Sound Carries

6.

The gala at Conolly was a no-expenses-spared affair. The entrance hall dazzled us, lit up, the chandelier a thousand sparkling diamonds, glittering thirty feet above the mingling guests.

I stood at the top of the staircase, dizzy with the knowledge that these people were here for me. For all of us.

Colin offered me a flute of champagne he'd snagged from a passing waiter. "And so it's over."

"And so it begins." Cecily corrected him.

Gabriel and Oliver were walking up the steps towards us. Gabriel smacked Oliver on the shoulder. "If I'd have known that you were going to outshine us all, I'd have picked a better piece."

Oliver grinned good-naturedly, shrugging. "My parents were coming tonight."

"Look at this view!" Gabriel flung his arms wide over the room. From where we stood, the whole of the hall was visible, the arching windows raised high towards the ceiling, the stained glass dark, wine coloured against the black night.

I found myself gripping Oliver's arm just above his shoulder. When he turned to me, whatever words I had been planning to say died on my lips. "Good job." It was all I could get out, suddenly stunned by our closeness and the memory of his spectacular performance.

He smiled thinly at me, and I let go. "You too."

We'd spent the better part of an hour and a half meeting with countless different men and women, introducing ourselves and being congratulated on the performances.

My feet ached, two tender spots on my heels where my shoes had rubbed the skin raw, and I knew I was flushed, my hair falling out of it's up do in loose strands, but I was exhilarated. I'd had conversations with several directors of various opera studios, and had been told countless times that they would be watching for my name, and that they'd be sure to come to the fall and winter productions.

As though a switch had been flipped, it had sunk in that this, my choice, was real. I would, in seven short months, be a graduated performer. We all would.

All seven of us were at the top of the stairs. We hadn't arranged it, it had just happened. To my surprise, Audra and Hannah were engaged in an enthusiastic conversation. I had expected Hannah's brilliance to sour Audra's mood, but she was exclaiming over the intricacies of the piece and congratulating Hannah on the piece.

"You were incredible." I found Hannah's hand. "Seriously. I thought I was going to die when the music started but you nailed it."

Hannah shook her head. "No! You were incredible! I had no idea you had that kind of..." She trailed off, the grinned mischievously. "'Sensuality' is the word I'm looking for. You were a very convincing Carmen."

I was startled but extremely gratified by her praise, squeezing her hand.

Hannah's attention turned to Audra. "And you! That piece! That dress!"

Audra, like the rest of us, seemed too happy to make any comment that might have sounded bitter about Hannah outshining her.

I looked over to where the three boys were engaged in animated conversation. Colin was reenacting some specific moment of his performance of Pavarotti's 'La donna è mobile', arms swinging, gesticulating wildly.

Oliver was laughing, and then, without warning, the two of them were engaged in a pretend game of fencing, acting out the scene with a frenzied energy. Both of them catlike, they slashed and swiped with invisible swords, until they fell apart, both laughing. Oliver's smile was so wide it looked like it might hurt.