Chapter 44
I didn't know why I was actually nervous for tonight. I had done so many orchestra recitals in the past and during those, the orchestra was the main focus meaning there was a higher chance that people would focus solely on me.
There were even some recitals were I did a solo piano piece so I was the sole focus.
And of course, I did get nervous then. It was natural. I'd be surprised if I wasn't nervous during my recitals.
But for some reason, I was extremely nervous for tonight, even more nervous than I had ever been for any of my recitals. And I didn't understand why. The main focus was going to be on the cast, not the orchestra. We were just providing the soundtrack for them.
I had even been part of a recital that was in a venue holding a lot more seats than the city hall.
Those of us who were in the orchestra were already sitting on our seats while waiting for the musical to begin. Grant was the only one who wasn't on his seat since he was sitting beside me at the piano.
"Have you ever felt this nervous before a performance?" I asked Grant.
"I don't get nervous," Grant said. "I can't wait to perform. Everyone will have their eyes on me, wondering who the attractive violinist is."
I sighed. "You're the wrong person to ask if you're nervous."
"Hey, just because I don't get nervous doesn't mean it's wrong for you to be nervous," Grant said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "I just like being the centre of attention so of course I'm not going to get nervous."
"You're not even going to be the centre of attention," I said. "All the actors are. They're the ones that will be singing and acting."
"But without us, they'll have nothing to sing to and they'll have to do it a cappella," Grant said. "And of course I'm going to be centre of attention. I'm a very attractive person so people would rather look at me than everyone else."
I chuckled. "You're an unbelievable person."
"I know," Grant said. "But that's why you love me."
"That's questionable," I said.
"You really wound me, Oliver," Grant said, placing his hand over his heart. "I'm very wounded. My heart is breaking right now. It's completely broken."
I rolled my eyes. "You're so dramatic."
"You're dramatic too considering you broke up with me so many times," Grant said.
"I'm pretty sure you broke up with me more times than you broke up with me," I said.
"No, I'm pretty sure it's the other way around," Grant said. "Because I love you too much to break up with you."
"So you're saying I don't love you enough?"
"Yes."
Was it bad that I sometimes didn't even get my own relationship with Grant? Sometimes, we said stuff that could seem insulting if other people said it but for us, it was just a huge joke that we did.
I didn't know why it was so amusing but it was.
Ms Parth walked over to us. "Grant, we're about to start so you have to go to your seat."
"Okay," Grant said. He gave me a quick kiss before getting up from the bench. "You're going to do great, Ollie. You're the best pianist I know and it's rare for you to mess up."
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.
My favourite song of the musical was a tie between Belle and Be Our Guest. They were just so upbeat and fun to perform, especially with the liveliness of the cast.
Unfortunately, there was a small part in Be Our Guest where Grant had his own part separate from the rest of the violinists so that was only going to boost his ego in the end and say how everyone's eyes were on him because of his 'amazing skills' and 'incredibly good looks'.
Then again, if I was in the audience, I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes off of him.
Closer to the end of the musical when we were getting to Grant's favourite song, The Mob Song, I couldn't help but look at him to see how excited he was. He absolutely loved playing this song, claiming the dark and ominous chords matched his soul almost as well as the cold did.
When Grant noticed me looking at him, he winked and then mouthed, "I love you."
I smiled softly and mouthed back, "I love you too."
I had to admit, playing The Mob Song was fun. I did enjoy the upbeat songs of this musical better, but that still didn't mean The Mob Song was boring. In fact, it was the opposite. The orchestra always performed it so well, causing chills to be sent up my spine.
One of the reasons why they performed it so well was because Grant told everyone that if somebody messed up his favourite song, he would get his cousin to through them in prison.
What a surprise.
Grant wouldn't actually be able to do it but nobody wanted to take their chances with him.
I couldn't sneak any glances at him during the song to see how much he was enjoying it but I could tell he was.
I was glad that the more songs we did, the less nervous I was starting to feel and the less worried I was that I would mess up. Things went extremely smoothly throughout the entire musical.
When the musical ended, the audience decided to give a standing ovation, and I could clearly hear Enzo yell, "Woo, those are my grandchildren! Belle and Chip are my grandchildren! One of the violinist is my grandson! The pianist is my grandson-in-law!"
Okay, I didn't expect the last one.
At least I knew I was accepted by Grant's family. Not that I had any doubts about it before.
The orchestra still had one more song to play but that was just while the actors took their curtain calls. Once the curtains officially closed, we just finished the song before being allowed to get out of our seats.
I wasn't even out of my seat before my family walked over. "Ollie, you did an amazing job," Dad said as he pulled me into a hug once I stood up. "And I'm so proud of you for joining the orchestra even after what happened."
"Well, you do have Grant to thank for that," I said.
"I heard my name," Grant said as he walked over. "Are you bragging about me again, Ollie?"
I rolled my eyes as I looked at Grandma and Grandpa since I haven't told them why I joined this orchestra in the first place. "Grant was the one who convinced me to join," I said. "And I'm really happy he did."
I really was. I never thought I would join another orchestra after losing my scholarship to the conservatory. I never thought I would ever get away from my drinking problem. While I was still working on the latter since it was always going to be a struggle for me, it was still because of Grant that I was trying.
I really wanted to try and get sober but I never felt like I had a reason or the motivation to. Grant gave me a bunch of reasons and he gave me the motivation.
I still couldn't believe there was a time in my life where I didn't want to live in Spruceworth but now, I was glad I did.
For once in my life, I was genuinely happy.
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THE END.
but fear not, the sequel, Fly Away, will be coming literally the same minute. Well, the cast/character list will because i made that yesterday, so i just have to publish that once i publish this. so if you're reading this, you should be able to add Fly Away to your library, ready to read the continuation of Ollie and Grant!
thank you so so so so much for reading this book and for all the votes and comments. this is 100% my favourite book out of mine that i have written so far. i never struggled writing a chapter and every single chapter was at least 1600 words. i always aim for just 1000, so it felt so amazing to be able to reach a lot more words for 44 whole chapters.
i hope you decide to read Fly Away as well! thank you again for all the love and support!
-Laeti