18A/N – I'm experimenting with narration rather than long long chapters filled with quotes. Let's see if it works out. This was actually taken from the previous chapter, which is why it is so short, except I didn't think that Landon's humorous ordeal would fit very will in the middle of Anna's emotional breakdown. Hahah, I had fun with the title too.
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.La Tristesse – Flight of the Bumblebee
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Meanwhile, as Landon lugged his giant cello case down the street, he made it back to the conservatory. As usual, during after-rehearsal hours, the conservatory was almost deserted. With the wheels noisily gliding down the floors, bumping up and down upon the grooves in the cement, Landon made his way to the practice rooms.
Disappointed that his lucky room was occupied, he took the next one closest to it. The room was smaller, but still adequate. Landon was used to smaller rooms back home anyway. Closing the door behind him, he rolled the cello in, except one of the wheels got caught in a crack in the floor.
"Ugh… I should have carried it in. This is what I get for being lazy for just a little while." Turning around, Landon lightly tugged at the cello, but it wouldn't move. Then, he pulled harder, and the cello surprisingly flew towards him.
Losing his balance, he fell backwards and his back was caught onto a metal stand. Darting behind him, he saw the stand tip over with its destination being a nice spot on a bass, leaning against the wall. Diving for his life, he caught the stand before it scratched the instrument, but as he did, a violin bow slipped down and snapped right beneath his feet as he tried to regain his balance.
Naturally, as anyone would react if he had just broken an expensive instrument, Landon paused unable to do anything with himself. Looking around, he hoped no one noticed, but because he chose the room beside an occupied practice room, that was hard to believe.
As expected, a student came rushing in to see if he was alright. The student stared at Landon, catching him red-handed, and simply gasped. The second however, was more angry that surprised. She was the owner of the violin.
Panicking, he darted back to the dorm room as fast as his feet could take him; he left his cello in the practice room. When he saw Gene, still impassively copying down notes as he always did, he explained to him the tragic scene of how he had to beg the shrewd violinist and promise he would pay for the broken bow.
"Woah woah, calm down there." Gene advised, "This school is just made up of rich snobs. She probably could have paid for it herself, why in the world did you offer to pay?"
"You should have seen the way she looked at me," Landon emphasized. "I would have thought Satan himself had possessed her just by looking at her eyes. I had to find some way to appease her."
"Do you know how expensive those bows cost…?"
"Not as much as cello bows, I'm certain."
"But you didn't have to pay for your cello in a few weeks. You do know that the concert is in a few days. She needs her bow"
"Jesus Christ!" Landon cried.
"Okay simmer down. She'll probably just borrow one. It's not that big of a deal. All you have to do is get a job and after a few weeks, you'll pay her off."
"How am I going to get a job? And besides, I need to spend my time practicing! I'll be last chair again if I get a job!"
Gene knew how tragic it was to get a job. The two of them had been scrupulously thrifty with their money. So far, they were living off of savings and the school tuition, but it could only get them so far. "You just have to do it. Either that, or you didn't have to break her bow."
"How am I going to get a job?"
"Just get one here. Maybe you can work at the coffee shop, or at the new McDonalds down the street."
"That means I'll have to walk there after rehearsal every day…"
"Oh wait," Gene paused with a promising idea. Landon stared at him hopefully. "Maybe you could work at the music library. I think they needed someone… the last time I checked. I overheard my piano coach when I was checking out sheet music."
"Really? Can you ask her to get me a job?"
"Just ask Mr. Strauss himself. I'm sure he'll let you work… The qualifications aren't that high." Gene paused, trying to remember what the paper said, recruiting student workers. "I think there's an application to fill out. You just have to slip it in Mr. Strauss' mailbox and you're set."
"All right," and so, temporarily, Landon found a solution.
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The next morning, Landon woke up and left earlier than Gene. He wanted to make sure that he was able to catch his piano coach before his lessons began. At the crack of dawn, he readied himself, skipped breakfast, and headed towards the conservatory.
The outside air was cold and he could barely feel the tip of his nose. When he entered the library, the heater nearly blasted in his face, blowing the icy wind away.
His first impression of the place was a desolate wasteland. There was absolutely no one inhabiting the place, and all the seats were empty. There was soft music playing in the background, like a lullaby to sing the spirits asleep.
The library was one of the largest structures on campus, but seldom visited. Rising like a giant tower, the five-story building reminded Landon of an old Gothic tower with the stench of death. The balcony on the top story hung over like the teeth of an elephant, or the claws of a tiger.
Cecilia walked towards the end of the counter, turning to see who was the early visitor. He had been standing at the entrance for a while, and so her curiosity was sparked. "Hey, excuse me. Were you looking for-"
"I filed an application yesterday," Landon interrupted. "I just wanted to see if I was accepted."
"Oh, you must be Landon. I was waiting for you. It's about time I found a helper around this place."
Landon smirked uneasily. He assumed he got the job.
"Here, follow me. I'll show you around."
Obediently, Landon followed her. She quickly brushed through the library, touring him of the different sections. Ironically, all she simply did was restate the labels at the top of the bookshelf for she knew as much as he did of the foreign palace.
"Well, this section is restricted to public access. It's the place where I'm mainly at," Cecilia explained, pushing open a door specifically labeled. "I'm so glad that you came, because now I don't have to work as much. It's only me, and another student monitoring the entire library. I really am only supposed to work in here, but since we had a shortage of workers I was all over the place."
"Will I have to work in here?" Landon queried.
"I would imagine, yes. There's mostly just filing and sorting things out. You'd be surprised how much paperwork the Headmaster gets."
Landon forced a chuckle.
"Hey," Cecilia addressed more naturally. She paused before she continued, reevaluating her knowledge. "You're Gene's roommate are you not?"
"Yes, I am."
Cecilia grinned, "Yeah I figured you looked familiar. He's my piano student."
"Yeah, I saw you that one time. You didn't seem like a teacher though."
"Oh well, I'm not really a formal instructor; I'm just a coach. I knew him previously though, so that's probably why you thought that."
"Oh really?" Landon suddenly grew more interested.
"Yeah. It's silly actually. I knew him in grade school before I moved to Lutherton. I was just the silent Asian girl who never went outside to play with the other kids. I just stayed inside and practiced the piano. He was probably the only kid who was interested."
Landon couldn't blink. This was juicy information. He didn't dare interrupt her, since Cecilia seemed caught up in another world. To him, she appeared like a kind, but intimidating, stern woman – he wouldn't ever dare disagree with her.
"Well, one day I suppose, he decided to talk to me and that's how he discovered the piano. It's funny how so many years later, I'm still his teacher."
"Yeah… that is," Landon repeated.
"Oh, well never mind. I don't want to bore you."
"No, I don't think it's boring," Landon coaxed with a smile on his face.
"No, I insist. Let me show you how to file stuff."
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A/N – More foreshadowing… this is fun.