Check out my 8tracks (link on profile and Chapter 2's beginning A/N) for all the music. In other news, this chapter is late because I'm sick! And winter was just getting over in my parts… anyways, enjoy the last pre-written chapter I have.

On that day, I received a grim reminder. The fear of waiting for the audition results, and the humiliation of being subject to three merciless musicians.

Ten minutes before orchestra rehearsal, Reiner wordlessly pressed three pieces of folded paper into my hands. I could not glean a single thing from his expression. Did I get in? Did I fail miserably? With shaking hands, I unfolded the first slip.

Bertholdt Fubar

I liked your tone best. The notes aren't too hard, but you made them seem intense. For this kind of song, that's good. Your shifts are clean but your vibrato needs some work. Perhaps it was nerves.

Was that good, or bad…? Not wanting to dwell on it, I moved on.

Reiner Braun

This song is easy. A lot of the other contestants played more difficult pieces, but with less musical expression than you had. Your high notes were nicely executed. However, you need to improve your articulation and emphasis at the beginning of the phrases.

My heart sank. Damn, I should have played the Caprice 24. Reiner seemed like the kind of guy to put difficulty over emotion, but I'd stupidly gone and played a piece I liked.

With a resigned sigh, I pull out the last slip - Annie's. I'd 'met her expectations', hadn't I? Or were her expectations too low in the first place?

Annie Leonhart

This won't be a three-person quartet.

And scribbled on the bottom of the sheet:

I've talked to B and R. Come see us. Unless some Mozart auditioned, you're in.

I read the tiny paper six times over, wondering if there had been some mistake or if this was some absurd joke. After all that noise about playing an easy piece, I was in?

I glanced up, not sure whether this was really happening. But sure enough, the three of them were standing a little distance away, staring at me intently.

"Um," I began, hurrying over and holding up the paper. "This -?"

Annie nodded, and I finally let the excitement get to me. My heart surged upward and threatened to burst open.

"I got in?! I got in!"

"It's not exactly a Philharmonic orchestra," Bertholdt noted. "But we have nothing against being happy, so go ahead."

I grinned at them giddily. "But, why? You said I should have played something harder."

Reiner shrugged. "I never said that exactly. Just by being a first chair, it's obvious you have the technical requirements. We were mainly looking for expression and emotion, and you blew it out of the water."

I felt like my cheeks would explode from smiling. "Thanks, guys!"

"First rehearsal is in the same practice room as the audition at 4:00 on Tuesday, and we'll work out a schedule from then," Annie said in what I assumed was an attempt at monotone. "See you then."

"Sure!" I chirped, and practically skipped over to my chair. I was playing in the string quartet I was playing in the string quartet I was playing with Annie Annie Annie -

"Hi, Mr. Modest. Having fun in your new quartet?" Hitch said as she threw her music on the stand. Her tone was like lemon rinds mixed with onions and three-days-old brussels sprouts.

(That's not good.)

"I - I - oh, look at Mr. Smith's tie! Isn't it wonderful?"

"I bet they were spewing compliments about you," Hitch grumbled. "All they did was tell me to work on my articulation. Articulation! Like there's room for that in my head with all those sixteenth-notes…"

"There's always another chance," I said absently. "Life isn't over if you fail once."

I did feel kind of bad for Hitch (and the twenty-two-plus other people who didn't get in) but hopefully they'd get over it. I was too busy rejoicing to spare a thought for their misery.

"Maybe your advice would be a bit more helpful if you weren't staring at Annie and grinning idiotically," Hitch informed me. "Also, Mr. Smith's starting and I have absolutely no idea what song we're playing."

"What?!" I fumbled around with Hitch's music, but Mr. Smith had already signaled for us to begin. After about three seconds, though, he put down his baton and looked right at me.

"Mister Arlert, Miss Dreyse, would you like to tell us which song we're playing?"

"Um-" I glanced around wildly, my gaze landing on Annie. No, no, stupid, like she'd help me!

"The Symphony No. 5," Hitch spoke up unexpectedly.

I stared at her. Either Hitch was psychic, or someone had tipped her off. She jerked her head at the first violins, and I realized that Annie was discreetly holding up five fingers. She glanced backwards at us and tsk-ed at me between her teeth, as if to say, Dumbass. Pay attention next time.

I will, I mouthed. Thanks.

She simply turned around and resumed her perfect posture, and I couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Is everyone ready, finally?" Mr. Smith said deliberately, glaring at me in a not-so-intimidating way. "Okay, let's go."

I didn't see Annie at all over the next few days. Eren's band, which was pretty much my entire friend group, had a show coming up, so they were out for hours every night. I was left alone to study and practice.

Contrary to what most people thought, music wasn't my major - it was my minor. I majored in physics, and I actually enjoyed the subject. Eren never failed to call me nerdy every time I voiced my opinion, but hey, everyone already knew I was a nerd. Might as well be proud.

So I spent the majority of my time until Tuesday sitting in a practice room with sheets spilled over on a music stand, or hunched over at my desk cracking equations about velocity.

In the middle of a theory assignment I was doing Tuesday afternoon, I happened to glance up at the clock and nearly fell over. It was 4:02, and I hadn't even gathered my music.

In the movies, this is the part where the William Tell Overture starts playing while the main character runs around stuffing food in his mouth and running like hell. I basically did that, except without the Overture (which made it considerably lamer).

At 4:07 on the dot, I burst into practice room 14 with my music tucked under one arm and my violin case clutched in my other hand.

"Sorry I'm late," I wheezed. "I promise I won't - huh?"

I stopped, looking around at the empty practice room. Had I made a mistake? Was there a random daylight savings that I didn't know about? Or was it possible… Annie was late?

The sky should start falling on my head about now.

I began to tune and warm up, playing through some basic scales until Annie shuffled in quietly.

"Sorry I'm late," she murmured, closing the door silently. "Class extended. Also, Bertholdt and Reiner can't make it until four-thirty, so can you stay a half-hour later than planned?"

"Sure, I'm free the whole night," I said, even though I still had one-and-a-half theory assignments and a physics paper.

"Great." Without further ado, she pulled out an old music book. "This is our first rehearsal of the year, so we'll be picking pieces today. Thanks to Reiner and Bertholdt's delay, we can pick something with a nice violin melody and they can't complain."

I laughed, unsure of whether or not she was joking. "We'll just pick a violin duet and let them sit around."

Annie snorted. "Reiner would fly into a rage. That guy's addicted to performing like some kind of crazy drug."

I forced myself to chuckle again because there wasn't really much else to say. As always, I was better at speaking notes and staff lines than actual words.

"Anyways, why don't you just play for me until they show up? It's better than fighting over whatever piece we pick in the end," Annie said as she applied rosin to her bow. "You know anything apart from movie themes?"

"Of course!" I said, mildly insulted. "I have a pretty large repertoire, so go ahead and request."

"Fine. Play something lively," she said without missing a beat.

"Really?" I asked, slightly taken aback. I thought she'd be the type to request something dramatic and technically demanding, but lively? That fit her impassive demeanor about as much as a leather jacket and a motorcycle would fit me.

"Do you only know sad movie themes, then?" she snorted. "Come on, play something fun or I'll kick you out of here."

"Okay," I squeaked, probably because I somewhat believed her. "How does Vivaldi's Four Seasons - Autumn sound?"

She shrugged. "Sounds good."

This piece wasn't really fast, but it made up for it with its lively and bright tone. My bow just flew off the strings, and I could imagine music soaring from my violin, dancing around the room before floating out the door to make room for the next phrase, The cold November sunlight that dappled across the floor seemed to brighten, reminiscing the leaves that had long since scattered in hues of golden, the days when the air was crisp but not yet cold, when the world was on its last energy high before falling into hibernation.

The last few notes of the first section faded away, and I glanced at Annie. She nodded once, giving me permission to continue - although the next movement wasn't exactly lively.

This was the last few days before frost began taking over the ground, when only a few leaves clung to to the tips of tree branches and autumn reached back towards summer, desperate for just a little more gold.

Then the bright theme was back, a soaring melody that promised summer would come again, a fleeting reprise of past times before the song fell into a slow tempo once more. Back to the yearning as the autumn withered away to its final traces…

And then the third movement flew into motion, a grand finale before winter set in. The last rays of sunlight were undoubtedly the greatest, the last few leaves to hit the ground the most beautiful. And although it came to a quiet, gentle end, autumn refused to yield without leaving an everlasting impression.

I set down my violin and glanced over at Annie, whose eyes gleamed with what looked like competition.

"Not bad," she said slowly, settling her violin on her shoulder. "But how about this?"

Annie launched into the solo of Haydn's Concerto no. 4 in G Major. She played with such purpose and confidence that it was like an orchestra was playing behind her in a grand concert hall. Even in the tiny practice room with bad acoustics and a window that let in weary almost-winter light, a spotlight still found her graceful figure as her bow slid over the strings in elegant sweeps.

It could best be described as singing, the flighty melody that escaped from the depths of Annie's violin. And even as the short, light notes changed to a soothing melody that rang through the air, I could only imagine the notes pouring out of a human voice.

Her tone darkened and brightened, the notes shifted to and fro, her bow strokes shortened and lengthened, but never once did she lose the command she exerted over her fingers. It was musical and yet completely controlled, like a wild stallion and an expert rider that never had to struggle to stay on her steed.

She began the last stretch of the song, dissonant chords slowly reaching higher and higher up the strings until she finished with a gentle trill, which expanded into a grand chord that echoed off the walls a million times over.

"You're even better than they say," I said, grinning. "Let's see if you can combat this."

It was time to release my secret weapon - Paganini's Caprice 24, widely known as one of the most difficult solo violin pieces in existence. It was a risky bargain, seeing as I'd learned it as a challenge and could barely play it perfectly. To top Annie's playing, though, I'd go to any lengths.

But I had barely begun the first phrase when the door flew open with a bang.

"We're here," panted Bertholdt. "So sorry, guys."

"No problem," I said, trying to quell my disappointment. "So are we going to pick those pieces now, Annie?"

"Yeah," she said distantly, her eyes glued to my violin. "Why don't we."

And as she gave a little sigh, I knew that she'd been just as disappointed as I had to have our battle come to an end.

"So, pieces," Reiner said, plopping down and unzipping his cello case. "I was thinking some Mendelssohn, maybe no. 2 in A minor? I think it's Opus 13."

Annie shrugged. "I've never heard that piece in my life."

"It's this soulful thing Mendelssohn wrote when he was eighteen," Reiner said. "There's a lot of weeping first violin, if you're into that."

"Here's the score," Bertholdt said, handing her a fat book of Mendelssohn compositions. "Though I think we should do no. 6."

"6 is a monster for cello," Reiner complained.

"It's not bad at all," Bertholdt protested. "You've played way harder stuff."

"I feel like Haydn," Annie declared. "I was playing one of his concertos for Armin and I got in the mood."

"Ooh, Annie's in a mood!" Reiner said with mock enthusiasm, "Drop everything and learn all the Haydn you can get your hands on!"

Annie huffed and Bertholdt burst out laughing, while Reiner flipped open the Mendelssohn score with a sideways smirk. Watching the three of them get along so naturally, I couldn't help but feel a little out of place. Playing alone with Annie had been pure bliss, when it had been nothing but music, but I was at a complete loss when thrown into a social situation like this.

"Hello? Earth to Armin?" Bertholdt said, leaning in way too close to my face.

"Eek!" I spluttered.

"Reiner to Earth, we have found an unknown species. It appears to be blond and says 'eek'. It's also the only thing Annie has taken interest in since the great Haydn she so reveres."

It took a second for Reiner's words to register, but they were enough to flush my face bright pink. "GAH!"

"Annie to Earth. It also appears to say 'GAH!' and plays Vivaldi like a goddamn maestro."

Oh. My. God.

I tried to say something along the lines of 'stop, you're too kind!', but the sheer fact that Annie had directly praised me was enough to turn my words into gibberish.

"Earth to Reiner and Annie, please bring in this species for examination," Bertholdt continued. "I'd like to see this 'goddamn maestro'."

"Roger," replied Reiner. "Landing with the unknown species in five, four, three, two, one-"

He broke off and made an airplane noise, which was enough to send Bertholdt and me into fits of giggles. Here he was, this huge, serious cellist, making airplane noises and alien jokes.

"Okay, okay, joke's over," Bertholdt gasped, wiping his eyes.

"What the hell was that, Reiner?" Annie said, looking mildly amused. "You should imitate vehicles more often."

"Alright, how's my motorboat impression?"

"No, please don't. My ears might implode."

"You guys…!"

"Vi-vi-vi-valdi li-like...maestro?"

You know, if this was what being in the quartet was going to be like, my college life was about to get a hell of a lot weirder.

Oh, Armin. 3 Next chapter introduces a new character - *advertiser voice* he's short, badass, and the ladies' favorite! (In this story he's a music geek like everyone else though haha)