A Musical Mayhem

4 - Flynn

"Hey, aren't you the violinist from the Blackthorn String Quartet?" someone's voice asked from behind me. I turned around with my eyebrows coolly raised, expecting to see some nosy, airheaded, superficially pretty girl standing behind me. Again. But I was wrong.

"Hey," I said slowly. "Pianist, right?"

The person who was standing behind me was a girl, who I knew was in the same grade as me. She was wearing a purple beanie and had blonde hair with a streak of pink and blue at the front. I also noticed that she was wearing a surprising amount of bracelets on both wrists. I didn't know much about her - in fact, I didn't think I had seen her at all for the majority of the year - but I immediately recognized her as the pianist who had helped my string quartet organize a fundraising event at school back in October.

"Right," she replied, giving me a small crooked smile. "I recognize you. From somewhere last year. Remind me?"

"Music fundraising event in October," I answered evenly.

"Oh, right," she said, remembering. "Anyway, I thought I could ask you your name?"

"It's Flynn. Yours?" I said, raising an eyebrow again. It had become my trademark expression over the years.

"It's Bree," she said simply.

"Right. Bree," I said slowly. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Gosh, I had never opened up to someone so easily before. But something about this girl just . . . made me want to talk to her? I didn't really know.

"Well, since you play the violin and all, I was wondering if you were planning on auditioning for the Eiffel Tower Music Festival Summer Camp Program?" Bree asked, holding out a colorful flyer. I could see the excitement in her eyes - she was definitely auditioning.

"In fact, I am. I'm looking forward to it," I said. "I'm assuming you are, too, with the piano?"

"Yeah," she answered. "It's such a great opportunity. Well, I thought I could talk to you since you're the only musician I know around here other than Arielle."

"Arielle?" I echoed. "Haven't heard of her. Which instrument does she play?"

"The flute," Bree said. "I know her from the school band, since we play flute together. You should talk to her some time. Do you know any other musicians around here?"

Woah, she played the flute and the piano? How talented was this girl?

"Well, I know quite a few people from the school's chamber music program, but most of them don't want to participate because they're "lazy". But I know a guy named Claude from Blackthorn, if you want to talk to him some time. He's a cellist; you might remember him," I said.

"Cool," she said, smiling widely. "I don't know many cellists around here."

I nodded, giving her a small crooked smile. Her calm expression didn't falter, though - how was she holding in whatever she was feeling so well? Like me?

"Well, thanks for the info! I guess I'll see you around soon," Bree said abruptly, waving. "And by the way, good luck in the auditions!"

I nodded and called, "You, too!"

Then we both walked away in opposite directions. Well. That had been a pretty weird conversation. But even more weirdly, I felt pretty good about it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Flynn, you better earn a spot in this program," Mom said teasingly. "It'll be so good for you!"

I smirked. "Yeah, I know, Mom, but it's pretty expensive. Are you sure you're willing to pay for it if I get in?"

"Well, your father and I will try our best. But you better keep your behavior on check, or else that opportunity might just slip out of your hands. No funny business starting now (AND during the summer camp if you go), understand?"

"Understand, Mom," I said, grinning. "I'm going upstairs to practice now."

Except . . . I wasn't going upstairs to practice. I more or less hated practicing, so it was better to just read a book right now to wind down. Mom probably wasn't going to check my room anytime soon, anyway.

I was reading Percy Jackson when I suddenly thought of the girl I had met in the hallway after lunch. The one with the blonde and pink and blue hair. She was pretty cool. At least, the coolest girl I'd ever met so far. It wasn't like anything she had said was any different from what anyone else would have said - but maybe it had been more of how she said it? Or her facial expressions when she had been saying it?

I had light brown hair, an angular face, and piercing blue eyes. I had a lithe and tall build, but I hated sweaty sports. I had a charming, charismatic personality, which worked in my favor sometimes. People usually didn't dare approach me, because I was pretty reserved and aloof most of the time. People thought I was a straight-faced, tight weirdo, which wasn't that far from the truth, but I liked the fact that people didn't bother me when I didn't want them to. I had never cared about popularity, anyway, so it didn't matter either way. But seeing Bree earlier today sort of made me realize that I really didn't need to change at all, at any point in my life. Because it seemed like she didn't care about what other people thought about her, either, which made me feel a little more comfortable about not being what you would call a "social butterfly". Maybe we were meant to find each other all along.

Okay, maybe that was a little too far, for someone who I had just barely met. But that's the idea, I guess. Anyway, I was looking forward to maybe hearing more about the program at school tomorrow, because today had been more exciting for me than any day had been for weeks.

I had heard that the actual program was going to be held at the Arabesque Arts Academy, a really fancy, new, and prestigious academy for the arts. All of the people who were participating in the summer program were staying and doing some of the activities at Hotel Flanelles, one of the best hotels in Paris. It was basically like a dream-come-true to be able to stay in that hotel and make music at the Arabesque Arts Academy.

After doing some research about the Eiffel Tower Music Festival Summer Camp Program, I found out that it was held once every three years, and that the remaining two years were when the Eiffel Tower Dance Festival Summer Camp Program and the Eiffel Tower Art Festival Summer Camp Program were held. It was basically like one big arts summer camp program at Paris split into three smaller categories - music, dance, and art.

I couldn't wait to hear more about this program soon.