Leah Foster hit the final note in the song and then began to clean her flute1. She had started playing flute when she was eight, using a flute borrowed from a neighbor who wasn’t using it. When she was eleven, she got a flute from her parents for Christmas. She took great care of it and practiced daily. When she was thirteen, she joined the school band. Almost immediately she got first chair2 and still held it now, a year later. Just as she was folding up her music stand3, the phone rang. Her mom and dad were both working, so she went to get it.
“Hello.”
“Leah, you’ll never guess what I just found out!” Leah recognized the voice of her best friend, Joanna.
“What’s up, Jo?”
“Auditions4 for All-State Band are in two weeks. You have to try out!”
“I don’t think so, Joanna. I’ve never been good at auditions, and besides—it’s only two weeks away.”
“Come on, Leah! You’re an amazing player, and you could play one of those gorgeous pieces you played at the recital5.”
“I’ll think about it,” Leah said, and with that they hung up.
That night at dinner, Leah told her parents about the audition. They exchanged a funny look, and her mom held up a piece of paper. “Your dad and I brought this home because we thought it would be a good idea for you to audition,” she said.
Leah’s mom passed her the flyer6. It was blue with the words “All-State Auditions: November 12th, 9:00 A.M. at George Washington Middle School” printed on it.
“We think it would be a great experience for you, whether you get in or not,” Leah’s mom said.
“Well, if you want me to, I’ll give it a try.”
The next day, Leah pulled out her recital pieces and picked her favorite. It was slow and sweet, with lots of swells7. For the next two weeks Leah poured herself into practicing the piece. Then, the day before the audition, she bumped into Rachel Jacobs.
“So, Leah, I hear you are auditioning for All-State. Do you really want to embarrass yourself? After my audition, yours will sound like a kindergarten performance,” Rachel said snottily8.
Rachel and Leah had been fighting for first chair in the school band ever since Leah had gotten it.
“Rachel, I’m still first chair,” Leah replied.
“For now!” Rachel stomped9 off.
Leah pushed a wisp of her curly brown hair behind her ear and headed to band. When she got there, Mr. Johnson, the band director, stood up to make an announcement. “Kids,” he said, “today Rachel Jacobs would like to challenge Leah Foster for first chair.”
Leah wasn’t worried; Rachel had challenged her four times and nothing had come of it. Rachel would pick a piece and they would both play it. Then Mr. Johnson would pick whoever played the song better. If it was Leah, she would keep first chair; if it was Rachel, she would gain first chair.
The sheet music10 was placed in front of them and they both began to play. Leah hit the second note wrong. She couldn’t keep a consistent tempo11, and her sound was not good at all.
Rachel, on the other hand, played flawlessly12. Leah was mortified13. It was one of the band pieces she should have known.
Rachel was given first chair, and Leah left the band room on the verge14 of tears. She went through the rest of her classes in a haze15.
At dinner, she picked at her food. That night, she tossed and turned in bed16 for a long time before she fell asleep.
“Leah!” called Mrs. Foster the next morning. “Where is that girl? I woke her thirty minutes ago, and breakfast is getting cold.”
Leah’s mom sat at the table with Mr. Foster and Leah’s little brother, Jake. When Leah walked in wearing pajamas17, everyone stared.
“Leah, what are you doing?” said her dad. “You should be dressed. We’re leaving for the audition in fifteen minutes!”
“I don’t feel well. Maybe next year,” said Leah. Then she burst into tears and ran from the room. Her mom followed her into her bedroom and sat on the foot of her bed.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Why don’t you want to go?”
“I told you—I’m sick!” Leah replied.
Her mom gave her a knowing look. “What’s really wrong?”
“Yesterday I lost first chair!” Leah said. “Now I know that Rachel Jacobs is going to make this audition and I’m going do a horrible job and humiliate18 myself!”
“Oh, Leah. First of all, I’ve heard you play your song, and you’re not going to humiliate yourself. And besides, we can’t decide not to do things just because we’re afraid—otherwise, nobody would ever do anything. Bravery isn’t about not being scared—it means doing something despite the fact that you’re afraid. And if you go out there and do your best, we’ll be proud of you, no matter what the outcome.” Leah’s mom smiled. “So what do you say? Do we have an audition to go to?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Leah replied.
“Attagirl19. You’d better get dressed. We only have ten minutes.”
Leah sat outside the audition room nervously clutching20 her flute. Finally, they called her name. She stepped into the audition room. Her first note was clear and loud, and as soon as she hit it, all her worries faded.
After everyone had auditioned, the judges called the musicians back into the room to announce who would be invited to join the All-State Band. One by one, people’s names were called, until there was only one spot left. Neither Leah nor Rachel had made it in.
Finally, one of the judges said, “And our final member is Rachel Jacobs. Thank you all for coming—everyone did a great job.”
Leah sat for a minute and thought. Then she knew exactly what she had to do. She walked over to Rachel.
“Congratulations! You’re a really great musician. You deserve it,” Leah said, sticking out her hand.
“Um, thanks. Thanks a lot!” Rachel said, slowly shaking Leah’s hand.
As Leah headed out to the car with her family, she breathed in the crisp21 autumn air and admired the beautiful colors that the leaves were turning. She let out a contented sigh, knowing that even though she hadn’t gotten a spot in the All-State Band, she had won.
利娅·福斯特按下一首歌的最后一个音符，然后开始擦拭她的长笛。她8岁开始学吹长笛，当时还是借邻居一支不用的笛子。11岁那年的圣诞节，父母给她买了一支长笛。她小心呵护，每天练习。13岁她加入了学校的乐队。几乎是一进乐队，她就担任了主角，如今有一年了，她还坐在第一把交椅上。此刻，她正忙着要把乐谱架子折叠起来，电话响了。爸妈都在干活，所以她只好自己去接。
“喂。”
“利娅，你绝不会知道我要带给你什么消息！”是乔安娜的声音，利娅听出来了。乔安娜是利娅最要好的朋友。
“什么消息，乔？”
“全州乐队试听比赛在两周后举行，你可得去参加选拔喔！”
“我不想去，乔安娜。我从不擅长试听表演，何况只有两周时间了。”
“得了，利娅！你是个了不起的选手，你可以演奏一首你在独奏会上表演过的优美曲目。”
“让我想想。”利娅一说完，她们就挂断了电话。
当天吃晚饭的时候，利娅对父母讲起试听比赛的事。他们交换了一下古怪的眼神。接着妈妈拿出一张传单。“我和你爸把这个带了回来，因为我们觉得你去参加试听比赛是个不错的想法。”她说。
妈妈把那张传单递给利娅。那是一张蓝色的广告纸，上面印着：“全州试听比赛：11月12日上午9时在乔治·华盛顿中学举行。”
“我们认为这对你来说是一次非凡的经历，无论你成功与否。”妈妈说。
“好吧，既然你们希望我参加，我就去试一试。”
第二天，利娅找出她的独奏会曲目单，挑出了她最喜欢的那首曲子。曲子舒缓、甜美，抑扬顿挫。接下来的两个星期，利娅全心练习这首曲子。可就在试听比赛的前一天，利娅跟雷切尔·雅各布斯不期而遇。
“哦，利娅，听说你要参加全州乐队试听比赛。你真的要自找难堪吗？跟我相比，你的演奏听起来就像幼儿园的表演。”雷切尔傲慢地说。
自从利娅担任学校乐队主角以来，雷切尔和利娅就一直在为这把交椅较劲。
“雷切尔，我还坐在第一把交椅上呢！”利娅反唇相讥。
“暂且如此罢了！”雷切尔跺脚离去。
利娅把一缕卷曲的金发往耳后拂了一下，随后前往校乐队。她一到乐队，乐队指挥约翰逊先生就站起来宣布：“孩子们，今天，雷切尔·雅各布斯将要挑战利娅·福斯特乐队主角的地位。”
利娅一点都不担心，雷切尔挑战她已有四回了，回回都以落败告终。这次由雷切尔挑选曲子，她们两人分别演奏，之后由约翰逊先生裁定优胜者。如果利娅胜出，她将继续担任乐队主角；如果获胜的是雷切尔，雷切尔就坐上第一把交椅。
活页乐谱就摆在她们面前，她们俩开始演奏。利娅按错了第二个音符。她没法保持连贯的节奏，而且她的演奏压根儿算不上悦耳动听。
雷切尔呢，则表演得天衣无缝。
利娅羞愧难当。这是一支她应该非常熟悉的乐队曲目。
雷切尔赢取了第一把交椅。利娅离开乐队演奏室时都快要哭了。她稀里糊涂地上完了其他几节课。
晚餐时她几乎没什么食欲。晚上她躺在床上辗转反侧，久久不能成眠。
“利娅！”第二天早上福斯特太太叫道。“她在哪儿？我半小时前叫醒她的，可现在早餐快要凉了。”
利娅的爸妈同利娅的弟弟杰克一道坐在餐桌旁。利娅穿着睡衣走出来时，家人都疑惑地盯着她。
“利娅，你在干吗呢？”爸爸说。“你应该穿好衣服。还有15分钟，我们就要去参加试听比赛了。”
“我身体不舒服。明年再说吧。”利娅说。然后她放声大哭，跑也似地逃离了餐厅。妈妈尾随她进了卧室，在她的床脚坐了下来。
“宝贝，你是怎么啦？你为什么不想去？”
“我告诉过你了——我病了！”利娅回答。
妈妈若有所悟地看了她一眼。“你到底怎么啦？”
“昨天我输掉了第一把交椅！”利娅说。“现在我知道，雷切尔·雅各布斯要参加这次试听，我会表演得很糟糕的，我会自取其辱的！”
“哦，利娅。首先，我听过你的演奏，你不会自取其辱。其次，我们不能因为害怕就决定放弃做某件事情，否则就不会有人成就任何大事。勇敢并不是不害怕，而是意味着即使害怕也要勇往直前。如果你参加了，并尽自己最大的努力，不管结果如何，我们都会为你感到骄傲的。”妈妈笑了起来，“现在你怎么看呢？还要不要去参加试听选拔？”
“要去，我想。”利娅答道。
“好样的。赶快穿好衣服，我们只有10分钟了。”
利娅紧张不安地坐在试听室外面，紧紧握着她的长笛。终于，主考官叫到了她的名字。她走进试听室。她吹出的第一个音符清脆而响亮，并且当她按下音键时，她所有的担忧都不翼而飞了。
所有选手试演完毕，主考官把他们全都叫进试听室，当众宣布全州乐队录取选手的名单。一个接着一个，该叫到的人都叫到了，最后只剩一个名额还有待公布。这时利娅和雷切尔的名字都还没有叫到。
最后，一位主考官宣布：“我们招收的最后一名成员是雷切尔·雅各布斯。谢谢各位的参与——你们都表现得棒极了！”
利娅一动不动地坐了一分钟，她在沉思。她想明白了，清楚地知道接下来自己该做什么。她朝雷切尔走了过去。
“祝贺你！你是真正当之无愧的演奏高手。你配得上这份荣誉。”利娅说着，一边伸出手去。
“嗯，谢谢。太感谢你了！”雷切尔一边回答，一边慢慢地握住了利娅的手。
利娅跟家人一道走向汽车，她深深吸了一口秋日清爽的空气，欣赏着正在变色的美丽树叶。她心满意足地叹了一口气，因为她知道，虽然自己没能进入全州乐队，但她还是赢了。
1． flute n. 长笛
2. first chair第一把交椅（这里指乐队主角）
3. music stand乐谱架
4. audition n. 试听；试唱；试演
5. recital n. 独奏会；表演会
6. flyer n. 广告传单
7. swell n. 抑扬顿挫
8. snottily adv. 无礼地，傲慢地
9. stomp v. 跺脚
10. sheet music活页乐谱
11. tempo n. 节奏；节拍
12. flawlessly adv. 完美无缺地，天衣无缝地
13. mortify v. 使丢脸；使受辱
14. verge n. 边缘
on the verge of 接近于，濒于
15. in a haze稀里糊涂 haze n. 疑惑，思想模糊
16. toss and turn in bed在床上辗转反侧不能入睡
17. pajamas n. 睡衣
18. humiliate v. 羞辱；使丢脸
19. attagirl int.
（=that a girl） （美口）真是个好姑娘。（that a boy，真是个好男孩）
20. clutch v. 紧抓，紧握
21. crisp adj. 清爽的