Chapter 1. The Muses
"I swear, Thalia, if you break one more thing," the tallest muse warned.
"Oh cool your jets, Calliope," Thalia muttered. "And I may be the shortest, but I can beat you up!"
"Just set up the booth, honey," a third muttered.
They had been working on constructing a small white booth for open house. Calliope was trying not show it, but she was slightly worried. From what she heard from the Headmaster, the school choir had a bad reputation, so no one was likely to sign up.
She slapped on her most dazzling smile. "I'll make it work," she whispered fiercely.
"Oh, look Calli, there's a girl!" said a fourth.
"Well obviously it's a girl, look at that hair," Thalia remarked.
"Calm down, Erato," said the third. "We don't want to scare the poor child."
All five stood behind the booth smiling brightly. Calli liked the girl on instinct. She had large, puffy red hair and walked with an independent, rebel attitude to rival Thalia's.
She seemed to notice their fixation. Her eyes narrowed and she strode towards them.
"What do ye want, eh?" she demanded. Calli liked her strong Scottish accent. It only emphasized her ferocity.
"We want yoooooou to sign up for chorus!" Erato said happily.
The girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Me? Why?"
"Because no one is going to unless we ask every person that walks past the table," the third said, sighing.
"Oh, hush, Clio," Calli reprimanded. She flashed a smile at the girl. "What's your name, sugar?"
The girl shifted her weight. "Merida. And I'm not interested in a silly, pampy, chorus, a'ight? I don't sing." She began to walk away.
"Wait!" Calli said quickly. "How do you KNOW you don't sing? Have you ever tried?"
Merida turned. "Me maw used to sing lullabies, and I suppose I've sang those." She cocked an eyebrow. "But it doesn't change the fact that I'M NOT INTERESTED."
"Just try it," Calli asked with a hinting grin. "Come to auditions. We think you could have the potential to be a great singer."
"What a load of sheep dung," she muttered. Then she sighed. "But me da said I have to try three clubs, and I can't find anything else other than archery and fencing, so I suppose it couldn't hurt to come to a silly audition." She picked up a form. "And me maw will think it's 'civilized'," she muttered.
"Thank you!" Calli called after her retreating figure.
"And tell your friends!" Erato yelled.
"She got any friends?" Thalia whispered.
"I think asking her to spread the word is asking a little much," the fifth said.
"It doesn't hurt to be optimistic, Poly," Erato said.
And other people did come. Slowly of course, but they did come. One by one they rallied and persuaded more students to sign up, though some needed more force than others. By the end of the day they had enough "singers" to form a somewhat decent choir.
"You see girls? Nothing to worry about," Calli told the group.
"Those stress lines tell a different story," Thalia muttered.
Calli glared at her before continuing. "We got more than enough people to choose from, and those who are left we can whip into shape in no time."
"Hey Calli," Thalia said the next day, "we got a problem."
"What is it?" She asked, alarmed.
"No one's nervous!" Thalia answered with a huff, crossing her pudgy arms.
Calli gave her a look. "That's not a problem."
"Yes it is!" Poly agreed. "It means no one's taking this dang thing seriously!"
Thalia peered out into the hallway. "I count four people who look even slightly nervous. A brown haired girl with ca-razy ringlets in a blue dress who looks like a freshman, a weirdly pale girl with short black hair that looks like a freshman, that hunchback kid that looks like a freshman, and a blonde girl who doesn't look all...there." Her eyes narrowed. "Probably a freshman."
"Ok, first of all, 'that hunchback kid' is a mean thing to say," Erato reprimanded. "And what the heck is wrong with freshmen?"
"They always look nervous!" Thalia exclaimed. "So they don't even count!"
"Bring the first one in," Calli cut in. She looked down at her list. "Aladdin." She wrinkled her nose. "What kinda name is that? We'll call him Al."
And with that, auditions began.
"Alright girls, let's go through the list," Calli said at the end. "Any comments, questions, concerns, say them now. Okay," she said, shaking out the list, "the basses or baritones, depending on the piece. Phoebus, Naveen, Adam, Phillip, and... Charming."
"Charming? That's not a name," Thalia protested.
Calli raised an eyebrow. "That's what he wrote on his form," she said. "And he has a good voice."
"That Phoebus kid was iffy," Clio said.
"Well, maybe we can help," Calli said. "Anyways, the Tenors. Quasimodo, Aladdin, Hercules, Tarzan, Shang, Flynn, and Peter."
"Hercules? Honey you mean Hunkules." Thalia added. "I'd like to make some sweet music to that. He was HAWT."
Poly looked over her shoulder. "Well I'm sure as heck not calling them that. They can be Quasi, Al, Herc, Tarz, and...Shang, Flynn, and Peter."
"Altos," Calli proceeded, "Esmeralda, Meg, Tiana, Elsa, and Merida."
"I'm glad that spunky redhead got in," Erato said smiling. "And Meg was pretty spunky too. And Tiana. And Esmeralda." She paused. "Elsa, not so much."
"Soprano twos, and that's lower singers than soprano ones if you're wondering the difference, Thalia," Calli said with a pointed look. "Some of these might have to move back and forth, because there are a lot. Jasmine, Rapunzel, Pocahontas, Anna, Belle, Mulan, and Ariel."
"Rapunzel had a lot of hair," Clio muttered. "I mean, that was a lot."
"And finally, our high note hitters," Calli finished, "the Soprano ones. Snow White, Aurora, Ella, Wendy, and Alice."
"Snow White, Wendy, and Alice are freshmen," Thalia muttered.
"Snow White? What the..." Clio murmured.
"Didn't Ella say she goes by Cinderella?" Poly asked.
"Yes," Calli said, "which is strange but I ain't gonna judge. Alright girls," she said, slapping the list down on the table, "we got ourselves a chorus."
"Welcome to the first day of chorus!" Calli exclaimed jubilantly.
A sea of faces blinked back at her.
"Oh, come on, pluck up buttercups!" Poly said. "Y'all look so depressed. This is exciting!"
"I thought our chorus has come in last place at the competition for thirteen years straight," said a middle eastern boy in the tenor section.
"You're making chorus sound like some Greek tragedy," Thalia muttered.
"Lighten up, dude," Erato added.
"Who are you guys anyways?" he demanded. "I've never seen you before."
As if a cue had just been set, all the Muses struck poses. "We are the Muses," Calli said.
"Isn't that a group of nymphs in Greek mythology that serve as patrons of the arts?" asked a quiet brown haired girl in the second soprano section.
"Yes," Calli said, feeling no need to explain herself further. "What's your name, honey? It's gonna take me a while to learn them, I may as well start now."
"Belle," she said with a small smile.
Calli pointed to the middle eastern boy. "And yours?"
"Aladdin," he said, sitting back in his chair.
"We're gonna call you Al," Poly said, looking up from what she was doing in the corner.
"Um...okay?"
"Ok, so this is how this year's gonna work," Calli said, walking to stand in the dead center of the room. "We're going to teach you how to sing, if you don't know already, and we're going to put together three kick-butt songs to perform at the competition. Also, we need four soloists to compete as well." The room stirred and people started murmuring. She looked around until it fell silent again. "We will pick those soloists. But I believe music is a form of soul changing art. Music can inspire. Music can ignite. Music can heal."
"Preach sister!" Thalia interjected.
Calli glared. "Which is why each and every one of you will be learning and performing a solo at the end of this year."
A general outburst arose throughout the room.
"What?!"
"No one said anything about that!"
"What if I refuse?"
"Listen here!" Merida shouted angrily, standing up. "I didn't sign up for this!"
"Sit down, sugarplum," Clio said, "and let her finish."
"At some point this year," Calli continued, "you will be meeting with Clio, Poly, and Erato, who will be writing songs that are connected to YOU but in a musically amazing and heartfelt way!" The three women waved. The children looked concerned.
"We've been writing songs since the dawn of time," Poly said reassuringly. They didn't look very reassured.
"Been annoying me for that long too," Thalia mumbled underneath her breath. Calli nudged her to stay quiet.
"Alright, we gotta go through which clubs y'all are in to work out scheduling issues," she said, taking out a pencil and paper. "Anyone here in...dance?"
Four people raised their hands. "Say your name when I point to ya."
"Esmeralda."
"Jasmine."
"Aladdin."
"Naveen."
A few girls giggled when Naveen said his name. Clio looked around the room with a raised eyebrow and they fell silent.
"Anyone in...arts and crafts?"
"Rapunzel!"
"Tiana."
A boy whispered something. "Come again?" Calli asked.
"Quasimodo," he said, a bit louder. She nodded. "Continue."
"Anna."
"Ella. But I go by Cinderella." Calli looked up with interest. "If that's alright with you," Cinderella added quickly.
"Nah, it's fine," Calli said, writing it down. "Now, is anyone here in Fencing?" She looked impressed. "This school has fencing?"
"Hardcore," Thalia mused.
"Phillip."
"Phoebus."
"Charming."
"Flynn."
"Merida."
Calli grinned. "That's right, Merida, defy standards." Merida smirked.
"We got anyone in football?"
"Hercules."
Thalia whistled and wiggled her eyebrows at the four others.
"Adam."
"Shang."
An asian girl at the back of the room shuffled a bit in her seat but didn't say anything. Calli took note of this.
"Ok, how about cheerleading?"
There was only one. "The name's Megara. My friends call me Meg, at least they would if I had any friends. "
"Ouch," Thalia whispered.
"Battle of the Books?"
"Belle."
"Wendy."
"Anime club?"
There was silence in the room. Calli looked up. "No one? No anime lovers? Alright then. Skateboarding?"
"Tarzan."
"Peter."
"Anyone on the swim team?"
"Ariel."
"Eric."
"And finally, anyone who is an...what does this say? Eco-Warrior?"
"Snow White."
"Aurora."
"Pocahontas."
"You're gonna have to spell that for me, honey," Calli said apologetically.
She smiled in an entrancing, almost mysterious way. "I know, it's strange. P-O-C-A-H-O-N-T-A-S." Calli nodded and wrote it down.
"Hey, not all of y'all are in clubs," Thalia said, putting a hand on her hip. "What's up with that you lazy bums?"
The asian girl in the back looked at her feet, but the blonde, younger girl looked up with wide eyes. "I had several things going on at home, and I thought it best to not join as many clubs, as there are other things that require my attention."
"O...k?" Poly said uncertainly.
The bell rang. "Alright, good first day everyone!" Calli called as they filed out slowly. She watched them go. "Yeah, we'll be fine."
