Melodies

15

Aelia's POV
"Ugh! This the second time I got the note wrong!" I groan.
"You'll get it, Aelia." Minhyun encourages me.
"I don't see why you're complaining. You always perform like a pro no matter what." Seongwoo plops onto my bed, "And it's been the second time in, what, in a week? You've been practicing for hours everyday."
"You guys like to make yourselves at home, don't you?" I raise an eyebrow.
"No, only Seongwoo." Jaehwan shakes his head.
I notice he's sitting on the floor. Smiling, I ruffle his fluffy hair. He looks up at me with a blank face, causing me to giggle.
"Anyways, I need to keep working on it." I sigh, setting the violin across my lap.
Seongwoo notices how down I am and sits up.
"Are you still thinking about how they had that sleepover without you?" He asks.
"Yeah. It just seems odd. I mean I get sometimes they want to do stuff with just guys, but they didn't have to lie about it. I would've understood."
"Maybe they wanted to do something where you'd get hurt, Aelia." Woojin says.
"I doubt it." I shake my head and stand up, "I'm gonna practice more. Hopefully they're surprised." I place the violin under my chin.
"I need to get going. Jihoon keeps texting me." Woojin groans, getting up and setting Bao on the bed.
"What does he want?" I look over at him.
"He says that Guanlin is annoying him again."
"Who's that? Oh! Also tell Jihoon I said he still owes me money!"
"Oh yeah. I forgot that you haven't met half of the group." Seongwoo says.
"You'll meet them one day!" Jaehwan gives me a thumbs up.
"Bye!" Woojin just walks out.
"Dang you haven't met six of us." Minhyun says.
"I don't even know if I want to meet the rest of you based on how crazy you five are."
"But you love us!" Seongwoo points at me.
I ignored his comment and start practicing my violin again. They all yell at me and I just smirk.
Lately, my real group has been split up. Soonyoung, Chan, Jun, and Minghao have been gone to I don't know where. Seungkwan, Seokmin, Joshua, Jeonghan, and Jihoon have been sitting with me at lunch, acting normal and messing around as usual. Mingyu, Vernon, Seungcheol, and Wonwoo have been eating with us too but leaving halfway through, saying they're going for different excuses every time. That's so weird to me. Why those boys with those groups? They can't be mad at each other... right? I see them in class though and they seem to act normal. I don't get it.
Seongwoo and Minhyun come over every day for the next week, helping me with my piece. While Minhyun encourages me, Seongwoo criticizes me. It's good for me though, I need both. I just want it to be perfect. The piece I've been practicing for is the competition that they're entering. My violin teacher told me I will be the opening act to present the competition. I was going to tell the boys that day but they told me they were busy and ended up lying. So I've been keeping it a secret until then. I mean they deserve to be surprised now. I can't wait to see their faces.

~

The competition comes in the blink of an eye. I'm actually excited but anxious at the same time. I've been waiting for this day since the beach all that time ago. I love the boys and I just want their talents to be shown to everyone. I don't even know what they're doing for it, so it'll be nice to see what they planned.
My heels click on the concrete as I rush to get backstage. I'm late because freaking Seongwoo wanted to take pictures of me before we left. That dummy also gave me a small bouquet of flowers from him and his friends, even the ones who don't know me. It's sweet but I had to be at the school already.
"Damn, Aelia! You run fast for a girl in heels!" Minhyun pants from behind me.
"I was supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago, you jerks! You owe me after this!" I turn to face them before entering backstage, "After I perform, I'll sit with you in the audience." I smile, "Bye." I rush inside.
As soon as I enter, my violin teacher bumps into me.
"Oh! Finally! We've been waiting for you! You need to go rehearse! We only have fifteen minutes!" She tells me.
"I'm sorry! My friends made me late." I roll my eyes, "They insisted on driving me here."
"Alright. I'll let you off since you're a good student."
"Thank you." I bow to her, quickly walking through the crowd of people practicing before the competition.
I continuously bump into people, almost tripping over feet or props. I get pretty annoyed until a hand whacks me in the face, making me fall onto my butt. Groaning in pain, I close my eyes, preventing me from seeing who I have to punch.
"Oh! Sor- Aelia?" I hear Minghao's voice.
Opening my eyes, I see one of my best friends staring directly at me with a shocked face.
"Aelia! What're you doing here?!" Chan hugs me.
Jun helps me up and I thank him, rubbing my forehead and pouting a bit as I look at them. Soonyoung smiles and kisses the spot my hand hovers over.
"Now it feels better, right?"
My cheeks burn up and I blink in surprise at his action.
"I heard Aelia's name!" Mingyu's voice clearly sounds through the room.
The rest of the group rushes up to me and the first person I'm tackled by is Seungkwan.
"Aelia! Did you come to see us before the show?!" Vernon asks in excitement.
"You look so dressed up!" Seungkwan notices.
"Yeah, you look so pretty!" Seungcheol smiles.
I notice Wonwoo look down at my hand and he grabs it. He lifts it to show everyone and they all gasp.
"Aelia, are you going against us?" Jisoo asks us.
Smiling, I lower my arm. They stare at me with wide eyes and I just laugh.
"Dorks... Didn't you ever wonder why I screamed in the courtyard a few of weeks ago? Didn't you wonder why I wanted boba suddenly?"
"Actually, yes." Seokmin admits.
"You didn't even ask me later, so I kept this a secret."
"Aelia! You're on for the opening piece in five!" A person in charge of the event comes up to us.
"Okay." I bow in thanks.
"You're doing the opening piece?!" Jeonghan gasps, "I knew they said someone was going to play from your class but I didn't know it was you!"
"Yup. Surprise!" I take out my violin and place it under my chin.
They watch me as I make sure the strings are in tune. I play the first few notes for warm up and once I'm satisfied I lower the instrument.
"Now, I'll be in the audience with Seongwoo and Minhyun to watch your performances once I'm done with mine. I'll be routing for all of you. Remember, have fun. It doesn't matter who wins, you're all tremendously talented. Fighting!" I give them a thumbs up.
"Fighting, Aelia!" They all say at them same time.
"Good luck, Aelia!"
"You've got this!"
"We'll perform our heart out for you!"
"We'll make you proud!"
My eyes catch Jihoon's and he smiles. He mouths 'fighting' and my heart races. It's just like the Juilliard audition, just the other way around. I smile to myself before getting called to go to the side stage.
"The winners of this competition will receive 567,130 won towards tuition! Good luck to the competitors. Now playing the opening piece, our top violinist, Choi Aelia!"
The crowd claps as I walk onto stage and I keep a straight face. Stay professional. Stay professional. Stay-
"Aelia! Choi Aelia! You're my star!" Seongwoo's voice yells from the crowd.
I close my eyes, trying my best not to look angry. Those boys are just like my best friends. Why do I befriend weirdos?
"Shut up, Seongwoo! She needs to concentrate!" Minhyun's voice is also heard.
I bite my lip as I place the violin under chin, trying my best not to laugh. The noise level dies down as I raise the bow. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Once my nerves go down, I rest the bow on the strings and perform. The crowd is silent, completely entranced in the music. I smile to myself, knowing I've just made this the best commencement of the history of this school.
The song ends and claps are immediately heard. I bow before walking backstage just as the light dim. Luckily, I place my violin in my case just as someone tackles me in another hug. I groan as more and more people take me to the ground.
"You did so well!" Mingyu cries to me.
"You big baby!" I laugh.
"Performance Team! You're on after the gymnast." The same person who told me told them.
"That's our cue!" Jun smiles.
"I'm excited! Aelia gets to watch me dance again!" Chan does a little dance.
"Oh! Let me go to the audience! Good luck! Love you!" I get up and wave to them as I run to the seating area.
Quickly and quietly, I take a seat in the middle of Seongwoo and Minhyun. Seongwoo gives me a big hug and shakes me side to side.
"You played liked an angel!" Minhyun smiles brightly.
"Thanks!" I laugh.
My phone vibrates from my purse and I take it out. They look over my shoulders as I read the text. I roll my eyes at our group chat. Yeah, we have a group chat. I usually have it on do not disturb because of all of the lame memes Vernon sends and the debates Seungkwan and Seokmin randomly decide to have.