Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!
I'm standing here before the wall of curtains, struck with fear and panic as Julian is pulling on the rope and pulley at the edge of the stage, opening the curtains, revealing a small stage with black curtains in the background. There is also a white piano there by the far left, as well as some mike stands by the centre and the right.
He quickly cleared off the stage as much as he could, which meant moving all of the mike stands to the far right corner. After a while, he returns with a small case and places it by the edge in front of me. He is stretching out his hand and I reluctantly take it, letting him haul me on stage.
The three, as well as Lou, are approaching the stage as I start to shakily prep the bow. They give me encouraging smiles like Julian, though Eric's are a tad bit confused.
"Is that ... my violin?" he asks, pointing at him.
He looks me in the eyes and confused, we both turn to Julian who merely shrugged. "I may or may not have forged your signature when signing it out."
"You what?" I squeak.
"What?" he protests. "It's the weekend! No one's going to miss it."
"You better return it first thing on Monday or I swear I'm going to tie you up and make you bleed all over," I threaten, a thirst for blood in my eyes.
He pales, hands shooting up in defense. "I will, I will, I promise."
Lou is chuckling when I turn back to them. "Kinky. Bro, if you let her go, I don't know what I'm going to do with you."
I blush at that. No one seem to notice and I am more than grateful. Julian seems to be blushing too, though he tries to hide it by glaring at his brother.
What is with all the glaring today?
The lights dangling on the stage reflect off the shiny coating of the violin. I could see myself on it, staring at it in awe and fear at the same time. It trembles in my hands - or maybe my hands are the ones that are trembling hard. Either way, one of us are shaking like crazy.
They all give me a final encouraging smile and step off the stage. Only I remain, standing in the middle like an idiot. Julian had announced something, gathering everyone's attention, and they all turn to me, looking expectantly at the mysterious girl holding a violin.
I shut my eyes and let out a shaky breath, afraid to look at the judging stares waiting for some sort of entertainment. I place the bow on the string, heart pounding in my chest, threatening to break through the cavity. Sweat is touching every inch of me and blood drains from my veins.
It's crazy how my senses are working right then. I could see each speck of dust floating in this room crystal clear. I could feel the presence of every single thing and of every single person within this room. I could smell the coffee and cake and the wood stain that was used in this cafe. What's worse than the fact that I could even hear the silence (it is like a high C pinging in my ears) is how I could hear everything I am sensing.
It is overwhelming. Everything fills my ears and rings in them. They are so loud, so raucous, they knock every single one of my thoughts out of my head.
Everything is swirling all around me. I begin to shake prefusely, almost as if there was an earthquake occuring under my feet, shaking the entire world. The bow drags over the sharp surface unintentionally and note that comes out from the violin is sharp and shaky. I know I messed up at that moment - I could hear the high C slowly diminishing, overcome by the sounds of normality and time progressing.
A hand touches my shoulder and turns me around. Julian is standing there, giving me a worried look. "What's wrong?"
My mouth is dry and my jaws are unhinged. "I - I - I...."
