Canon

Chapter Seven

Okay, now that I have a piece to play, I've been practicing hard. 

The other contestants have already practiced before me, and I need some catching up to do. I played in front of my Dad, in front of my neighbors, but never in front of Adrian.

He's been practicing hard as well.

One night, as I was practicing around for a bit, something hit my window. 

"Seriously Adrian?" I say as I open it, noticing he has another pebble in his hand, ready to throw, "I swear I could hear my window complain at night about all the abuse you give it,"

"Tell your window I said sorry," he grinned. "So how's practice? Chelsea told me you had trouble picking a piece to play,"

That little witch, I told to myself.

"Nah, already have one," I say confidently. "What piece will you be playing?"

"You're trying to trick me into telling, aren't you?" he narrows his eyes, "Trying to soften things up, then-"

"It was that obvious?" I sigh in an overly dramatic way, cutting him off. We both laugh for a good ten seconds before becoming serious all over again.

"Tomorrow's the big night, isn't it?" Adrian smiles at me reassuringly. "You're gonna do awesome, Jazz,"

I felt myself blush at his compliment. "We'll you're gonna do better than awesome."

He just looked at me with a smile on his face and I know I'm as red as a tomato. I pretended to look at the clock on my wall, and said, "Oh, just look at the time. Guess I have to sleep now. Good night, Adrian, and good luck to you,"

"Yeah, good luck to you too," he says. He begins to close his windows, and I feel kinda disappointed since he didn't say good night like I did.

That's when he opened it back. "Oh, by the way, good night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite,"

And just like that, my night is complete.

This is the big day. Competition night is here and everyone in school is going to watch.

I'm in a black and turquoise dress with lace accents and I did my orange hair up to keep it from distracting me while I play. Chelsea is a nervous wreck (she isn't even joining!) as she does my make-up, fusses over my hair and arranges the ruffles on my dress.

As she's doing the best friend act of love, I look at the other contestants. And I am shocked.

Lizzie was beautiful. Her blond hair was decorated with white flowers and she was in a white floral dress in white ballet shoes. She looked like an angel.

The boys looked dashing.

Innes' usually unkempt hair was now slicked back and wore a black suit with red accents to match his hair.

Chaz was in a gold and white suit which accentuated his silvery blond locks and Carter was in a black and white suit which actually suited him well.

But I couldn't take my eyes off Adrian. He looked so handsome, so fresh in his sky blue suit and his dark hair falling just above his eyebrows.

"Good luck," he said as he approached me.

"Yeah, I need it," I smiled, but I'm sure it couldn't hide the fact that I was nervous. These other contestants practiced a lot more than I did.

Even as we were in the backstage, they were going through musical scores, doing last minute practices and fidgeting and fine-tuning their instruments.

I already did those the night before, but I stil felt so left out. Hey, I just did it earlier. And you know what the old people say: The early bird catches the worm. Make that a gummy worm. 

"Nervous?" Adrian asked me after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. That obvious, huh?" I play with my fingers but I can't help but admiring his wonderful eyes. Great. Just great. I can now imagine myself losing the competition just to make him win.

Which is kinda stupid, since he's better than I am.

"Well, just try counting sheep," he suggested.

"What? You count sheep when you try to fall asleep, genius," I snort, which is soooo unattractive. Which is sooooo me.

"I know," he says with a wink, "I'm secretly hoping you'd fall asleep throughout the competition, making me shoo-in for winner. See you later, Jazz,"

"Even if I fell asleep, you'd still be no match for Lizzie!" I called to him, but he just laughed and waved his hand. 

And did he just say that I'm better than he is? 

After a few minutes and preparation, the contest officially started.

Miss Higgins opened the ceremony with a wonderful, but boring, speech. She then announces the criteria, the theme and the order of the contestants.

The first one up is Lizzie. She sits on the wooden stool the school provided her, and she starts playing.

Her rendition of Valse Romantique is so well... romantic it actually gets me teary eyed. With her dress and hair, she looks like an angel sent from heaven.

The crowd and panel of judges is so obviously moved by her performance. Even a couple started kissing in the middle of the performance. After she played beautifully, she stood up, bowed and walked away like a pro.

Next up is Chaz. He plays Le Cygne by Saint-Saens. He is obviously loved by the crowds and the judges. He played it so well and so perfectly. But doesn't Le Cygne mean... The Swan?

"Why is he playing that piece?" I ask to no one in particular.

"It's because swans mate for life. If their partner dies, it could die from heartbreak as well," a voice said next to me. I turn my head and see that it's Carter Sorensen. "I just sounded like a nerd didn't I?"

"I bet all of us have our inner nerds," I grin at him, and he sighs, probably relieved I didn't think he was a geek. But hey, geeks are cool. Diablo III, anyone?

The third to perform was Innes. I thought he wasn't really good since all he did was goof around, but man did he prove me wrong. After hearing him play Schubert's Schwanengesang or Serenade, I somehow felt his pain, or whatever it was he was hiding deep down inside.

He even managed to make a judge cry.

Next up is Carter. He gives me a look, and I give him a reassuring smile, the same one Adrian gave me.

He then strides confidently into the stage holding his flute. He plays Morning Mood by Grieg and I can't help but feel in such a good mood myself. While Carter plays, I catch Adrian's eye and he smiles at me. 

I realized I was next. After Carter's performance, I did my best to look confident despite my sweaty palms. Carter patted my shoulder as he passed by.

Chelsea came up to me and gave me a peck on the cheek. "You're going to do great, sister!"

"You already told me that about twenty times today," I laughed.

"Whatever," she shrugged it off, "Good luck, okay?"

"OK," I laughed despite my nervous state. I march up to the stage and rested the violin on my shoulder and my chin on the chin rest. Then I played.

I played Tzigane by Maurice Ravel. I don't know why, but it kind of sums up how my mom and dad fall in love, only to break up after. Yes, they fell in love, but how long did it actually last?

I suddenly felt angry. In my anger, I made some notes a bit sharp. I saw the shock on the judges face. Finally, it was over. I made a quick bow and went backstage. 

My face was all flushed and red and I didn't even notice Adrian coming up the stage until I heard it.

River Flows In You.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note: The cute little dress in the multimedia section is the cute little dress Jazz is wearing for the competition. :)