38. Harlowe
Ihad sat in on numerous rehearsals now. Klaus refused to learn my name and kept calling me a succubus spy, but I was wearing him down.
He was a minutiae less hostile to me. Usually after I brought his coffee and I could understand that on a deep, emotional level because I was less hostile after coffee too.
Isobel was out of tune nearly every rehearsal. Hot and cold weather could put a stringed instrument out of tune or even destroy it if you left it out there too long. But the temperature in the theatre was comfortable and Isobel should have been doing this long enough to adjust to anything.
Klaus hadn’t asked me what the problem was again when he stopped rehearsal to yell at her, but I guess tonight, he decided to put a massive target on my back.
“Succubus spy!”
Yeah, that was officially me now. Fuck my life.
I stood up and moved closer to Klaus. I hadn’t actually done anything and aside from having extremely bad aim when he was throwing things, he only singled out people who fucked up once the music started.
He thought Faustus sent me to spy on him, but he wouldn’t interrupt the music about that.
“Aurelia showed me your subway video. You are competent, succubus, but you re-tuned your violin to play the Devil’s Tritone, which means you aren’t completely tone deaf.
For the sake of the orchestra and every dancer in the cast, you are going to tune Miss Shackleton’s violin for the remainder of the run since she insists on making the rest of us deal with it. ”
Wonderful. That was embarrassing as fuck for someone at this level.
When I started violin lessons as a child, my teacher tuned my violin.
She started teaching me to do it when I was eight and I was doing it on my own when I was thirteen.
Based on the looks from the other violins, violas, and cellos, they were pretty put out.
If she wasn’t capable of doing it by ear, there were a variety of tools she could buy and there were even apps for cell phones. Using any one of those would have prevented all of this.
Isobel looked like she’d take my eye right now if she had a melon baller, but she wasn’t because she had witnesses. Orion was watching her like a hawk and Topher had moved closer.
I didn’t make a big deal about it, even though it was a big deal to need someone else to handle this for you. Two of her strings were half a step lower than they were supposed to be. I easily fixed it and handed it back to her.
I’d been planning on just avoiding her, but Klaus had other ideas. Fuck me.
The rest of rehearsal went smoother than any I’d attended so far. With Belinda expelled, the second act went off without a hitch. I could just enjoy the show since everyone was focused on their current jobs.
When the show wrapped up, Klaus gave his notes to the orchestra, and the dancers got theirs from their professors. Everyone was dismissed, but I had to stay and clean up the snack table. Topher and Orion were lurking just in case, though not anywhere near each other. I appreciated that.
I didn’t realize Klaus hadn’t left until he surprised me.
“Succubus, a word.”
“Yes?”
“I gave my notes, but I’m curious about yours, if I must tolerate your presence.”
I was winning him over if he was asking my opinion. He might even start calling me by my real name before I graduated. But yeah, I had notes.
“Your drummer is slacking in the battle scene and Trepak. I feel like if you got the snare a little more aggressive, it would match more of the energy the dancers are giving off. Misha and Leif are strong dancers and the fight between the Rat King and the Nutcracker is particularly exciting in this version. The Trepak variation is just the guy dancers showing off. Tell your drummer to show off at bit too.”
He just started at me for a minute. Klaus wasn’t yelling or throwing anything, which was a good sign. He asked for my opinion and I gave it, even though it might have been a trick to ask.
“Good call. I have another question, Succubus.”
I gave a subtle nod of my head to go on.
“How well do you know the score to The Nutcracker? I’m sure you’ve played it before and someone passed a rumor to me they overheard you and Meadow playing the Adagio.”
“I can’t play the whole score from memory, but I know the Adagio by heart because it’s my favorite. For the longest time, my mother and best friend would attend two Nutcrackers at Christmas. One with me playing in the orchestra and one where I was an audience member and could just enjoy the show.”
“You know what I’m about to ask, don’t you, Succubus?”
No, I didn’t. I couldn’t pretend to predict what was going to come out of his mouth next. For all I knew, he was going to insult me and throw something at me.
“I’ve got a violin player who can’t tune her own instrument and doesn’t have the talent to be at this school. I didn’t have a choice about allowing her into my orchestra. I’m trying to put on The Nutcracker with twenty-one violins and I should have at least twenty-two.
“I thought hiding her among twenty other violins would fix it, but that doesn’t work if she’s out of tune.
The average person attending this ballet isn’t going to pick up that one violin is out of tune, but I can and any musician can.
I’ve been unsuccessfully courting Meadow to join my orchestra, but I’m begging you.
Take Isobel’s place for the performance. ”
Motherfucker. I didn’t know what to say.
I agreed with everything he said. A lot of people weren’t going to be able to pick out one out of tune violin, but if you were the people who could, it was all you could hear.
The rest of the orchestra became unimportant and you couldn’t even concentrate on the dancers.
I wanted to take him up on his offer, but Isobel looked like she was plotting just because I’d become her official violin tuner. I wasn’t usually scared of bullies, but the ones I faced before didn’t have fathers that could have me blackballed.
I also couldn’t tell him no. Klaus didn’t strike me as the type for second chances and he asked nicely. I also did want to audition for orchestra next time they happened and saying no to him right now could mean him saying no to me later.
“Klaus,” Topher purred, swooping in. “You’re the conductor, but you don’t own this orchestra. Changes have to be approved by the board. You can’t unilaterally decide to kick someone out and give their spot to someone else. You have to bring it up to the board and have them vote on it.”
That was a brief reprieve. I was pretty sure the board was all musicians. Some would be her professors and the rest should be able to pick out someone was out of tune if they attended rehearsals.
“Politics is the worst thing to happen to music. We all know why that girl is here. It shouldn’t be that hard to kick her out of my orchestra and replace her with a competent succubus.”
“I agree,” Orion said. “But it is what it is and you have to play by the rules.”
“Horseshit! I hate this place!” Klaus yelled, stomping off.
Well, that was a tantrum. Topher swooped in and took my arm. I didn’t think he wanted me to notice him sticking his tongue out at Orion.
“I’m walking her to the pointe shoe party at Rue’s. There are benefits to not being a hostile fuck to everyone here. They’ll let me in and if there’s enough time after, I can paint their nails and talk about cute boys…or cute girls because some of them are into that.”
Orion was vibrating with rage and I didn’t particularly want to be three for three on tantrums. Isobel did a silent one when I tuned her violin, Klaus had a loud one when Orion and Topher pointed out the rules, and I already knew Orion and Topher’s relationship went to shit for some reason.
Not my circus, not my monkeys. I just wanted to graduate.
I mouthed sorry to Orion while Topher pulled me away. Rue didn’t call it a pointe shoe party, she just said they were blowing off steam.
Something told me whatever was going on in Rue’s room was going to be the least shitty surprise I’d had since I got here.