Chapter 15: "Sonata For Violin and Cello in an Auditorium full of Minors"

Mathias took out his cello. Over the months, it had become a prized possession, more than just a mass of wood and string. On days when he didn't have orchestra, he practiced himself at home, and even when he did have orchestra, there were times when he was more than happy to take out the cello and practice. Even his mother could tell that he had improved since he'd started.

He tuned the cello and plucked at the strings, listening carefully for anything that seemed off. He opened his book, still a book for beginners, but now he was on book six. He propped the book up on the stand and flipped to the songs they were playing for the concert tomorrow night. He sat down and played, making a couple of mistakes, but they were so minor that it was surprising he even picked them out at all.

But that was enough for him. He played it four more times before there was no mistakes at all, and after that, he played it once more. Once was luck, but twice was talent. He finally closed the book and began to put his instrument away, but something stopped him.

Mathias' eyes flickered to his closet door. He opened it and grabbed the book from the top shelf, then put it on his music stand. He looked anxiously at the notes splattering the pages and re-positioned his cello. He got through a few notes, but he played so slowly that it was useless and he closed the book in defeat, placing it back in it's spot in his closet.

He picked up the phone on his dresser and typed in his fathers number. The phone rang many times before he finally answered. "Dad?"

"Ah, hey, Mathias."

"Hey, uh... are you busy tomorrow night?"

"...do you have a football game tomorrow?"

Mathias laughed weakly. "Nah. The season hasn't started yet. It will soon, though. Hey, could you come to my orchestra concert? It's tomorrow."

There was a long pause and Mathias pulled the phone away from his face to make sure he hadn't hung up. "Dad? You still there?"

"... Ah, sorry. I can't make it. I've got a meeting tomorrow night."

Mathias looked down and tried not to sigh too loudly, then said, "You should go, dad. I mean, I worked really hard."

"Oh, I've gotta go, Mathias. 'Night." There was a click, and then there was nothing.

Lukas set the violin down in his lap and fixed his tie. It was so hot on the stage in the auditorium. The lights were bright and he could barely see anyone in the audience. He tuned his instrument and tested it out. A camera flashed and he looked up to see his mother taking pictures. He could only tell it was her because she waved so hard she nearly hit some man in the face.

He was too stiff on stage to wave at anyone right now. Mathias was leaning back in his chair comfortably and fanning himself with a program for the concert. He glanced over at Lukas, smiled, and started to fan him with the program, too. Normally he would have called him stupid or something like that, but it felt like summer up there and he basked in the gushes of wind shamelessly.

When the concert finally began, they stopped everything and picked up their instruments. The conductor raised her arms and when they all played together, it sounded like a wonderful train crash. Some of the students were off, but some were as good as they could have been, including Mathias and Lukas. Either way, the parents all looked like they were about to cry from pride.

By the time it was over, most of the students were sweaty from the lights and the parents had no empty space on their cameras. They all put their instruments away and some wiped beads of sweat from their foreheads. "You sounded good, Lukas!" Mathias said, pulling him into a proud hug. He hugged him back and suppressed a smile. "You did, too."

Mathias refused to let go of him and kept him in a tight embrace. "Mathias, you're sweaty." The taller boy laughed a little and pressed Lukas' cheek up against his chest. "Sweaty? Nah." Lukas smirked and pulled away, wiping his own cheeks off. "Very," he mumbled. Mathias shrugged and grabbed his cello. "It's all that... that puberty," he said sarcastically.

"Mathias..."

That definitely wasn't Lukas. He looked down in the audience and saw his father in front of the stage. He stared at him for a moment, then smiled wider. "Hey," he muttered excitedly. "Uh, Lukas, I gotta go. Okay? G'night!"

Lukas sort of shrugged and he might have glared a little at Mathias' father before leaving to find his own parents.

"I didn't think you'd be here," he said, running down the stairs to greet his father, who just shrugged like it was no big deal. "I'm going to take you out for dinner. You looked good up there. You looked focused," he said as he clasped his sons shoulder firmly. Mathias smiled and felt relieved for some reason.

They rode over to a restaurant and talked a little about the weather on the way. They sat down, ordered their food, and looked at each other expectantly. Mathias' father cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "So uh... school? How's that?"

Mathias unfolded his napkin and shrugged. "It's school. I like it alright, though. The friends, I mean."

"Yeah, I saw you hugging that one. Was he upset or something?"

Mathias smiled nervously and sipped on his water. "Nah," he played with his straw wrapper and cleared his throat. "It was just a friend thing. Both thrilled to get the concert over with, you know?" He picked the lemon out of his water and squeezed out the seeds mindlessly.

His father was watching him, a bored look in his eyes. "You gotta be careful, Mathias. Not all guys like to be hugged like that. Makes them feel weird." Mathias didn't look up. He stirred the seeds around at the bottom of his glass. "Yeah." That's all he said. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. He'd probably just end up admitting something he didn't want to admit.

"What about teachers? You like your teachers?"

Mathias was relieved at the change in topics. "Yeah! I have Mr. Vainamoinen. He's really cool. He's such a smart guy when it comes to real world things. He's from Finland? I think?" He squeezed the lemon juice into his glass and looked up at his father, who had a weird look in his eyes. "What makes Mr. Vainamoinen so cool and smart?" He asked, leaning forward like Mathias was about to tell him some crazy big secret. He just shrugged.

"Well," he began thoughtfully. "He says really smart things. Not book smart things. I mean, he's book smart, too. But he says stuff that's street smart and stuff a good person would say."

"Like?"

He shrugged again. "The other day he said people shouldn't be mean to someone based on who they love. I thought that was really smart."

His fathers eyes squinted and he crossed his arms suspiciously. "Based on who they love? Why was he talking about that?" Mathias took a drink and pretended to be distracted by the food that had just been sat down. His father didn't even look at his, he was just staring at Mathias. "I got in an argument with a guy because he was calling people queers. Mr. Vainamoinen was really cool. He didn't take me to the office, he just took me back to his room and told me it wasn't a bad thing. Which is so smart," he said quickly. His father didn't miss a word though.

"So he told you that it was okay to be a homosexual?"

Mathias looked up at his father and paled. He felt like he had said something that he shouldn't have and he didn't know what would make this situation better. "Well he said it was okay, yeah. There's nothing wrong with them or anything."

His father nodded and finally started eating his food. "Sounds like a swell guy. What was his name, again?" Mathias really felt wrong about this. He seriously felt like he just shouldn't have opened his mouth. He cleared his throat and said, "Uh, Mr. Olsen..."

His father slammed his fork down on the glass topped table and pointed a finger at him. "Mathias, that wasn't it. I think it was Mr. Vainamoinen. But I was confirming it with you." He picked up the fork and started eating again. "Why were you lying?"

Mathias couldn't even eat the food anymore he felt so sick. "I don't know," he replied. He listened to the loud smacks his father made when he was eating and looked out the window desperately. He really just wanted to get out of there and away from his father. "I'll remember that, Mathias," he said quickly.

They finished their meals in silence. Well, Mathias didn't really eat, but he didn't dare speak again. They didn't talk on the ride home either. They didn't even say goodbye. Mathias walked straight up to his room and crashed on his bed. He inwardly cursed himself for admitting that much to him. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. Maybe nothing. But he couldn't stop worrying about it anyway.

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