10 years ago - Junior year of high school
"You never told me you were seeing someone!" Eva yelled over the cacophony of the music room.
"Shhh! Keep it down," Cecilia hissed, casting panicked glances around the room, but everyone was too engrossed in their flutes, trombones, and violins to pay much heed.
After all, Advanced Music class composed only of the most serious and focused musicians; Beginning and Intermediate Music had weeded out the weak and lazy. Eva wouldn't call herself a snob, but she was glad she no longer had to sit in class with unmotivated teens who just wanted an easy A for their fine arts requirement.
"But this is big news!" said Eva, a little hurt that her friend had kept her out of the loop. "Were you ever going to tell me about this?"
"Look, it's...really not the big deal you're imagining. I assure you, it really isn't," said Cecilia. She really did look thoroughly embarrassed.
"Well, may I at least know who it is? Anyone I know?"
"Umm...Well, he's never hung out with us, so...I don't think so?"
Eva racked her brains for all the guys who had courted Cecilia for the two years she had known her. And there had been quite a few guys. No surprise, really.
Cecilia somehow cracked the code for distinguishing herself from the crowd, a feat which Eva had always admired and envied. Cecilia's strawberry blond curls with a streak of dashing pink. Her intense assertiveness and spitfire personality contained in her petite frame. Her openness about her tragic life. Eva never dared tell anyone, but she suspected it was this last trait that really drew people to Cecilia - that made everyone want to shower her with love and friendship. Cecilia was special — a survivor — and their classmates clamored to feel like a part of her inner circle. Everyone craved the privilege of being the bright spot in Cecilia's otherwise unfortunate life.
Thus, Cecilia didn't have to work very hard to earn people's friendship; friends just fell willingly into her lap. Eva, on the other hand, with her relatively happy and normal life, faced a steeper uphill battle when it came to making friends. Compared to her exceptional gem of a friend, Eva felt quite ordinary and boring.
The music instructor, Mrs. Feinberg, rapped loudly on her desk. "Alright, everyone. Settle down. I'm terrible with names, so please remain quiet, and I promise not to butcher your name on purpose."
She took attendance, each student responding with various degrees of alertness. It was the first class of the morning, after all, and half the students were still in a sleep-deprived stupor. Eva only recognized a few faces in the crowd; the majority of the class composed of seniors.
"Alright then," said Mrs. Feinberg, stowing away the attendance sheet and pulling out a large mug in the shape of Beethoven's head. "Today, we're going to start our duet projects. I'm going to pull two random names at a time from our friend Ludwig here, and those two people are going to be duet partners."
An excited murmur filled the room. Eva glanced at Cecilia, and they both held up crossed fingers.
Mrs. Feinberg rapped on her desk again. "Now, there are an odd number of you today, so we'll be left with one group of three. Whoever is the last name to be drawn from the mug gets to choose a group to join."
Two by two, Mrs. Feinberg drew slips of paper from Beethoven's head. With each name called out, the students rearranged their seats to join their new partners. Some partnerships were met with glee, some with indifference, and perhaps one or two with disgust.
"Cecilia Warren," called Mrs. Feinberg, "And..."
Cecilia reached for Eva's hand.
"...Neil Watts."
"Pickles...Better luck next time, huh, Cecilia?" said Eva, turning to her friend. "...Cecilia?"
Cecilia didn't look disappointed; she looked utterly crest-fallen. Her eyes darted around the music room as more than a few people snorted and giggled.
Eva didn't see what was so funny. Was it that lanky kid with the thick glasses lugging his saxophone case to the empty seat next to Cecilia? Neil, was it? Eva could see how shallow people would perceive this guy as nerdy. He had an outdated chestnut brown haircut, and his skin looked deprived of sunlight. He had on a t-shirt with some anime character on it, and a pair of baggy shorts. But even so, people don't make fun of nerds these days, Eva thought. "Nerdy" was the new "cool."
This guy sat down mutely on Cecilia's other side. Cecilia kept her eyes on the whiteboard with as much dignity as she could muster with her face burning beet red. Eva tried to catch her eye, but failed. What was going on?
"Er-HEM! Eva Rosalene!" snapped Mrs. Feinberg.
"Oh! Yes?"
"I was asking you which group you'd like to join. You're the odd one out, so you're the lucky person who gets to choose a group."
Eva sighed with relief, "Oh, well that's easy. I'm with Cecilia."
Eva chanced a tentative smile at Cecilia, who gazed back at her with more desperation than relief. The guy, Neil, gave Eva little more than a cursory glance before turning back to the teacher.
"Very well, then," said Mrs. Feinberg. "You, Cecilia, and Neil will be our group of three. Now, I'm going to pass out copies of the song list. Your group will have ten minutes to decide on a song to arrange, practice, and finally perform at the end of the semester."
The stack of lists went around the class. An excited chatter filled the room. At least people had stopped snickering for whatever reason. Eva, Cecilia, and Neil pored over the song list in awkward silence. Eva was glad to be on a team with her friend, but she wondered how much more of this tension she could stand.
"What about the Pink Panther theme?" suggested Eva.
"Meh, that's kinda overdone," said Neil. His voice cracked, as if from lack of use, but crackled with an arrogance that surprised Eva.
"Alright...What about Over the Rainbow?"
"Don't we need ukeleles for that?" said Neil.
"What a Wonderful World?"
"Urgh. Not with that much cheese, it ain't."
"Okayyy...Would you like to suggest something?"
Neil frowned at the list for a full two minutes before leaning back in his chair decidedly. "All these songs suck," he appraised.
"Well, our opinions don't really matter. We still have to pick one."
"I'm not playing these," said Neil, obstinately.
Eva tried to keep her voice calm. "What do you think, Cecilia?"
Cecilia stared blankly at the page. Eva couldn't tell if she was even listening.
Neil nudged Cecilia with his elbow. "Ceci agrees with me. We're too good for this drivel, right, Ceci?"
Eva was taken aback. "Ceci?"
Neil gave a patronizing chuckle. "Well, 'Cecilia' to you."
Ok, who IS this guy? Eva gaped at the two of them, too indignant and bewildered to speak.
Cecilia shot them both warning looks. "Alright, guys. Just chill out."
"How do you two know each other?" demanded Eva.
"We're - Ow!" began Neil, before Cecilia kicked him in the shin.
"Neil, don't. You promised," threatened Cecilia through clenched teeth.
Eva looked from Cecilia to Neil and back again. And it dawned on her. Like a pile of bricks.
Just then, the door burst open and a student stumbled in. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" panted the student. She must have run a mile.
"Oh, no, actually this is perfect!" said Mrs. Feinberg. "We now have an even number of students, which means we no longer need our group of three."
She turned to Eva's group. "Any one of you want to partner with this young lady?"
Eva's hand shot up immediately. But she wasn't fast enough.
The rest of her life might have been drastically different if her hand had been the first in the air that day.
"Cecilia, your hand was up first. You can partner with...erm..."
"Gertrude," said the girl.
"Yes, Gertrude. You and Cecilia are now partners. "
Eva and Neil gaped flabbergasted at Cecilia, who stood up without looking at either of them. She picked up her flute case and joined Gertrude on the other side of the room — her face dignified, yet unmistakably relieved.
"Neil. Eva. You two are now partners," said Mrs. Feinberg. It felt like she had handed down a prison sentence.
"Well, this sucks melon balls," muttered Eva. She turned to Neil.
"Don't even talk to me," said Neil.
Eva slowly averted her gaze.
To be continued...