Andante con Brio

XXI

Tuning in these situations was always the scariest thing in the world. Of course he could tune his fucking violin, he had been doing it for most of his life. But tuning in front of these people, who would already be judging him for how he was doing, and how quickly... it was enough to make his fingers shake as he turned the peg for the G string, and he needed three tries until it was in tune. 
"Which piece would you like to start with?" the same man asked him when he looked back up. He seemed completely relaxed, leaning back in his chair as if he had been doing this for a million years. He was wearing a faded pink arguile button down shirt and his hair was so blonde it was almost white, clipped quite short. His eyes, blue as the sea, were kind, and they twinkled somehow, like he was about to crack a joke or two. Eddy didn't know who he was but he liked his eyes. So he focused on those as he spoke softly. 
"The Kabalevsky, please."
"Okay, go ahead!"
Eddy turned to the pianist to check she was ready, breathed deeply, and before he knew it he was off. 

"Thank you very much, you can wait outside!" the man with the kind eyes said, it seemed not a minute later.
Wait a second, where had time gone? Had he really just played the last chord? His audition had flown by so fast it was almost like he had an out of body experience, and he hardly had any idea whether he had done well as he walked back to the doors that the pianist was already opening for him. He walked through and blinked into the dusty light in the hallway. His violin case was still open, and he quickly put his violin in and closed the lid. Then he turned to Brett, who was still on the same chair, regarding him with anxious eyes. 
"Can I ask how it went?"
Eddy sniggered once, suprising himself with the sudden sound. 
"Er, I... I don't know, to be honest. It seemed to fly by. But... I guess I don't remember any train wrecks?"
This time he did sit down, on the chair right next to Brett. The next candidate was already waiting across the corridor with her violin in her hands. She was a slight brunette who looked really young and really, really nervous. He gave her a sympathetic smile. 
It was almost like he wasn't breathing, the whole time he had to wait. He would have loved to move his chair even closer to Brett's, hell, he would have gladly sat on his lap and thrown his hands around his neck, holding himself in place. 
He didn't, of course. He just sat on his plastic chair, holding the sides of it with both hands, waiting, waiting, for an eternity and beyond, for those wretched double doors to open again. 
"You'll be great." Brett whispered, but he didn't look at him, he kept his eyes on the doors, willing them to open. And when they did he got up mechanically again and walked back into the hall without a backwards glance. 

"Eddy! Have a seat." the kind-eyed man said, pointing to the chair that was had appeared across from the committee. Eddy sat down and put his hands in his lap. 
Please, don't muck about, just tell me. Tell me, tell me what my future is.
"Let me give you the good news first of all. We would love to have you in our bachelor programme."
Eddy could feel his eyes opening wide and he could feel the grin spread on his face. Had he heard this right? He was in? He quickly checked himself, though. It might not be a bad idea to come across somewhat like a future music professional, here. Grinning like a loon and jumping up and down wouldn't help that cause, now would it? 
"Th-thank you." he managed to say fairly sanely, but the blonde man grinned anyway. 
"It's okay to be excited. You did very well, we can hear that you have prepared carefully and we think you have great promise. Now, let me give you some things to work on with your teacher before you start your first term here in a few months..."
The man's words floated over him like a swarm of butterflies, while he tried to listen and retain the information. Before he knew it the man smiled at him once more and looked at the door. 
Oh right. He was dismissed. 
"Thank you again, I'm so happy." he said breathily as he almost jumped up. Then he tried to keep his composure for just a little bit longer as he walked through the doors that had seemed so ominous and beamed at his waiting boyfriend.