Read Online The Academy - First Days by C. L. Stone - Free Book Online

what to do. I
froze, my hands clasped behind my back.
    “You didn’t bring a violin,” he said. It was almost a question,
but he asked as if he knew what my response would be.
    “I’m sorry,” I offered. There wasn’t much more for me to say. The
truth was I hadn’t approached my parents about this class. I had been waiting
for a good time but with the recent argument with my mother, I wasn’t sure when
this would happen. Part of me had thought the school would have one for me,
like my sister could borrow one of the extra flutes from our old school when
she didn’t bring hers. He couldn’t have expected me to get one so soon, could
he?
    Mr. Blackbourne didn’t seem fazed by this. He crossed the room to
the bench of the piano again and brought out a black case. He positioned it on
top of the piano and opened it to reveal a beautiful ebony violin. The tuning
pegs were encased in gold plating. The fingerboard and the chin rest was a
lighter shade of gray. Elegant perfection.
    “Come,” he said. “Take this.”
    I slinked forward but kept my hands behind my back. “I don’t want
to break it.”
    “You won’t break it unless you’re careless.”
    I sucked in a breath and held it, reaching delicately to take the
violin from him. I cradled it between my hands, my fingers smoothing over the
wood, feeling the cool material with my fingertips. Even the smell of the wood
and polish and resin made me tremble with nervousness.
    “We’re here to play, not to look at it.” His steel gaze settled on
my face. He held out the bow.
    I nodded, bringing the violin to my neck like I had seen countless
times in videos and pictures. The violin was lighter than I expected it to be
and yet the length of it made me feel clumsy just holding it. Taking the bow
from him, I held it loosely between my fingers and I waited for instructions.
    Mr. Blackbourne inclined his head. His fingertips traced my elbow
and I lifted the violin higher. He repositioned the violin at my neck until the
very center of it was pointed at the middle of my throat. He stepped around
behind me, checking the angle from next to my head. “Do you see the strings? Do
you see how I’ve positioned it?”
    I looked, catching the straight line down the neck of the violin.
    “This is how it should look every time you pick up your violin.
You need to get used to this now. Keeping good habits from the beginning will
make this more comfortable for you. Posture and balance are important.” His
breath teased the back of my hair as he spoke. I smothered my trembling. He was
so close, only he was so focused on my posture, I wasn’t sure he noticed.
    “I understand,” I said. I elevated the bow, settling the horsehair
strings on a spot against the violin’s bridge, ready to be directed to the next
step.
    Mr. Blackbourne straightened immediately, and snatched the bow
from my hands. “Not yet,” he said, the sharpness of his voice returning.
    I lifted my eyebrows in surprise. “No?”
    “No.” He wrapped his hand around my wrist, moving the violin from
my neck. “Now put it back where I placed it.
    I did what he instructed, pushing the end of the violin to my
neck.
    “Check the strings.”
    I looked and he was right. I adjusted the neck to hold it up
straighter.
    “Put your chin against the rest.”
    I did.
    “Let go of the violin.”
    I blinked at him, shocked. Would he have me wreck his beautiful
instrument? “I’ll drop it.”
    “If you’re holding the violin right between your chin and your
shoulder, you won’t drop it. Let go of the violin,” he instructed, his voice
rising.
    I hesitated. I couldn’t afford to pay for another one. Visions of
the violin crashing to the floor and splintering into a million pieces floated
past my eyes. He had to be crazy to trust me to hold on to it. “I don’t think I
should.”
    He seized my hand from the neck of the violin and pulling my hand
away in a sharp motion. It jarred me forward and the violin nearly slid