The School Festival part IV

Daniel:" Yo are you gonna be alright? You don't really seem very fine."

Rosalia:" Huh what are you talking about, I look perfectly fine and I'll be fine."

Daniel:" You don't have to act so tough you know. If you're worried about the performance just say so."

Rosalia:" Nah I'll be fine, I just gotta do my best, then everything should work out right?

Daniel: She definitely doesn't seem fine, I hope she doesn't get too nervous over the performance.

As Rosalia walks around the school, staring at all the people having fun she laughed inside and wondered why she wasn't out there, laughing or having fun. Instead here she was walking around, alone, nervous and scared about the upcoming performance. All for her pride and her desire for acknowledgement from her parents.

As she noticed her brother walking around with a group of his friends, cheerful and smiling, enjoying themselves and having a great time.

Rosalia:" Must be nice having everything handed to you on a silver spoon, you aquire all the skills you need and even more. So much that your parents forgot to leave any for me."

As much as she despised the unfair treatment she was given at home compared to her pampered brother, Rosalia was always able to live with it. Constant screams of her mother would be drowned out by her music and her own mind telling her to rebel against it was suppressed so deep she couldn't even recall it anymore. But she was reaching her breaking point.

Coming home everyday to the constant yellings of her mother with an increased harshness to each insult was beginning to take its toll, and the inferiority she felt towards her brother was growing as each day she saw how much effort her parents had put into him and his future, while they did the bare minimum for her.

"No matter how strong you think you are, there will always be a limit to how much you can handle."

This performance might seem like an ordinary performance between two siblings, and for Lex, it certaintly seemed that way. But for Rosalia, it was more than a performance. It was her chance, an opportunity to prove to her parents who would be there that she was worth their attention.

As the performance would mark the ending of the first day of the school festival, Rosalia could feel the anxiety and nervousness building up even more as the moment approached. She wondered whether she was actually able to live up to the standards she had set for herself.

Her brother was constantly attending violin classes, while she got taken out of classes a few months ago, so she was stuck with learning how to play by herself from Youtube videos and through a bit of exploring on her own. A small part of her constantly echoed to her of how bad of a plan this was, and how it was certainly going to end in nothing but further humiliation. But she needed this, to give herself the strength and motivation to continue working hard. Having always set her brother as her goal and motivation, today was finally the chance she had to best him at something he was good at, to show their parents she could perform better than him.

Rosalia: "Maybe I should start practising."

Taking the violin out of the case, she began to play but found her hands to be shaking, and she couldn't really concentrate or focus on practicing.

Rosalia: "It's no good, what am I gonna do now? I'm so nervous I can't play."

Sitting in the waiting room, Rosalia stared at the ground in despair as she awaited her inevitable humiliation. Almost like she was giving up. Her hands and her entire body was still trembling in fear. Fear that had been built up for years, which was being unleashed at this one moment.

Michael: "Hey we came to check on you.... woah.... the mood here is really tense."

Daniel: "She's way too nervous to actually play."

Michael: "I get that though, I was exactly the same when I was with her just now."

Immediately a slap connected to Michael's head as he covered his head in shock.

Daniel: "This isn't about you man."

Michael:" Bro why do you have to be so cruel all the time?"

Daniel:" It's for your own good so we can keep that ego in check."

Michael:" What ego?"

Daniel:" Well if you weren't blind maybe you could notice that huge ego of yours."

Michael:" Why are you so annoying today?"

Watching her friends' usual banter helped light a smile on her face as she burst out in laughter.

Rosalia:" Just what are you two doing haha!"

Looking at Rosalia cheer up, the two felt like their mission was a success and glanced each other a job well done look, saying some final words before the performance.

Michael:" Just loosen up alright and play to the best of your ability, and everything should be work out fine." Michael cheerfully leaves, still fantasising and running through what happened in this afternoon, but as Daniel stepped out. He had one simple remark:

"Stop chasing after other people shadows, find one for yourself and stick with it."

She found that phrase odd, whose shadow was she was chasing? And what did he mean by finding out for herself? But all these sentiments were washed away as the performance arrived.

Walking out towards an empty space, Jasmine was leaned up against the wall the of the entrance of the waiting room.

Daniel once again was entranced by her long flowing black hair, her slender body physique and bluish-black eyes.

Jasmine:" Quite the display of words there huh?"

Daniel:" You were listening? That's embarrassing."

Jasmine:" I have to list this down in your top ten embarrassing moments."

Daniel:" Wait, I already have more than ten?"

Jasmine:" Is Rosalia gonna be alright? She seems way too nervous."

Daniel:" I hope she'll be fine, once she calms her nerves she should do fine, all the rest is up to her playing skills."

Jasmine:" It's pretty obvious what her motivations are this time, looking at all the reasons why she signed up, based on my observation."

Daniel:" Yeah you're right, but this is something only she can beat herself, only then will she get the acknowledgement she wants."

As Rosalia stood backstage, waiting for her brother to go on stage and perform, she was so nervous and could barely function, she tried everything to calm herself down but it didn't work.

??: "For the next segment, we will be having two violin performances. What's special? The two performers are siblings! Exciting right? Can't wait to see the sibling rivalry! So, without further ado, let's welcome the first performer, Lex from class 2-E!"

Lex steps up, cool, calm and confident, as always. He received an abundance of cheers and claps from his friends and strangers likewise. After the clapping subsided, Lex took a deep breath and gracefully lifted up his bow, starting the opening note crisply and clearly.

As he played, you could see the skill and the amount of effort he put into practicing his intonation and technique, the tune and rhythm were in perfect harmony and everything flowed smoothly. It's almost like if you googled "violin performance", this would be the first result.

After the performance ends, the crowd goes into a frenzy, roaring with cheers and shouts.

??: "All right! Thank you Lex for that wonderful performance! Now, let's invite his sister, Rosalia onstage for the second performance!"

Rosalia, already nervous, stepped onto the stage and just stood there. She wanted to move but the fear and nervousness of it all froze her. The humiliation she could feel from the peering eyes staring at her, anticipating her every move. She clenched her fist ready to throw in the towel.

I knew I can't ever beat him. I couldn't even play on stage normally. I let everyone down huh... I'm such a failure.

However, she caught a glimpse of her brother standing backstage also looking at her, to which she was reminded of all the determination and drive that led her to this very moment. Were there regrets? Of course there were, but none of it mattered now. She had made those choices and now she would stick with them.

She begun to move and play and as she played, the tune and rhythm were different from Lex. While his playing was soothing, calm and relaxing, Rosalia's playing was filled with passion and drive, while still being pleasing to the ears of the audience. Everyone in the audience could sense the dedication and the effort she was putting in to play, surely her parents would as well.

Rosalia: I can do it, I can do this.

As she continued to play, the audience continued to be entranced by her music and were attentively sitting and listening, drawn in by her drive and will. Then, just as the performance had started, it had already ended. Rosalia shouted a huge "thank you!" to the crowd, and ran off.

Rosalia anticipated the crowd's reactions while she hid backstage. Suddenly, to Rosalia's surprise, the whole room erupted in cheers and applause the likes of which dwarfed the reaction to Lex's ordinary performance. No one in the room could deny her superior drive and greater will to succeed, and she was rewarded for it.

As she stared into the crowd, listening to their applause and cheers, she looked like she had been blessed with such a valuable gift never received before, almost like a child receiving her first toy. Daniel and Jasmine looked at each other from behind Rosalia and gave each other a look of satisfaction and a "job well done" (even though they did nothing)

Rosalia walked off stage, still with her adrenaline pumping, her parents walked up to her. While she was bracing herself for yet another scolding, her parents instead simply praised her with a "good job" and walked off. The sense of joy and happiness from those words lit up Rosalia's face, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears. As Michael and Daniel watched, they said to each other:

Michael: "This year's school festival is so much more interesting than the previous two years'."

Daniel: "You're just saying that because you got some very good alone time with Jamin today."

Michael: "Come on man, it was great for me."

Daniel: "Yes and I deserve my rewards for helping you out."

Michael: "EHH come on bro."

Daniel smiled to himself staring at the evening sky outside the hall, watching the sun slowly setting as the night began to arrive, he couldn't help but smile and wonder what could possibly lie ahead on the second day of the festival. If so much had already happened on the first day, who knows how eventful the second day would be? He wondered what kind of shit he was about to go through tomorrow...