to you, 2000 days ago

2

"Fuck yeah its chicken nugget day!" Hazel exclaimed, setting her lunch tray on the table before sitting down across from Juliette, who was scanning the audition packet while eating from a cup of yogurt.

"This shouldn't be too bad, I think," she concluded, closing the packet. They were required to play a G major scale, another scale of their choice, and a few measures from the pieces their teacher selected.

"I think the part from Meyer's Carpe Diem might be a challenge though?" Hazel pointed out, dipping a nugget into a pool of ketchup.

"And that's for future Juliette to worry about," Juliette said smugly, while opening a bag of pita chips and popping one in her mouth.

"What's future Juliette worrying about?"

Hazel looked at the person standing behind her friend and raised a brow.

Still chewing, Juliette swiveled around, nearly choking when she saw Josh standing behind her.

She quickly swallowed before replying: "We were talking about the audition excerpt from Carpe Diem."

"You're a great cellist, I'm sure that you can handle it," he encouraged.

Her lips twitched upward. "Thanks, but it's the accidentals I'm worried about, really. D major key is my best friend--"

Hazel's jaw dropped. "So this is what betrayal feels like--"

Josh burst into laughter.

"Hazel! Ever heard of figurative speech?" Juliette reasoned.

"Girl leave your Shakespearean terms inside English class."

"But--"

"I guess you can call up D major next time you wanna go for a shopping spree," her friend reasoned.

"Or me?" Josh offered casually. "I'm always down for shopping, you know."

A spark of surprise lit up in Juliette's eyes. "For real? I've been meaning to look at the new mall that opened up downtown."

Josh slid his hands in his pockets. "It's a plan then. This Saturday afternoon?"

Juliette nodded, while her friend silently returned to her chicken nuggets. "Yep, that works. I'll text you!"

He nodded, offering a boyish grin before returning back to his table.

Once he was out of earshot, Hazel finally squealed: "he was totally flirting with you."

"Hazel, it was a 30 second conversation?" she reasoned.

Her friend only rolled her eyes. "You know I'm right."

***

The second day of orchestra started; most people sitting down in the same seat as yesterday, waiting for class to begin. The bell rang, and this time, Callum just barely made it in time, earning a sideways stare from Mrs. Moon. Everyone had already set up their instruments and sheet music, just beginning to warm up.

Ignoring Callum's near-tardiness, she began. "Welcome to your second day of orchestra. Today we will be discussing auditions, which I passed out to you yesterday. I will also be handing out our music for the fall concert for us to start rehearsing.

"As a reminder, please buy the recommended method book so we can revisit music basics."

Then, Mrs. Moon pulled out a single sheet of paper from her binder, "by the way, I created a temporary seating chart until auditions. Some of you all keep switching seats and it's pretty inconvenient when I take roll."