moment, I forgot all about him, and I didn't have a care in the world. Because I just played Carnegie Hall.

Mother Fucking.

Carnegie.

Hall.