Peaceful. Everything was peaceful. The wind blew and cicadas chirped in the trees. There was talking in the far distance: one voice coming from the far left, and one from the far right. They were the voices of teachers, lecturing students on various topics of their chosen classes. Some students listened to the teacher’s knowladge, some listened to the cicadas and rustling of the leaves from the wind. But none spoke a word, not even a sound. The students were split into two groups: middle schoolers in one group and high schoolers in another.

A man come out of the building situated in front of the two outdoor class, being held in metal structures, making a triangle between the three buildings. The man stepped towards the large, tall bell in front of the building and rang it by pulling down on a rope. The bell made slow, deep bangs like a gong being hit rhythmically; alerting all the students to line up in front of the main building.

Noise then ensued as students hurriedly packed their things and walked towards the building for lunch. Friends met up from different classes, now able to talk as they pleased, eager to converse about things learnt in class.

“Man, this is way better than school classes, at least we actually get to learn about things we enjoy.” Said Caitlyn in joyful spirits, as always.

“Yeah, right. Much better than learning about math.” Rachel replied. This was one of the many advantages of going to camps over the Summer, most of the students enjoyed free time and social hours, but classes were well attended to, as they were the true reason each student had payed to be there. Especially at the church camp Rachel and Caitlyn visited every year, which was a church camp usually accompanied by the same churches, each student was dedicated to the study here as well as dedicated to the friendships made and mostly sustained at this very camp.

The friends continued to converse of the topics discussed in class that day as they lined up in their grade line for lunch. When the whole camp came to the main building, each grade, separated by gender, lined up in their respective groups. Then, each group was called one-by-one into the dining hall to get their food.

Eventually, Rachel and Caitlyn’s group, the sophomore girls, got called into the dining hall. Because of the small quantity of children at the camp, about 80, even the dining hall seemed calm as students piled in. Caitlyn seemed excited to get lunch over with, since they had on hour and a half of free time afterwards. She planned to climb the mountain during the first half since she had signed up for it that morning during breakfast. Despite her only friend at camp going, Rachel had no desire herself to climb the mountain. At home, she went to the gym three times a week to stay in shape, but no more than necessary, and not for fun, either.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna climb the mountain?” Caitlyn asked for the thousandth time. “I’m sure they would still let you go if you asked.”

“Oh, I really am okay.” Rachel replied, determined to not get stuck climbing up a mountain in the 104 degree weather.

“What are you gonna do while I’m gone?” Sounding a bit disappointed that her friend would not accompany her.

Rachel shrugged “I’m sure I’ll find something to do. I’ll probably end up in the crafts station.” She replied.

“Okay, but I’ll be hiking the mountain every day this week, so feel free to join whenever you would like.” She stated, sounding hopeful.

“Maybe tomorrow.” Rachel replied.

Once they were done for lunch, Caitlyn went to find the group of hikers she would be going to the mountains with as Rachel waved her goodbye. After the group had left, the dining hall became little more than vacant, with a few lingering students and teachers. As Rachel looked around and spotted something that caught her eye. A piano on the far corner of the stage in the front of the dining hall. Rachel, who was about a month into piano lesson, had the immediate temptation to start playing. But, decided against the thought, as she had no music nor confidence in the matter.

She walked out of the dining hall and stood in front of it, taking in the sounds of the laughter and basketballs being dribbled in the distance. She looked fondly at the tall mountain up ahead, wondering how far Caitlyn and the team would climb. She admired Caitlyn’s bravery. Not only was Rachel not interested in hiking, but she also had fear of injury that prevented her from climbing the mountain. From Caitlyn’s countless stories of rolling her ankles while hiking, Rachel was impressed that she still wanted to climb,showing her passion for hiking, and that, even when she feared, nothing could stop her from doing what she loved. Rachel realized that she needed that same passion for what she loved to do, and that fear of judgment from other people in the dining hall would get her no where. She walked back into the dining hall, spotting the leader of the church camp.

“Hello, is it okay if I play the piano?”. Rachel asked, pointing her thumb to the piano over her shoulder.

“Why, of course! That piano hasn’t been used much, I’d be glad to hear someone play it again.” The man said.

She smiled at him, but hesitated once again, realizing that she had an audience in the room, which had now grown from the crafting station being held in the dining hall.

“What’s wrong, worried that people might judge?” The man said, scanneing the room, still filling up with new people and teachers.

Rachel looked down, a little embarressed “Yeah, I only just started lessons about a month ago; I’m not too great at it yet. I only wanted to play so I wouldn’t get behind in practice.” She explained, slightly wishing she would have never requested to play.

“Ah, no worries. We do have a piano player on a our staff currently looking for something to do if you would feel better accompanied by him?”

Rachel nodded. “Very well then, I will call him and grab some beginner sheet music from our music library.” Rachel perked up at the words ‘music library’ and waited excitedly to start playing, trying not to think of the crowd.

A frail man with thin glasses and a few books carried in one hand walked up to Rachel a few minutes later. “I hear you need some one to accompany you with the piano?” He said, smiling at Rachel.

They made their way to the piano, where Rachel sat down at the bench and hovered her hands over the keys. The frail man flipped through the books a laid one down on the music stand for Rachel to play off of. The music looked more complicated than Rachel was used to. The man stood there expectantly “This should be good, yes?” He asked.

“Um, yes, this is good.” Rachel replied, too embarressed to ask for an easier piece.

She glanced at the crowd, catching the stare of many eyes looking up at her. She suddenly got very nervous, and the music was much harder to read as her mind started racing. She had never given a public performance.

“You said you were only doing this for practice, correct?” The man asked her.

“Uh, yes.” She answered with uncertainty.

“Well, then don’t be worried about the crowd. After all, they are focused on their craft anyways.” He said confidently

Rachel looked nervously and her hands hovering over the piano building the courage to play. She imagined the crowd starting to look up at, casting their judgment to any mistake she might make. But, remembering Caitlyn’s bravery for her passion, she knew she had to get over her fears so she could do the things she loved. Then, she started playing, trying to read the music and move her hands to it at the same time. Her hands danced rather non-gracefully over the keys, hitting the wrong ones and creating less than pleasant sounds. She tried to play confidently, hoping it would make the music magically sound better. But, it sounded more like she was playing keys at random with no music whatsoever. None the less, after what seemed like forever, Rachel finished the song.

After it was over, she rested her hands on her lap, looking over at the man in panic. The man looked back at her completely dumbfounded. His expression changed from shock to serenity, looking at Rachel with kind eyes.

“Was that your first performance?” He asked.

“Yeah.” She replied in barely a whisper.

“Well, I suppose there is always room for improvement. Care to try an easier song?” He asked as the dining hall door opened behind him; the group of hikers walked in. It was then that Rachel realized that she had spent the whole first half of free time giving the worst performance of her life. She looked over at the crowd of staring, half-shocked faces; each one slowly going back to their crafts.

Caitlyn spotted Rachel over at the piano and shouted “Rachel! I didn’t know you performed!” She proclaimed, sounding excited.

“Oh, trust me, this is a one and done thing.” Some people in the crowd snickered at the reply.

Caitlyn had turned her attention to the newly opened canteen, but the man’s focus was still on Rachel.

“Well, I must admit, that was diffenatly far from the best performance I’ve heard. But, I think you have very high potential. Maybe you skill doesn’t show it, but the bravery and love for your passion you must have to perform in front of a crowd when your not perfected in ability shows me that you can go far. Continue to be brave, kid.” He patted her gently on the shoulder and walked away.

Despite the horrors of the performance she had just given, Rachel felt strangely good about herself. Proud of her bravery and ambition, which she never had before, she happily walked over to Caitlyn.

“You look happy, I’m assuming the performance went well.” Caitlyn stated.

“Oh, there’s definitely room for improvement.” Rachel replied with a small chuckle.

She laughed, “So, does that mean you’ll climb the mountain with me tomorrow?”

Rachel looked over her shoulder longingly at the piano, “Actually, I think might just give another performance tomorrow, but maybe with an easier song.”