I make my way into the school so I can head to the chorus room. Walking in I see only a few faces and wonder where Mary, Sally, and Mel are. I make my way into the largest practice room and set my stuff down. I pull out my guitar, tune it, and start to play random chords. The guitar playing always calms me down before a concert. I set the guitar down and turn to the upright piano in front of me. I start playing the song I'd be singing by myself and listen to the wonderful melody pour out of the instrument. As I move my fingers the lyrics wind through my head and I start to mouth the words. This song had only been played for one person, Dr. Marks. No one else has heard it, and for that, I'm incredibly grateful. That means that those people who will hear it tonight will be genuinely affected. As I finish the song on the piano I hear a knock on the door. Mel stands outside holding a bag of something. I let her in and she says, "How come you haven't played like that for us? I mean I didn't really hear anythin' but I know you were very emotional. So come on, what gives?"
"Mel, I didn't wanna play for everyone before tonight because I wanted it to be a surprise."
She smiles and sits in the chair next to me. She picks up the guitar and starts to pluck out a tune. I add in the piano and we just randomly play the upbeat melody. Candice comes by the room and hears us playing the random tune. She picks up her violin, opens the door and joins in. She plays the violin like any person in our town would, really fast and country. Mel and I smile and cheer her on. People walk into the chorus room and hear the three of us jamming out in our little room. Someone opens the door and the sound just pours out into the room, washing over every unsuspecting person. When everyone realizes that there's music going, they start clapping to the beat and cheer us on. We finally end our piece and hear loud shouts from outside. We have been so engulfed in our music that we didn't even realize that the door had been opened. Candice, Mel, and I smile, laugh, and blush at the applause and our own obliviousness.
Dr. Marks walks out and starts getting us all ready. Candice shuts the door so I can put my guitar away and not have people come in and ask for more jam sessions. Mel looks at our violinist and says, "I thought you weren't supposed to be here until later. You're only here for the one song right?"
Candice smiles and says, "Yeah I am only here for that one song. But I love listenin' to y'all sing. I wish I could join in, but I'm not any good." Her face falls as she tucks her violin under her arm.
"Candice, think of it this way," I chime in. "If you were singin' with us, you wouldn't be able to play your violin. You'd be singin' with the choir. I know how much you live playin' the violin and you'd have to give it up to sing with us. And plus, you're the best in the school which is why we asked you to play with us. So, cheer up dear. Everything happens for some reason or another."
She smiles and hugs me gently. I hug her back and Mel joins us. When we let go I slip on my black gloves and we head out into the room. Dr. Marks has the mixed choir singing their songs and they sound good, but not as good as we do. The elite choir was a choir of all girls because, that's the gender that mostly signs up for choir. Finally it's our turn to sing in front of the group. We stand on the risers and get ready to sing. Mrs. Creighton plays the piano for us when we have an accompanied piece. We reach the song where Candice plays the violin and she plays it wonderfully. Everyone applauds her as she takes a bow. We don't run through the songs entirely except the one with Candice.
Finally it's time to go on stage. The mixed choir goes out first while all the rest of us stay in our room. Mel, Sally, and Mary sit with me and we talk about everything.
"You know there's a rumor that Aimee and Eliot are going out again. But then, there are some people saying that they keep seeing someone else with Eliot. They know it's someone on the gymnastics team so he must be happy. Am I right?" Mary says with her tone almost icy.
"You're on the gymnastics team Cas, who's Eliot with?" Sally asks me.
"He isn't with anyone. It's something he decided to do. He joins us on our trips to competitions but he isn't with any of us that I know of. But you know I keep to myself. And honestly I don't care," I respond, not stopping my embroidery. I look at the blanket and smile at the progress I had done. The baby pink, blue, and lavender go well together along with the green. The flowers look so real that I just wish I could find a way to infuse a scent into the string so it would be a real scene. We sit for the thirty minutes while the choir finishes their songs. Someone goes and tells us our cue to line up. I place my embroidery in my purse and start to line up. We get on the risers and then file off into our starting line. We walk out the doors and head to the stage entrance. As the mixed choir finishes and starts departing the stage we get ready to enter the lights.
Dr. Marks walks to us and motions us forward and we break the curtain with elegance and poise, taking command of the stage and the audience's attention. Dr. Marks walks out after us and he starts our music. Mrs. Creighton follows him and so do we. The words fall off our lips like water, because they have been memorized and drilled into us. Our moods change with each song we sing. Finally our second to last song starts. Candice stands in front of the piano and draws her bow across the strings creating a lovely sound. Our voices add a new level of tone onto her beautiful tune and soon the audience is mesmerized by the sounds produced. As the song ends our notes fade into a quiet murmur. The audience erupts into applause and Candice takes a bow. Our last song chorus of the night starts and my solo rumbles in my stomach. I move toward the mic when I am motioned to do so. I compose myself and let the words fall out in time and rhythm to the melody. The words whirl my mind and the sea of emotion calms in my heart. As the last note rings from my mouth the auditorium echoes it slightly. After a moment of silence the audience applauses once more and I take my bow.
The choir then steps off the stage and into their seats that were marked off in the house. Mrs. Creighton steps away from the piano as I walk to it. The nerves well up again as I sit on the stool. Looking at the ebony and ivory keys I feel a small sense of calm rise from them. Dr. Marks takes the microphone and introduces me to everyone saying that I was chosen to close the show because of the dedication to my work and the talent that has been pent up inside me.
With that being said I start pressing the keys to the intro of the song I was to perform. The memories and emotions that went into writing this song well up inside and I let them all go.
"We're together but for how long? People pull us apart and we ourselves tear each other down. You say goodbye and but I can't let you go.
So we could stay together I would sell my heart. I look around as the auctioneer cries 'Sold!' The highest bidder I dread but now as I look into his face it's you.
You've moved on, but for how long? You say she's fun but does she hold your heart and you hold hers? You say goodbye and I just let you go.
So we could stay together I would sell my heart. I look around as the auctioneer cries 'Sold!' The highest bidder I dread, but now as I look into his face it's you.
You turn around and look at me all apologetically. You run to me and kiss my eyes to dry away the tears. You say you're back and that I'm yours but how can I believe you? I loved you once and you broke my heart. Broke my heart.
We're together but for how long? People say we're perfect for the other one and it may be true. But for now life moves on."
I strike the keys and finish the song reeling. The keys feel worn under my fingers and I smile at the fact that I could actually do this. As the last note hangs in the air I wait for someone to do something. I see someone stand up and start applauding. Soon everyone followed suit. Mel, Candice, Dr. Marks, Sally, and the entire choir stands and hollers at me. I smile, stand up from the bench and take a bow. Dr. Marks walks forward and says to the audience, "I wish you all a good night and a safe and happy summer."
I walk out of the auditorium and into the commons. I get tackled by Melinda, Sally, and Mary. The twins, Mary and Sally, tell me the same things at the same time with their freaky twin thing. Melinda smiles at me and asks, "Where'd you get that from?"
"I wrote it. It was just something that needed to be done and gotten out," I explain.
"How'd you play in those gloves? I mean the keys are slippery and you have the gloves on that make it even worse. How'd you do it?" Sally asks me very confused.
"I've practiced with them on. I knew I wouldn't be able to slide my fingers across the keys because then no sound would come out. I focused mostly on playing and only a bit on singin'. Since it's my song, no one would know if I messed up or not besides me."
Suddenly out of nowhere someone walks up behind me and hugs me. I freak for a second and then turn around to see Jake. I hug him and he says to me, "That was amazing Cassie. You have a wonderful talent."
"Thanks Jake. I was incredibly nervous though. I wasn't expecting you to be here though. Shouldn't you be with the team somewhere?" I ask him puzzled.
"Nah, some of the team came with me. They have nothing better to do so they came to see what exactly a chorus concert is like." Shrugging his shoulders he pretty much brushes the statement off his shoulders. I look to my right as I giggle and see three people I didn't expect to see. Sasha, Eliot, and Aimee come striding towards me. Jakes senses my tension and wraps his arm around my shoulder so if things get out of hand he can easily turn me away and we could leave.
"Congratulations Cassie," Sasha exclaims handing me a bouquet of coral roses. I smile at the bouquet seeing as they're my favorite flowers. I take them in my hands and smell them. Smiling at the aroma and the gesture I reply, "Thank you Sasha. But I thought I told you not to come."
"And you agreed that I could make that decision on my own now didn't you?" She retorts embracing me in a hug.
I laugh and say, "That's true I did." I look at Eliot who looked subtly confused.
"So what did you think honestly Sasha?" I ask her joyfully.
"I loved it Cassie. Your song was great," she replies smiling.
"I thought it was good," Aimee says plainly. I clench my teeth and refrain from saying anything to her.
"I thought it was wonderful. You were amazing Cassie," Eliot states. Aimee slightly hits him on the arm and looks at him. I know Aimee and that was her 'I'm unhappy you compliment her better than you do me and I'm jealous you said that' action.
"Well, I should be grabbing my things from the chorus room," I say to the crowd around me.
"Here, let me come help you," Aimee offers.
"Thanks but I don't think I'll need any help," I say pleasantly.
"Well I'll walk with you then. You never know when you might need help."
With that we walk down the hallway towards the chorus room. She walks beside me and as we enter the room she pulls me into the closest practice room. "What are you doing?" she asks me.
"What do you mean what am I doing? You're the one who pulled us into this practice room," I reply defensively.
"I mean what are you doing with Eliot? He's mine and every girl besides you understands that and just stays jealous of me."
"Aimee, you're not much of a girlfriend to him are you? You're only attracted to him because if you're dating him then you're popular. You don't even talk to him about things he likes to talk about do you? Do you even let him talk at all? Or do you just sit on his lap and make out?" I attack her venomously.
"How dare you criticize me and my actions with my boyfriend!" she yells at me.
"Aimee, I don't give a damn what you do with him. But I gotta say, you should be thanking me for tutoring him because if he wasn't getting tutored, he wouldn't have passed and then he wouldn't be on the football team next year. So I wouldn't mind a thank you instead of a screaming match," I reply icily.
She pushes me away and says, "You know what? I'm never going to thank you because you don't deserve it. You should be thanking me for letting you tutor him. Also, you should stay away from him if you know what's good for you." With that she opens the door and leaves me alone in the room.
I lean up against the wall and slide down to the floor. I start to cry because the girl I had known as my best friend in elementary school had totally disappeared and gave way into the witch I had just encountered. I cry until I remember I need to get out of the room and head home. I wipe my eyes with my gloves, lucky for me they're black and won't show anything really. I grab my purse and guitar and head out the back way. I walk along the sidewalk and at the corner I see someone standing there waiting for someone. As I walk nearer I make it out to be Jake. He meets me and says, "I got a little worried when you didn't come back out with Aimee. Sasha told me to tell you she had to leave so she could be with Eliot for a little bit. So, would you like to go do something?"
"Thanks Jake. I need to run this stuff to my house though. Wanna come with?" I ask him.
He nods and we start walking to my house to begin our night of fun.