The Chairs Between Us

Before the Performance

Mr. Bennet came busting through the door of our hotel exploding with excitement, "I want to see!" 

Liam and I just got back from getting tattoos and I have to admit, it hurt a lot. Liam passed out halfway through but he did get it right on his wrist. 

I laughed and pulled up my sleeve show it off to him. It didn't cover my scar as much but it still attracted my eyes to it more than the scar.

Liam pulled up his sleeve too, showing the treble and bass clef heart around his dark scar. I was pretty amazed about how perfect they turned out.

Mr. Bennet was beaming with joy, "They look so good! Did it hurt?"

I laughed, "Liam passed out."

Liam hit my arm, "I got it in the most painful spot. I think I am allowed to pass out."

Mr. Bennet laughed too before looking at his watch, "Anyways we should probably start getting ready. We have to be there in thirty minutes."

Liam nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards our room, "We will be ready in ten minutes then."

We both quickly got into our concert dress. Liam walked over when I was trying to put on my bow tie. He straightened it out for me, chuckling, "You always suck at putting this thing on right."

I shook my head, "That is why you are here to fix it."

He smiled pushing some of my hair from my eyes then kissing me, "Now we are ready."

We walked down the street with our violas on our back. It was a far walk from the hotel to the hall. Mr. Bennet told us we had to take the subway which I was excited for.

I have never used a subway before.

I was started to feel my nerves
growing the more and more as we walked. Liam was holding my hand which helped my stay a little calm.

We got on the subway which was packed with people so we had to stand.

We only had to stay for one stop.

Liam felt my hand beginning to shake. He looked up at me and smiled, "You excited?"

I gave a small smile, "Yeah sure."

The nerves are really getting to me.

He laughed, "Very convincing... don't worry we have about twenty minutes of warm up before the performance."

We reached our stop and went back to walking. Liam sped up when we saw the hall, pulling me along with him, while Mr. Bennet stayed back a bit. The beautiful building stood in front of us as Liam jumped with excitement. Other musicians were walking to and from the building. Some playing outside on the sidewalk.

We walked in and were greeted by a tall woman with brown hair, "Hello, what are your names and school."

Mr. Bennet smiled, "Dominic and Liam from Clearwater High School."

She nodded going over the desk and finding some badges then handing them to us, "Keep these all week end. It will let you go backstage and to the warm up rooms. You guys have the whole building open to you so feel free to claim any room for the whole weekend, just tell us which one you have."

We all thanked her and Mr. Bennet started walking off down a hallway, "I have a room you guys would like. It is my favorite out of the whole building."

We got in the elevator then went back to walking down the hall. Mr. Bennet then reached a door and opened it for us, "Here we are."

The room was dimly lit with white walls and wood flooring. There was windows along the on side looking out into the city. Liam gasped, "This is so beautiful!"

Mr. Bennet chuckled, "Well I am going to go back down and talk to the other teachers for a bit. I will come back up at the 20 minute mark. Relax for now. You two are going to do great."

He left us and Liam instantly flopped down on one of the couches. I flopped down next to him looking at the TV showing what was playing on stage. I felt him wrap his arms around me before laying on top of me. I laughed, "Well I am glad you are comfy."

I tried to push him off but he only wrapped his arms around me tighter. He mumbled into my shoulder, "No... you are warm."

I gave up wrapping my arms around him too, "You know Mr. Bennet isn't going to like that our suits are going to be wrinkled."

Liam lifted his head, giving me a kiss, "Yeah your right."

He rolled off me, looking over at the TV, "You know we are the only viola duet."

We sat there for awhile until we heard the door open again. Mr. Bennet came in and clapped his hands together, "Alright, time to get warmed up! We will be going down to the stage in 15 minutes."

Liam jumped off the couch pulling me with him. We grabbed our violas playing tuning then playing though a few parts of our piece before it was time to make our way down.

We made our way to the elevator and pushed the button. 

My nerves were beginning to hit me again. I took a few deep breathes and Liam grabbed my hand, "Nerves again?"

I nodded my head looking at the floor.

He stood in front of me, placing his hand on my face, "We are going to do fine."

The elevator door open and we walked in. A girl violinist and her teacher were already in it. 

He practically jumped out of the elevator when she saw us, "Oh my god! You are the two violists from Clearwater!"

Liam smiled, "Yup that's us. I didn't know we are that popular."

The girl threw her arms around both of us, pulling us into a bone breaking hug, "You two are so cute!!"

Mr. Bennet started laughing, "I WON! Dominic pay up." 

When the girl released us, I sighed pulling out my wallet and passing him money, "Yeah, yeah you won. So what."

Even Liam was laughing now too, "I told you this wasn't a smart bet."

The girl looked between all of us, "A bet?"

Liam smiled, "Mr. Bennet made a bet with Dominic based on if someone called the two of us cute during this trip. Which he just lost."

She giggled, flipping her long, bright purple hair back, "Oh sorry... Anyways my name is Ella and this my teacher Sorina. We are from Creek about an hour from Clearwater."

Mr. Bennet smiled, shaking Sorina's hand, "Oh really it's nice to meet some that comes from our area."

Sorina smiled too, "Yeah maybe we could all hang out or something."

Ella, Liam, and me looked at each other.

We ship it.