“So? A girl can change her mind.” I tensed as the woman down front called out my name. Oh, God. This was it. My moment. I perched on the edge of my chair, wanting so desperately to go up there, but knowing I couldn’t do it alone. “So? You in? The drums are already on the stage.”
He met my gaze for a long moment, then his face lit up with determination and excitement. “Let’s go have some fun.”
“Awesome!” I leapt to my feet, excitement whirring through me. I was really going to do this, on my terms! Rafe grabbed my hand, and I squeezed his tightly, so happy to feel his hand around mine. We were a team again, a partnership that no one could mess with.
He held my hand all the way down to the stage. He didn’t even let go while I informed the woman in charge that I was changing my audition and that Rafe was joining me. She tried to protest, but we ignored her and walked over to the instruments anyway.
I sat down at the piano and my heart started to hammer as I looked at all those gleaming white keys. My whole body tensed up and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do it. I—
The auditorium filled with the sound of Rafe’s drumsticks clicking against each other as he started the beat. The noise pulsed in my chest, filling me with the energy of his music. I looked up and saw him watching me.
He grinned and flipped his head to get his hair out of his eyes. He was wearing black jeans, a faded tee shirt and old sneakers. His tattoo was sparkling on his arm, the sunlight that had shattered into rainbow fragments. He was so Rafe, and so not of my classical music world. I remembered what it had felt like in that piano bar, when music had become personal and passionate. I felt that rush of excitement from when Rafe and I had played together in those jam sessions, our music igniting the air with such fire it had nearly exploded inside me.
Rafe didn’t take his gaze off me as he began to play. The powerful beat thudded in my chest, like shocks of electricity pulsing through me, jerking me out of my stupor and thrusting me into the person I wanted to be.
I grinned at him and tapped my fingers on the keys. The sound was clear and pure, filling the air with magic. I grinned and played more. Rafe upped his tempo, raising his eyebrows at his challenge. I laughed at him and answered him with the piano.
He came right back at me, an arrogant gleam in his eye, as if he knew he was going to outplay me. Hah! No chance! Adrenaline rushed through me, and I unleashed the music, letting it pour from me into the piano, across the stage and right at Rafe.
He grinned and suddenly his drums sprang to life, and I knew he wasn’t holding back any more. Not even one tiny bit. Elation rushed through me and I attacked the piano. I could feel the energy building, as if we were back in the piano bar, only this time it was Rafe and I in a battle for life, for energy, for the truth of who we were.
The music came alive, until all that was left was me and my piano, Rafe and his drums. The rest of the world disappeared, swept into the magic of the inferno we were creating. It was the best music I’d ever heard, felt, or played, and I knew then that music was who I was, and I loved it with every fiber of my being.
This was where I belonged! I slammed my fingers onto the keys and Rafe’s sticks flew over his drums with mind-numbing speed as our music rose to the crescendo and then boom!
We were done.
The room was utterly silent. The only sound was our heavy breathing, my heart thudding in my chest so loudly I felt like it would burst free. Rafe smiled at me and nodded.
Just a nod, that was it, but it said everything.
The room suddenly exploded with applause and screams as people leapt to their feet, shouting and cheering with enthusiasm that had no place at a classical music audition. It felt incredible! I knew then that it didn’t matter if I got in to NESM or not. It was enough that I’d come to the audition and kicked butt my way. Because I had. I’d found my place.
Lily Gardner was no longer a musical failure. Lily Gardner was simply music.
The woman in charge called the next name. I leapt off the stage and Rafe landed next to me. He grabbed me and swept me up in a big hug. “You were brilliant.”
I hugged him back. “Thanks to you! You were awesome too!”
He set me down and looked at me, his face going serious. “Lily—”
“Lily!” We both turned around to see my mom and Miss Jespersen hurrying down the aisle toward us.
I immediately tensed. “What are they doing here?”
“No idea.” Rafe moved next to me, settling his arm around my shoulder and pulling me up against him. “Hi, Aunt Joyce,” he said cautiously. “What’s up?”
Crusty didn’t answer. She simply threw her arms around both of us and hugged us so hard I thought I was going to burst. When she let go, I thought I saw her eyes getting watery. “I’m so proud of you both!” she said. She grabbed my shoulders. “Lily, I knew you could do it.”