How did I get myself into this? How is my heart breaking so quickly? This shouldn't be happening. I was supposed to have fun in camp. Not fall in love.

One

I sat outside the audition room, heart pounding, face flushing, and fingers trembling. Looking around, I spotted a couple other people; a boy to the left, practicing his violin; a couple to the right, waiting nervously for their child; a girl next to me, frantically filling out a form. I waited, trying to allow myself to relax, to listen to the beautiful music coming out of the audition room. Chopin filled my ears through the thin walls, and I instantly fell in love with the music. Suddenly, the playing ceased and silence replaced the sound of the piano. A couple minutes later, the door opened, and I looked up into the hazed eyes of a beautiful boy. He looked around for a few seconds and located the nervous couple. He whispered something to them and they nodded, looking even more worried than before.

"Miss Tenten?" A voice called.

I looked up to see a small, old lady, dressed a little too fancy, smiling at me, eyes crinkling at the corners. She beckoned me into the room, and, a little frazzled; I gathered all my papers and strode straight into my fate.

The inside of the room was more homely than I had imagined. Pictures of brightly smiling children adorned the walls and tiny trinkets and ornaments were scattered about the shelves. The piano was a nine foot grand, one of the more beautiful that I had seen.

"Please, sit down. Get comfortable. There is nothing to worry about."

I followed the old lady's orders and sat on the bench, facing her. She smiled a bit larger and asked me the basic questions of a music interview.

"How long have you been playing?"

"Seven years, ma'am."

"Any big accomplishments in the past year?"

"I have placed second in my division of State and won the Sonata Festival."

"And what will you be playing for me?"

"William Bolcom's Old Adam."

And I started. The piece felt familiar under my fingers, even if the piano did not. I closed my eyes, and let the piano guide me, and before I knew it, I was finished. I looked over at the little old lady to see her scribbling frantically on a yellow legal pad. She finished, looked at me, and tilted her head. She put a bony finger on her chin, and smiled at me again. She stood up and held out her hand.

"Well, it has been a pleasure listening to you, Miss Tenten. Results will be posted within the hour. If you do get in, please sign into Kushina Hall, as that is where you will be staying for the next couple of weeks. Also, your classes and lessons will be posted. If not, you did a wonderful job and we hope to see you again next year."

"Thank you, ma'am."

I shook her hand, took my things, and left the room. On my way out, I passed the girl who was filling out the sheet beside me. I gave her a small smile and whispered "good luck" as I passed her. She nodded in response, and I could see her shaking as she entered the room.

I walked to the elevator, pressed the down button, and waited for the cart to come up. As I stood there, I heard beautiful music from all around me, all mingled together. Beethoven mixed with Mozart, Chopin with Bach, and Liszt with Jackson Berkey. It was complete chaos, and yet, it all worked. And it all came together with the final ding from the elevator. I stepped in, and pressed the ground floor button. The doors started closing, the fifth floor disappearing from sight, until someone yelled, "Hold the door!"

I quickly stuck my music in between the doors and watched as they bounced back to the fully open position, as if they had struck a spring. A tall, brown eyed boy with eyebrows a little too big stepped in, panting a bit, and smiled at me.

"Thanks," he said, breathing deeply, "I just got out of the audition room. Intense, right? I'm Lee, by the way, Rock Lee."

"Hi," I extended my hand, "I'm Tenten."

"Tenten, what a cool name!" He said, shaking it. "So what do you play? I'm a singer."

I found myself smiling as well. Lee's smile was infectious. "I play piano."

At this, his face lit up, and he began talking about how he always wanted to play the piano, but never got lessons. By the end of this, the elevator had reached the bottom and the doors slid open. We walked out, and he turned to me.

"So, do you have any plans until the results?"

"No, my parents dropped me off here, so I have nowhere to go until they announce."

"Cool! Then, do you want to hang out?"

"Sure."

We found a table and waited for the results. As we did, a few other people joined us; the girl that auditioned after me, whose name, I learned, was Sakura, a boy that played cello, Sasuke, two girls that both played violin, Matsuri and Hinata, and a percussionist, Kankuro.

We spoke for a while, forcing small talk and smiles, until a judge came out with the results. He posted lists around the lobby and everyone flocked to see them. I pushed my way through the crowd, being shoved, poked, and pinched, until I reached the front. I frantically searched the sheet for my name, until I found it, printed in small letters:

Tenten Sujihiro-Piano (Lessons on Thursdays rm 419)

"Tenten! You made it too! Dinner tonight with me and everyone else, okay?" Lee had run up to me and swooped me up in a bone crushing hug.

"Of course!" I choked out, prying his arms off of me. As I pushed him off, my eyes met again with the beautiful boy from the audition room, his unnervingly white eyes searching my soul. As I stared into his eyes, I could feel my heart beat a little faster, and an odd feeling crept up my stomach, as if it were fluttering.

I shook the odd feeling off and shoved my way out of the crowd to call my parents.

3