the prestige | ON HIATUS

2 | seemingly approachable

"I'd like you all to welcome our newest member of the TS, Luna Lim. Principal violist." Dr. Shard said while motioning to Luna.

She awkwardly nodded at everyone and didn't dare to look anyone dead in the eye. While technically she was amongst the best of the orchestra, she still felt inferior.

Like everyone here was better than her.

The rehearsal was incredibly nice. Luna enjoyed it and was quite happy with the viola section. Jackson, the associate principal was not happy. While he was professional about the matter, he did feel that he was cheated out of a position that would have traditionally gone to him.

Luna was very kind about it and understood his frustration. She believed she'd react similarly and would be feeling the same emotions.

But Luna was proud of herself. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

Luna and George sat quietly at a table in front of the conservatorium's coffee shop.

"Did you like the TS rehearsal?" George asked.

Luna nodded and took a sip of her coffee.

"I really did, and this jacket is super warm considering that it's almost winter time." Luna said.

George smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'm sure everyone will like you. You just have to warm up to it. Have people started looking at you like you're some kind of specimen?" George asked.

Luna shrugged.

"A few people, but it might just be because I'm-"

"Lim, can we speak with you for a moment?"

Luna and George turned to see Brett Yang and Eddy Chen looking at her. Brett had politely asked for her attention.

George nodded at Luna with a nervous gulp and walked away.

"H-How can I help you both?" Luna asked nervously.

Eddy put his hands in his pockets while Brett began speaking.

"The principals have this quartet every year. Now that you're principal viola, you're part of our quartet. We rehearse Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, and every other Saturday at Eddy's house." Brett said.

Luna was not ready for a rehearsal schedule to be respectfully spat at her out of nowhere.

"O-Okay. What times on those weekdays?" Luna asked.

"Five-thirty to six-forty-five. The orchestra room. Here's a copy of the viola parts. We rehearse in the orchestra room. Always be early, never on time or late please." Eddy said quickly.

He was a little timid, but Luna was the same way. She was honestly happy with how polite these boys were.

They definitely did not act rude or overly arrogant. They were just very straightforward about everything.

"Got it. I'll be there." Luna commented.

"See you around." Brett said as he and Eddy walked away.

George instantly made it back to his seat from the table a few feet down. He sighed and crossed his arms.

"Do they scare you? They scare a lot of people." he asked.

Luna shrugged.

"I guess they're intimidating because everybody knows who they are, but they're human. It's not like they're the unattainable jock boys in cliche teen movies." Luna said.

George shrugged.

"I dunno, people like the violin better than harp form what I can tell. No girl wants a guy who plays harp." George said sadly.

"Nobody is focusing on a relationship, George. But, there's someone out there with an appreciation for harp. I think it's a wonderful instrument. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go practice."

Luna stood up and left with her viola. George day there dumbfounded with her comment.

She thought the harp was a wonderful instrument, and that struck a chord in him.

Yet she was right. Nobody focused on relationships in the conservatory.

Brett and Eddy sat in their integrated maths and science class. They were absolutely bored with the topic at the moment but sat through it like any other student.

Eddy began scribbling a note to pass to Brett. He was careful in sliding it across the desk with a brush of his arm.

"Do you think Luna will be alright in the quartet?" read the note.

Brett scribbled on the backside of the piece of paper. He then moved it over back to Eddy.

"I hope so. She's kind of shy, but I think we'll be able to perform and just kind of be casual with it."

Eddy shrugged and began his reply. He realized that while the girl was definitely shy, she still was very socially able and was good at being proper in society.

He envied her a little bit for the fact that she never seemed to embarrass herself with just words.

"She seems nice?"

Brett read Eddy's response and looked over at him. Brett was confused with this but managed to reply anyway.

"I guess so. We've only had one interaction with her, we just have to wait and see."

Luna biked home exceptionally late that day. Her parents never really cared where she was as long as she returned home once every forty-eight hours, or once within two days.

Her mother essentially lived in the fire station and her father was almost always working at any given local hospital.

She found her life easier this way. The ability to function on her own schedule was an absolute blessing.

Independence was absolutely sweet.

Luna never had the struggle other kids had. She never felt upset with the fact that her parents were hardly home. It was completely okay with her, because they were at every performance, paid for her music school, bought her food, and gave her all the love and support.

She opened the garage by the keypad and wheeled her bicycle on in. Luna immediately went to put leftovers in the microwave and left her jacket draped on the bar chair.

It was nearing midnight and Luna had to get in an hour at the least before she fell asleep. She had the special privilege of having three regular classes and four music-related courses. Of course, the TS ran overtime on its rehearsal by an hour and she was now part of a quartet.

Most music students took music history, music theory, a class with the rest of their respective instrumentalists, and a lesson four days a week. There were no lessons on Fridays.

However, mostly every single music student took lessons outside of the school as well. Hard work continued through the weekend.

Luna quickly ate her dinner and got to practicing for her quartet rehearsal the next day. Tomorrow was Wednesday and she had been given less than a day to learn the music.

No big deal, it was doable to a certain extent.