35
I woke up the next morning in Carlisle and Esme's hotel room with Edward holding me tight. We got up and told everyone we would see them at the show tonight. We grabbed a cab and headed back to the dorms. Edward kissed me before he went up to the fifth floor. I walked into my room and found Tia getting ready.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" asked Tia.
"I'm sore and tired," I said. "Did Edward call you last night?"
"Yeah, he said you had finally fallen asleep after a rough day so you were going to stay with his parents," explained Tia. "You're very lucky to have such a supportive family."
"I know," I said softly. "I'm going to go shower quickly."
"Ok," she said.
I grabbed my shower stuff and made my way down to the bathrooms. I took a hot shower and let the water run over my muscles. I cleaned my body and dried off. I went back down to my room and pulled on my jeans and a t-shirt. I grabbed clothes for tonight and followed Tia down to the elevator. We made our way down to the lobby and found Edward and Benjamin waiting for us.
We all loaded onto the bus they had waiting for us and I laid my head on Edward's shoulder as we drove to Carnegie Hall. This was the moment I had been waiting for since we came to New York. I had dreamed of this moment for so long. Here I am, fixing to reach one more dream. I just hope it's not the last one I get to do.
The buses pulled up in front of Carnegie Hall. I could barely contain the tears that threatened to fall as we unloaded off the bus. Edward kept his arm wrapped around my waist and held me. He understood. This was our dream. This was one more item we could cross off our list.
We followed Aro, Marcus, and Cauis inside. I couldn't help but smile as the lead us into the Isaac Stern Auditorium/ Ronald O. Perelman stage. The large, oval hall was more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I felt a tear slip down my face. Edward gently reached over and wiped it away for me.
"I know, Love," he whispered in my ear. "I feel it too."
"Well, everyone please gather around," said Aro. We made our way to the stage where he was standing. I could feel the tears free falling as I turned into Edward's arms. I was just so overwhelmed. "Welcome to Carnegie Hall. So many musicians work their entire careers to get to where you are standing right now. You all have proven that you deserve to be here. Congratulations to all of you for making it here. Take a moment to enjoy this before we start rehearsals."
We all stood on the stage for several minutes and just listened. If you tried hard enough, you could almost hear the music that built this place. You could almost feel it. I heard the others sniffling behind me and I knew this moment meant almost as much to them as it did to me and Edward.
After a few minutes, we headed back stage and took turns going through our songs for tonight's performance. It was the first time I had heard any of them perform, besides Edward. They were all amazing and magnificent. I knew it would be a great show.
We gathered in one of the banquet rooms and enjoyed a catered lunch. Well, they enjoyed it more than I did. My stomach was still uneasy and my nerves were going into overdrive but I managed to eat a little. Once we were done eating, the ten of us went back into the dressing rooms to hand out until it was time to get ready for tonight's show.
"I can't believe we are really sitting in the dressing rooms of Carnegie Hall," chuckled Tia. We all chuckled with her.
"I know," said Benjamin. "It feels like a dream."
"I hope it's not," I chuckled. They laughed with me before they all sighed.
"Bella, can I ask you something?" asked Felix.
"Apparently since you just did," I teased. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"How do you do it?" he asked. Everyone looked up at me. "How do you go through the treatments, the sickness, and still find anything to laugh about?"
"It's hard," I said softly. I could feel my tears building in my eyes. "When I was ten, my father took Emmett and I to Seattle one Sunday afternoon. He took us to the park where the symphony was holding a free concert. I sat on my father's lap and listened to the most beautiful music being played. I closed my eyes and I could hear the cellos or the violins. I could feel every emotion you can think of, joy, sorrow, angst, love, in every note they played. My father held me while I cried over their music. See it reached my soul. It became who I was. I have to fight everyday because I don't want to be the girl with cancer. I just want to be a girl. So I force myself to laugh when I want to cry. I force myself to go to chemo when I would rather be at the mall with my sisters. I force myself to keep smiling because all I can do right now is pretend that I'm just a girl."
"You're so much more than that," whispered Felix, wiping the tears off his face.
"I don't think I could do it," whispered Maggie. We all looked over at her. She had her knees pulled up to her chest. "I've watched you for the last week struggling to make it from one day to the next. I don't think I would be strong enough to do it."
"You would be," I whispered.
"I'm with Maggie," said Liam softly. We looked over at him. "When I was twelve, I watched my grandmother die from lung cancer. She had never smoked a day in her life yet she ended up with lung cancer. By the end…..I couldn't do it."
"It's time to start getting ready," said Aro from the doorway. We all looked over at him. He was watching us with a small smile on his face. "I know it's scary to think about this right now but let me offer you all some advice that a very dear friend once told me. Sometimes in life you are given great obstacles to overcome but that's how you find out who you truly are. When you go out onto that stage tonight, don't play to win this competition. Go out on that stage and play for yourselves."
Aro turned and walked away but I knew that he was talking about Renee. Somehow, I just knew she was the dear friend. I wiped the tears off my face and stood up. I looked around at everyone.
"Let's have fun tonight," I said. "No matter who wins, we will know that we have gained friends and family here this week. That's all that matters."
"That's all that matters," said Edward as he stood up next to me.
The others murmured their agreement as they stood up. Edward kissed me before he followed the boys out to their dressing rooms. The girls and I went and washed our faces and went over to the dressing tables and started getting ready. None of us spoke. I think we were all focusing on our performances tonight or maybe it was just finally hitting all of us that we were standing in the dressing room of Carnegie Hall.
I quickly did my make-up, making my eyes dark and adding the dark red lipstick Rose and Alice helped me pick out. I pulled out my outfit for tonight. A black leather mini skirt with a blue silk, strapless top and black heels. I pulled them on and added the matching blue, silk scarf to my bald head. Once the other girls where ready, I followed them out of the dressing room. The boys were waiting for us. Edward's smile grew as he pulled me into his arms and kissed my cheek.
"Wife, you look exquisite," he murmured against my skin. I closed my eyes and barely stifled my moan.
"You look fucking hot," I murmured back. He was wearing a pair of tight black pants, a black silk shirt with the top three buttons left undone, and a pair of black leather boots. "Seriously, I want to fuck you right now."
"Well, you are going to have to wait until after the show," he whispered in my ear. "Trust me, I plan on ravaging every inch of your body."
"You had better," I moaned as he kissed my neck.
"Ok, break it up you two," chuckled Tia. Edward and I just laughed as we pulled away from each other.
"Fine," I sighed dramatically.
Everyone just laughed with us as we waited for the show to start. I could hear the crowd as the whispered to each other. We watched as Aro made his way up onto the stage and turned to the audience.
"Welcome to New York University's Young Musician Search," said Aro. "We had more than five thousand entries from all over the country. It was very difficult to narrow our search down to our top ten but we somehow managed to. Our young musicians have spent the last week together, preparing for this moment. They have grown not only as musicians but as amazing young men and women. Please enjoy our show."
The audience clapped as Aro walked off the stage and took his seat in the front row with Marcus and Cauis. Maggie gave us all a soft smile before she took a deep breath and walked out on the stage. She set her maple violin under her chin and closed her eyes as she started playing. I closed my eyes and just let her music wash over me. It as amazing.
Benjamin went after her. He sat down at the piano and started playing a piece by Beethoven. He was panting slightly as he finished. He bowed and walked back stage and pulled Tia into his arms and kissed her hard. We all gasped and chuckled. Yep, they were totally in love.
Heidi was next. She made her way out to the stage and sat on the bench they had moved for her. She set her cello in between her legs and began to play a piece by Mozart. It was breathtaking. You could see the joy on her face as she played.
Demetri went after Heidi. He also played the piano. For such a big man, his fingers flew over the keys. I could tell he was putting everything had into his music. He stood up and bowed before he walked off the stage and wiped a tear away from his face. He came over and stood in front of me.
"That was for you," he whispered. "Regardless of what you think, you are the strongest person I have met. It's been an honor to get to know you this week."
"The honor is mine," I whispered through my tears as I hugged him. "Thank you."
"No, Bella, thank you for teaching us to look beyond the sickness and just see the girl," He choked out. He kissed my forehead before he made his way through the others and went into the dressing room.
I wiped the tear that fell down my face and turned my attention to Tia. She carried her cello out and sat on the same bench that Heidi had. She turned and smiled at me before she closed her eyes and began playing. I gasped softly as I was hit with the most intense music I had ever heard. I could feel the longing, the sorrow, the love in each note. As she played the last note, I let out the breath I had been holding. She walked off the stage and hugged me. We didn't need to speak. Her song spoke for both of us.