Airplanes | Spruceworth 6.1 | Wattys2019

Chapter 44 | Final Chapter

       I smiled softly. "Thanks."

       He kissed my forehead, then walked over to his seat. I took a deep breath and faced the piano, still not sure why I felt so nervous. Maybe because it was the first time I was part of an orchestra for a long time. Maybe because it was the first time I was performing with an orchestra since I lost my scholarship to the conservatory.

       Either way, I had to try my best to ignore the nerves so I could focus completely on playing the piano without making a single mistake. 

       If only it was that easy.

       I tried to distract myself by looking in the audience, trying to see if I could spot people that I knew. Everyone who wanted to watch the musical to see me be part of the orchestra was coming tonight; Dad, Mom, Shaw, even my grandparents.

       It didn't take me long to spot them all. They were all, surprisingly, sitting beside each other. Well, it wasn't surprising that Dad was sitting with Shaw, Grandma, and Grandpa, obviously, but I was surprised to see Mom sitting where Dad was.

       Which was probably why Grandma and Grandpa were sitting between Dad and Mom.

       Also sitting with them was Grant's family on his mom's side; Holden, Josh, Julian, Noah, Tara, and Lawrence.

       I noticed Cora was in the audience too but she was only here for Hennessy and Wilbur. I still didn't understand why she was completely neglecting Grant now, even if he wasn't her son. She still raised him for sixteen years.

       It was like those sixteen years didn't happen.

       The lights in the auditorium started dimming, signalling that the musical was about to start. I had to turn away from the audience and pay attention to Ms Parth, waiting for her to start conducting the music. We just had to wait for the audience to completely quiet down before we started.

       I had to take a few deep breaths before I felt like the nerves I had weren't strong enough to mess me up. I just had to remind myself that most people would be watching the actors, not the orchestra. 

       Another strategy I had was to just think back to winter break when I was helping Hennessy rehearse the songs she was in and Grant decided to sing parts of the ensemble, even the parts that were in octaves higher than Grant could sing. That didn't stop him from attempting it anyway. 

       Thinking about that while playing the piano for the orchestra was distracting me enough to not worry about messing up.

       The best part of being part of the orchestra was that since we were right by the stage, we had one of the best seats in the house to watch the play while we weren't needed for the music. Well, some of us did. Those who were in the back of the orchestra couldn't really see the stage from where they were.

       I, on the other hand, was right beside the stage so I had a perfect view to watch.

       Even though I had sit in during many rehearsals, seeing the actors performing right now seemed a lot different and of a much better quality. Maybe it was because everything was in place; the sets, costumes, lighting, music, everything. It was an actual performance so the actors were making sure they set the bar high.

       Especially Hennessy. Her acting was just as good as her singing so it really was no surprise that she got cast as Belle.

       Wilbur was amazing too, especially for someone his age. Every time he was on the stage, the audience seemed to gush over him so he was probably going to be the one to steal the show at the end.