Yay for updates! I seriously am sorry for not updating in so long. If anyone still comes back here, please keep reading... -puppy eyes- School is still making me its bitch, but thanks to a wonderful thing called Creative Writing in the basement and choir, I at least have time to hand-write stuff and get it edited and whatnot. (Speaking of edits, I've redone the last chapters, too, so go read the new and improved Sweet Oblivion.)
Also, much as I wish I did, I don't own Rent. -sad-
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Sitting in first period history, Sora tenderly felt the goose egg where the rock had hit im. Fortunately, while a little tender, it didn't seem too bed. As his teacher started off on the usual conspiracy theories, everyone else started to snicker. Sora, though, allowed his mind to wander.
Eight boys in black slacks and pressed white shirts filed onto a stage. The two boys on the end were clearly twins, each with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes. Applause rang out through the small music hall, and the boys blushed a little and grinned; they weren't used to applause. A note was sounded for B-flat, and they hummed their different parts briefly. Then, they began to sing.
A keyboard joined them a few seconds later, adding to the strength and quiet power of the sound. One of the singers, a boy with dark hair and eyes, stepped forward and began to solo, everyone else stepping up their parts to create a sound like angels.
"Once upon a lonely time, I saw your face; now through the love in my heart, I've been saved through your grace..." The piece was alive now, the audience completely under the spell it wove. Even some of the singers were swaying in time to it. The refrain ended and the soloist stepped back. The twin on the left end walked forward to the microphone. Even more than the previous singer, he poured his soul into the words and melody of what he was singing.
His solo ended, and as he stepped back, the keyboard dropped out, and they split into six-part harmony. Even outside the passers-by could hear the gorgeous music. At the end of the concert, they would discover that their sound system had been malfunctioning...
"Sora! If we're quite finished." The teacher stared down from his podium-like lecture stand. Sora froze, blinked, then turned a nice shade of maroon. He'd apparently started humming his part from that song from so long ago. Loudly, it seems.
"Now that we've decided to rejoin the world of the concious, care to tell me what year this occured in?" The teacher pointed to a spot on a map of Africa.
"Euh... 600 b.c.?" Sora went out on a limb. Fortunately, the bell rang, and Sora gladly grabbed his bag and bolted. He managed to run into an acquaintance, literally, in the hallway. You couldn't call him a "friend," but it was the next best thing for Sora.
"What's up, Fifi?" The little blonde reshman glared at him and walked on. He hated the pet name that the upperclassmen had given him. Okay, be that way... Sora thought to himself. Already Sora was back to his usual bitter self. He began trudging up the stairs to the music hall. Another director with an idiot director and stupid choirmates, again and again. Ditching his textbook in his locker on the way, Sora ran into someone else he vaguely knew. Known to his inside circle as "Trenchcoat Man," he was tall and skeletally thin, with brown hair and darting eyes. He glared down at the diminuitive Sora, who quailed and walked quickly on.
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Fifth period choir was always hell. The mixed choir was basically sophomores like Sora who were inelligable for the better groups and the screw-offs of junior and senior year. The directors of the department had, in essence, given up on them. However, this was the only place Sora could feel invisible, versus feeling like a freak. At least here he could sing. The director walked in and rapped her music stand.
"We're warming up now, people." After a few breathing and tone exercises, she had them get out music for "Rent." As usual, the "Lone Soprano" was belting out all of the rong notes as loudly as she could. Sora sighed. She was all vibrato and nothing else. The altos were also too quiet, and his fellow tenors were too nasal to be any good. The bass section just needed to be shot.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Sora usually just sat in the library doing homework, since he rarely had money for lunch. He enjoyed it here, and one of the librarians had sort of taken him under his wing. As he left for his next class, she slipped him a mini candy-bar, winking at him as if to say 'shh, don't tell.' Sora grinned back at her and went to math feeling considerably more cheerful than he usually did.
At last, the final bell. He could go home, although it wasn't much of an improvement to being here at highschool. At least here teachers tried to break up fights. However, on his way home, Sora ran into the jocks again.
"So, it seems we missed you this morning. Don't worry, though, we're not about to forget your daily ass-kicking." Riku and his cronies leered, and this time they were merciless, beating him as severely as his father did. They dragged him off to a small park and left him propped up against a tree, and Sora felt no inclination to move. He knew that it would only happen again if he went home as bruised as he was...
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Vibrato, first off, is not as dirty as it sounds. It's where a singer's voice "vibrates" when s/he holds a note for any length of time.
Also, luv to the people who are still reading.
