"Lydia, wait!"

Stephanie had to hitch her bag over her shoulder while tucking her violin case under her other arm, rushing forward to catch up with her friend while panting heavily. "Seriously Lyds - do you have to walk so fast? I'm barely keeping up over here."

"Sorry," Lydia stopped in her tracks to turn toward Stephanie, grinning sheepishly. "I'm used to walking by myself to the academy. I s'pose my steps are sort of fast."

"'Sort of fast'?" Stephanie stared at her skeptically. "Girl, if there was an Olympics for walking, you'd win all the gold medals!"

"Okay, now you're just being dramatic," Lydia giggled, hooking her arm through Stephanie's free elbow and tugging her forward. "Come on, we're almost there anyway."

"Yes I know. And we'll get there in decent time without walking like there's a fire behind us," Stephanie said pointedly, and Lydia rolled her eyes in amusement.

Stephanie

Lydia

It was Sunday, and Stephanie and Lydia were currently heading over to the Royal Academy of Music. The summer semester was beginning tomorrow, and Lydia was busy preparing for her classes; she had agreed to bring Stephanie to the academy today and show her around, and Stephanie was excited, if not a little nervous, to see where she could finally begin practicing her violin. She would likely be spending a majority of her time over here these next few months.

"Here we are," Lydia said brightly as they turned the corner onto Marylebone Road. She gestured grandly to the building in front of them. "Ta da!"

Stephanie couldn't help but stop and stare at the Royal Academy, her wide eyes taking in the beautiful structure. It was a tall, ornate-looking brick edifice that stood tall amongst all the other buildings and houses along the road. The sun was actually out this morning (which Stephanie had realized was a pretty rare occurrence here in London) so the blue sky as the backdrop complemented the beauty of the architecture rather nicely.

"Wow," Stephanie couldn't help but say, still staring up at the building. "You get to come here everyday?"

"Well, during the school semester I do," Lydia said, tugging Stephanie forward. "And now you do too!"

Stephanie allowed Lydia to pull her toward the academy, still staring up at the building in disbelief - it was hard to imagine that she would get to practice her violin at such a gorgeous establishment everyday. It almost made her feel unworthy, but she kept her mouth shut as they made their way through the front doors.

"This is the entrance hall," Lydia gestured around them. Compared to the austere exterior of the building, this interior was a bit underwhelming, but still very pretty: the area was small and a bit closed off, and the walls and floor were made of a beautiful tan and black marble. Before them were several corridors leading to the concert halls to the left and right sides of the building, and before them was a large staircase leading to the upper floors.

"Come on, my office is on the third floor," Lydia stated, leading them toward the staircase. "I just need to pop in for a few minutes, then I can show you around a bit more."

Stephanie nodded as she took in her surroundings. The place was gorgeous, and even though it wasn't as grand as she had initially imagined, it still felt warm and familiar, sort of like the music school she and Lydia had attended years ago. It all felt the same, right down to the old wooden doors that led to the classrooms and music halls. Even the smell of this place was like their old school, like a cozy library filled with sheet music and instruments.

"All music schools feel the same, don't they?" Lydia grinned, apparently knowing what Stephanie was thinking, and Stephanie laughed. "Come on, my office is just up here."

Lydia led her up the staircase, pointing out the doors that led to the classrooms and practice rooms on various floors. They walked down a narrow corridor, and Lydia opened one of the doors on the end, which led into her office. It was a tiny cramped space that actually looked a lot like her flat, minus her cat Leopold.

Lydia quickly listened to the messages on her answering machine before checking through her unread emails as Stephanie idly looked through the sheet music on the shelves. Once Lydia was finished, she led Stephanie back out of the office and began to give her a proper tour: she started by showing her the other offices on the third floor, then the classrooms down on the second floor, and finally the concert halls. Stephanie eagerly absorbed everything Lydia was saying, taking in her surroundings while still clutching her violin case in her hand.

The place was mostly empty since the school semester hadn't technically started yet, but occasionally Lydia and Stephanie would pass by small pockets of people chatting with each other. Mostly it was professors or administrative personnel, but after turning a corner, they noticed a small group of young women who were clearly students, smiling and talking excitedly with one another.

"Mallory," Lydia smiled and waved at one of the students. A dark-haired girl with a splay of freckles on her nose glanced over before smiling brightly.

"Hi Professor Zebrowsky," she grinned, waving back. "How are you?"

"I'm great! I noticed you're taking Musical Theory with me this semester," Lydia pointed at her. "I'll see you in class first thing tomorrow morning."

"Can't wait."

Two of the other girls with Mallory whispered amongst each other before one of them piped up: "Professor Zebrowsky, what do you know about the masterclasses this semester?"

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "The masterclasses?"

"Yeah," the third girl said, and all of them giggled excitedly. "Kyle Lancaster and Chloe Alistair are here this semester, right?"

All of them giggled again, as if sharing an inside joke. Lydia smiled again, though this one seemed a little more forced.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really involved in the masterclass programs for the Royal Academy," she said curtly. "I'd recommend speaking with your advisor about tryouts if you're interested."

Before any of the girls could respond, Lydia said goodbye to them and tugged Stephanie away down the hall. Stephanie glanced back toward the girls, feeling a bit confused.

"What was that all about?" she couldn't help but ask once they were out of earshot. Lydia snorted before rolling her eyes.

"Some nonsense the Dean of Students is up to this semester," she said, shaking her head. "Every so often, we have world-famous musicians come by the Academy to give masterclasses, and this semester Kyle Lancaster and Chloe Alistair are giving a whole series of them."

Stephanie shook her head, uncomprehending. "I don't know who those people are."

"Oh, that's right," Lydia stopped in her tracks to look at Stephanie, her eyes wide. "You've been out of the classical music scene for awhile. Well, Kyle Lancaster has been a famous concert pianist for the past couple years now: he's pretty young, but his playing is absolutely incredible. You should watch his performance of Liszt at the Rudolfinum - I could hardly see his hands, they were moving so fast!"

Stephanie nodded, not really caring one way or the other about piano. "And Chloe Alistair?"

"A violinist," Lydia explained. "She was a child prodigy back in the day, and now she's basically a virtuoso. She and Kyle Lancaster actually used to date - they were sort of like the 'it' couple of the classical music world for awhile, and they toured around Europe together for about a year before breaking up."

"Oh, I see," Stephanie said sardonically. "So now that the two of them are teaching masterclasses at the Academy this semester, there's gossip that they're getting back together?"

"Exactly right," Lydia rolled her eyes. "It's all just rubbish if you ask me. All that talk might bring more attention to our school, but it's for all the wrong reasons."

"Agreed," Stephanie nodded. She had never been one to follow celebrity gossip, so the fact that there were 'it' couples in the classical music world - and that two of these so-called celebrities were actually going to be here at the Royal Academy this semester - wasn't an encouraging thought.

Lydia continued showing Stephanie around the Academy, and after a few minutes, Stephanie piped up: "So do you know where I'll be able to practice my violin? I thought I could use one of the practice rooms, but I would hate to take one away from a student who needed it more."

"The practice rooms do tend to get filled up during the day," Lydia nodded. "If you want more solitude when you practice, you can come early in the morning or stay late at night - I have a spare set of keys I can lend you so you can come and go whenever you want. Or if you prefer, you could use one of the small performance halls."

"Small performance halls?" Stephanie asked skeptically.

"Over here," Lydia walked over to a set of double doors at the end of a hallway and pushed them open, revealing the empty room inside.

It did look like a performance hall, Stephanie thought - it was a spacious area, and there was a large grand piano at the front of the room on a slightly raised dais. There were a couple empty music stands around it, and a few dozen fold-out chairs facing the front of the room. The walls were an eggshell white, and the high windows brought in a nice amount of sunlight into the space. Stephanie immediately liked this room.

"These performance halls are rarely used during the day," Lydia explained, leading them both inside. "It's really only used for recitals or small-group performances, and sometimes professors will even have their students workshop pieces in here. There's a schedule on the door so you'll always know when this room is in use."

"Great," Stephanie said, gazing around the area. She definitely liked it in here, and already she was inclined to use this room to practice first thing tomorrow morning. "I think I will practice here."

"Awesome. Yeah, the acoustics are fantastic in this room," Lydia grinned, gazing around. "I mean, they would have to be considering this is a room for musical performances, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Stephanie giggled. "Mind if I start practicing now, or did you want to finish up the tour first?"

"Let's finish up the tour - we're almost done anyway," Lydia said eagerly, and she began to hurry toward the door. "It'll just be a few more minutes, I promise. This room will still be here when we come back."

"Alright."

Stephanie followed Lydia out the door, but couldn't help but give the room one last sweeping glance before stepping back into the corridor.