When the Cat Met the Wolf

40. Worth it

Arianne was standing behind the scenes of the theatre once more, waiting for Eloise to finish playing her song, since she was next.

Although she hated to admit it, she had to say that Eloise was a very good violinist. She showed that she enjoyed playing the violin a lot, and the song she was playing was quite unique. It had a very fast tempo, but she was managing well. Arianne didn't know if she could ever play as fast as Eloise did, even if she had played 'Guren No Yumiya' several times.

When Eloise finished playing, the room erupted in applause, and many people even stood up to clap for her. Eloise smiled and bowed, as she moved to the side of the stage to see the marks she got.

Arianne opened her eyes wide as she saw her score: 9-9-9-10-10. Even though she shouldn't be surprised by it, it was still kind of shocking, and put her even more nervous. She went over the notes of 'Gateway' a couple of times as Eloise left the stage and walked backstage.

When she saw Arianne, she smirked.

"Did you see that?" she questioned, incredibly (and annoyingly) proud of herself "That's the highest score so far. Good luck beating that"

"We'll see" replied Arianne, narrowing her eyes, and making Eloise smirk.

"C'mon, Aria" said the girl, angering Arianne. She hated it when Eloise called her that, they weren't friends, and she was just doing it to irritate her "Do you really think you can beat me with those songs of yours?" Arianne raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she questioned in a challenging manner, folding her arms.

"Let me give you some advice" she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder "In order to win this competition, you need to be original, and...that's not a quality you possess" Arianne looked at her silently, and couldn't help but be surprised that she said something like that "I mean, have you listened to your songs?" she added with a dry chuckle "It's always the same notes, same style...it's getting kind of old, don't you think? The judges will get bored sooner or later" 

Doubt started to cloud Arianne's mind when she heard that. Was what Eloise saying true? Were her songs really that boring? Should she change them? Try another style?

Oh, no. What if she confused the notes while playing? Or worse, if she forgot them! Would she get disqualified?

She started to imagine standing on that stage, completely still and frozen, not moving a single bone as the sudden realisation that she didn't know the notes to 'Gateway' sunk in. The judges would give her disapproving glances...and she would see clear disappointment in her friend's faces. Just thinking of that gave her the chills.

"If you wanna know what I think..." Eloise spoke up, flooded with a feeling of triumph as she saw the effect she was causing on the girl "I think you should quit this before embarrassing yourself. Stick to the covers, since that's what you're good at"

"Arianne Mercier, you're up!" announced the backstage assistant, and the girl's eyes opened wide as she started to sweat nervously. 

Eloise smiled with a clearly fake sweet smile.

"Good luck, Arianne" she wished falsely, before going off and leaving the girl alone with her dark thoughts.

"Arianne Mercier" the assistant called once again, bringing her back to reality. Arianne gulped and nodded, before walking through the door to the stage.

She had lost all confidence due to Eloise's words.

She stood on the stage, with all the people staring at her expectantly. Her friends were smiling at her from the audience, but she couldn't bring herself to smile back. Taking a deep breath, she started to play the best she could.