The young girl in the black dress walked through the hall in front of the theater as she was eating a slice of strawberry shortcake.

The hall was very glamorous; the floor was entirely carpet with a repeating pattern of red and green and the walls were wallpapered with a regal-looking pattern. On the ceiling were chandeliers with light bulbs lighting up the hall and on the other side of the hall were the main entrance and windows that were arch-shaped.

As Abbi walked through the hall, the people around her would notice her, their eyes following her. After all, she was known to have 14 consecutive first places at the current moment. However, the crowd flocked even more to a certain blonde girl from a more prestigious family. Of course, Abbi didn't notice this as she was looking for a certain two in the crowd. She looked around as she chewed on a bite of her cake, and finally saw them. Her eyes brightened and her smile widened.

"Papa! Mama!" Abbi ran towards her parents, her cake dangerously jumping on her plate.

"Sweetheart! The gray suited chubby man who was Abbi's father took a knee to Abbi's level. His face held a gentle smile. He held Abbi's shoulders with both of his hands, "You did great up there, sweetie."

Abbi smiled from ear to ear hearing her father's compliment.

"Yes, dear. You did absolutely wonderful up there," said a tall woman wearing a black and red dress. She was Abbi's mother. She smiled kindly towards her daughter, and patted her head, "But remember, this isn't your limit. You have ways to go."

I know, I know," said Abbi, tired of the line she had heard daily from her mother.

Abbi's mother raised an eyebrow towards Abbi.

"... Okay…" said Abbi as she pouted.

"Good," Abbi's mother smiled, "Now, look there, at the girl in the middle of the crowd."

"Hm? Oh! It's the Cruz girl!"

Towards the direction where her mother pointed was a crowd that fawned over Janella Cruz, who played an excellent performance just now.

"Abbi, what do you think of that girl?"

"She's very good! I really like her performance just now."

"I see. Well then, dear, do you want to be like her?"

"Yes!" Abbi's eyes glimmered, as she excitedly jumped up and down.

"Very good. You should strive to be like her," Abbi's mother stroked her daughter's head, "If you do, you will make Mama happier, okay?"

Abbi's smile widened even further. After all, a young child's greatest happiness is to make their parents proud, "Okay!"

As Abbi responded to her mother's request, she noticed someone familiar on the edge of her view. Abbi looked to the left, and saw the red hairbanded boy who was leaning on the wall with an empty glass in his hand, his eyes staring at nothing as he was deep in his mind.

Abbi took this chance to approach and talk to the boy.

Abbi jogged towards the boy and stopped right in front of him. To Abbi's surprise, the boy didn't even notice Abbi.

"H-hey!" Abbi waved her hand in front of him.

"Huh? Oh. What do you want?" The boy snapped from his mind travels and looked at the brown-haired girl in front of him.

"You're the cellist just now, right?" Abbi asked.

"Yes? And…?"

"Let's be friends! I'm Abbi, and you're… Hiko, right?"

"... Yeah?" The boy raised an eyebrow, "...Why?"

"Why, what?" Abbi tilted her head.

"Why do you wanna be friends with me?" Hiko looked at her confused, making Abbi feel awkward.

"I… uh… like your playing! Haha…" Intimidated, Abbi became nervous as she unintentionally laughed to relieve some of the awkwardness. Hiko's stare and lack of response after that had made her feel more awkward. Abbi's eyes sooned darted around as the awkward feeling slowly became unbearable.

"... Uh… thanks?" Hiko looked away and scratched the back of his head. Abbi felt relieved and smiled widely as she saw that Hiko had responded to her.

"I want to see more of your playing, especially since your instrument is really interesting!" Abbi said happily.

"Um… sure…" Abbi hadn't noticed, but the compliment-deprived Hiko was slightly blushing as he uncomfortably looked away from her.

"Ah, you must be the last contestant," said a mature woman's voice.

That said voice came from one of the two adults who had approached the two of them from behind Abbi.

"Ah, Papa, Mama!" Abbi looked back, "This is Hiko, the last cellist from before!"

"Ah yes, he is indeed the cellist from before. Your playing is very wonderful, boy," complimented Abbi's father.

"I agree. You played very well," nodded Abbi's mother, "I would love to hear you play again."

"Thank you for your compliments," said Hiko politely as he bowed, a habit that was drilled into him in the past.

Abbi looked at Hiko again to see a bowing Hiko. As he rose up from his bow, his face was soon in view of Abbi and her parents. Abbi felt that something was off from his expression.

It was the same emotionless face, but it wasn't. His eyebrows were slightly scrunched up and the left part of his bottom lip was very slightly bitten in. Most of all, his eyes held bitter hatred.

Abbi's parents had noticed that Hiko was upset, but only Abbi's father made a small reaction towards it, his smile slightly twitched. On the other hand, Abbi's mother still retained her smile unwaveringly.

As for Abbi, her eyes widened in surprise due to the unexpected reaction Hiko had.

"... Please excuse me, Mr. and Mrs., I need to go to the restroom," Hiko turned to the left, which was the direction towards the hall's restroom. Hiko walked at a faster pace, clearly trying to distance himself from them.

Abbi looked at him with a sad look, since she wanted to be friends with him. However, her sad spell was broken by a pat on the shoulder.

"Dear, it's okay. We can meet him later," said Abbi's mother with a gentle voice.

"Okay…"

"Now, look. The audiences are going back into the theater, so we should follow suit," her mother pointed at the crowd in front of the door to the theater.

Abbi nodded, as she walked to the crowd with her parents, with her hand being held by her mother's. Abbi looked back at the direction of where Hiko went for a moment, and looked towards the crowd again.

Chatter had filled the theater as everyone had returned to the theater. All of them were anticipating the same thing.

The winners of the competition.

Not long after the theater had filled up, the MC went up the stage as the feedback from the microphone was heard throughout the theater. The audience quieted down, eager to know the winners.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for waiting while the judges determined who was the winner. It was a very hard thing to do, to choose the three winners to stand up here, as every musician that went up on this stage were all excellent musicians. But alas, the judges still had to choose the winners."

The MC took out a letter from his pocket.

"This right here, are the names of the winners of today's competition. Without further ado, let's find out who will stand on this stage, shall we?"

The MC opened the letter, and took out the piece of paper that was inside the envelope. Before he unfolded the paper, he cleared his throat, the sound echoing into the anticipating silence of the theater.

"The participant who took third place is… Mary Joanna!"

The audience applauded as a man with very long hair and a t-shirt about boobs went up the stage. He looked very stoned and very unfitting for the event. Despite that, he had the viola skills of a professional.

"The second place belongs to… Abbi Angelos!"

Abbi smiled as she looked at her mother, "Mama, that's me!"

"Yes, dear. I'm proud of you. Now, go up the stage, dear," Abbi's mother smiled, but Abbi felt something was off with her mother's smile. Nevertheless, she chose to not think about it and walked up the stage.

It's probably just my imagination, right? She thought.

"And… for the moment everyone is waiting for… The first place goes to…"

Anticipation oozed from the audience.

"Janella Cruz!"

The audience roared with applause as the blonde girl walked up the stage and stood right next to Abbi.

While the staff brought the trophies on stage, Abbi peeked at Janella Cruz and whispered to her, "I like your playing a lot."

The blonde haired girl looked at Abbi and smiled innocently, her eyes shone a crystalline blue, "I love yours, too. Abbi, was it? We should play together sometime!"

"Sure! It's a promise!"

The both of them looked forward towards the audience as they were handed out the trophies. All in all, the night ended on a high note for the both of them.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Abbi due to the darkness of the audience seats, a certain boy had slipped away from the theater and walked back home quietly alone.