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LV

"What about you, Cole? You good?", Brett asked on their way back to the big hall.
Cole threw a glance at him.
"Other than me shitting my pants because your bed was empty this morning, I'm fine, thanks."
Brett had to hold back hard so he wouldn't roll his eyes just like whenever his mum made similar comments. Instead, he said, "You had some stuff going on yesterday. That still on your mind?"
"You mean what Angelica said? About the jobs?"
"Yeah."
They reached the door to the concert hall.
"I mean... what do you think about all this?"
So it was still weighing on Cole. At least a bit.
"Not sure, to be honest", Brett answered truthfully and leaned against the wall just next to the double door. Some other students were already walking past them, indicating there wasn't much time left.
"I do think it's kind of pointless to worry about it now. We're first years and things might change until we graduate."
"Mhm", Cole made, looking pensive.
"But I guess it's kind of good to know, so we won't be too surprised when we look for jobs. And Cole, I did mean it when I said you don't have to lose your head over it. You're gonna be fine. Keep doing what you do and you'll be good."
"Thanks", Cole smiled and gave Brett's shoulder a pat before he opened the door, "You're right. There's no point in overthinking it."
Brett beamed back encouragingly and went through the door. Cole seemed calm over this topic for now and Brett could only hope it wouldn't haunt him in the long run. He took a mental note to keep an eye out for his friend. Just in case.

That was, if he'd have some free capacity in his brain to begin with! Brett almost forgot it was his turn to play the first movement of the Korngold violin concerto and now, when this little info popped back up to slap him hard in the face, cold sweat started to make his hands slippery, which was very unfortunate considering the fact that he was supposed to play in front of a whole orchestra.
"You good?", Eddy furrowed his brows next to him when he noticed Brett's pitiful distress.
"Yeah, just nervous, I guess", Brett swallowed hard and wiped his palms on his shorts.
"You gonna be fine, you know it!"
"Hope you're right!"
"Of course I am!"
The smirk Eddy shot him made Brett's heart flutter weirdly. He gulped again as shreds of his conversation with Cole paraded in front of his inner eye, mumbled a quiet "Thanks" and took a deep breath before he had to stand up and tune his instrument along with the orchestra.

As soon as the music started however and his violin produced the first sweet, yet majestic notes of the first movement, Brett lost himself completely in the art, which was refreshing to say the least after all the brooding he'd done the last couple of hours. He managed to create an even, fiery vibrato, his tone was consistent and his intonation clean. Even the fast passages went fine and he almost hit all the high notes. The orchestra carried him all the way to the cadenza, where he played the first bars of semiquavers fast, crisp and resonant, just the way he'd intended. The double stops were a bit more challenging though and they almost threw him back to the time at the beginning of orchestra camp, where he struggled with all the difficult fast passages by himself in the practice room until he was saved. He threw a panicked glance at Eddy, and was met with eyes so kind and a smile so encouraging his heart rate instantly slowed down. It was like Eddy was standing right next to him, his hand on Brett's shoulder just like in the dream and before he knew it, he'd made it to the high note trills and the orchestra took over full force.

"Amazing, Brett! That was your best performance of the first movement so far!", Mr. Jones complimented while the applause from the orchestra faded out and chatter arose. They had a small break before they were going to work on the Mozart symphony and Brett needed the coffee he'd missed out on like asap.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Didn't I tell you to call me Robert?", Mr. Jones winked.
"Sorry Sir... I mean, Robert."
"Do you know which movement you're going to play tomorrow?"
"Uhm, I'm not sure yet", Brett said as nervousness overcame him at the thought that he still hadn't decided and needed to know, like, right now.
"Not that you have to listen to me or anything, but I'd consider the first movement to be a top contender, if I were you", Mr. Jones winked again. Brett saw Eddy's face light up from the corners of his eyes.
"Really? There are a lot of tricky parts which I don't feel overly confident playing though", Brett admitted with a slight frown.
"That's exactly the point! It'd show courage. And in my opinion, you executed those parts very well and musically. There is a depth in your first movement not many manage to bring out and remember, both you and Eddy have another masterclass this afternoon, so you'll have a bit of time to work on those passages. Just", another wink, "think about it."
And with that, he half stepped half skidded away, his grey hair fluttering unflatteringly behind him.

"The first movement, huh", Eddy said, his grin as wide as if he was the one who'd gotten the compliments.
"Apparently", Brett sighed, still not convinced at all that this was what he should go for.
"Mr. Jones is right, you know." Eddy put his violin away and grabbed his wallet. "You played really well."
Funny, how this one sentence spoken by Eddy affected Brett so much more than all the praise he'd gotten from Mr. Jones. He felt his cheeks heat up and quickly looked away while he mirrored Eddy's actions before they made their way to the cafeteria.

Out in the hallway however, he had to ask, "Well enough so I have a chance against you?"
"Oh, definitely!", Eddy huffed, "And definitely well enough to wow a jury, even if you wouldn't win. It'd leave an impression, which is equally, if not more important than getting the soloist spot."
"Huh? Isn't winning showing that they're most convinced by, well, the winner?", Brett said and placed their order at the counter. He'd never really thought about competitions and what judges had to take to account when making a decision.
"There are different things they have to consider when choosing someone for a soloist spot like this. Of course, they pick whoever they think is more confident and who has a more solid technique, but that doesn't mean they're not gonna be impressed by other contestants."
"You sure know your stuff, huh", Brett remarked and went ahead to the cashier after handing Eddy his flat white, warming his own hand with his.
"My teacher is a judge for competitions sometimes. Not this one though. Wouldn't be allowed and I don't think she's even around at the moment... hey! Wait! Let me-"
"Nah!", Brett exclaimed triumphantly and held his card against the machine to pay for both of them, "Little thank you for letting me crash at yours!"
"I told you that's not necessary!", Eddy stated and tried to push Brett to the side, the hand holding his card reaching out, which resulted in Brett tripping and almost falling over.

"Shit!", he cursed, eyes wide and arms flailing around to hold on to anything near him, hence, Eddy.
"Brett!", the other yelled, grabbed Brett by his waist at superhuman speed and just so managed to pull him up against him.