Chapter Four:
Friday came quickly, and soon Sally and Clara were on their way to the very first rehearsal of The Harmonics. Sally couldn't stop talking, oblivious to the fact that Clara was wringing her hands nervously. Clara still felt a little self conscious about singing in front of other people. She worried that she would end up bringing down the group. There was also the fact that most of the other members were upperclassmen. She and Sally were among the few freshman who made the cut, including Austin and Matthew. Matthew. He was the one thing Clara was actually looking forward to at rehearsal. She hoped she would finally be able to introduce herself and maybe get to know him better.
"So there's supposed to be a party after rehearsal," Sally was saying. This jerked Clara out of her day dreaming. She stumbled to a halt and Sally looked back at her from over her shoulder.
"What?"
"There's going to be a party?"
"Yeah," Sally said. She looked confused. "Alyssa didn't tell you? You would think she would with all those texts she sends you." She snorted.
Clara laughed,trying to shake off her feeling of dread. "What kind of party?"
Sally twirled a piece of long blonde hair around her finger excitedly, something she did when there was gossip to spread. "So apparently there's another acapella group at a school a few miles from here that competes in the same division. Every year we start rehearsals on the same day and then meet at one of the schools for a party. Its our turn to host."
She lowered her voice and glanced at Clara mischievously. "I hear they get pretty wild. Sometimes they don't end until five in the morning. I also head something about a chocolate cannon..."
Clara smiled nervously. "Sounds good." Sally checked her phone and gasped. "Oh god Clara. We're going to be late!" Clara's eyes widened. "Well lets go!" The last thing Clara needed was to embarrass herself even further by showing up late on the first day of rehearsal. Sally grabbed Clara's hand and they bolted down the hallway.
They burst into the room with three minutes to spare.
"Whew," Sally breathed. "That was too close."
"Yeah," Clara agreed, trying to cover up her heavy breathing. She straightened up when she saw Alyssa approaching her.
"I'm glad you guys could make it," she chirped, wearing a cheery smile. "We were just about to start." She raised her voice, addressing everyone in the room. "Okay guys. Let's circle up and get to know each other a bit." As everyone formed the circle, with a few groans here and there, Clara eyed the other members. There were about two girls for every guy, and 15 people in all, including Alyssa. Matthew was present, and he stood in between the tall redhead and a slightly shorter guy with light brown hair. Clara took her place next to Sally, and Austin sauntered up next to her. "Mind if I stand here?" She shrugged in a way that said, why not? Austin smirked and settled into his spot. Clara shot him a grin as well. Flirting was one thing she was confident about. Alyssa clapped her hands and stood in the middle of the circle.
"Hi everyone!" she exclaimed with a smile. "I'm Alyssa. I've been in The Harmonics for three years, I'm currently a senior, and I am the president of The Harmonics as well as the manager." She pointed to the guy with curly brown hair. "This is Jesse and he's second in charge." Jesse nodded his head slightly, with a small smile. Alyssa then motioned to the petite girl with raven black hair that fell to her waist. "This is Sofia. She is my assistant." Sofia waved. " I hope you all give Jesse and Sofia the same respect that you would me. Now we are going to go around the circle and I want you all to introduce yourself. At least one interesting fact!" Her cheerfulness was met with even more groans. "Oh hush," she scolded. "You know we do this every year. No amount of groaning is going to change that." She laughed. " Why don't we start with you." She pointed at Austin.
"Sup guys," he drawled. "I'm Austin. I like crazy parties, the color black, and singing." He winked at Alyssa. Alyssa strained to keep her smile. She smoothed her pencil skirt and took a deep breath. "Well, nice to meet you, Austin. Uh, moving on to Clara."
Clara cleared her throat and stood up straight. "Hi. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm a freshman and, uh-" she wracked her brain for something interesting to say. "I really like writing," she decided.
"Oh, that's interesting," Alyssa smiled. "What do you write?"
"Just this and that," Clara shrugged. "Usually stories. I'm planning on becoming an English teacher."
They continued around the circle. When it was the redhead's turn, she smiled and said "Hi, I'm Amy. I'm a sophomore, and this is my boyfriend Rory." She motioned to the guy on the opposite side of Matthew. He blushed and waved slightly. "Yeah, I'm uh Rory, and that's Amy." He pointed back at her. There was a period of silence. "We're dating," he said, with a sheepish smile and a bob of his head. "They know that," Amy hissed.
He cleared his throat. "Right."
"Right," Alyssa said, and smiled awkwardly. "Now on to Matthew."
The tall buy stepped forward and straightened his bowtie, which was blue today.
"I prefer to be called Matt. And actually most people call me the Doctor."
Alyssa perked up. "Oh, and why is that?"
Matt smiled sheepishly and ran a hand through his thick hair, even though it just flopped back into place on top of his forehead. Clara wondered what it would feel like to run her own hand through his shiny brown hair. She imagined it would be soft and silky. She was startled out of her thoughts when he began to speak once again.
"Well ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a doctor. The name kind of stuck."
Alyssa clapped her hands together. "Oh, how interesting! Well now that we've met everyone, lets start rehearsal!"
Two hours later Clara was exhausted from singing scales, performing vocal warm ups, and learning choreography. "And that's it for today" Alyssa called, still sounding as perky as ever. "Don't forget we have the annual meet and greet party with the Acafellas right after. We're going to meet in the campus courtyard. See you all there!" Whoops and yells resonated throughout the room as Clara drifted over to Sally, who was chatting with Austin. "-and then I was like 'no way you're actually-' Oh hi Clara" she said, stopping mid sentence. Austin looked over at her and nodded. "Hey."
Clara smiled. "So what did you guys think of rehearsal?"
Sally grinned. "It was great."
"Meh," Austin shrugged. The two girls turned to look at him in bewilderment.
"Hey. Way too many warm ups. I signed up to sing." Clara smiled at him. "I know what you mean." He winked at her again, causing her to turn a light shade of pink.
"The party's gonna rock though," Sally cut in.
"Yeah," Austin replied. "I heard those Acafella guys really know how to party." He and Sally started gossiping and Clara took the time to scan the room. Matt was standing with Amy and Rory in the corner. Glancing back at Sally, she started to drift away. She was now engaged in a deep conversation with Austin and wouldn't even notice Clara missing. She wove through the small clusters of people until she was ten feet away. Hesitating, she wondered if she should talk to him. Her decision was made when Amy noticed the small girl and pulled Rory over to where Clara was standing.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Amy. You're Clara, right?"
"The one and only," she said with a smile. Then she looked at Rory. Amy still had her hand wrapped tightly around his arm. "And you're Rory." She stuck her arm out to shake hands, giving him an excuse to break free from Amy's grasp. He smiled gratefully at her. "The one and only," he mocked. She blushed a bit, but he only laughed. "Its nice to meet you Clara." He glanced around. "Rehearsal was pretty fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Amy chimed in. "I'm so glad we decided to audition." She gave Rory a quick peck on the lips.
"More like you decided to," he laughed, returning the favor. Clara smiled at this casual display of affection. It was obvious the two really cared for each other. Amy suddenly snapped to attention. "Oh, you haven't met the Doctor yet." Clara's brow creased in momentary confusion. "Doctor who?" Amy laughed lightly.
"You might know him better as Matt."
"Oh, of course!" Clara slapped her forehead in realization. "I'm sorry, today has been such a blur." Rory patted her shoulder.
"Its alright. But try not to call him Matt. He's really sensitive to-"
Amy slugged his shoulder, giving him a look that signaled him to shut up.
"Oh, look at the time. The party is starting." She glanced at Matt- the Doctor -who was still awkwardly standing in the corner. "You two can get to know each other at the party," she said with a grin.
Hold onto your chairs, the next chapter is going to be long.
