What a Song Can Do by Jennifer Armstrong

Author:Jennifer Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307434104
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2007-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

Cameron was stunned. She didn’t know what to think. She read the letter again, and then once more, to see if it had any clues for her. Her brothers were in the living room, jumping on each other, so she went out to the kitchen to phone Penelope. Her mom was chopping onions.

“Penelope, hello. Do you know about this?”

“About the audition? Paul Smith asked me to be in the orchestra.”

Cameron paused. “Should I agree?” she asked. Her mother was tapping her shoulder to ask what was up. She handed her mother the letter, as she listened to Penelope.

“I think you have to. The worst you could get is third chair, and that’s what you’ll get if you don’t audition.”

“But if I blow it, I’ll be in front of hundreds of people.”

“Then don’t blow it. It’s a great idea for a fund-raiser. Besides, it will get the town more personally involved with the orchestra if they have a hand in choosing the concertmaster.”

“Or mistress.”

Penelope laughed. “When you come for your lesson tomorrow, we’ll discuss what music to play.”

At orchestra rehearsal, the tension was a little tight when Mr. Smith announced his brilliant idea for the play-off. “I expect you all to be there,” he said. “You can have a voice in choosing your leader.”

Peter groaned. Cameron hid her face in her hands. Elias just looked out to the empty seats in the audience. He couldn’t care less, it seemed.

“Do we have to pay to get in?” asked one of the horns.

“Of course,” said Mr. Smith. “And bring your parents. This is the Moscow leg of our trip next year.”

A horn player said, “We better not play too fast there, or we’ll be rushin.’”

The orchestra groaned, simultaneously and in tune.

Cameron sat beside Peter, with Elias right in front of them. This was the order, by rights. Elias, Peter, and then Cameron. The three of them knew it. Why did they have to present it to the entire town? Elias had a tight frown on his face as he played the Saint-Saëns. Cameron could see him out of the corner of her eye. His father was one of the parents who stayed through every rehearsal, working on his laptop in the back of the room. Elias was lucky to have such devoted parents, Cameron thought. Her mom and dad were busy with her younger brothers, so they pretty much left her to manage her own schedule. If it was really cold or pouring rain, they’d give her a ride, but she mostly walked. It made her feel a bit lonely, when she thought of it. Maybe if she was concertmaster, they’d pay more attention to her music.

They had sixteen measures’ rest. Peter leaned over and whispered, “I’m gonna whip your butt.” He was grinning.

Cameron decided to not get angry, but it took a conscious decision, like turning a switch firmly off. She could let him win or she could fight him. By measure fourteen, she’d made a decision. “Not on your life,” she said, then tucked her violin under her chin and raised her bow.

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