"Ouch, ouch, ouch" Isaac screamed as Josephine continuously hit him with her fist.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot" she yelled. It took time for Georg to pull her apart.
Isaac gasped for air. He didn't know she could be so violent.
"The names of those who passed the preliminaries will be posted shortly" came the voice from the amplifying machine "We apologize greatly as only pianists and violinists will be chosen. Other instrumentalists will be given a chance by the middle of this year. Once again, we apologize greatly" and the voice stopped.
Josephine began to jumping for joy "Did you hear that?" She yelled.
"Of course" Flora replied "We aren't deaf" she said obviously irritable.
Josephine didn't hear her. She then sighted her parents "Mom, Dad" she screamed.
Her parents recognized her voice and walked to her. "Josephine". Her mother said as she clutched the food basket tight.
Ivana and Mr. Smith also arrived. Surprisingly, Mr. Smith and Lori Abrams knew themselves "Lori" he said.
"You're Chris, if I'm not mistaken" Lori said and they hugged.
Mr. Abrams didn't know what was going on, nor did the children.
Lori smiled "This is Christopher Smith. We had the same tutor years back in middle school, it's surprising he still remembers me"she said.
Mr. Abrams smiled. "Well, it's nice to hear that" he said.
Josephine gasped "Wow"
Just then, two little girls ran to Josephine "I'm Mai and this is my younger sister, Maki. We've been searching all over the place for you" the elder of the girls said.
Josephine laughed and hugged them "So what do my little admirers want me to do for them?" She asked.
Maki, the younger one pulled out a small notepad "We want two autographs and a picture" she said "If we could get your contact card too please" she added.
Josephine chuckled "That's sweet of both of you". She took the notepad and signed on four pages. She then turned to Isaac "Do you mind being in the picture too?" She asked.
Flora was obviously fuming. He had better say no, she said in her mind. "No, I don't mind" he said.
The girls flipped out a phone and they took a lot of pictures. Josephine gave them her contact card. They sent the prettiest of the picture to her "We love you" they said and scurried along.
"The results have been posted on the notice board" the voice announced.
Josephine and Isaac ran there.
Only five teams moved to the next stage. That meant ten people because they were divided into duets. Out of thirty, only ten made it to the first stage. The names went like this:
Josephine Abrams (Violin) will duet with Isaac Smith (Piano).
Beth Waltz (Piano) will duet with Amelie Brown (Violin).
Ace Lupin (Piano) will duet with Melody Lupin (Violin).
Zena Scrooge (Violin) will duet with Molly Brandon (Piano).
Guillermo Belton (Violin) will duet with Jack .D. Jack (Piano).
The first stage will take place on the 18th of August to enable us compensate the rest instrumentalists. Thank you.
Josephine couldn't believe her eyes. She was dueting with Isaac. Flora couldn't believe it too, did it mean she had lost to Josephine. No way. That meant they'd spend more time together.
This was torture.
Mrs. Abrams brought out the sweet and sour chicken broth alongside the rice she'd made. They all sat down to a lovely dish. The Smiths even took the leftovers home for dinner.
If the next stage was August, that meant they had approximately three months to rehearse. That was more than enough for ambitious Josephine.
This was a wish come true.