Vasil's gaze shifted toward the direction that Stefan had pointed to, and he saw Mrs. Harmon and their mothers looking around anxiously, searching for them.
Vasil stood up from his place and walked toward them. Stefan followed him.
When they got close enough to be in their line of sight, Stefan's mother, who was the first to notice them, smiled and said, "Hello, boys. How was the test?"
Vasil smiled, "Hello, Mrs. Wilson, it was good."
Then he walked toward Irina. Margaret's gaze shifted from Vasil to her son. Stefan shrugged, "It was good."
Margaret placed her hand on his shoulder, "Are you ready to go home?"
"Actually... can we stay a little longer? I want to be there when Vasil performs."
Margaret's gaze moved between Stefan and Vasil, who was now fully focused on his mother and his music teacher, "Oh, why not!"
On the other side, Irina, who now had to look up to meet Vasil's eyes, asked him, "Are you ready?"
Vasil glanced at Stefan, who was still talking to his mother, and said, "I think I'm ready!"
Irina smiled, "Great!"
Mrs. Harmon, who was standing next to Irina, handed her violin case to Vasil, "I tuned it for you this morning. Just keep calm and go as we practiced."
Vasil carefully took the violin from her, "Thank you."
Irina looked toward Margaret and asked with a smile, "Are you staying for the performance too?"
Margaret nodded, "Of course!"
Irina happily raised the basket she was holding, "Then why don't you join us for lunch? I brought enough sandwiches for everyone!"
"With pleasure!"
***
When everyone sat down at one of the empty tables and Irina opened her basket, Vasil peeked inside, "Mom, I think when you said you brought enough, you were being modest!"
Irina laughed, "You know Lence, when he found out you were performing, he was even more worried than me and insisted on making the lunch himself! I managed to bring only half of them without him seeing!"
Vasil sighed, "Well, knowing that it was Lence's doing makes everything make sense!"
Irina took out the sandwiches and passed them around, "If anyone wants more, there's still more!"
Vasil unwrapped the paper around his sandwich and took a bite, "Remind me to thank him later!"
Without paying attention to his mother's response, he looked around. Now that most of the people who had taken the test had left, the school yard seemed much bigger. Only a few tables, far from them, were still occupied. Stefan noticed Vasil's intense gaze and quietly said, "Don't look at them! You'll just get anxious again!"
Vasil sighed, "I know, but I just can't stop myself!"
"Instead, focus on your sandwich if you don't want to be late for your performance!"
Stefan looked up and made eye contact with his mother, who was sitting across from him and staring at him, "Is there something on my face?"
His mother blinked, as if pulled out of her thoughts, "No, I was just thinking about something."
Stefan shook his head and turned his attention back to his sandwich.
A few minutes later, Vasil crumpled the paper around his sandwich in his hands, "I better go! I need to be backstage earlier than the performance."
Irina looked at him and smiled, "Udachi, moya Vasil'ka." (Good luck, my little Vasil!)
Vasil smiled back at his mother and said, "Spasibo, mama!" (Thank you, Mom.)
As he picked up his violin and headed toward the school entrance, he called to everyone, "See you later!"