Page 27 of Safety Net
I followed her instructions, gripping the instrument like my life depended on it.
“There you go,” she praised. “You’re a natural.”
I laughed at how easy the encouragement fell from her lips. I was thrilled to have done something right in her presence.
“Do you want me to…show you? Like how it sounds? I don’t know if you care.”
“I care,” I said, genuinely curious how it sounded.
She moved completely behind me. I wasn’t ready for how close her face was to mine when she leaned over my shoulder.
“Don’t move,” she whispered.
I was as still as a rock. And still as hard as one too when she placed her hands on my shoulders, fingers barely touching me as she blew into the mouthpiece.
A beautiful note pierced the air. Celeste stopped short, laughing when I hummed in awe.
“Incredible,” I said. “The beginning of an angel’s chorus.”
As she laughed, she briefly dropped her forehead, pressing against my shoulder. I stayed utterly still, terrified of ruining this moment. Celeste pulled back when she realized how close she was.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
“I don’t mind,” I whispered.
“That’s…um…that’s a D.” She took a deep breath and readjusted my hands, so I only held down three fingers on my left hand, my thumb, and my right pinky. “Ready?”
I only trust myself to nod at this point. She blew again, the note low and soothing. I felt the vibrations of her breath, which made the sparks flowing up and down my arms more intense.
The note slowly changed, high in frequency. I looked down to see if my fingers had slipped due to my struggle to stay focused. They hadn’t, thank God.
“G in the first octave was the lower one,” Celeste said when she pulled back. “G in the second octave was higher.”
“You change your airflow to get a different sound?” I asked, taking a closer examination of the mouthpiece.
“Right.” She moved beside me again, beaming at how I’d caught on. “A lot of notes on the flute have the same fingering and the sound depends on how fast or if I blow at an angle.”
“You’re a great teacher.” I would have learned a lot if she hadn’t been so close and so her.
“Thanks.” She dipped her head, shy as she grabbed a seat to move in front of me. “Ready to get down to business?”
I carefully placed the flute down. “I am if you are.”
She reached for her bag and pulled out a couple of folders. Celeste handed one to me and kept the other for herself.
“This is an outline of how I hope everything will go.” She opened a folder, and I followed suit, marveling at how organized everything was.
“I mainly need help in the set design department.” She pointed to page three, indicating I should go there when I was still stuck on the index.
“You and Jack will be in charge of sorting,” she said. “I don’t have a budget, so we’re using old set pieces from the playhouse storage. It’s stuff from the shows they put on every year. I made a list of things you guys should look out for. Must-haves and maybes.”
I nodded, scanning the items. Seemed straightforward enough.
“And…” she hesitated. “If you’re up for it…”
I looked up. “I’m up for anything. Between Jack and me, this task will only take a couple of days—no more than four. And we need more volunteer hours than that. I like this hands-on stuff.” Tutoring kids at the community center had become one of my favorite things during the month, but having to model patience by sitting in one place for long made me fidgety. I like how active this musical was going to have me.
Celeste picked at the edge of her paper. “I was wondering if you’d be like…my assistant director. Interact with the performers. Relay information. Basically…be my mouthpiece.”
