Playing the Heart Strings

2. Names, Names, Names!

There were too many people there, watching me as I apologized to Dean. Luckily, Susie had explained to me how the ice-maker in the fridge worked, so I was able to get ice for his head, which was beginning to sport a lovely purple spot. Most of them seemed amused, let alone a small girl whom I assumed was June. She looked annoyed at me- rightly so, since I had bruised her boyfriend.

I learned their names, over and kept forgetting which name matched each face. In my defense, there were eight people and eight names, and only one me. I knew June, who had beautiful honey-blonde hair that she kept back with a floral headband. The others were just nameless faces. They all seemed quite nice, so once Dean decided that he could see out of both eyes, we moved inside his side of the house, the one still covered in garish colors and prints. We gathered around the large table in the dining room and Dean brought out chips and candy to munch on as they interrogated me. I was seated next to Sarah, a cute brunette with bright green eyes, delicate blue glasses, and an enthusiastic personality.

“So, Ava, what do you do at East Oaks?” she asked me, smiling. I could tell that she liked me already. I knew that I would share my clumsiness with her, and we both had a great sense of humor.

“Well, I play the viola, so I’ll be in the orchestra as well as doing solo work and small groups, and I think I’m also taking an exploratory photo class,” I explained, realizing that I hadn’t told Dean anything about what I was studying. “I have no idea if I’m any good, but I have the artistic ability of a three year-old who has yet to learn that people have necks.”

“Hey, Ava,” cut in a boy, “me and Dean both do photo,” he began, and I remembered that he was named Drew. His hair curled in blond surfer waves like a halo around his head. “The classes sometimes collaborate, doing projects and stuff. Maybe we’ll run into each other then.”

“Oh,” started Sarah, “You’ll have to do the talent show, of course.” She jerked her head at a boy sitting in the corner, his hair shockingly blue. “Ryan has won all four Talenti shows in the past two years,” she said, referring to the end of year talent show at the school, “thanks to his insane piano skills. Maybe you can challenge him.” Ryan smirked.

“Oh, you think she’ll be a challenge?” he asked. When the rest of the group nodded, he laughed. “Well, I guess you should enter the Eastern Epics. It isn’t too late to sign up,” he added.

“What’s the Eastern Epics?” I asked. It sounded like a mountain range, but I had a suspicion that it had to do with performance.

“Eastern Epics, miss Ava,” began Dean, “is the beginning-of-the year talent show. Usually only the vets do it, since it’s designed for the Epics of the school. You may have seen highlights from previous Eastern Epics shows on the East Oaks website, and when you toured the school you probably met some of these Epic performers. The show’s a big deal, and it’s tomorrow.”

“If it’s for the best of the best of East Oaks, I probably shouldn’t do it,” I mumbled, confident only that I was no match for the performers. “Plus, I’ve had no time to prepare.”

“Oh, c’mon, girl,” cried Sarah, “if you got into this school, you must have a song in your back pocket. A lot of people perform with little notice; half of the performers are last-minute registries. It’s on a small stage, and only a single performer can go. There are no dance teams or duets. The only exception is singers or musicians with musical accompaniment, and even then, you can only have one person accompany you.” I smiled, thinking about it.

“I mean, I do have a piece that I know, but I’d need piano accompaniment. Unless you know someone who’d do that, I’m out of luck.” There was silence around the room, and then, I heard a voice from Ryan.

“What song?”

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After a couple more hours of talking, joking, and signing me up for Eastern Epics, everyone except Ryan went home. He remained, and we worked for hours on my piece.

“See here, you slow down a little bit, right?” he asked, jabbing at a point on my sheet music.

“Um, yeah, I think I do, just a little. Maybe take the tempo down to this,” I said, making a mark on his paper, “and then I get quieter so I need you to decrescendo to a pianissimo here. I’ll be at a mezzo piano, but it’s a low note so it won’t project well.”

“Ok, should we run it again?”

“Ah, yeah, let’s go all the way through and then I think we’re good.” We played through the piece, and I glanced at the clock.

“Oh, wow, Ryan, this is really long, are you sure it’s ok?” I fretted, thinking about time constraints.

“It’s eight and a half minutes, more or less, right? The time limit is ten minutes, so we’re ok.”

“God, it must be a long show, then. How long do they usually run?”

“Last year’s was just over four hours, but it was a long show. Wow, is it that time already?” I gaped at the clock as he pointed out the number 10 prominently showing from the face of the chic digital clock. “I’ve gotta run, Ava, but I’ll see you tomorrow at the show. Good luck, I hope you come in second.”

With that, he rushed out of the door, passing Dean in the doorway.

“Hey, Ava, you sound amazing,” he started, smiling. “I honestly think you have a real shot at winning Eastern Epics. If you even place in the top three, you’ll be such a legend at school; a new student who did well in the Epics.”

“You really think I’ll do well?” I asked, suddenly feeling full of tears. “That’s so nice, Dean, thank you!”

“Jesus, don’t thank me, Ava. I’m just telling the truth.” He blushed. “You’re really talented.”

“Well, I think that telling the truth is worthy of a thank you! So did you come over to ask something?”

“Naw, I just wanted to say goodnight, and also give you some advice.”

“Advice? OK, what advice do you have for me?” I asked, puzzled.

“Actually, it’s more of a request, a suggestion. See, June doesn’t really like you, and… Well, I just wanted to suggest that you try to talk to her more one-on-one. She’s really cool, y’know, and I think if you initiate some conversation, you two would really click.” He blushed again, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, it’s stupid, I know.”

“No, no, you’re right. I didn’t really talk to her today, since she was on the other side of the room. I’ll make sure to talk to her. Is she competing tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t distract her before a show. Maybe after the show, you, me, June and Ryan can all go out to get pizza or something like that. I’ll buy.”

“Oh, that’d be fun! Yeah, let’s do that!”

Dean smiled. “Alright then, good night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, and hugged me tightly before quietly leaving the room.

I smiled to myself, happy about the friendships that I had begun to form today.   

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 A/N: Chapter two of Playing the Heart Strings, done! I know, this one was super duper short (I'm so so so so sorry!), but it was just filler to get to chapter three, which is when the real story starts. So, do you see any potential love interests yet, or should Ava hold out for someone else? If you have any suggestions or just comments on the story so far, please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading, and keep on Playing!