A Stage For Two
By Antony Predescu
Cassie passed a few kids as he walked down the middle school hall. He noticed Jeremy, the school’s badminton captain, talking to the head cheerleader, Jennifer. The woodshop kids were chatting about who they wanted to partner with and what they were going to sculpt. He walked past the cafeteria. Two kids from the yearbook team stared at him. They whispered, “Is he new here?”
No, I’m not, Cassie thought. Cassie knew most of the kids at the school, but no one really knew him. Not being known by everyone else was better than what he had to deal with at his old school. He could still hear them laughing at him
He trudged closer to the walls of the hall, keeping away from others. As he took the corner heading to his math class, he overheard someone muttering.
“So… where do I go next?”
He watched the kid bump into the walls and a few times into other people. He had a backpack that was oversized for textbooks, and he had curly brown hair that bounced like springs. The kid looked around while muttering, “Room 206.”
Don’t recognize him. He’s probably new. Should I? Cassie thought. He shook his head. Why would I…? It’s not my problem.
Cassie tried to ignore the fact that the kid kind of reminded him of himself. “No one helped me when I was in that situation.” He looked down at his shoes. “If someone had, I probably wouldn’t be creeping around in the corners of the halls, just spectating, after all these years.”
Cassie would do something. He would try to help this new kid.
We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest published author, Sloka Edara! Sloka recently published her book, Bridge of Starlight, through our Fresh Ink publishing program. In Fresh Ink, youth authors with a completed draft of a novel are mentored through a chapter-by-chapter revision process. At the end of the program, the author is guided through the publication process resulting in an ink-and-paper book they can hold in their hands and share with other readers!
He moved closer to the kid before noticing something starting to slide out of his unzipped backpack. It was a violin case. It started to fall out slowly. The backpack material folded under the weight of the case. Cassie dashed forward to stop the violin from smashing onto the ground, only to bump into the kid instead. The kid fell flat on his face. Cassie landed on top of him. But he caught the violin case in one hand, saving it from hitting the ground.
“Hey!” The kid got up on his feet.
“Your case was sliding out... Sorry?” Cassie said in an uncertain tone.
“You only made it worse... Thanks for trying to help though.” He turned from Cassie and started to walk away.
“You play the violin?” Why did I say that?
“Um, what?”
“Sorry, I just said something random, and I shouldn’t have said that.” Cassie smiled nervously.
“No, I heard, but yes I play violin.”
“Oh, I do too. I’m sorry that I knocked it down though.”
The kid chuckled. "My name is Daniel.”
“Cassie.”
“Maybe we could practice together sometime.”
We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest published author, Sloka Edara! Sloka recently published her book, Bridge of Starlight, through our Fresh Ink publishing program. In Fresh Ink, youth authors with a completed draft of a novel are mentored through a chapter-by-chapter revision process. At the end of the program, the author is guided through the publication process resulting in an ink-and-paper book they can hold in their hands and share with other readers!
Before Cassie could reply, the bell rang, and Daniel ran off to his class and Cassie was off to his.
Finally, after many long hours, Cassie was able to walk out of the school halls. He was still thinking about what Daniel had said when he bumped into him.
“Hey Cassie, are you able to practice?”
“Yeah, where do you want to go?
“The park,” Daniel replied.
“Yeah, sure,” Cassie said, trying not to sound nervous. He didn’t like playing in public. He didn’t want to be embarrassed.
When they got to the park, the sun was still shining brightly in the sky. Little fluffy cumulus clouds floated about, looking like marshmallow-flavored cotton candy. Few people were at the park, most of them being kids standing nearby, waiting for the bus.
Cassie sat down and took his violin out of his case. He rosined his bow and he peered at Daniel to see how he was doing. Daniel’s violin was amazing. It seemed old and made of ebony, clearly more expensive than his own.
“Where did you get that?” Cassie asked, stunned.
“It was handmade by my grandfather, who passed it down to my mother, who passed it down to me.”
“It’s beautiful! I am so happy I saved it from hitting the floor.”
“Yeah, thanks! Mom wouldn’t like it if I damaged it.” He smiled.
After playing a “Table for Two” as a warmup, Daniel asked what Cassie wanted to play. He replied, “‘Spring.’”
The sound of their music echoed off the trees, making it sound like there were more than just the two of them. But whenever a stranger walked by, Cassie would play more quietly, hoping not to be noticed. Daniel, though, didn’t seem to care who heard them.
When they finished their fourth piece of music, they packed up and started home. At first, they chatted about silly stuff. Then Daniel grew quiet. He looked very serious.
“What?” Cassie asked.
“You know about the talent show at school?” Daniel said.
“What about it?”
“Well, it’s coming up in a week, maybe we can perform together.”
Cassie swallowed. Playing alone in the park was one thing, but performing in front of the school? “I don’t know. I probably need more practice. I’m not ready to perform.”
“Well, this is my house.” Daniel pointed to the blue and white house with the green fence. “Think about it. It’ll be fun. See ya.”
Cassie only smiled and walked toward home.
At the end of the next day, Cassie was leaving his last class. “Read pages 120-128 for homework!” His teacher called out. He exited the portable and walked toward the main entrance of the school, where he had planned to meet up with Daniel.
“So, what do you think about the talent show?” Daniel whispered as soon as Cassie was close enough to hear.
Cassie rubbed his fingers together and squinted, trying not to make any audible noise that may have made him sound stressed. He drooped over a bit before standing back up. He thought about lying to Daniel. But Daniel was his new and only friend. He liked hanging out with him. He didn’t even mind playing violin in the park. But the talent show was a whole different thing. His palms started to sweat. If he told Daniel the truth, his new friend would laugh at him. He might not even want to be friends anymore.
What do I say? Should I lie or tell the truth? Cassie thought.
Cassie took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something. In my old school, I was supposed to perform a duet with my best, and only, friend – me on violin, him on piano. A few days before the show, he had to leave town to help his grandmother. I had to play all by myself. I was so nervous, I played so badly. It was awful. I tried my best, but no one cared. The audience booed. The school kids teased me every day after that. My friend started avoiding me. I had to convince my parents to go to a different middle school. That’s just how it is.”
“Really? You’d rather have no one know you and have your only friend gone than have some people laugh at you? I understand that it must have been really hard for you. But I need to tell you that I have stage fright too.”
What? You were the one who proposed the idea! Cassie thought.
Daniel made a noise that sounded like a cross between a scoff and a chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking. The whole reason I wanted to do this is to get over my fear. You know what they say, the best way to get rid of your fear is to confront it! Also, I wanted to show everyone my violin skills and sort of prove myself.”
“Oh, I didn’t really think about it that way. Maybe you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Daniel laughed at his own joke. “So, why don’t we face our fears together?”
This might not be the best idea, but at least I’m doing it with a friend, Cassie thought.
“Why not?”
The day of the talent show came at last. Standing behind the curtains was stressful. It seemed like a cool speech and everything when Daniel was saying it, but being here reminds me that nothing is different from last time, Cassie thought.
He turned to Daniel and tried to see what he was doing. He was taking deep breaths. Cassie tried the same and he felt better. It made him realize how good it was having a friend to go onstage with, to face fears together with.
He finally put his fright behind him. When it was their turn, they walked on the stage confidently and began to play.