Part One: Noon, 10 September, Sophomore Year
Joelle glared at Julie with her large, blue eyes. She was a BAND nerd, what the hell was Julie doing dragging her into the choir room on her lunch break? Didn't Julie know that sophomores didn't just become first chair clarinets – they had to practice daily to keep up with the ever-changing demands of their director, the perfectionist Mr. O'Connell. Joelle looked longingly at the newest piece, "A Blues Brothers Review". There were some trills in between the second and third key changes she had been dying to practice since the piece was handed out at that morning's rehearsal. Being a baritone sax, Julie just didn't understand.
"Just for a few minutes Jo… you won't regret it, I promise!" Julie grabbed Joelle's pale hand and pulled her towards the band room door, barely giving Joelle time to set down her precious Yamaha clarinet. Joelle gently placed her clarinet on its custom-made wooden stand - a gift from her father for her excellent grades in freshman year - as Julie continued to pull her towards the band room door. "Come meet Mr. Schott! He is AMAZING!"
Joelle rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. While at school, she was not usually one to care about choir, or singing, or anything other than her clarinet. She would sing in the shower, yes, and in her church choir, but never at school - she was much too self-conscious for that. The two girls walked briskly from the band room down the hall and around the corner, to the much smaller, yet equally dark and dreary choir room. Joelle pulled her hand back from Julie's tight grasp and adjusted her red and black plaid skirt. She was proud of the look she had chosen for herself that day – Catholic school girl meets band nerd – complete with a slim red silk tie, white knee highs with little red bows, and white cotton blouse that pulled ever so slightly across her rather large bosom. Joelle had gained a few pounds since band camp two weeks prior, and her already tight clothing was fitting that much tighter thanks to her time off.
The girls could hear muffled singing from the room, a lone tenor voice that struck Joelle as powerful yet reserved, even nervous. Julie knocked on the choir room door, but didn't wait for a response before turning the handle and pushing the door open just enough to stick her head through. The last few bars of 'Bring Him Home' resonated through the door frame and into the noisy hallway. Joelle closed her eyes and listened closely – the voice was breathtaking. She was right, he is amazing… Thought Joelle to herself. Don't make it stop Jewls, please…
"Mr. S? Can I introduce you to someone?" Julie asked from just outside of the room, without entering it – she didn't want to be rude if Mr. Schott was in the middle of something important.
Immediately the chords stopped, bringing Joelle back to reality. Her eyes snapped open and she remembered where she was – had it really been only a few seconds they had stood there listening to that magical voice?
"No, Julie, come on in. Who's your friend?" Mr. Schott asked, barely looking up from the many scores sitting on the three separate music stands sitting in front of the older keyboard he was playing. Mr. Schott was barely visible from the doorway, hiding behind his scores and music books. It was where he was comfortable; safely hidden from the peering eyes of his students and the other staff members.
Julie pushed the door open all the way, and, grabbing Joelle's hand, walked into the room. Joelle hated that Julie kept holding her hand to go everywhere, but kept her mouth shut as Julie was a year older than she, and as the only baritone sax in their small band, she usually got her way when it came to just about everything. Joelle respected Julie greatly; in fact, she looked up to her the way one looks up to an older sibling. As an only child, Joelle relished in the fact that she now had a whole band full of "siblings", especially Julie.
Julie stopped near the centre of the small room and pulled Joelle beside her. Letting go of her hand, Joelle nervously played with her tie, staring at the toes of her bright red Mary Janes. Everyone knew Joelle was shy, especially with authority figures, unless she had her clarinet in her hand.
"Mr. Schott, this is Joelle, our newest, and youngest, first chair clarinet. Jo, this is Bill Schott, the vocal music teacher and choir director I was telling you about." Julie announced, stepping backwards slightly to let Joelle know it was her turn to speak.
Joelle slowly looked around the room as a shiver ran up her spine. The room was musty, dark and unfamiliar. They were in the basement of their hundred-year old school, and clearly this room had been neglected by the school board for some time, as water stains marked the ceiling tiles and orange shag carpet. Three separate keyboards were scattered around the room, each surrounded by two or three music stands containing various scores from popular musicals or top 40 hits. Black boards covered two of the walls, all with different chord progressions or vocal warm-ups written in a slanted, small handwriting. Posters from "Les Miserables" and "Wicked" covered the wall behind a messy desk, piled high with sheet music, binders and marked essays, waiting to be handed back to their owners. A finely made suit jacket hung on an open drawer of a filing cabinet behind the desk, next to a small window. An old-fashioned metronome caught Joelle's attention as it sat perched on top of the filing cabinet, no doubt used to keep tempo during vocal rehearsal.
Finally, Joelle focused on the centre of the room, where a thin man slouched over one of the keyboards, wearing a pale yellow dress shirt with a red and gold striped silk tie, and dark grey suit pants that matched the jacket hanging behind the desk. He couldn't have been more than 25, thought Joelle, and his golden brown curly hair made him look younger.
Mr. Schott looked up again, this time, gazing into Joelle`s pale face and soft, blue eyes. She seemed young and innocent as she stood there in the centre of the room; too young to be a sophomore, surely; or perhaps she was just timid, like him, and was in self-preservation mode. And God, that skirt, just short enough to be tempting, leaving the most interesting parts up to the imagination, paired with that too-tight white (and almost see-through!) blouse. He cleared his throat and stood up, shifting his gaze back to his music and haphazardly adjusting some of the scores on the stand closest to the keyboard, trying to seem like he was too busy to interact with the girl now standing just feet from his favourite teaching spot.
Joelle tried to catch his gaze again and again, walking closer to the ancient Casio keyboard. As he stood, Joelle realized just how wrong her first impression of Mr. Schott was – he was taller than she expected him to be; at least 6'2. He was slender but muscular, and looked somewhat athletic. His eyes were the colour of honey and dazzled in the sunlight shining in through the small window, and his hair fell in just a way that made him look more like a jock than a music geek. His crisp clothing screamed the fact that he cared for himself and how he looked; to him, appearance was everything. Joelle glanced quickly around the room for any sign of a wife or even a girlfriend, but he wore no wedding band and possessed no personal effects within the room, other than his suit jacket. Again, Joelle tried to catch his gaze, yet he seemed to be looking anywhere but her face. She watched him curiously as he continued to rearrange the music on his stand.
"Hi, Mr. Schott – Julie has tried to get me to join choir a few times, but I am a band girl, through and through, and…"
"You must be fairly talented to be first chair clarinet in sophomore year," Mr. Schott said quietly, finally looking up. "And, from my understanding, you are also on the high honour roll in the AP program. Very impressive."
How the hell does he know that I am in AP? And how the hell does he know about my grades? Thought Joelle as she stared into his eyes. She could feel her eyebrow raising slightly, giving her a quizzical look.
"Don't worry, Miss Borton, your legacy already lives within these school walls. Mr. O'Connell has been kind enough to tell me about a few of his most promising students, and he had very kind words when speaking of you." Mr. Schott grinned a goofy, boyish smile, as the quizzical look Joelle held turned into a look of triumph. "But, do you sing?"
Joelle's eyes immediately returned to the floor as her look of trimph turned into a frown. While she was actively involved in her church's choir, she was extremely shy when it came to her voice, and felt her musical talent was much better suited to instrumental music rather than vocal. Joelle could feel herself backing up slightly as she looked for a way to escape.
"Jo has a GREAT voice, Mr. Schott! You should hear her! She's a soprano in the choir at St. Mark's and is always singing her clarinet parts!" Julie piped up from the back of the room, where she sat smiling. She loved making Joelle come down off her high horse – after all, first chair clarinet or not, she was still only a sophomore and didn't deserve to rule the world; not until Julie graduated, anyways.
"Thank you, Miss Ellis, that's enough," snapped Mr. Schott, his attention not leaving the timid girl who stood closest to him. "Do you mind giving Miss Borton and I a chance to discuss our school's vocal music program alone?" He paused briefly, his face relaxing. "Please," he added softly.
"Yes Sir, Mr. Schott!" Julie stood and snapped to attention at once, which made Joelle giggle slightly and eased the tension in the room. For once, Joelle was truly grateful that Julie had a good sense of humour.
"This isn't marching band Jewls. But, see you after classes." Joelle sent a quick look over her shoulder as Julie backed away, a look filled with disdain and yet thanks.
Julie exited the room quickly, making sure she closed the door tightly behind her. She knew that look in Joelle's eye – she'd seen it countless times before. Mr. Schott was about to get blown away.