The Violinist

Chapter 3

"Hello, who is this?" He asked Emilia. She opened her mouth to speak, but Joseph was already shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you! I'm Joseph!" Anthony yanked his hand back, fixing up his suit. "Anthony.." He looked at Emilia again. "Who is this?" He asked sternly. "A friend..I didn't know he would come." She said, looking directly at Joseph. Joseph smiled and giggled. "Of course I would come, silly! I'm not going to miss my best friend's performance!" Emilia blushed a bit. "B-Best friends?" She asked, hugging her right arm. Joseph nodded. "Oh yeah! I consider you a best friend, Emilia!" Anthony had smoke coming out of his ears. "Well, the concert is starting, so go sit down, I'll take Emilia to her spot." He snapped. Joseph's eyes widened as he put up his arms as a surrendering position. "Bye Emilia!" She smiled, waving and running to his seat.

Emilia looked up at Anthony. "And just what was that about? The concert doesn't start for another 20 minutes." She asked. Anthony crossed his arms. "I can tell that kid's bad news." He lied. Emilia scoffed. "As if." She walked away, her dress flowing backwards. She sat down at her seat and got her violin ready for the performance.

The concert finally began. Everyone was playing sweetly. The instruments sounded great going together. Anthony composed them all, looking at Emilia most of the time. Suddenly, the classical music stopped. Some dubstep sounds started playing. Anthony nodded to Emilia, and she began to play her solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6LD2B_kDQ

(I know it's Lindsey Stirling but pretend it's Emilia playing hehe thanks!)

The song ended and everyone clapped and cheered. Emilia stood up and, with Anthony, went up on the stage. Anthony presented her as she bowed. "The wonderful Emilia Harper!" He said. She looked up at the crowd of people cheering and clapping, but could only notice one person. Joseph was smiling and cheering. "THAT'S MY GIRL!" He yelled from the audience. Emilia giggled and blew him a kiss. Joseph caught it and giggled. The lights went back up and people started to leave. Anthony saw this and was enraged.

The musicians packed up their instruments and left. Emilia slung her violin case over her shoulder when Melody walked up to her. "Did you see how much Anthony was checking you out? Oh my gosh, he's so handsome!" She said. Emilia sighed. "And what do you get out of telling me this information?" Emilia asked. Melody pouted. "You should go out with him! He wants to date you! It's not like anyone else will anyways." She laughed. Emilia turned to her and slapped Melody across the face. Melody shrieked and looked at her, her mouth wide open. Emilia looked into her eyes, fire seeming to come from hers. "Stop bringing this up and stop pressuring me. My life is mine, it is not to be decided by other people." She turned and walked away. Melody looked at her and crossed her arms.

Emilia walked outside, her parents ready to greet her. Her mother hugged her. "You did wonderful, sweetheart!" Emilia smiled at the compliment and hugged back. Her mother let go, almost pushing her off. "But you could've done better. You were shaking, you were moving around too much, it wasn't your best performance." Emilia sighed. She could never get a compliment without unnecessary criticism. She looked at her father who had nothing to say as usual. "Can't wait for my next one." Emilia said, flatly. Suddenly, someone came up and hugged her from behind.

Her parents gasped at the strange boy hugging her. "You did SO GOOD, Emilia! You blew me away!" Joseph said, letting go. Emilia turned around and hugged him. "Thanks, Joseph!" She smiled and felt the warmth of his body. She felt safe around him, not like when she was around others or her parents. Anthony came from behind and pulled Joseph off. "Was he harassing you, Emilia?" Emilia frowned. "No, but you are." Her mother pulled Emilia back. "Do not talk like that!" Emilia scoffed and crossed her arms. Her mother smiled at Anthony. "Anthony, it's so good to see you!" She said, hugging him. Anthony hugged her back. "As always, Mrs. Harper." Joseph was pouting as he watched the two hug. He looked at Emilia with kind eyes.

Emilia pushed between Anthony and her mother to see Joseph. "Would you like to come over today? I have learned how to play another board game!" She smiled. Joseph nodded, excited. "Oh yes, I would like that very much, Em!" Emilia smiled. "How about at 5:00? You could stay for dinner AND then we could just hang out!" Emilia suggested. Joseph nodded. "I'll see you then." He took Emilia's hands and kissed them, trying to act like a gentleman. Emilia giggled as Joseph ran off, his coat flowing backwards.

Emilia turned back to see the unhappy faces of her parents and Anthony. "What is it now?" She asked. Anthony crossed his arms, his brown eyes staring into Emilia. Emilia got a little angry. "You are not to just stand around and judge me for my choices. I'm not doing drugs, I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not doing anything bad, why judge me!?" She turned to Anthony. "Especially you. You have no right to judge me, you don't even know me." Anthony's eyebrows furrowed. He was very angry. Emilia's mother came up and slapped Emilia across the face so strong, Emilia fell down. "You do NOT talk to us like that! We do have a right to judge, we decide your future! I don't like that boy, Emilia, you are not to have anything to do with him!" Her mother scolded harshly. Tears swelled up in Emilia's eyes. She got up and looked at them. "You don't get to decide my future..I'm an adult now, I'm not doing anything harmful, I get to make my OWN decisions!" Her cheek was scratched and bleeding from the hard and painful slap.

Anthony sighed. "You have GOT to be kidding me.." He said. Emilia looked at him and punched him right in the nose. Anthony stumbled backwards, his nose bleeding. Emilia's mother ran towards Emilia, having to be held back by Emilia's father. Emilia looked at them one last time. She ran away, touching her bleeding cheek. She ran far into the darkness, to her house. Once her parents and Anthony were out of earshot she started crying. Joseph looked out his window and saw the poor, devastated girl. He gasped and ran outside his house to her. He stopped her in her tracks and put his hands on Emilia's shoulders. "What happened!?" He demanded to know.

Emilia continued crying, unable to speak. Joseph looked at her, staring into her eyes. "Please, I can help!" He said. All this pressure was too much for Emilia. She fainted into Joseph's arms. Joseph picked her up and carried her back to his place. He placed her on the couch, putting a blanket over her. He pushed some hair out of her face and sighed. "This poor girl.." He sat next to her and read a book, waiting for her to wake up.