Chapter 9: Acquaintances
Sometimes, or all the time, I wished my mother would actually listen to everything I had to say. If she did, then I wouldn't have had to lie and told her I was part of the school's musical orchestra for her to leave me alone.
I didn't want to join the orchestra but now, I couldn't get out of it. Mom was expecting to see the musical now that I said I was playing the piano for them. If I told her I lied, she would find an excuse to get me to live with her again. But if I make up some sort of excuse of how I couldn't play for them anymore, she would get furious that I lost another opportunity.
Either way, I was stuck.
Auditions for the musical were today and everyone who wanted to be part of it had to be there, whether it be for the cast, costume and makeup, set design, or orchestra. I was kind of hoping I had to be in the official school orchestra to be part of the one for the musical but apparently not.
After school, I went to the auditorium where a lot of people already were even though my last class was close to the auditorium and I headed there right away. I guess people were excited for the auditions.
I found a seat near the back of the auditorium and almost immediately after I sat down, Grant sat down on the other side of me. "I was kind of thinking you would bail," he said.
"You should know that I can't," I said. "Not when my mom thinks I'm going to be part of the musical orchestra and wants to see it. You, on the other hand, can skip out on this as much as you want."
"Nah, I made a promise," Grant said. "If you join, I'll join. And I don't like breaking promises with people I care about."
"Oh, so now you care about me?" I asked.
Grant sighed. "You're so oblivious, Ollie. Of course I care for you. You really think I would carry a drunk kit for just anyone? You're my... acquaintance."
"Dang, and here I was thinking you'd say friend," I said. "Or is that too hard of a word to say for you?"
"It's too hard," Grant said in a whiny voice. "Such a complicated word."
"Even more complicated than acquaintance?" I asked.
"Obviously, since I just said it was a complicated word. You really don't listen to me at all, do you?"
I only shrugged in reply right as someone behind us said, "I didn't peg you two for the theatre type."
I looked back to see Vikram standing behind us, crouching down a bit and resting his arms on top of the back of the seats. "And why are you here?" Grant asked.
"Uh, just because I don't see you two as the theatre type, it doesn't mean I can't be one," Vikram said. "But I'm not. I'm here to be part of the set designers and stage crew. I'm bored and don't have any extracurricular activities yet. What about you two?"
"Orchestra," Grant said.
"You're going to be part of the orchestra?" Vikram asked, then looked at me. "You two? Because I could have sworn you said you don't play any instruments."
I sighed. "It's a long story."
"And don't stereotype me," Grant said. "...What kind of person do you think I am?"
"Not an orchestra type of person, that's for sure," Vikram said.
"Why am I acquaintances with you?"
Vikram furrowed his eyebrows so I said, "He doesn't believe in the word 'friend'. He thinks it's too complicated."
"What if you start dating someone?" Vikram asked. "The word friend is in there?"
"Simple," Grant said. "I'll say girl-acquaintance or boy-acquaintance."
I snorted. "And you still think that's less complicated than saying friend?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"I don't think I'll ever understand you," Vikram said to Grant.
"That's okay because I don't understand anyone," Grant said. "Humans are too complex."
"You're telling me," Hennessy suddenly said as she walked over and stood on the other side of Vikram. "Why are you here, Grant?"
"Why else would I be here?" Grant asked. "I'm here to show some moral support for my twin sister's audition."
Hennessy crossed her arms over her chest. "Really? Because just this morning, you told me you hope I choke on my words."
"Uh, that was obviously brotherly encouragement," Grant said. "Because it would make you very mad at me and want to prove me wrong, thus doing the best you can and probably getting the lead. You're welcome."
"Yeah, sure, why are you really here?" Hennessy asked.
"The orchestra," Grant said. "Ollie and I made a deal. If he joined, I would."
"Oh," Hennessy said before looking at me. "But... I thought you said you didn't play the piano anymore."
I sighed and gave her the same response I gave Vikram not too long ago. "It's a long story." Or really, a story I didn't want to get into.
"Well, whatever the story is, I'm happy you decided to at least give the orchestra a choice," Hennessy said with a smile, so I gave her a small smile back. I had to admit, part of me, a very tiny part, was happy I would be playing the piano for the musical, for my favourite musical.
But I was still quite hesitant about playing. At least I wasn't going to for a while. The orchestra was only here so we could watch the auditions and get an idea of what the cast was going to be like.
The auditions weren't going to begin until it was three o'clock so we still had a few minutes to kill. While waiting for the time to come, I took a bag of chips that I brought from home out of my backpack. I had actually been avoiding going home for lunch since I was always so tempted to drink, so I was bringing snacks from home to eat.
Grant was the one making sure I didn't go home to eat. I thought I would have been annoyed with him stopping me from going home but I wasn't. If anything, I was sort of happy someone was showing they cared enough to try and help me stay away from drinking.
"Okay, I have a question for all of you because I'm bored," Vikram said. "Would you rather find your true love or a suitcase with five million dollars?"
"Well, that depends," Hennessy said. "Can I find my true love later if I choose the money?"
"Nope," Vikram said.
"I'd go for true love," I said.
"Yeah, me too," Hennessy said.
"I'd take the money," Grant said.
"You do know that means you won't be able to find your true love later, right?" Vikram asked.
"But you didn't say anything about me already finding my true love," Grant said. "I already could have met them or seen them so that technically doesn't count as finding them. Loopholes exist."
Hennessy stared at her twin brother for a bit before saying, "Grant. Don't tell me..."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I swear..." Hennessy was cut off when one of the teachers stood on the stage to talk to everyone in the auditorium.
"Hello, everyone," she said. "For those who don't know me, I'm Mrs. Goldsworth. I am very pleased there are so many people here today for the musical, whether you're auditioning or not. Speaking of, I would like everyone to sit in a specific spot depending on what you're here for so I could see the numbers of whose hoping to do what."
She told everyone where to go and I was happy the orchestra were to go where Grant and I were already sitting. I didn't feel like standing.
As Vikram and Hennessy were heading to their assigned seats, I asked Grant, "What was that with your sister? She seemed like she was getting mad at you for something."
"Oh, it was nothing," Grant said. "Just some boring sibling drama. We argue and get mad about everything."
"So it's nothing serious?" I asked.
"Nope. We're good."
"Okay, I was just checking," I said. "I don't want my acquaintance getting into some sort of fight with his sister."
"Something tells me you're upset that I refer to you as my acquaintance and not friend."
"Whoa, wait. Did... Did I hear right? Did the word 'friend' actually come out of your mouth?"
"Yes, but I wasn't calling anyone my friend so it doesn't count."
"You're unbelievable."
"Thanks. I try."
Auditions soon started and as much as I really loved Beauty and the Beast, I was also a bit exhausted from school so I was just leaning in my seat, not really paying attention.
That was until it was Hennessy's turn. The least I could do was pay attention to her audition since she was my friend.
And because she had an amazing voice.
"Is your whole family musically inclined?" I asked Grant in a whisper. "Her voice is beautiful."
"It's not that impressive," Grant muttered.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at him. "What's up with you? I thought you would at least recognize your sister's talent."
Grant sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry. I'm just a bit moody from being at school longer than I have to. Maybe me playing the violin for the musical is a bad idea."
He stood up to leave but I grabbed his arm and gently pulled him back down to his seat. "No, stay. Please? I really want you to be in the orchestra with me. I don't think I can do it alone."
Grant hesitated for a bit before nodding and leaning back into his seat. If Grant really didn't join, I wouldn't have cared about my mom getting mad at me for lying and I wouldn't have joined either. He was one of the few people I felt comfortable around and without him, I didn't think I'd have the courage to play the piano publicly again.
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ollie's name should be oblivious ollie oof. (lmao the oof was just me using my favourite sound effect but it works as well)
also hi my name is laeti and being an adult sucks :) don't grow up, kids.
i'll be making brownies later on today so i can bake all my sorrow away. :')
and the chapters are still longer than i aim for. i'm so proud of this book so far. there hasn't been a single chapter that i felt was short but still reached my minimum word limit (which is 1000 words)