Chapter 21

A few more days have passed, and the training process is going smoothly as if nothing wrong happened. Soon the day of the rehearsal will arrive. Because of limited time, the class's drama team only focuses on two scenes: the ball where Romeo and Juliet first met and their deaths.

The wound on Thac's forehead has not yet healed, so the homeroom teacher has to prepare three masks for the musical group. Thanks to that, it creates a feeling of mystery and nobility, helping the play to be highly appreciated for its sophistication.

Only five repertoires will be selected for the official performance day. When class 10D5's name is called, the whole group and the homeroom teacher jump joyfully. They have put in so much effort for this play. There is only one day left and scholarship opportunities for members are very close. Van Thac is very happy, too. He is about to turn to congratulate Ngoc Lam, but when he looks around, he cannot see her anywhere. She is becoming more and more like an invisible person.

K pats his shoulder to congratulate him. Thac turns to the man because he wants to talk to him about Ngoc Lam, but K does not look at him. He quickly walks past Thac, takes M's hand and leaves the school.

"Thac," Thuy calls, "Did something you said upset Ngoc Lam?"

"Huh?" Thac responds in surprise, "Why do you say that?"

"Ngoc Lam has been very strange these days." Says Thuy, "She still talks normally to me, but I can see with my intuition that she is very miserable."

Van Thac returns home when it is almost 10 pm. His parents are waiting for him in the living room, each with a laptop typing loudly in the quiet space. Thac walks in to greet them both and then goes up to the room to take a shower. When he lays down on the bed, it is already 11 p.m. In his head, Thuy's reminder is echoing.

"Thac, if you hurt Ngoc Lam's feelings, I will wreck your neck!"

Recently, since he has been studying in class and going to the Conservatory to study trumpet and practising music at night; at the same time, Luyen and Thuyen have to practice for the competition as both orchestra members and soloists, the three could barely speak to each other. Right before the performance day, he invites his two friends to school to enjoy his class's performance.

The students are more excited than usual because they don't have to study at school today. In the afternoon, they need to go to school for the teacher appreciation ceremony, watch the performance, and have another day off tomorrow. Behind the scenes, the drama team and other performers are busy changing costumes, helping each other with makeup, preparing musical instruments and microphones, and reviewing the script one last time before going on stage. Van Thac finishes wearing the musical instrument group's outfit which is neoclassical style and puts on the mask. The remaining two members of the group have also finished preparing. Ngoc Lam from beginning to end hardly says a word to him. From outside, the class monitor runs in to cheer for them.

"Hey guys! Today is the last chance! If you win, you will get a grand prize! The opportunity to win a scholarship is right at your fingertips! If you're quick, it's still there, if you're slow, it's gone. If you can't walk, drag yourself to the goal. Try your best, everybody!"

"Yeah!" The performance team members respond excitedly and then chuckle because of the monitor's sense of humour. The cheer given by her helps dispel some of the tension in the atmosphere. The young people then take a deep breath. They are ready to be on the stage.

On the opposite of the stage, Mr Woods and the teachers in the organizing committee are sitting in front of the audience. Next to them is a table for guests. Behind them, K and M are at their seats. The members' parents also came to watch their children perform. Luyen and Thuyen are a little further away but not too far to observe the entire play.

There are no problems in most scenes. A group of musicians stands at a corner of the stage. Ngoc Lam is behind Thac, out of the spotlight again. It looks like she is completely invisible.

"Thuyen" Luyen coaxes his friend to whisper, "you feel it too, right?"

"Yes." Thuyen chins on his hand and stares at Thac's group.

Ngoc Lam on that stage is not the Ngoc Lam they saw in the old videos. She is currently playing like a puppet on strings, playing whatever melody she is told. The so-called "great passion for music" is completely insensible.

Uncertainty covered the upper half of the stands. Mr Woods frowns and looks up at the musical group. Behind the teacher and the judges, M is holding K's hand and looks at him worriedly. K looks back at M and sighs helplessly. The two, together, are preparing to face a storm that is about to strike.

The final scene has arrived. Romeo thought Juliet was dead so he drank poison to go with her. Juliet woke up to find her lost lover also committed suicide in despair. At this moment, the melody of The Time For Us resounds loudly.

At first, everything sounds fine with Van Thac because he is the first to start, but when it is Ngoc Lam's turn, everything changes.

"Jetzt, wo es kommt (It's coming)" M whispers to K.

Ngoc Lam's violin sound is no longer the same as when practising. It turns into a masterpiece. Her sudden demonstration of the ability of a professional violinist leaves Thac unable to keep up. Even the friend who is playing the piano feels that something is going wrong, but he can only continue his work at this time.

The trumpet sound that Van Thac used to be confident of 'making progress' is currently nothing compared to Ngoc Lam's violin sound. The music she is playing is almost far away, carrying both a quiet and painful emotion, and is being performed at a superior level. Van Thac tries to follow her, but the more he tries, the more he falls behind. She stays in another dimension, for real, that he can only feel it but is hopeless to grasp it. Van Thac begins to get lost. He is struggling to find a way out, but there is no way around him.

Most of the audience does not notice his struggle. They do not know that Ngoc Lam is aiming straight at Van Thac. However, they can feel from their ears that the violin's sound has become prominently excellent.

Ngoc Lam's parents look at their daughter with their hearts getting in pain. They had seen their child perform hundreds of times and even bought every CD to support the girl. The music is still wonderful, but the girl seems to have disappeared. Her music has lost its radiance.

Van Thac's parents are looking at their son uneasily. His father also had a lot of contact with the art world and learned about music when his son started playing the trumpet. The little girl playing the violin was undoubtedly waiting for this moment to preempt the boy. With high, untouchable talent, he may fall into crisis at any time.

The more Van Thac plays, the more he loses the connection. He is like falling into a swamp. The more he struggles, the deeper he sinks, no way to escape. So, is this the level of a legend? Van Thac feels pitiful for himself. Who is he to even think about helping her? He was too cocky with his little strength.

"His mistake is," Luyen says

"He was too confident," Thuyen replies

"This music sounds good,"

"But it's too out of place."

"What has this guy done?"

"To get Ngoc Lam doing it to him?"

"Ngoc Lam…" M trembles as she calls her former student's name.

"Does she want to crush Van Thac?" K looks painfully at the stage.

On stage right now is the scene of two families bowing their heads to mourn the loss of Romeo and Juliet. The two blue and red lights symbolizing their colours are gradually faded away, replaced by mourning white.

What a tragedy!

When the music ends, the performance is completed. One after another, the audience stood up and applauded for an extremely elaborate stage performed only by high school students. Thac watches the actors coming forward one by one to greet the audience. Looking at Ngoc Lam walking next to him, stepping up and bowing, he realizes that the applause is not for him. He is no one but an outsider on this stage. The brightest star is Ngoc Lam, always Ngoc Lam.

In his mind, Thac recalls the things he once said to her. It turns out that what he has said turns into blades to stab back at him. Love for music? Passion? He is nothing.