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

Chapter Twenty-One - Will

"It's time."

Will has been lost in thought for who knows how long, but Gilan's grave voice brings him back to reality in a flash. He looks up to see the faculty members of the Conservatory walking in a large group down the center of the main hallway, where most of the students are sitting and waiting. The faculty are heading for the auditorium.

Wordlessly, the students stand up from where they've been sitting on the floor, leaning against the walls, some for nearly four hours. Will gets to his feet, wincing at the tingling feeling from his legs. Beside him, George rises, and Gilan shakes Jenny gently.

"Jenny? Wake up, love. It's time for callback announcements."

Jenny opens her eyes and yawns sleepily, before blinking a few times and becoming more alert. Gilan watches her with an amused expression, before getting to his feet and reaching down to help her up. He tugs on the end of her braid gently before the two walk toward the auditorium, hand in hand.

"They're really cute together," George remarks in Will's ear. Will smiles to himself. He wonders where Alyss is.

The students stream into the auditorium, filing soundlessly into the rows of seats. Will and his friends end up about halfway back, on the right side. He glances around once, then saves two seats on the end, in case Alyss and Horace show up and want to sit with them.

It's nearly the same setup as the orientation night, with the same auditorium full of the same students, but it couldn't be any more different. On orientation night, all those weeks ago, the auditorium had been loud, full of careless chatter and laughter. Today, it's almost eerily silent. The only noises Will can hear are worried murmurs and whispers.

The faculty file onstage, arranging themselves in a line near the back of the stage. Will spots Halt, Ms. DuLacy, and Mr. Brunt talking quietly, their heads bent together. He wonders what they're talking about.

Finally, Mr. Baron walks to the center of the stage where a microphone awaits, and a true silence, tense and nervous, grips the whole room.

"Good afternoon, students," Mr. Baron says. "Before I get to the callback announcements, there are a few things I would like to say."

Something catches the corner of Will's eye, and he turns to see Alyss and Horace hurriedly taking the seats next to him. Alyss takes the one closest to him, and Horace the end seat. Alyss gives him a tense, worried look before turning her attention to the stage. A moment later, her hand finds Will's, and they hold on to each other desperately, trying to keep from going insane from not knowing.

"First of all," Mr. Baron continues, "I would like to state how proud I am of the overall level of ability of the students this year, as well as your collective dedication and hard work. I am pleased to announce that there were nearly five hundred auditions this morning, from all six competition areas."

Alyss murmurs to Will, "So if five hundred is divided into six groups, that's  around eighty each group! Each of us has about a one in sixteen chance of getting a callback."

Mr. Baron talks for another few minutes before finally pulling out his clipboard.

"The following students have been invited for a callback," he says. "If I say your name, please come to the stage."

The entire auditorium holds their breath.

"From the percussion program, under the direction of Charles Chubb, the following students: Mildred Gatsby, Trent Duckworth, Veronica Abbott, Grace Linburg, and Jennifer Dalby."

There's a muted squeal from where Jenny sits next to Gilan, and Will turns to see Jenny's huge smile, and the matching one on Gilan's face. He kisses her quickly, before nudging her towards the end of the row so she can go onstage. Will squeezes her hand encouragingly as Jenny goes past him.

Mr. Baron waits until all five percussion students have come to the stage. Then Martin, his secretary, comes forward, holding a hat. Each student draws a slip of paper with a number between one and five out of the hat, thereby determining the order in which they will play.

Then he repeats the process with the brass, woodwind, and vocal students, none of which Will recognize other than passing them in the hallway.

"From the string program, under the direction of Pauline DuLacy, the following students: Madelydd Aeden, cello; George Carter, viola; Jessica Griggs, cello; Cassandra Regan, violin; and Alyss Mainwaring, violin."

Will thinks he might burst with pride. Alyss squeezes his hand in excitement before rising, George following quickly. They draw for playing order, and then Mr. Baron finishes off the callback announcements with the piano students.

"From the piano program, under the direction of Rodney Brunt: Liam Wilson, Adeline Chandler, Gilan Davidson, Sonia Hendry, and Will Treaty."

Will is shell-shocked for a long moment. Out of all the piano students in the entire school, he was chosen for a callback? Gilan has to pull him out of his seat and into the aisle because Will can't move.

"Come on, Will!" he says. "Let's go!"

Will follows him onstage, into the blinding lights. He chances a look at Halt before the hat gets to him. His teacher is as poker-faced as ever.

Will draws a two. He's after Sonia, one of Mr. Brunt's students. Gilan is last.

Mr. Baron dismisses them, and the auditorium relaxes into relief. Disappointment is rife in the air, but at least a huge unknown isn't being held over their heads anymore.

The students pile off the stage in a huge crush. Will sees Gilan rush over to Jenny and pick her up, swinging her around in a circle before pulling her into a tight hug. Both are beaming.

A pair of arms wrap around him, and Will realizes it's Alyss. Her face is still pale, but she seems slightly more relaxed than she did before.

"We did it," she murmurs in his ear. "One round down, one round to go."

"What number did you get?" he asks her.

"Three," she answers. "You?"

"I'm second. Isn't it great that all of us got callbacks?"

Alyss grins. "I'm so happy." Then her face falls as she becomes serious. "Well, I will be when it's over, whatever the final result is."

They have to separate in the hallway to go to their respective auditions, but before they do, Alyss surprises Will by giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He stands stock still, watching her tall, graceful form weave away through the crowd, his face flaming. He's suddenly very happy.

"Will!" someone screeches, distracting him from his thoughts. He turns just in time to have another blonde person throw their arms around him. "Congratulations! I'm sure you played brilliantly!"

Whoever it is releases him after a moment, and Will realizes it's Cassandra. Her cheeks are flushed from excitement and her bright green eyes sparkle prettily. 

"Thanks, Cassandra," he says politely. "I'm sure you did very well, too."

She laughs lightly, putting a hand on his arm. "Thanks, Will. I was happy with my audition. And how many times to I have to tell you, please call me Cassie?"

George comes out of nowhere to rescue him, giving him a sympathetic look. "Cassandra!" he calls. "You're first! Ms. DuLacy wants you to come to the audition room as quickly as possible!"

"All right, I'm coming!" Cassandra calls over her shoulder. Then she turns to face Will. "I have to go," she says. "I mean, I know the callbacks are just a formality, but I still need to show up. Good luck!" And she flounces away.

Will is confused. What does she mean, the callbacks are just a formality? Then it dawns on him. Cassandra expects to win, without even a shadow of a doubt.

He thinks there's something strange about the situation, but he can't think what. It's there in his head, just out of his reach. It's all very frustrating.

Will pushes the thought out of his head. He's sure it's fine. Why wouldn't it be? And besides, he has an audition to get to.