Lights Up

It's a Solo, It's Selfish by Definition

Hello hello hello beautiful people. Author here. This chapter is a little more centered on Dia's orchestra class. I was an orchestra kid for four years, and I feel like we're underrepresented. So enjoy a little chapter about orchestra.
Speaking of band/orchestra, the title is from a very funny Bandstand quote that I TOTALLY didn't get from a bootleg. Hope you enjoy!

Dia's POV

Jesse and I are walking to orchestra, super nervous. We had a chair test two days ago, and we're getting the results today. I honestly don't think that I did very well, but Jesse will probably get first chair viola. He's that good. Normally you don't think about the violas, because they play more in the background. Jesse makes his seem like it should be the star of the show. Anyways, we're the first ones to the classroom, so we put our stuff down, unpack, and tune while talking about how we both probably failed this test. Then Miss Taylor came up to me, and asked to speak to me in private. Oh no. I probably failed so badly that she's gonna kick me out of the class. Or worse, she's going to report my horrible performance to Pulitzer, and he'll take away my scholarship. Then I won't be able to see my friends every day. And any chance I had with Phillip, however small, would be gone. I'd be STUCK. Oh no, she's talking to me, what is she saying. Really I have no idea what she's saying, I should probably pay attention.
"I wanted to tell you privately. You got first chair, and the violin solo that's in the piece. Congratulations. I'm aware of the comments some of the other students make about you and Mr. Tuck when they think I'm not listening. I wanted to let you decide whether or not I announce it in front of the whole class."

Wait. I got first chair? I got first chair! And a solo! Oh no. I can't do a solo. I'm not good enough for a solo. Or maybe I am? I don't know. Either way, at least Miss Taylor gave me an option to avoid the inevitable comments from the other students. But, I honestly think I'm not going to take it.

"You can say it in front of the class."

She seemed surprised.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. They only make those comments because they're scared I'll be better than them. If they see that I am even when they talk bad about me, maybe they'll stop."

She agreed, and I went back to my seat. She called Jesse over a moment later, most likely to have the same conversation. Knowing Jesse, he'll make the same decision that I did. I haven't known him long, but I can tell he really doesn't care what people say about him. Sure enough, he came over a few minutes later with a huge smile on his face.

"First chair viola?"

"Yep. First chair violin?"

"Yep."

The class was starting, so we turned to pay attention as Miss Taylor started announcing the chair results. When she calls Jesse's name for first chair, I'm the only one that claps. He stands up, gives a little bow, then returns to his seat with a smile. Almost the exact same thing happens when Miss Taylor calls my name for first chair. Jesse's the only one that claps. Then I hear a comment from behind me.

"You know, if Miss Taylor didn't give her the spot, she'd probably accused of racial discrimination."

I glance in the general direction of Miss Taylor, who gives me a meaningful look and mouths "go for it". So I turn around to handle the kid behind me.

"You know I have ears, right? And I can hear you degrading me? I earned this spot through hard work and practice, unlike you, so until you stay up past three in the morning practicing four bars of a piece so you can EARN this spot I don't want to hear a word about me only getting this spot because I'm Latina."

The boy looked taken aback, as did about half the class. Jesse stood up and started clapping. So did a few other kids, though I think they just liked seeing their classmate get told off. Miss Taylor called the kid over and I thought I heard her give him detention. Good. By the end of class, I think I've come to terms with the fact that soon I'd have to play a solo, and I've learned to ignore the dirty looks people keep giving me. Jesse and I walk out of class in good moods, knowing that we proved a class full of ignorant jerks wrong. And it feels great.

So again, kind of a filler chapter but I like writing about orchestra.
Also, an important note. The next few chapters will be getting into one of the major events of the book. I won't go into details, you'll have to read it, but a character who I will not name is a racist, homophobic jerk. Part of this story is about Dia dealing with comments about her race as she attends a rich school with a lot of white kids. Now, I am not Latinx. I am trying to write her experiences and Phillip's experiences and the experiences of any other character that faces discrimination in this story as accurately as possible, but I may not always get it right. If there is something I can correct, please leave a comment and I will fix it. Also, there is no cussing or inappropriate language in my stories. It will stay that way. The only way a character may cuss is if it is implied that they did through the POV of another character. So as I am writing the POV of Dia or someone who is being bullied or anything like that, there will be no cussing or being called derogatory names, though it may be implied. Feel free to fill in whatever blanks you like, but it will not be written that way.
Sorry, that was long. As I mentioned earlier, a major plot event begins in the next chapter, so look out for that.
Don't forget to keep on smiling and keep on surviving everyone.
Peace Out ✌️
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