¨Hey, sleepy head!¨
Brett's soft voice entered his consciousness slowly, and he opened his eyes and groaned. He was so not a morning person.
¨Hey, good morning.¨ Brett smiled.
¨Hi.¨ he croaked. ¨Fuck, what time is it?¨
Brett sniggered slightly. ¨You just about have time to get some very quick breakfast and then we have to go to the first rehearsal.¨
Unexpectedly some unknown emotion flitted over Brett's face.
¨Er...¨ he said, hesitantly. ¨Did I fall asleep while I was eating my sandwich last night?¨
Now it was Eddy's turn to smile.
¨Yep.¨
Brett nodded. ¨Right. Erm... so, did you... did you put the covers over me?¨
Eddy laughed softly.
¨Yeah, you were lying sideways on your bed. I pushed you straight and pulled the sheets over you.¨
Suddenly Brett snorted. ¨You pushed me straight?¨
Eddy's eyes widened as he looked at Brett in amazement. He couldn't believe he had just said that, but then he started giggling like a loon anyway.
¨Yeah mate, I have superpowers!¨
Brett shook his head, grinning broadly.
¨Anyway, thanks for that, bro, but you've really gotta get up. I let you sleep as long as I could and we probably shouldn't be late to rehearsal.¨
Pointedly, he turned around to allow Eddy to get up and put some trousers on. Eddy got up quickly and got dressed. Oh man, this was so awkward!
He took a t-shirt out of his suitcase and pulled it over his head.
¨Ready to go?¨ he asked then, and Brett turned around again. They made their way to the cafeteria together.
There were kids everywhere, chatting loudly and eating cereal or bread and jam. Eddy was a bit taken aback by all the chaos and the noise and really he would have preferred to sit somewhere else, but he reminded himself that they were all musicians. It would be fine.
Brett, on the other hand, for all his quietude and depth, seemed to love the crowd. He didn't say much, but his eyes shone.
Eddy wolfed down a bowl of cereal and as the cafeteria was already emptying out they ran back to their room to pick up their violins and head to their first rehearsal.
Eddy had played in many orchestras of course, but he felt a thrill about this one as he walked into the auditorium. He saw that the orchestra was set up on the big stage, and there were so many chairs! This orchestra was massive! He saw the piece of A4 paper sellotaped to the big entrance doors that had the seating chart on it and suddenly his belly was full of butterflies. This was it! Would he be back desk? Would he be deskies with Brett?
As soon as the kids in front of them moved they quickly stepped up to the piece of paper and scanned it.
Oh my God!! Eddy had to work very hard not to start whooping and jumping up and down when he saw it.
They were not only deskies, they were SECOND DESK! The capital letters exploded in his mind. They were second desk! He turned to Brett and he saw his own expression of pure joy reflected in Brett's face.
¨This is awesome!¨ Brett whispered, his voice betraying his feelings even if outwardly he still seemed quite composed. Brett was very good at staying composed, whereas Eddy's face was always an annoyingly open book.
¨It is!¨ Eddy whispered back, moving away from the paper to let the next kids see it.
He felt so proud as he walked up the steps to the stage. He knew he was one of the younger ones here, and yet he was second desk. He could feel his face erupting into a face splitting grin.
Come on, way to be cool, mate, keep it together!
He forced his face back to a more normal expression. No need for everyone to see him being overly enthusiastic, hey? It was all thanks to Brett, anyway. If Brett hadn't suggested thinking of the busking at the audition, he was sure he would have bombed. He smiled gratefully at him.
They took their violins out of their cases at the edge of the stage and then they walked to their seats together, sheet music in hand, and sat down side by side, looking expectantly at the conductor.
It was happening!