Blood, Sweat, and Hanon - A Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen - Alyss

To her credit, Ms. DuLacy only looks shocked for a split second. Then she recovers herself, and after taking Alyss's case and putting it on a folding chair against the wall, gently guides Alyss to sit in one of the upholstered armchairs next to the window. She takes the chair opposite Alyss.

"Just let it all out, dear," she advises. "You'll feel much better when you're done."

Her kindness just makes Alyss cry all the harder. All the worry and stress she's been holding in for the past few weeks - actually, make that the past few months, begin to melt away. All those mean, threatening little notes written in that eerily perfect script. All the unfriendly looks and elbow jabs in the hallways, the sighs and eye rolls when she gives feedback to her section or the orchestra during rehearsals. But there's still that one huge thing that Alyss isn't going to be able to let go anytime soon.

It feels like she's going to cry forever, but her tears begin to dry up before ten minutes have even passed. Alyss sniffles a few times, her cheeks cool and wet from tears, and gratefully accepts a tissue from Ms. DuLacy.

"Isn't that much better?" Ms. DuLacy asks. She gets up and fills a glass of water from a pitcher on a side table, before handing it to Alyss.

Alyss takes a long sip of the cool water, feeling it soothe her throat. "Thank you, Ms. DuLacy," she says. "I'm sorry to be such a burden."

Ms. DuLacy's face goes serious, and she sits down across from Alyss. She takes Alyss's hands in both of hers and says earnestly, "Alyss, listen to me. This is very important." She meets Alyss's gaze and holds it. "You are not a burden to me. You never have been, and you never will be. Now, do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

Alyss nods wordlessly, then rises and goes over to her violin case. She flips open the latches and pulls it open. "This," she says, suddenly exhausted. "This is what it's all about."

She hears Ms. DuLacy get up and come closer, hears her stop short, hears her gasp in shock.

"Alyss," Ms. DuLacy says, "what happened?"

Alyss goes back to the chair. "It's a long story," she admits.

And so Alyss does something she'd never thought she'd do. All of the snubs, the notes, the shame of the past few months, all of it comes pouring out - to Ms. DuLacy, of all people. Ms. DuLacy sits silently, listening.

"And then this morning, someone jammed the door of the bathroom stall I was in, so I couldn't get out," Alyss says. "I had to call my friend Jenny to help me. I was late to class, so I was hurrying through the hallway, and I tripped. When I got to the practice room and I opened my case, I thought that this happened when I fell and dropped my violin case. But then I looked closer, and I realized that this was deliberate. And worst of all, there was a note, tucked in among the shards of my violin. It's the same handwriting from the ones I've been getting all semester."

When Alyss finishes, Ms. DuLacy doesn't say anything for a few minutes. She seems to be gathering her thoughts.

Finally she speaks, and what she says turns Alyss's world upside-down.

"Alyss," she says, "did you know I was once a scholarship student here?"

Alyss can only gape at her as Ms. DuLacy continues. "I was the oldest child out of ten, and my father died when I was twelve. My biggest dream was to attend the Conservatory and become a concert violinist, but there was no way my mother could afford to send me. So I practiced for hours and hours, and I sent in the audition." She pauses and smiles. "The day I got my acceptance letter - as well as the news that I was to attend on full scholarship - was the happiest of my life.

"It was somewhat of a shock to me when I arrived at the Conservatory. I loved the classes, the teachers. I adored my private teacher. But the other students were horrible to me. To make it worse, I was one of only four scholarship students in the entire Conservatory that year. Two of the others withdrew from the Conservatory before the first semester was over.

"It was terrible, Alyss, and somehow, I made it through almost alone. I think that instead of making me want to quit, all of their taunts and insults and mean-spirited pranks made me even more determined to succeed. And I did. I graduated at the top of my class and became a concert violinist, just as I'd always dreamed. But I vowed that I would come back here someday, and that when I did, I would make sure that no one would have to go through what I did."

She looks at Alyss seriously. "I wish you would have told me what was going on back when it started," she says. "I could have helped stop that, and you wouldn't have had to go through the worst of it." Her face hardens. "But this, this is completely over the line."

Alyss takes a deep breath. "I'll turn my official withdrawal from the Junior International Competition into the office this evening," she says.

Ms. DuLacy is struck speechless. "What are you talking about?" she finally manages.

"I can't perform on my violin. I'll request a school rental for the rest of the semester, but I can't compete on one of those. I'll just watch, and support my friends."

Ms. DuLacy shakes her head firmly. "No, Alyss," she says. "Don't withdraw. Here's what we'll do. I want you to play my violin for the competition."

"Are - are you serious?" Alyss stammers, shocked.

"Yes," Ms. DuLacy says. "There's obviously a student - or group of students - who feels threatened by your ability, and they think they've gotten you out of the way. They don't deserve to place. So now I'm determined for you to beat them." She stands, and walks over to her desk, still talking. "I'll email Arald to make a school announcement that my students will be released from their private lessons between now and the competition. You'll use my violin, and you can practice in here. I'll coach you, because it's a different instrument and how you play will be fundamentally different. Because you only have two days after today, you'll need the time."

"Thank you so much, Ms. DuLacy," Alyss says breathlessly.

"You're very welcome, Alyss," she replies. "Now, just give me a minute, there's someone I need you to talk to."

She pulls out her cell phone and dials quickly. "Hello, it's Pauline," she says. "Could you please come to my office as soon as possible? There's been another incident, and I think you can get some important information about the perpetrators from it."

She listens for a moment, then says, "Thank you." She ends the call.

"That other scholarship student from my year? He's a teacher here on faculty now. And we, at the request of Mr. Baron, are trying to root bullying out of the Conservatory." She nods in satisfaction. "It always picks up right before competitions. There have been several other incidents in the past few days. I think we're really close to catching the students behind it."

There's a knock at the door, and Ms. DuLacy strides over to answer it. The door opens to reveal -

"Halt?" Alyss says, before she can hold it in.

"The one and only," he says, a half-smile on his face.