//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Dissonant Concourse // by Wolfie 03 //------------------------------// “And just where is it you come from?” The chilly tone caused the other violinists to glance towards Viola with wide shocked eyes at the unfriendly tone. “Well, Ah’m from Apploosa, but Ah don’t see what that has to do with…” Fiona frowned towards the pale girl, taking in her slim figure rapidly. “That explains your accent… Though not how you got here. We’ll see whether or not you actually belong here.” After cutting the country girl off, Viola turned around to face the teacher who was assigning seats per section. The middle aged woman went down the list, calling out names and chair numbers that were chosen based on their previous audition scores. Any new student was placed on the far right of their section where they would sit until they were tested. Fiona took her seat with a pensive frown, glancing to the far left where the smug unfriendly girl sat. Golly, guess what they say about outsides not matchin’ the insides is right. Shame such a pretty girl is actin’ so high and mighty… The scarf wearing teen looked at the stacks of music sheets on the stand before her thoughtfully. Wait, now hang on Fiona. We can’t go assumin’ the worse of someone. Gotta give them a chance. Meanwhile Ah’ll show ‘em what Ah can do. Maybe they just think Ah’ll hold them all back… Ah’ll show them just how well Ah can keep up… The sharp rapping of solid wood against metal drew everyone’s attention to the podium in the front of the classroom. The teacher set the baton down and waved to the blackboard behind her, brushing a lock of her long blonde hair behind one ear as she looked at the students. “For those who are new this year, my name is Ms. DeCrème. I will be your teacher this year for the music department.” The teacher set her hands on the metal piece, the pale color stark against the black. “Most of you have been in this program for many years now, but in case summer vacation erased everything from your mind or if you are actually only just joining our esteemed department or even the academy as a whole, here is a reminder of what and how we do things in this class.” Fiona gulped mutely. Her mind sent her sights to scour the room, hoping she wasn’t the only one to be unnerved by the severe tone. Most of the higher ranked musicians were at ease, almost bored with the lector. There were very few students who showed similar signs of worry. They held the lowest seats, and seemed more uneasy in their spots. A young flutist who was vastly shorter than the rest of her section showed the worse signs. Fiona frowned pensively before letting her eyes continue roaming. When they reached back to her own instrument line, the southerner gave a small start at the deep scowl she found waiting for her from the girl in first chair. The sharp blue eyes stood out from under the curly brown hair. Fiona jerked back with a confused frown of her own. She slowly tore her sight away and focused back on the teacher who was describing how they each were going to be called up to sight read a piece of music and be judged for their seating accordingly. She also stressed how one could move up the line by challenging the next chair; she didn’t believe they were likely going to move within the first few months if not longer. Fiona tilted her head at the dismissive tone the teacher had and checked the other students. They too seemed confident, while the obviously newer members of the department were unsure about the assessment. Viola glared at the orange foulard wearing girl, having watched her search the room before returning her sights to her own section. The first chair violinist stared down the new girl, willing her to focus back on the teacher. If this girl can’t keep up, she better be prepared for the consequences. The experienced student turned half of her ear to the teacher, making sure the lecture hadn’t changed from the one they gotten last year. Pleased to hear nothing was different, she instead focused on stretching her fingers, her thoughts on the skills of the others in the section and their potential competitiveness. Aside from the new girl, I shouldn’t have any trouble staying at the top. From what I heard, Michelle had spent most of her holiday at the beach in Hawaiegh. The same one that Christophe was visiting. And the others were nowhere close to those two. This shouldn’t be too difficult at all. Fiona peeked to see if she was still the target of a furious scowl and noticed the slim delicate hands flexing. Her brows twitched for a second before turning back to her own instrument she had luckily brought with her. It was an old family instrument, passed down through the musical farmer members, but it still sounded as mellow as ever. The tan country girl took out the instrument and ran through some of the more challenging cords as a warmup. She didn’t notice the sneers the upper chair members shot her. Ya got this, ya know you do. Considerin’ how long ya usually got to read the pieces, this should be a piece of apple pie. When the southerner looked up from checking the fiddle, she was surprised to note that the flutes were already lined up along the wall waiting for their turn while the trumpets were lined up on the other side, heading for a different room. The other violinists had their instruments out and started for the last teacher aid. The curly brown haired girl was glaring again and walking briskly to the newest violinist. Viola pointed straight into Fiona’s face while the rest of the section looked on. Her tone was firm as she wanted to be sure the country girl understood her place. “You’ll be going first since you’re new. My name is Viola, and I’m the section leader, so I suppose if you have any questions you can ask me.” The teen began to turn away with a roll of her eyes. “Hopefully it won’t be too many questions.” Fiona stared pensively while the rest of the group started to follow the girl. “Now hang on a cotton pickin’ moment, we ain’t finished gettin’ all the testing done. How do ya know yer not gonna be replaced?” The confidence the farm girl felt faltered for a second when seven pairs of eyes stared incredulously to her. Some of the other violin players chuckled while Viola rolled her eyes again. The other sections weren’t paying any attention to the group of strings as they also started to get ready. She really talks like that… Has no one tried to help her improve her speech? That’s one of the many things that will hold her back. “Because I’ve lead the violins for the past three years.” Viola furrowed her brows, the coldness increasing as she leaned closer for a second. “And, just so you know, the proper word is ‘aren’t’ not ‘ain’t’.” The more country sounding word came out slowly, condescension in the entire sentence. Fiona blinked, confused about the sincerity of the ‘advice’, and followed silently. As the others continued to chuckle to themselves each time they looked to the newest violinist, the tan teenager decided that it wasn’t given with any actual friendship or concern. Sure is hard to think everyone could be nice folk when they act like that. Soon the group gathered across the way from the flutists, more detached from the low murmur of the rest of the class. None of the other fiddle players spoke to the country girl. Not that Fiona cared too much. Her attention was captured by sharp glares in the opposing line along with low menacing tones. Some of the other flute players had turned on a small blonde girl who clutched her instrument close to her chest. Fiona looked around, trying to see if anyone else saw this going on, but the teacher aids were consulting their lists and any student who did see it either had approving smirks on their faces or looked bored by the whole thing. The tall teenager sighed and left her place in line, making a beeline for the trouble spot. “Ya’d think members of the same band would be kinder to one another.” Fiona spoke up from the left of the petite blonde. The girl gave a start, breaking the staring contest she was having with the ground. Golden eyes sought out the speaker and connected with gentle sky blue orbs. “Don’t ya think ‘bout any of these judgin’ folk. Ya like to play the flute?” The country gal leaned closer with a soft grin. The blonde nodded shyly. “Then ya close yer eyes and play like it’s just you in the room.” Fiona tipped her head to the flutist and walked back into place at the end of the fiddle players. The flutists and her group were shocked, whispering to one another while the lead fiddle player glared bluntly at the newest member of her section. These here kids don’t seem very nice at all… Fiona fingered some of her fiddle’s strings absentmindedly as she thought. Maybe they’re just nervous ‘bout the first day back and all… -DC- After everyone in the violin section was finished, the teacher aid quickly printed the seating results. Even as the other sections were still being tested, the violinists checked the posting. Fiona waited patiently behind the others since they had seniority. Suddenly, a shout was heard over the din. “What!? How is she second chair?!?” The ex-apple farmer frowned in worry as the delicate tones, shrill as they were in the shout, seemed to come from her section leader. Before she could check, a teacher aid beat her to the front. “Ms. Krauss, please control yourself and keep your volume down. You may disturb the current testers.” The brunette flung an arm out towards the scarf wearing girl. The motion was so strong and fierce that Fiona almost felt the point. “How did SHE get second chair?! She’s only just got here!” Viola was rapidly losing her composure as Fiona changed from confused and worried to smugly pleased. The rest of the section remained silent, watching with wide eyes as Fiona step forward. “Ah earned that there chair just like everyone else earned theirs.” She stared bemused as an eyelid twitched on the other girl’s face. “‘The chair’ not ‘that there chair’, you peasant farmer.” Viola muttered just loud enough to be heard by the other girl. Fiona reared back as though she had been slapped before leaning forward, opening her mouth for a fiery retort. The adult present prevented any more from being said, however. “It’s what was decided. Besides, you should know how chair placement changes through the year.” The aid waved her hands before the two girls with a firm tone. The high class teen huffed and crossed her own arms. Fiona rolled her eyes at the action. Without saying anything to the section leader and giving a tiny nod to the teacher aid, she retrieved her supplies and moved to her new chair. Viola steadily ignored the second chair while the third chair violinist turned to talk with the boy to her right. Fiona fingered her bow as she checked on the rest of the band. Half of the students were speaking to one another, the other half studiously ignored the world around them and a sparse few had the nervous look of new students. Fiona, feeling her shoulders start to sag, sat up straighter instead, gaze on the far way and not on the scornful eyes of the violinists on either side. “Yeah mom, Ah’m fine.” The brunette country girl rubbed at her temple as she spoke on her flip phone. Her blue eyes shut tightly. A deep voice in the far background shouted something that came across mostly as static. “Hun, your dad wants to be sure that ya haven’t -” “Yes mom, Ah haven’t had someone other than me spend the night, Ah’ve only been here for one day!” Fiona waved her right hand even though her mother couldn’t see it. Her gaze, cloudy with distraction, swept the minimal apartment, barely lingering on the few objects placed around the room. The teenager paced in front of the second hand light-green couch situated a little closer towards the door then the center of the small living room. Resting against the wall across from the entrance was a coffee table with a computer tower resting on the small shelf underneath. Sitting on top, connected to the older computer, was a small, flat screen tv. “You never know Sweetie, love can blossom at any time. Even suddenly.” The older woman’s voice held a hint of teasing hidden gentle curiosity. Icy blue eyes, full of fire and liveliness, flashed before Fiona’s inner eye. She exhaled dismissively. “Mom, ya gotta be kiddin’ me! Trust me, nothin’ like that happened today.” The girl did another lap around the green furniture. “Was everythin’ ok? Meet anyone nice…?” Kat trailed off uncertainly. Fiona opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t say anything. The first thing that popped into her mind was to lie. Except that Smiths didn’t lie. But what if she says Ah should just go home…? Do Ah give up…? “Fiona…?” The call was soft that was quickly overshadowed by a concerned male voice that was much closer to the speaker this time. “Did somethin’ happen? SUGAR PIE, DOES DAD HAVE TAH GO ‘TALK’ WITH SOMEONE?!?!” The teenager bit back a groan at her overprotective father while her mother scolded him herself. “GO ON! Don’t ya worry, Ah’ll get to the bottom of this!” A few seconds went by before silence came back to the other end. “Fiona, what happened?” The country teen went into her bedroom and spun around to flop backwards to the rickety bed. The half open closet showed half full while several suitcases waited nearby. No one spoke as the girl worked her jaw around the truth. When she did start to speak, her breathing hitched as she flung an arm over her eyes. “Oh mom… These kids just ain’t friendly at all!” “Oh Sweetie…” “Ah was tryin’ mom, Ah was! But this one girl was just meaner than a rattlesnake that had no sleep for a month!” The teen tried and failed to keep the sob from breaking free. A soothing coo came from the phone. “Oh dear… It’ll be ok, it’ll be ok…” The motherly voice continued to try and calm the distressed  violinist. “Maybe it was just the first day? Is there anythin’ Ah can do hun…? Would ya want to see how things go or just come on home…?” The question of giving up set a flair of anger in the teen. Fiona’s heart and breath stopped. Sitting up, she scrubbed at the tear tracks on her cheeks. “N-no! Ah… Ah don’t want to give up.” There was a moment of silence, though she could feel her mom smiling proudly. “Alright. Let’s see how school goes. If ya ever need something, ya just let us know.” The country girl sniffled with a small smile. “Yes mom, Ah’ll remember…” The apartment fell silent once more. “How was the rest of yer day sugar?” Kat tentatively asked of her daughter, hoping for positive events. Fiona took a breath to stop the rest of her tears and cast her mind to the rest of the day. “It weren’t so bad…” A limousine door slammed shut followed immediately by the front entrance of the small mansion bursting open. The posh family gathered in the expansive living room looked towards the source of the noise. Viola didn’t pause or show any remorse at her entrance, even with both of her parents staring at her incredulously. The young lad stuffed his fist into his mouth to stem the laughter that was bubbling up at the sight of his sister red faced and huffing angrily. “What has gotten into you young lady?!” Hilda scolded from her chair near the fireplace resting on the far wall. Across from her, on the other side of the lit fire sat Viktor, who looked up from his fresh newspaper in the middle of settling down for the evening. “Some country hick has taken second chair!” Viola closed her eyes as she nearly shouted the news. She opened her gaze after the exclamation and waited in the archway. “Now Viola, that is not the kind of language we use.” Viktor sternly warned his daughter as his wife nodded silently.  Anthony sat up in his seat, using the chance to put down his text book as he stared at his sister. “Did she beat you at playing?” The other adults in the room froze, curious of the answer, while the maid waiting in the corner peeked out the corner of her eye. Viola snorted daintily and crossed her arms, allowing the rest of her body to relax. “Of course not! There was no way some fresh off the farm, ugh, ‘country girl’, was going to beat years of training and practice.” Viola stepped into the room at last with a haughty smirk. She gave a quick peck to her mother’s and father’s forehead before turning around and ruffling her brother’s hair. He playfully glared back, sticking out his tongue, until a deep cough reminded him of the book sitting in his lap. The teen pulled her backpack off and handed it over to the maid who stepped forward at precisely the correct time. While she took a seat, Viola noticed that her mother was still watching her even as the men in the household went back to their literature. “That’s good. I would hate to hear how years of working with the best tutors and teachers affordable was beaten by some rueb from the countryside.” “Darling…” The low grumble came from behind the newspaper which was answered by a wave of a hand and eye rolls. “Yes, yes darling.. I know how you are about what we use to describe others. How about we hear for ourselves just how bad this ‘transfer student’ is?” The older woman looked back expectantly towards her daughter who went still as her mind thought to the new student. Flowing dark brown hair cascaded down the stocky and solid back, still muscular from living everyday on a farm, flashed into Viola’s mind. She scowled as determined and stubborn sky blue eyes stared firmly back in her inner gaze. “Well, you won’t believe the way she talks! And she was having trouble even on the first day of school with our level of academics…!”