"So Kanata plays violin differently because he can't turn his hands around, and that's why he can't be in the Orchestra?" Gaby recapped.

Rob nodded from where he sat on the couch in Jamal's living room. "Yeah."

He and his friends on the team were now at a rally that he had asked his friend Jamal to call after talking to him at his house for a bit. Rob knew that he could have called the rally, but it really seemed kind of strange for him to do so. He was just not used to doing it. It did help that his other friends that went to Hurston at least knew Kanata from school, anyway.

Alex was frowning a little bit from where he sat on the edge of the couch. "Man, there's no way that I would've guessed that's why he couldn't do the pull-up bar," he commented. "I mean, I never even noticed anything different about his arms."

Rob shrugged. "I guess that it's just not something you expect."

"No kidding," Alex replied, leaning back onto the couch.

Tina was frowning from one of the chairs. "But how do we help him get in the Orchestra?" she asked seriously.

Gaby nodded. "Yeah, the Orchestra conductor wouldn't even let him in. Kanata really wants to be in it, and he can play violin, right?"

Rob also nodded. "Yeah, when I saw him playing in the Orchestra room at school, he sounded really good."

"There's got to be some way to convince the Orchestra teacher," Lenni stated. She looked at her open green notebook for a little bit. "Okay, I think I have all of the problems that Kanata told Rob," she stated.

Gaby leaned over the other brunette girl's notebook. "'The Situation- Kanata isn't allowed to be in Orchestra, since he plays violin differently. Problem number one: Playing a sideways violin looks weird to an audience, with a note underneath saying that the Orchestra plays really well.'"

The Latino girl then frowned. "Hey, why did you say how Kanata plays violin looks weird?" she asked Lenni. "That's like saying we think it's weird, too."

"You got a point, there," Jamal commented.

Lenni sat there, thinking. She then uncapped her pen again and crossed out something, then wrote another word. "Okay, I put 'differently' instead," she relayed.

Gaby grinned. "That's better," she said. She then read from what Lenni had written again. "Problem number two: Kanata's bowing area takes up more room."

"The Orchestra teacher might even have to rearrange the entire Orchestra to fit him," Alex commented.

"But how much?" Tina wanted to know. She then turned to Rob. "Do you know how bigger are than violin bows than cellos?"

Rob shrugged. "Kanata didn't say," he replied.

Tina frowned, thinking, then spoke up again. "Could Kanata just be on a side?" she asked, looking serious. "That way he could fit and not accidently hit anyone with his bow."

Rob noticed that Gaby and Lenni seemed to like the idea, while Jamal was frowning a bit. "I'm not sure," the dark-skinned boy said. "I know that bands have players in certain positions, like in sections. Maybe it's the same for Orchestra, and the Orchestra teacher wants all of the violins together."

Gaby scoffed a little bit. "He could just put him on a side, anyway," she countered.

Jamal shrugged. "Maybe," he said, not quite looking convinced.

Gaby huffed ever so slightly, but went on and read again from the notebook. "And the last problem- Problem number three: Kanata's violin sounds different from other violins."

"There's nothing that we can do about that," Lenni spoke up. "I mean, he plays violin sideways, because he can't play on his shoulder. So he can't change what it sounds like."

Gaby frowned from beside her. "What if he plays louder?" she said, suddenly smiling some. "Maybe his violin doesn't get enough sound, and so he could play louder, especially when the rest of the Orchestra is playing softer."

"I don't know," Jamal said. "Maybe it could, but I don't know much about music."

Rob noticed that Gaby and Alex looked expectantly at Lenni, who played the keyboard in her loft. He was not sure that she could help with this, though.

Lenni seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Sorry," she said, making an apologetic face. "I can sort of play a keyboard and a piano, but I don't know much about string instruments."

"But a piano has strings in it," Gaby stated.

"It does?" Alex asked, looking interestedly at his sister.

Rob spoke up. "Actually, it's a percussion instrument, even with the strings," he pointed out. He remembered that from a general music class in elementary school one time, though he was not really sure if it had been a school on a military base, or a civilian school.

Gaby looked kind of crestfallen that she had been incorrect, but looked at the list again. "Well, we can't do anything about the first problem on the list, including the note, unless Kanata could play better."

Rob scowled slightly. "But I already told you- he already plays really well," he contradicted. "It's just that the Orchestra teacher that won't let him in the class." He remembered the Japanese boy playing in the Orchestra room again, with the quality of his playing seeming just as good as the three Orchestra students that had been practicing for a competition.

Thankfully, Gaby seemed to agree with him, and nodded. "So maybe we could do nothing about problem number one, then, and also nothing about number three, if playing louder wouldn't work," she said.

Tina nodded. "That just leaves problem with the extra bow space needed for Kanata left."

"And the Orchestra teacher to let Kanata be in the Orchestra in the first place," Gaby added. She leaned over and put her elbows on her lap. "Now we're just back to the original problem."

Lenni sighed as she closed her notebook. "It's not that Kanata is too disabled in the first place, anyway."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, there's no way you would even know it by just looking at him. He plays basketball, and walks, and does everything else just fine, besides the pull-up bar."

Rob also remembered the slightly awkward-looking way he had noticed Kanata carrying the books for the Science teacher, but decided to not mention it. It really did not matter for this, anyway.

"It's weird that a small thing can make such a big difference," Tina remarked.

Lenni looked serious as she made the next comment. "Maybe not for most things," she said. "But it's something that really matters for playing violin."

"Which is what he wants to do in the Orchestra," Gaby added from her slumped position.

"Maybe we could ask the principal, Ms. Kelly," Rob suggested. Hopefully Jason's idea would work somehow.

To his surprise, Jamal was frowning. "I think that usually, teachers are trusted to choose who they pick to be in their classes if they're select ones like that," he stated thoughtfully. "Especially if they've been teaching that class for a while."

"How long has Mr. Bentsen been the Orchestra conductor?" Lenni asked.

Rob shrugged, sighing a little bit at the unfairness of the whole situation. "I'm not sure," he replied.

Alex scrunched up his face slightly, thinking. "Has anyone else been also not allowed to be in the Orchestra?" he wondered. "Maybe unlike Kanata, they didn't play well enough. What would they do about that?"

No one else knew that, either. "So there are two things that we could find out at Hurston," Lenni pointed out. "Maybe even one of the teachers would know."

Gaby sat up more. "We could go to the library and try to find out more things about Orchestra, and violins," she said.

Rob agreed, and so did Lenni, Jamal, and Alex. Gaby looked at Tina, who seemed to be lost in thought. The Vietnamese girl then spoke up.

"Do you know of anyone else that really knows music around here?" she asked. "Especially Orchestra music?"

"Do you mean for something like a recommendation?" Jamal said, looking thoughtful.

Tina shrugged. "Or also anyone that would know anything about music groups and handicaps, and maybe what they do about it," she said. "Maybe if the Orchestra teacher knew someone else that had a handicapped student that was in their class, he wouldn't feel that he would be the only one, and Kanata might have more of a chance."

Rob instantly thought of the deaf musicians at Jason's school. They were probably more professional at handling something with their musicians that lived there, since as Kanata had stated, it was a deaf school in the first place. They were equipped for and had experience with lots of different types of students, including those that were just hard-of-hearing instead of completely deaf.

He was not sure if it might be the same type of problem, though, as Jamal had suggested about asking the principal of Hurston for help. The Orchestra teacher just simply could choose whoever he wanted to be in his Orchestra. Anyone's opinion, professional or not, might not change his mind, especially as it seemed that he might seem to be attempted to be more expert himself, with his class of "usual" students only. Maybe it would not help that it was not really too close to the same problem, as well definitely not in the area. He could almost see the scowl on the Orchestra teacher's face after he read a letter from Jason's school, and wondering why in the world was a completely random deaf school, of all things, from way out of town had written to him.

Rob scowled inwardly. This was one of those many times that he wished that he lived much closer to Jason's school, including being able to call via teletypewriter him more often. Getting a letter from his older brother about every week- or much rarer, two- seemed sometimes a really long time to wait for an answer, especially if he wanted a response for something sooner. He did not really want to mention the deaf musicians to the team currently, even though they already knew about Jason from when he had visited Brooklyn for the first time a few months ago.

Rob started a bit as Lenni spoke up. "We could talk to other Orchestra teachers in town, like at other schools, including high schools," she said.

Tina nodded, seeming to agree. "I could ask my brother Tony to ask in his high school," she suggested.

Rob saw Lenni smile some. "So it looks like we have work to do," she said happily.

Gaby grinned. "Yup," she replied. "On to the library!"

Rob looked at another book that he had gotten from a non-fiction section. Jamal sat beside him, and Alex across the table. Gaby, Tina and Lenni were at another table nearby. Finding a part about violin sizes, he skimmed through it. He wondered what if Kanata had a full size violin or not, though maybe it might not make too much of a difference even if he did, since violins were much smaller than cellos anyway.

Later, they all met up at a larger table to talk and compare notes. Gaby immediately volunteered to be first, and opened her small pink notebook.

"I have something about what instruments are in a string Orchestra," she began. She pointed to apart that she had written, and read it aloud. "'Strings Orchestras are made up of four different instruments- the violins, violas, cellos, and basses, also called double basses, and all of them are different sizes. The double bass is the biggest, and it can be six feet tall."

"People have to stand while playing it," Tina added.

"No kidding," Alex commented, grinning a little bit. "I sure wouldn't want to sit down while playing it something that big."

Gaby made a face at her brother. "You probably couldn't even reach the strings," she pointed out.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

Gaby looked at her notes again. "Also, the violins usually split into two groups- first violins and second violins."

"That's a lot of violins," Lenni stated. "Is it that way for the other instruments too?"

Gaby shrugged. "I looked it up for smaller Orchestras, like for schools," she said. "Usually the others aren't split into two sections like the violins are."

Tina put her chin on her hand. "So if Kanata played in the Orchestra, would he be a first or second violin?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "Is there a huge difference?"

Jamal opened his notebook. "I got here that the first violin section often has the melody, but also usually has the more difficult part to play, including with more ornaments."

"Ornaments?" Gaby asked, looking confused. "I don't think it's talking about the ones you hang on Christmas trees."

"In music, they're fancy little things like trills, or turns," Lenni explained.

Rob saw that Gaby still looked a little confused. Lenni must have also for she put her right hand on the table in a slightly curved shape, like the smooth wood was the keys of a piano.

"One type of trill is like this," she said, moving her pointer and middle finger alternately, quite fast. "It's not on a piano, but maybe you get the point." She then stopped moving her hand and grinned. "I've heard one of my dad's friends call trills and other things like that, or even just fast parts, like a lot of sixteenth notes, 'doodley stuff."

Gaby nodded. "Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about."

Tina then read from her notebook. "I have that the first and second chairs in the first violin section are called the concert master and the assistant concert master," she said. "Those two are usually the best in the violin section, and the concert master can even wait to come on stage after the rest of the Orchestra is already there."

"Wow, It sounds like a really big deal to be the concert master," Lenni commented, smiling some.

"I guess so," Gaby replied.

Alex then grinned. "Hey, I've got something that's kind of funny," he said, while pointing to her notebook. "I was reading some parts of a violin, and also the bow. One end of the violin is called the tip, while the other end, which is the one you hold the bow with, is called the frog, if you can believe that."

"The frog?" Lenni asked, laughing.

Jamal also grinned some. "Now that is pretty funny," he said.

"Why is it called that?" Tina was wanting to know.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know," he responded. "It didn't actually say why it is."

The rest of the team also shared their notes, including Rob. When it was his turn, he skipped over the different sizes of the instruments, since that had already been covered. He had been a little surprised to learn about violas, though. Maybe that was what the eighth grader he had seen in the Orchestra room with what he had thought was a large violin actually played.

He began to read some of his own notes about how Orchestras were generally arranged, in a semi-circle, with the first violins on one side, and cellos on the other, and generally where they were on a stage.

Tina was frowning as she looked at Rob's small half circle diagram that he had made. "So Kanata couldn't play on the side after all, with either the violins or the cellos," she commented. "There wouldn't be any room."

"He could go in the back," Alex said, pointing behind both of the violin sections. "That way he wouldn't have to watch out for other people nearby him."

Gaby huffed. "I wouldn't want to be all the way back in the Orchestra," she pouted. "I would really feel left out. Maybe Kanata would, too."

"But he would still be in it," her brother countered, looking serious.

Lenni nodded. "Yeah, he would," she agreed.

Rob then grinned a bit. "I think that it would really be neat if Kanata could be the concert master," he said. "That would definitely show people that it doesn't matter how he plays violin." Plus, it would definitely show that even disabled people could play just as well or even better than other usual musicians.

To his disappointment, Jamal was frowning some. "I don't know about that," the dark-skinned boy replied, shrugging a little.

Tina nodded, seeming to agree. "He has to get in the Orchestra first," she added seriously.

Rob huffed a bit. Kanata seemed really good, but so did the three people that he had seen in the Orchestra room, including the female violinist. He definitely seemed way better than to be just stuck in the back of the Orchestra, even though Alex was right that he would fit there with no problems.

Later, they left the library toward their houses. Rob trailed along beside Jamal on his skateboard for a while until the dark-skinned boy stopped to ask one of his school friends something. He left Jamal still talking to the person and whizzed along the large sidewalks on his skateboard, glad that he could go faster now.

A few days later, Rob walked through the doorway of the bookstore near Alex and Gaby's family grocery store. There had been an ad for several books that were going to be half-price.

He went toward the table, interested, and skimmed through the titles. After eventually picking out a few novels, as well as looking at (and reading at least parts of) some other books in the store for a while, he went out to the check-out counter. Surprisingly, Kanata was there also, holding what looked like a science fiction novel with a large spaceship on the cover.

"Hey, Kanata," he greeted him.

The Japanese boy spun around. His face turned into a small grin.

"Hi," he replied. "Rob, right?"

Rob nodded. "Yeah. So you like books, too?" he asked.

Kanata shrugged. "Yeah, sometimes," he said. "But this one is actually for my older sister. Her birthday's in a few days."

He then moved up to the counter. Rob watched as Kanata placed his book on the counter. The man standing behind it briefly glanced at the price tag before restating how much was owed, and Kanata handed the person a few bills. Less than a minute later, the store person turned back around.

"Here's your change," the man said with a somewhat bored look on his face as he held out his large hand with several coins in it.

Rob noticed that Kanata hesitated, then spoke up. "Could you put it on the counter, please?" he asked.

The man at the counter rolled his eyes. "Nah, just hold your hand out, kid. It's not that hard."

Rob saw Kanata sigh and hold out his right hand crookedly. The man poured out the coins into his hand. Kanata caught some of the coins, but several of them slid right off of his slanted palm and bounced onto the counter. His face now a little red, Kanata then picked them up and put them into his wallet. "Next time turn your hand a little more so your change doesn't fall down," the man intoned.

Kanata nodded briefly, still looking slightly embarrassed, then took the bag with his book and walked from the counter. Rob was next in line, and he quickly bought his books before walking out the door. He then looked down the sidewalk. Thankfully, he could see Kanata as he walked near the corner on the right side of the street.

He ran down the busy sidewalk, dodging several people, and slowed down as he saw the familiar black hair.

"Hey, Kanata!" he yelled.

Kanata turned around to see him. "Yeah?" he asked, once Rob came to a stop beside him.

"So, do you know where the Orchestra teacher would be after school?" he asked.

Kanata frowned a little bit as he shrugged. "If he wouldn't be at Hurston, then maybe at either the elementary school or high school that he teaches at."

Rob stared a little bit, surprised. "He teaches Orchestra at other schools, too?"

"Yeah," Kanata nodding. "Maybe he does that since Orchestra is only one class period, but I don't know."

"Maybe."

"How come you wanted to know about the Orchestra teacher?" Kanata asked curiously.

Rob frowned as random civilians thronged passed them, including one small girl on rollerblades. "Well, my friends and I actually want to help you get into the Orchestra," he responded.

Kanata's face suddenly turned quite confused. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

Rob sighed, remembering the Japanese boy's poem, and his saddened face after talking to Rob in the Orchestra room. "Well, I heard you, and I think you're really good," he said. "You should have a chance to be in it, even with the way you play."

He saw Kanata's face turn surprisingly somewhat melancholy. "I don't think that the conductor will change his mind," he stated gloomily.

"He really should," Rob responded. "He doesn't know what a good violinist he's missing."

Kanata sighed heavily. "Look, I've got to go," he said, glancing at the crosswalk nearby that had cars stopped by it.

Rob watched as Kanata dashed across the white lines to the other side of the street, then disappear around the corner.

Rob quickly walked with the hall pass, along with the note from his third period class teacher for the school secretary in his school's hallways. He stopped by the office, and handed the note to the person in front of the counter.

"This note is from Mrs. Gerwin," he said, handing the note to the woman.

She took the small piece of paper and read it, then placed it down in front of a large pink notepad. "Thank you very much," she stated, smiling.

Rob nodded and walked out of the office. Looking at his watch, he remembered that Kanata had stated that the Orchestra also had class now. A little curious, instead of turning left to go back to his classroom, he went right and down the hallway. Near the end, he could hear the sound of a string Orchestra playing, and right in front of the door was a familiar student with black hair.

"Kanata?" Rob asked.

The Japanese boy turned around, and Rob could see that he was holding a small thermos. "Oh, hi again," he replied.

"So you're watching the Orchestra?"

Kanata nodded. "Yeah."

He turned his head back toward the small window and gazed intently at the music class. He did not seem ready to leave anytime soon, even though Rob hoped that he would not be missing too much class. Rob walked more toward the door to also peek through the window.

Inside was the Orchestra, he saw various musicians playing smoothly in their own sections. Rob could even see what had to be the concert master, playing rapidly on the outside front seat of the first violin section. Rob was surprised that he actually recognized the brunette eighth grader there. He had not known when he had talked the concert master when he had seen the string trio that was preparing for a competition coming up.

The music definitely did not sound amateurish in any way, though. Even as a definite non-musician, Rob could tell that. Or at least, he hoped that he could tell it. The way that Kanata seemed entranced seemed to help for evidence, though.

"I've got to get back to class," he then stated to Kanata, partly as a hint.

Rob did feel sorry for his schoolmate, though. He definitely did not enjoy being taken away from a fun book that he was reading, or writing a poem.

Kanata nodded, looking rather wistful as he briefly glanced at the door again before going down the hallway. Rob followed him, the music instantly becoming fainter as he stepped away from the doorway.

He then stopped, wondering about something. "Hey, Kanata," he called out as loudly as he dared with other rooms around him.

Kanata turned around, looking a bit confused. "I thought that we were going back to class," he pointed out.

Rob shrugged a little, somewhat uncomfortable. "Well, I wanted to ask if you were going to play again in the Orchestra room."

Kanata huffed some. "Yeah, yeah," he stated. "But only for maybe off and on for two weeks- and due to some painter in my apartment that really just does not enjoy violin music- or any type of string music. Plus the people redoing some other stuff."

"I guess you like playing at home better?"

Kanata nodded. "Sure, I like being in an Orchestra room, but . . . Hey, why did you want to know?" he suddenly added.

Rob flinched a little bit. "Never mind," he quickly stated, leaving Kanata looking a bit baffled as he passed him.

He then sighed. The rest of the team, Ghostwriter included, had not found any more clues about the mysterious Orchestra teacher, besides a random stray fact that the person apparently liked swiss cheese and chess. Lenni stated that she had managed to hear that at one point. Rob was not quite sure about it, but who knew.

Rob did-sort of- have a plan that might help a little bit about Kanata and the Orchestra. During the quick few minutes before his next class, he even asked Ghostwriter who was scheduled to be in the office just after school ended. He was somewhat excited- and a bit apprehensive to know that assistant principal was (the principal herself had a meeting in another part of the school).

Despite his nervousness, he almost could not stop himself from grinning a bit after the teacher started the class (after severely reprimanding a wayward student that had actually thrown a cup full of pencil erasers- in colored soapy water- at the blackboard. They had even managed get them to quickly clean up the mess).

However, after quickly walking to the office, it was him that was to be severely disappointed. He quickly talked to the assistant principal, but either they were very busy, or just did not even like any sort of music class. Even the principal coming to the small room a few minutes later did not have any helpful advice besides a hurried "not now."

Rob sighed, dejectedly staring at the closed door of the main office. Surely the Orchestra teacher had not just practically slammed the door in Kanata's face, dismissing him just as fast like the assistant principal had with Rob? Perhaps the principal did not want to help, either, or could not, like Jamal had stated earlier.

. . . Would anyone, ever?

Huffing, he went to the computer lab to write again. He managed to quickly forget about his current problem of irate teachers and school staff as he wrote more on a story about a Jedi (which he had been thinking about showing to Jason at some point, as his older brother quite like Star Wars themed stories.

A few minutes later, he had saved his progress to a floppy disk, and was quickly walking in the nearly empty halls to the Orchestra room. Perhaps even if classmate did not believe that the Orchestra teacher would not allow him the right to play in his music class, maybe there was something that he knew that could help even a small bit. Maybe he would be lucky enough to even find the crazy Orchestra teacher at some point.

He was quite disappointed, though, when he neared the room. There was not one single sound of a violin from the closed door.

Rob quickly checked the small window of the door, hoping that at least, Kanata was maybe even searching for some sheet music, or fiddling with the end of his bow, like he had seen some violinists do before.

He was confused to see a chair in the same spot he had last time, but with only the violin on it. The bow seemed to be laid neatly on the black stand, in front of what looked like might be notated paper already there. Of the musician them self, there was no sign.

Rob shrugged a bit. Maybe Kanata had gone to his locker, though he wondered why his schoolmate had not put his violin away. Perhaps he thought that no one would disturb a random instrument after school hours.

He opened the door, and heard a slightly familiar male voice. "Maybe in the ceiling?" the person stated, sounding bit confused.

What sounded like Kanata then answered. "I really don't know. Are your sure it was in here?"

Baffled again, Rob headed toward the voices to see Kanata and Rayco Varas from his gym class standing on some chairs near the lockers in the back of the room, peering at the worn ceiling tiles. For one split second, Rob was almost not sure if they were even looking for aliens or secret passages. Either way, it was definitely not what he had expected.

He came a bit closer to the duo just as Rayco lifted a large square rectangular tile. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Rayco just let go of the tile, and turned toward him, but Kanata started so much that he lost his balance from his chair. Rob watched, with wide eyes, but fortunately, Rayco quickly jumped off his own chair and saved his classmate from toppling on the floor.

Rayco let of Kanata, who looked a little embarrassed. Both then turned toward Rob.

"Well," Rayco began, "some idiot stole my Science binder- which I heard from someone who is definitely not an idiot- and they had said that it was in this room."

"Your Science binder?" Rob asked. "What did they do that?"

Rayco shrugged. "Don't know, but it was be good not to lose it. It's got all my notes in it."

Rob decided not to ask further about the topic. Perhaps Rayco had even somehow gotten into a verbal fight with the "idiot", and for retribution, the person had stolen maybe even the binder he had chanced to be using for the class he was in. The whole incident had definitely occurred before the last class of the school day, since Science was his own last period class, and Rayco was definitely not in it.

"Why would they hide the binder in here, though?" Rob asked. Surely a trashcan or even a locker would be more of a usual choice.

Rayco shrugged again. "Well, it doesn't matter, really, as long as I find it."

"Maybe it would be behind the piano?" Rob asked as Rayco got onto the chair he had been standing on again, with Kanata apprehensively watching.

"Looked there already," Rayco replied thinly as he lifted up the ceiling tile again, this time further upward.

Rob watched as he put in his other hand into the ceiling- Rob attempted to not remember Alex's strange story of goopy green monsters hiding in the walls of the bodega the previous week- but the Spanish boy merely just put out his hand again, unharmed. Generally he did not (that) scare easily with monster or alien stories, but he usually did not watch people lift tiles into an unknown school ceiling, either.

Rob looked around the room some more much closer to the ground, with the other two boys lifting more ceiling tiles. He was wondering if the binder could possibly be thrown out the window or somewhere else, when he heard Rayco speak up again.

"Got something there," he muttered, and Rob turned to see him groping past yet another ceiling tile.

He then watched as Rayco pulled out a thin green binder, seemingly unharmed, and even free of cobwebs (and goo).

"Is that it?" Kanata asked once they were both off the chairs.

Rob walked closer from where he had been attempting to peer in the darkness of the firmly shut lockers, and saw Rayco open the binder. Rayco leafed through the contents, opening each section to the last spot, where Rob figured where the most previous notes would be.

"Yep," Rayco said, nodding. "Seems like it's all intact, too."

"That's good," Kanata commented.

Rob silently agreed. Unlike some queer students, he liked to do well in school. He had known Rayco to also do likewise, and from what he had seen, so did Kanata. The Japanese boy did not even like to goof off like some others did.

Rayco shifted the binder to one arm. "I'll leave you to your practicing then," he said to Kanata. He then turned to Rob. "And, uh, thanks for trying, anyway," he then said.

Rob shrugged a bit, embarrassed. He watched as Rayco walked toward the other side of the room where the door was. He then turned to Kanata. Surely he could at least ask a few questions before Kanata needed to practice again-

Rob then suddenly heard a stream of Spanish words that sounded like the ones that Alex had once stated meant, "That is very, very weird."

He quickly turned around to see that Rayco had opened the door of the Orchestra room, presumably to go into the hallway. Rob blinked a bit. The hallway was darker than he had seen it before, but perhaps there was a blackout in even just certain parts of the school.

He hurried to the doorway, with Kanata behind him, but stopped short.

"What is that?" Kanata said, surprised.

Beyond the doorway, it was definitely dark. However, Rob did not see the hallway, unless someone had quickly painted a vast, endless dark almost chamber of what looked like could even be stone beyond them.

Rob could only stare at the odd scene. Somehow, whatever was beyond the door was definitely not Hurston.