Chapter 31 Orion
Orion
I pointed my iPhone camera at the ground, hit record, and narrated.
“Now, we pour the polymer into sample number three of our experiment, and watch the magic happen.”
Keeping the camera trained on the ground with my left hand, I poured my concoction. It oozed, thick and grayish-black, into the hole in the ground.
“Voilà. The pothole magically begins to close,” I said.
“As you can see, the ionic bonds create a chemical ‘grip’ with the oxidized asphalt already present in the road. No need for heavy machinery or road closures, and the polymers will dry within an hour. You can refer to the project report for my materials list and experiments detailing the steps I took to arrive at these conclusions. Thank you very much.”
I shut off the camera. “Bollocks. It worked.”
Well, it was a vanity project as far as science experiments went.
Nothing compared to Harper’s water-purification system that would actually benefit communities and save lives.
Even if she had to work with cheap “ugly buckets” while I had access to all the world-class materials I could ever want.
I was confident mine was enough to please my parents that I’d tried, but not enough to wow the judges for a win.
Lush greenery just brushing off winter’s white and birdsong surrounded me.
Harper’s house was just down the street and around the corner in this Bend neighborhood where the potholes were plenty.
I thought about popping in, but I didn’t want to interrupt her work or embarrass her if she was having a bad day.
Instead, I packed up my equipment and headed back to the Academy for my lesson with Ezra.
I headed into the STEM Wing to stow my NoSci project equipment and then headed to the Arts Wing. Ezra was waiting for me in the Advanced Piano room. He had a strange smile on his face, and he was rocking back on his heels, hands in the pockets of his black coat.
“What are we so happy about?” I asked, dumping my bag on the piano bench. “Did the Academy renew your contract for another year?”
“God, no.” Ezra’s smile turned into a grimace.
“Do you think that would be cause for celebration? No, the Orchestre de Paris has invited me to be a featured soloist across multiple programs in the fall, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has pinned me down as their resident concert pianist in the spring. I’m a kept man. ”
“Congratulations!” I said. “That is cause for celebration.”
“Thank you, but that’s not why I’m smiling,” Ezra said. “This Friday, at one o’clock, the chair of the Piano Department and the associate dean of music from Juilliard are coming here to listen to you audition for their illustrious institution.”
I froze. A dividing line seemed to draw itself in the sand right before me.
The later I kept putting off was suddenly here, and all the fear and uncertainty and not enough I’d been harboring for years came roaring up.
I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t good enough.
I could barely write. I was an embarrassment…
It all hijacked my mind, and I felt like a passenger on a speeding train, wanting to get off and too scared of where I might land if I did.
“Ezra…”
“I know, I know,” he said, waving his hands.
“You haven’t decided, and I’m not trying to bully you, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Just think of it as insurance. Keeping your options open, though it’s not every day those important people are willing to travel on the word of a miscreant like me.
But honestly, Orion, your étude is perfect, and the spring concert is one week too late for their schedule.
Now is your opportunity, and you must seize it.
Harness that incredible talent of yours and show it to them. ”
“Ezra, even if I agreed with your questionable tactics, the Head of the Bay Regatta is on Friday. I have to row.”
He stared at me for a moment, then ran his hands over his face. “Oh, bloody hell, I forgot.”
“You forgot? The entire school’s been talking about nothing else for weeks. I’ve mentioned it at least a hundred times.”
“Well, perhaps it slipped my mind because sitting in a thin little boat, pushing a paddle back and forth is nowhere near as important as Juilliard.”
“Or perhaps it slipped your mind because you’re drunk all the damn time.”
His eye’s widened, his tone stiff. “Cheeky, aren’t we?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, waving my hands. “That was uncalled for.”
“To put it mildly.”
“But you can’t just make these kinds of decisions for me.”
“Well, someone bloody has to!” he shouted. “Are you telling me you’re going to walk away from your craft? From that life?”
“What life?” I shouted back. “Life is not going to accommodate me just because I can play. I don’t speak the language of music. I can’t write. I’m going to embarrass myself.”
“Who told you that?” Ezra said incredulously. “Who…what lies are you listening to? Because it’s bollocks.” He leveled a finger at me. “You were abandoned for ten years, and you’re still abandoned. Even now. And so you’re scared. I get it, Orion. But—”
“I’m not abandoned,” I retorted with a snort. “I’m not scared.”
Terrified, maybe…
“No? How about this,” Ezra said. “Are you going to walk away from Harper?”
I stared, fumbling for something to say.
“You don’t get it, do you?” he continued. “Do you know why your étude is brilliant? Because of her. Because of love. She has cracked open your heart, and you’re going to walk away?”
“I…haven’t decided yet.”
“Yes, yes, yes, you haven’t decided yet.” He flapped his hands, storming for the door. “When is yet? When is later? When is soon? Because there will come a time, Orion, when yet and later and soon become too late.”
***
I went to crew practice down by the docks under a gray sky and cold air, my mood just as gray and stormy, muttering and cursing under my breath, telling myself that Ezra Wolfe had no right to talk to me like that.
He was a piano teacher, not a therapist. He didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.
Because it’s just so simple to upheave your entire life. To leave your family’s empire and everything they had planned for you to play little songs for a living.
But the thoughts rang hollow. Empty. Which only infuriated me more.
Rhett sneered. “Who pissed in your Cheerios, Mercer?”
“You can fuck all the way off, Calloway.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Tucker stepped between us, while Xander and Dean watched, ready to intervene. “Now, guys, let’s be cool. We got the Head of the Bay in five short days, and we’re going to kill it. Once we do that, we only have one regatta left and the season is ours.”
Rhett shrugged narrow shoulders. “Sure, sure,” he said with a snide smile. “Just make sure Mercer has someone help him read the road signs. Wouldn’t want him getting lost on the way to the docks.”
Instantly, a red haze fell over my vision and I lunged at him, but Tucker held me back and then gave Rhett a not-too-gentle shove. He took me by the shoulders. “You okay, man? Don’t listen to Calloway. He’s just blowing off steam.”
“Sure he is,” I said, while Tucker was doing anything and everything to keep the peace in order to get his win.
“Hey,” he said. “Speaking of blowing off steam, I was thinking after we win this thing, we have a big party. A rager. We haven’t had one in a while.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said absently, my mind still in the piano room. A Juilliard audition right there in my hands, and instead I was going to be here, with Rhett Calloway sitting behind me, rowing a little stick…
“Cool,” Tucker was saying, “but the party can’t really be at my house ’cause my parents are in town. In fact, everybody’s parents are in town.”
“Yeah. And?”
“Well…your parents are not in town. In fact, your parents are clear across the Atlantic. What about having it at Atlas Hall?”
I nodded, thinking. “Yeah, I could do that. I could totally do that.”
The school wouldn’t care. I was a goddamn Mercer. I was Big Five. I could do whatever the fuck I wanted.
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll hire somebody and get it rolling.”
“Fuck yeah!” Tucker said. “We’re going to win this thing, and then we’re going to celebrate in style.”
“One hundred percent.”
Because screw Ezra Wolfe. He didn’t get to decide my life for me. No one did but me.
And Harper…?
But Coach Daniels and the assistant coach were heading toward us to start practice.
I turned to Rhett. “Hey, if you’re a good boy, Calloway, I might let you come to my party.”