the prestige | ON HIATUS

20 | the performance

About forty-five minutes before they were scheduled to perform, Luna got changed into her concert clothing. Her formal wear was nothing special. It was only a black strapless dress that cinched at her waist. She hated having to wear heels, but she had to look formal.

The boys at the school were all required to buy their final wear from the same store. The girls were required to wear a piece of black formal wear.

Luna stood backstage with her viola and music in hand. She assumed that her fellow quartet members were on their way. There were two more performances until it was their turn.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Brett, Eddy, and Oliver wearing matching suits.

"You guys look so dashing!" Luna teased while whispering.

Oliver rolled his eyes and put his cello down. Brett shook his head and plucked the strings of his violin. Eddy coughed and turned his head away.

"Thanks, Luna! That means so much coming from you!" Oliver whispered sarcastically.

Luna chuckled for a moment until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see George standing a bit close to her.

"Luna, I wanted to see you before the performance." George said.

Luna put a hand on George's chest and pushed him slightly back.

"Erm, okay? Did you need to say something specific?" Luna asked uncomfortably. She took her hand off him only for him to grab it a little aggressively.

Eddy flinched when he grabbed her hand. She didn't look calm by any means with him holding onto her.

But Eddy knew it wasn't his business, despite the fact that he and his friends could hear the whole conversation.

"About what I said earlier, I'm sorry if it upset you. I just want to protect you." George said.

Luna fidgeted for a second and shrugged, slightly unsure of herself.

"Well, I guess it's okay. Look, I'm performing soon. We can chat later?" Luna asked.

George frowned while still holding onto her hand.

"Alright fine. I'll see you later." George said. He released Luna's hand and walked away.

George glanced at Eddy for a moment and noticed that Eddy looked concerned. He rolled his eyes and left the backstage area.

Eddy looked to see Luna frantically wiping her hand on her dress as if she were trying to get something off her hands.

"Let's get lined up." Oliver said.

Oliver stood on Luna's left and Eddy stood on Luna's right. He looked over at her for a moment and could tell she was upset.

"Are you nervous?" Eddy asked. Luna looked up at him and shook her head.

"No, I'm okay. Are you nervous?" Luna asked in response.

Eddy shrugged.

"Maybe a little, but not too much." he whispered back. They were still backstage and had to remain quiet.

"We'll be alright out there. There aren't too many people in the audience."

Brett peaked out the curtain a little bit. She was right. Not many people had shown up yet.

He saw his parents, Eddy's parents, and Oliver's mother. Brett wouldn't know who Luna's parents would be.

Eddy nodded and they all stood in silence. The woodwind quartet finished their performance and stood to bow.

Eddy glanced over at Luna for a moment. Her hand that George touched was shifting around in an uncomfortable way.

Eddy didn't consider himself a bold guy. He had absolutely had no idea if he was going to tell Luna how he felt. She was very kind and seemed very understanding.

Well, he wasn't going to tell her, but he was going to do what he could to make her feel better.

Eddy looked out at the audience but knowingly brushed his hand against Luna's.

Luna didn't flinch when Eddy's hand touched her own. She looked down for a moment as she felt George's energy leave her hand.

She knew now that she wouldn't be cursed with shaky bow during this performance. Her previous nerves had disappeared.

All because of a dumb little touch on her hand that lasted for less than a second.

That didn't matter right now. Luna was going to give this performance everything she could.

The quartet performed beautifully and shortly after, the final performance of the night was over. The TS completed their last piece and parents were visiting with students in the lobby.

"You did wonderfully. That boy in your quartet is cute!" Wendy teased.

Luna frowned in confusion. Who was her mother talking about?

"Which one?" Luna asked, purposefully sounding slightly disgusted.

"The cello boy!" Wendy exclaimed.

Luna shook her head with a smile.

"Whatever you say, mum."

David shook his head in disapproval.

"No boys, they're dangerous." he said.

Wendy rolled her eyes and put a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Calm down, David, I was only teasing."

Out of nowhere, George popped up right in front of the Lim family. They all jumped as he seemed to have just appeared.

"Goodness, George, hello." Wendy said.

"Hello, Missus Lim." George said with a head nod.

"What happened to your hand there?" David asked while pointing to George's cast.

"I broke three fingers while playing volleyball. I should've gone to see you, Doctor Lim." George jokingly replied.

David laughed wholeheartedly while his daughter stood uncomfortably. She was still slightly upset with George for saying such harsh words earlier.

"Luna, could you do lunch on Tuesday?" George asked. He stared at Luna with wide eyes.

She gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was only being a bit rude and pushy because he had broken his hand. Luna decided to assume he just was struggling with his injury.

"Sure, Tuesday sounds fine." Luna said with a genuine grin.

"Excellent, I'll message you the details on IM." George then walked away without another word, leaving Luna and her family.

"What a nice guy." said David, who moment ago maid a contradictory claim.

"Right, David, because boys are dangerous." replied his wife.

Brett, Eddy, and Oliver stood at a distance. Oliver has pointed out the Lim family, turning his friends' attention to the three Lims conversing.

"That's some incredible genes in that family." Oliver commented. "Her mother? Breathtaking. Her father? So handsome. And Luna? We already know."

Oliver kept going on about how he thought the Lim family was so gorgeous. Brett shrugged and leaned over to Eddy for a moment.

"He's right, you know. You should make a move." Brett commented.

Eddy shook his head and then replied to his friend.

"I don't want to make her uncomfortable."