Things weren't that bad. Despite the stress of having a concert that night, Allegra was happy to have her best friend back.
"Idiot, why aren't you eating? Do you want to faint?" Erik asked her around the time of lunch while they were walking.
Allegra sighed. "No, I can't eat. I'm nervous."
"About what? You have nothing to worry about."
"I know, I know.. Wait. Did you actually give me a compliment?" Allegra smiled.
Erik scoffed. "No, I merely meant to bolster your self-confidence with lies."
"You're lying.. Why can't you compliment people?"
"... No one ever complimented me. Those that did wanted to kill me later."
Allegra looked at him, her eyes reflecting his sadness. "Hey, that's in the past now, right? Look. I think you're amazing at the piano and handsome if you ask me. I can't kill you, so now you can compliment people!"
"You only see half of my face. The other half is hideous."
"Oh come on. That's your self-esteem talking. I'm sure you look fine. Can I see?"
"No!" he shouted, backing away from her. "Please don't force me to take off my mask."
Allegra nodded, looking at the fear in Erik's face and knowing that his mask was probably his security blanket. "When you're ready you can. Until then I'll try to prove that I'd still accept you."
Erik paused, nodding, before striding back to Allegra and continuing their walk.
"Such a beautiful day," she murmured, looking at the bright sky. A good omen. Erik didn't say anything in return, staring at the sky as well. "You'll watch me perform, right?"
"I don't know.. I mean, I've heard you practice for hours, I've practically memorized your part, plus it's so much energy, and-" Erik paused when Allegra stopped, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. "Yes, idiot, I'm coming."
"Good," she smiled, continuing along the path. "Now, let's go home. I have to practice."
Erik followed her, shaking his head. She really gave him a headache sometimes, even in the afterlife.
One of the most glorious sounds is an orchestra warming up. You can pick out the violinist working on a hard phrase, or the cellist playing long tones, but overall the chaos turns into beauty. It has been the inspiration of many composers.
Allegra listened to this for a minute or so before the director told her to start. As she walked onto the stage the chaos hushed. Nodding at the oboist, she tuned with him first. Then she tuned the rest of the orchestra.
After that was done, the orchestra stood up to welcome the director. When he was ready on the podium, they sat down. Allegra took in the lights, ignoring the crowd for now.
A wall stood between her and them. She wouldn't break it until she started playing.
The first song was lovely. The applause from the audience made it clear that they didn't hear Allegra's slightly late entrance on measure 28, or the cello's wolf tone on measure 92. Even Bethany, who complained about every mistake, seemed pleased.
The stage managers set up three chairs, and Allegra, Nya, and the violist got ready for the trio. Allegra searched the crowd calmly for Erik after she sat down. She spotted him in one of the box seats, her heart missing a beat or two once her eyes flickered over him. He gave her a short nod, giving her confidence in only such a small gesture.
Allegra looked at her partners, tucked her violin under her chin, and nodded to the first measure with them. Her fingers knew where to go already, so she could focus on her tone and listen to the rest of the group.
So far so good. They sounded flawless. Steady as a heartbeat, but with all the emotion the song called for. Nya smiled at Allega towards the end, and she really felt like she was having fun.
The audience loved it, and gave the same roar of clapping as the first one received.
Two more songs passed, then the intermission started. Allegra retreated to a practice room to catch her breath.
Nya walked in, smiling ear to ear. "Well! What did I say! Brilliant! I mean besides the wolf tone in the first piece and a couple other imperfections."
Allegra shrugged, like it didn't matter, smiling.
"You look a lot happier, hm? Would a guy have anything to do with that smile?"
"What? .. Well, maybe.."
"Wow you move on quickly!" Allegra didn't bother to correct her over the mistake. "Is he here, watching?" She nodded. "Can I meet him?"
"Uh, not really.. He's really shy and nervous. Maybe later?" Allegra replied.
"Okay, fine.. Your solo is up next. Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, but I'm still nervous. This concert is the start of my career."
"It's mine too you know."
That made Allegra happy, knowing someone was in the same boat as she was, just trying to row along against the current.
They went back to the stage, and Allegra stood to the left of the director. He asked if she was ready, then began the orchestra.
While waiting for her entrance, her hands quivered. As she got ready for her first note, however, it went away. Pour your heart out, Allegra, she told herself.
It started out with power and grace, her arms gliding across the strings like she was made to play the violin. Everything was perfect.
The passage took extreme concentration though, even with it memorized.
She didn't notice anything was wrong until she heard the several bullets ring in the air.