Play!

XI

Brett first tried to play the fast bits in the first movement like a waltz and then dotted, changing the rhythm and thus getting a different feel for it. Then, he played it backwards, just like Eddy had suggested.
It was weird to play this stuff so unconventionally different. 
And it was fun. 

"It sounds so weird", Brett chuckled after he'd played the cadenza backwards too, "Sacrilegious!"
"That's the goal", Eddy smiled kindly. It was a nice smile, Brett found, a warm one.
"And now, you reckon?"
Eddy threw a glance at his plastic watch, its strap showing the outline of Mickey Mouse. What a statement, Brett thought.
"We have another half an hour left until we're up. Maybe play it at normal tempo and from the right direction? See how it goes?"
Brett nodded, adjusted the position of his violin and started to play the cadenza without much thinking.

Good. He got the high notes! The shifts were clean too. And when he got to the fast sequence with the double stops, his fingers moved smoothly instead of cramping up! 
“Hey! Well done!”, Eddy exclaimed, the shine in his eyes similar to the one Brett had seen yesterday evening during the concert. 
Brett was glowing. “Oh my God! It worked!”
“It did!”, Eddy affirmed.
“That’s amazing! Thank you so much!” He felt a hundred million stones falling off his chest. It worked! His blockade was gone and his ability to play the violin back from its holidays, finally! And how funny, that it was his opponent that had helped him out of his misery. 
“You’re welcome”, Eddy said and even made a small bow, causing Brett to snigger. “You wanna do the same with the other passages? I’m not sure what we’re supposed to play this afternoon, actually.”
“I should… I don’t want to keep you from practicing though. You’ve done plenty.”
“I’ll do some warm-up but other than that, I should be fine.”
“Ah, yeah. Prodigy”, Brett winked. He wasn’t sure, but Eddy’s cheeks seem to colour ever so slightly. 
“Again, I’m not”, he said under his breath, eyes cast down and just like that, his shy demeanor from before had returned. 
But nah! Brett was having none of that! They had gone through too much awkward silence, weird interactions and brain wrecking on Brett’s end within the shortest amount of time that it’d simply be the dumbest thing to go back to square one. 
So he stepped forward and laid a hand on Eddy’s shoulder. The other flinched like he’d been burnt, but he didn’t pull away, much to Brett’s relief.
“Hey!” He gave that surprisingly slim shoulder a squeeze, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with what I just said and if I did, I’m sorry. I really do appreciate your advice and I’d be in so much trouble if you wouldn’t have shown up. So, thank you. Really! This prodigy thing is just… I guess I admire you. And you're kinda intimidating, to be honest. That’s why I keep bringing this up.”
Eddy's eyes were starting to swim, Brett could see it. But before they showed anything more, he blinked a few times and cleared his throat. 
"Intimidating? Really?", he jibbed instead, making Brett grin. 
"You have no idea."

For the rest of the time before rehearsals Eddy went back to his practice room to warm up. Brett tried the new found trick on all the other passages which had tormented him the last twenty-four hours with success and for the first time in the last day, he was able to breathe a bit more freely.

“So, how did it go, mate?”, Nathan asked when Brett joined the others in the concert hall. Eddy was not here yet, which wasn’t a surprise to Brett anymore.
“Actually, really well”, Brett stated, earning surprised faces left and right. 
“Glad it worked out!”, Cole exclaimed and gave Brett a friendly slap on his back, “You’ve been miserable since yesterday!
“You would have been too!”, Brett raised an eyebrow.
“How did you get out of your down?”
“Yeah! Share your secrets!”, Angelica, who sat next to Cole, demanded.
“Well”, Brett teased with a mischievous grin, “Not sure if I can just go ahead and tell you about my new super power.”
“Oh, Come on!”, Nathan groaned, “We might need that too in the future. Spill it!”
Brett lowered his voice. “Guess what? Eddy came by and helped me out.”
If eyes could fall out of people’s skulls they would have by now. 
“Eddy helped you out?”, Angelica asked incredulously, like Brett had just told her violins could fly.
“He really did. Told me to play a bit around with the parts and stuff. And it worked.”
“He talked to you?”, Nathan said and brushed his brown locks back, “Like, actually? Eddy Chen? I thought he hated you.”
“I thought so too. Guess he doesn’t”, Brett shrugged. 
“I think he’s just really, really shy”, Angelica meant and turned her attention to the sheet music in her hand again. 

Really, really shy. That would explain a lot, actually. Brett knew that Eddy wasn't cold at all. Someone who apologized to a guy he barely knew couldn’t be that horrible. Maybe he didn't despise other people. Maybe he just didn't know how to interact with them. 

Shortly before rehearsal started, both Mr. Thames and Mr. Jones summoned Brett and Eddy. 
“You both get to play with the orchestra the first time this afternoon. I’m sure you’re aware of that?”, Mr. Jones said in his grandfatherly voice. 
“Yes”, both Brett and Eddy answered.
“Good. You can choose which movement you want to play now.”
“What, like, any movement of the concerto?”, Brett wanted to make sure, his brows creased. Had he known that, he would have chosen the second movement for today and could have avoided hours of worrying and agonizing. 
“Yes. Is that alright for you? Take a minute or two to consider which one and tell me, so we can prepare the orchestra.”

“Which one are you gonna play?”, Brett whispered to Eddy when the conductors went off to the podium.
“Gonna go with third. It’s the most tricky one and I wanna see how that goes. You?”
Of course, not-prodigy Chen would go with the difficult stuff first. Brett suppressed a comment in that direction though and replied shortly, “First.”
He might as well, right? After all the trouble he’d been through.

They told their decision Mr. Thames, who then informed the orchestra. Then, it was Eddy’s turn to take the soloist’s spot while Brett sat down on the concertmaster’s seat. After the orchestra and Eddy had tuned to the oboe, Mr. Thames turned to Eddy. 
“Ready?”, he asked. 
Brett watched Eddy closely when he nodded once. There was no hint of nervousness, nothing of what Eddy had told him in the practice room. His dark eyes seemed so calm it was almost scary. Brett swallowed hard while he positioned his violin, waiting for Mr. Thames’ starting cue.