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

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Alyss

Alyss is so tired, she can hardly keep her eyes awake during dinner. She nearly droops into her plateful of lasagna. The only thing keeping her awake is the constant, throbbing ache in her cheek. She eats slowly, with tiny bites, because chewing hurts.

Ms. DuLacy asks her worriedly if she's all right no less than six times during the meal. Halt says nothing, but gets up halfway through dinner before returning with a bag of crushed ice, which he hands to Alyss. She abandons her attempts at eating - she's not hungry, anyway - and holds the ice to her face. It feels wonderful against her hot, inflamed skin, soothing the pain.

Will doesn't eat much either. Halt got him an entire plate of chicken parmesan, which smells amazing, but he just picks at it, before pushing it away, the food half-eaten. Then he leans back against the seat, his arm again coming around Alyss's shoulder. 

She leans back against him, resting her aching head against his shoulder. She wants to sleep so badly, but she struggles to keep her eyelids open.

Just then, Halt's phone buzzes with an incoming text. He glances thoughtfully at the screen.

"Final audition results are ready," he remarks nonchalantly, as if he were commenting on the weather.

Both Alyss and Will sit bolt upright, suddenly wide awake. Halt smirks at them.

"Oh, good," Ms. DuLacy says. "The percussion department finally made up their minds. All the other departments were done hours ago."

"They'll be announcing the final results in fifteen minutes in the auditorium," Halt says. "All of the callback contestants are supposed to meet backstage in ten minutes."

Alyss and Will look at each other for a few long moments, before bursting into laughter. Both of them look terrible, with bruised faces and bloodshot eyes. They certainly don't look like winners.

"Should we go, then?" Alyss asks.

Ms. DuLacy nods. "Let's go."

Alyss and Will almost run the short way back to the Conservatory building. Once inside, they sprint through the halls until they make it backstage. All of the other students who were called back are already there, waiting impatiently. Gilan and Jenny lean against a wall, holding hands anxiously. George sits on the floor crosslegged, but gets to his feet instantly when he sees Will and Alyss. He rushes over to them.

"What happened?" he asks. "Gilan and Horace won't tell me anything! You two look terrible! Whatever happened, it happened right during my audition!"

Alyss exchanges a look with Will, before scanning the rest of the people in the room. Everyone's staring at them. She doesn't think the events of this afternoon are common knowledge. "I'll tell you later," she promises in a low voice. "I don't think anybody else is supposed to know yet."

George regards her doubtfully. "Okay," he finally says.

Mr. Baron sweeps into the room, effectively ending their conversation. "Good evening, students," he says. "In a few moments, we'll begin the awards ceremony and announce the school representatives for the Junior International Music Competition. I'm going to have all of you follow me onstage in your respective instrument groups, in this order: voice, percussion, brass, wind, string, and piano."

Alyss feels the familiar symptoms of nerves - shaky hands, shallow breath, pounding heart. She takes a deep, quivering breath and takes a seat on the floor, leaning back against the wall. But then a warm hand slips into hers, and Alyss looks up to see Will crouching next to her, watching her worriedly.

"You okay?" he asks quietly.

She nods. "Yeah. I'll be fine. It's just nerves."

But Will doesn't let go of her hand while they wait, and she's grateful for the contact. It somehow keeps her grounded and helps keep her nerves at bay.

Then the stage door opens, and the students begin to sort themselves into their instrument groups. Gilan gives Jenny a quick kiss before they separate. Will pulls Alyss to her feet before letting go of her hand reluctantly, and she instantly feels shaky again. As she gets into the string group, standing next to George, she glances back at Will. He gives her a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile. It brings a matching half-smile to her face. Not a whole smile, though - her face still hurts too much for that.

Then Mr. Baron is leading them onstage, into the blinding lights, and there's the thunderous sound of applause. Alyss lines up with the other four string students. Somehow, she ends up next to Cassandra. The shorter girl gives her a withering look before turning away and ignoring her. Alyss wonders if Cassandra knows about Keren.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, faculty, and students!" Mr. Baron's voice booms from the microphone speakers. "Welcome to the awards ceremony for the school representatives of the Junior International Music Competition! Five students from each department were chosen out of the hundreds that auditioned yesterday. These students reauditioned for our faculty, and one was chosen from each group for the honor of representing Redmont Conservatory at the national level of the competition in exactly one month."

Alyss's mouth goes dry as Mr. Baron continues. "And now, I will commence to name the student representatives chosen from each group. From the percussion department, Miss Jennifer Dalby, student of Charles Chubb!"

Alyss smiles so wide her cheek hurts, but she doesn't care. She's so happy for Jenny. She watches as her roommate steps forward to shake Mr. Baron's hand, beaming and teary-eyed from happiness. Alyss glances over to see a proud, brilliant smile on Gilan's face.

Mr. Baron then names the representatives from the brass, voice, and wind departments. Next is the string department. Alyss feels like she's going to throw up.

"From the string department," Mr. Baron says, drawing out the suspense. Alyss feels dizzy. She tries to breathe, but she can't seem to move.

Then Mr. Baron finally announces the name. "Miss Alyss Mainwaring, student of Pauline DuLacy!"

Alyss's eyes are blurry, and her mind can't quite grasp what's going on. Then someone grabs her in a hug, and she realizes it's George. He's wearing a wide, proud smile. "You did it, Alyss!" he says. "Go on! Mr. Baron's waiting for you!"

Her vision clears, and she steps forward on unsteady legs to shake Mr. Baron's hand. He smiles warmly at her. "Congratulations, Alyss," he says. "You deserve it. Do us proud at nationals."

"Thanks," Alyss stammers. "I will - I mean, I'll try."

Then she returns to the relative anonymity of the line. Next to her, Cassandra is openly scowling, but Alyss is too happy to care. She returns her attention to the proceedings as Mr. Baron goes on to announce the piano representative.

"And finally, from the piano division..."

A/N: :P I'm sure you all hate me! But I just couldn't resist one last cliffie. I'm sure you know how it will turn out though. Just one more chapter after this one, and maybe an epilogue!