I saw young Aria sitting in the classroom. She looked intensely focused—but only I knew what was truly occupying her mind: Lewis, the Lumeris Codex, and then Lewis again. So much had happened in such fragmented memories. Young Aria kept wondering what the Lumeris Codex truly was, but she knew only one person could enlighten her.
Lewis.
When the class was over, she headed straight toward him. Just as she was about to reach him, the door swung open, and Ms. Susanna stepped in.
"Please, the selected students from the last time—follow me," she announced. "Today, your new adventure begins."
I watched as the chosen students began to file out.
All except Lewis.
He stayed where he was.
When young Aria finally approached the others, he followed in line—almost as if he had been waiting for her. She paused and glanced back at Marie, who gave her a quick thumbs-up.
Young Aria smiled, then turned and headed for the door. Lewis was already walking ahead, and she quickened her pace, catching up to him just in time.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Great," he replied casually.
"Nice. So… are you going to tell me about what you said I should find or you'd rather start of by telling me about the lumeris codex?" she added.
"What?!" he nearly yelled, drawing a few curious glances their way.
Before she could respond, they had already arrived at a huge, spacious hall. Her curiosity was swallowed whole by uncertainty.
"Good day, everyone," a pretty-looking lady greeted warmly.
"Good day, Miss," they replied—some voices early, others late, the words colliding instead of blending.
"I'll get straight to the point," she said. "My name is Miss Sophia, and I will be your mentor—or, as some would say, your coach."
"But what exactly are we doing? We haven't chosen what competition we want," Rebecca asked.
"You can't choose, dear. It will always be one competition per year, and you sixth graders will be the only ones representing the school," Ms. Susanna interjected. "This is the music group. If you know nothing about singing or playing instrument, this is your opportunity to learn. Do well to make the best of it. The competition may sound scary, but with consistent training, so will you improve. I wish you all good luck."
Ms. Susanna smiled. "I hope you all enjoy the experience and learn something meaningful from it. Now, I'll leave you to begin."
Then she left them in the hands of Miss Sophia.
"Okay, now let's start with introductions," she said, then pointed at the girl who had asked the question earlier.
"My name is Rebecca," the girl said with a bit of confidence.
I watched as they took turns introducing themselves—Genevieve, Juliet, Robin—until finally, she pointed at him.
"You there," she said, curiosity in her eyes. "What is your name?"
"Lewis," he replied quietly, a little nervous.
"Woooow," she said brightly. "I've always loved that name. And you must be the famous Ariana Larken." She beamed, unaware of how those words affected her. "Come here, Ariana. I'll use you to teach the others."
Young Aria walked toward her and was handed a violin. Miss Sophia positioned it carefully in her hands.
"This is how to hold the violin, has any of you ever
used a violin before?" she asked as she collected it from young Aria and scanned all their faces.
"No," they replied in echoes.
Lewis didn't respond.
I noticed the teacher glance at him, observing—but she said nothing.
"Okay, here's what will happen," Miss Sophia continued. "I'll divide you into groups. If you haven't heard, this is a very big competition."
I felt young Aria's sudden fear.
"So I need two lead singers—a male and a female—to form a perfect duet."
She was searching for a match. I saw her eyes linger on the well-known Ariana… then shift to the almost invisible Lewis, who looked like he didn't even want to be there.
"Ariana and Lewis," she announced. "You two will do the duet."
What I felt then was
more than fear.
It was uncertainty and skepticism.