"So what do you think dad?" I asked as I set the table for dinner. My dad was in the kitchen finishing the steaks, but I knew he could still hear me easily. "Do you think I should go for it?"
"Honey, of course you should! Obviously this woman knows what she's talking about. And I know you could do it."
"But what about the whole 'singing' thing? Do you really think I could pull that off?"
My dad came in from the kitchen holding the salad bowl and smiled at me. "I think you can do anything if you follow your heart. And as cheesy as that sounded, I really meant it." He set the bowl down just as the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" I laid down the last fork and ran to the door. I opened it to see my "aunt and uncle" standing on the porch with their son. They weren't really my uncle and aunt, but they had been friends with my dad for so long, that it was like they were family. Their son, Michael, and I had been together since we were in diapers, so it was like we were cousins. I smiled at them. "Hi Uncle Chad, Aunt Taylor! Hey Michael!"
"Sup!" Michael smiled back at me.
"Hey sweetie." Aunt Taylor pushed open the door wider and made her way through first, holding a steaming casserole dish. Uncle Chad and Michael followed, armed with pop bottles and pints of icecream.
"Oh I see you brought the good stuff!" I grinned. "I should have just let you two in!"
"Now, now young lady!" Uncle Chad set down his armload and grinned back at me, before pulling me into a bear hug. "Your Aunt Taylor's casserole is the finest in the state."
I pulled away laughing. "I know. Just messing around." Quickly Michael and I put away the icecream in the freezer before the doorbell rang again. "I'll get it!" I yelled.
I walked to the door and opened it to see Nate's smiling face. "Hey Nate!" I noticed he was holding flowers and rolled my eyes. "Trying to get on Aunt Taylor's good side?"
"And yours!" He took his other hand from behind his back to reveal another bunch of pink roses, my favorite.
"Hey you're already on my good side. Well, most of the time anyway." Nate rolled his eyes and handed me the flowers unceremoniously. "Thanks Nate." I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. I was surprised when he blushed.
"Well, what's going on in here?" Michael walked into the room grinning.
"Nothing you dork!" I laughed and shoved him playfully.
"Roses?" Michael quirked an eyebrow at Nate who shrugged and looked away.
"They're Aunt Taylor's favorite!" I said quickly, which was true. "She's going to love these. And thanks for the extra ones for me too."
I ran to the kitchen and gave Aunt Taylor her flowers. "From Nate." I explained, before getting a vase for my own roses.
Uncle Chad whistled. "That boy Nate has got it bad for you."
"SHHH!" I hissed. "They're in the next room! And no, he doesn't, he's just my best friend, and he likes to do nice things for me."
"Very nice things." Michael said casually, walking in with a very red Nate. "Extremely nice things."
I rolled my eyes again. Michael was great and all, but he really was like family, he got under my skin sometimes.
"Anyway," my dad said briskly, "everything's all ready! Let's eat!"
I smiled at him in gratitude as we all trooped out to the dining room table. I had no idea why some people thought Nate liked me. I knew he didn't. We were friends. Just friends.
"So did you get the invitation?" Aunt Taylor asked my dad once we were all seated and eating.
"What invitaion?" My dad said blankly.
"The invitation to the East High Alumni Reunion Dinner, Troy." Uncle Chad answered for Aunt Taylor.
"Oh, yes I got it." My dad took another bite of his salad.
"Are you going Dad?" I asked.
"I don't know. Seems like it could be pretty awkward."
"I think it would be cool!" Michael said. "All those people talking to you about the old days when you were Troy Bolton: MVP and captain of the East High Wildcats Basketball Team."
"Not to mention golf." Uncle Chad said.
"And baseball." Aunt Taylor chimed in.
"And all that theater stuff you did." I added, then was surprised when Aunt Taylor and Uncle Chad stopped eating and stared at my dad.
"You told her?"
My dad glanced at me. "Of course I told her! What is there to hide?"
"So you told her about Gabri-" Uncle Chad began.
"I thought it was clear that her name was never to be spoken in this house." My dad's voice, cold and stern, startled me. He almost never spoke that way. Heavy silence ensued. What was going on? I looked over at Nate, who was looking back and forth between Uncle Chad and my dad. Michael was staring down at his plate. Aunt Taylor fiddled with her napkin.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe you shouldn't go to the Reunion Dinner." Uncle Chad said, then continued eating. Aunt Taylor cleared her throat. My father sat, staring at the salad bowl in front of him as if not really seeing it.
Nate broke the silence. "They told us what play we're doing at drama practice today. We're going to perform Cinderella. The musical."
"That's awesome." Aunt Taylor smiled warmly at him.
"We need to sing a song for the audition." I added, hoping to keep the conversation alive. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Does it have to be a show tune?" Uncle Chad asked.
"I don't think so." I said, smiling at him and thanking my lucky stars someone was willing to take the bait. "I mean I don't want to do something really modern. But also not a show tune."
"I was thinking maybe we could sing a duet." Nate looked at me. "Then if one of us makes a mistake, the other one can cover it."
I smiled at him. "That sounds like a really awesome idea."
"Okay, so a not too old, not too young song, that's a duet." Michael said.
For a moment everything was silent as we all thought. Then my dad spoke up. "I know a song you guys could do."
"Really? Would I know it?" I said, eager to encourage him to join the conversation again.
"No..." he said slowly, "it's pretty obscure and quite a bit before your time. But I like it."
"What's it called?" Nate pressed.
"It's called The Start of Something New."
Somewhere in my mind that sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before? Then I remembered. Miss Montez had said it to me earlier that day. "And I hope you'll at least consider auditioning for the part of Cinderella. Maybe it could be the start of something new for you." That was a weird coincidence, I thought. Then Nate's voice brought me back to the present.
"Sounds interesting. How does it go?"
Uncle Chad and Aunt Taylor glanced at my father, who looked awkward. "Well, um," he cleared his throat, "something like this: Living in my own world, Didn't understand, That anything can happen, If you take a chance. Or... something like that." He mumbled, spearing a piece of meat with his fork.
I blinked. Even from just those few lines of song I could tell my dad was a great singer. Much better than I had expected. I glanced at Nate, whose eyebrows were raised. Even Michael looked surprised.
"What do you think?" Nate said.
"I like it. Sounds a little corny, but good." I looked down at my empty plate and then across at Nate's. "May we be excused so we can go look it up?"
My dad nodded, smiling for the first time since his awkward declaration. "Go ahead."
"Okay." Nate and I left the dining room and headed for my room. I opened my laptop and typed in SongMania, a website where you could easily look up song lyrics and karaoke music. "Here it is!" I said, after a minute of searching. "Here's the karaoke version, and here are the lyrics. Wanna try it?"
"Sure." Nate and I looked nervously at eachother, then I laughed.
"Hey, if we suck, at least no one's here to hear us! Let's try."
Nate nodded and I hit play. "Your part first." I nodded at him. Nate took a deep breath and started to sing.
Living in my own world,
Didn't understand,
That anything can happen,
If you take a chance,
Wow. He was good. I blinked, then realized it was my turn. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
I never believed in,
What I couldn't see,
I never opened my heart,
Ohhh to all the possibilities,
Nate stared at me for a second. I blushed. Had I been that bad? Then I turned back to the screen, determined not to think about how much I must suck till the end of the song. The next part we sang together.
I know something has changed,
Never felt this way,
And right here tonight,
This could be the start of something new,
It feels so right,
To be here with you,
And now lookin' in your eyes,
I feel in my heart,
The start of something new,
We kept singing, and I was surprised to find I was enjoying it. A lot. At last we came to the last chorus.
And now lookin' in your eyes,
I feel in my heart,
The start of something new,
The start of something new
The start of something new...
We both stopped singing and gazed into eachother's eyes for a second, surprised and pleased beyond belief. Suddenly, I heard applause and turned to find Michael, Uncle Chad, Aunt Taylor, and my dad standing in the doorway.
"You guys!" Aunt Taylor squealed, "That was terrific!"
I sprang away from Nate, almost dropping my computer. "How long were you guys standing there?"
"Long enough to know you can sing! Really well!" Uncle Chad said.
"Really?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"Yeah, seriously you guys, I mean I'm not usually into all that shiz, but that was seriously well done." Michael said, smiling at both of us.
Nate glanced at me, almost shyly. "You were amazing."
"Thanks. I don't exactly believe you, but I know for sure you were amazing! When have you had time to take all the secret singing lessons I didn't know about?"
Nate flushed, then grinned. "Except for singing in the shower, I haven't had any experience with singing."
"Guys, you should sing that for your audition." My dad was smiling at us, and yet at the same time he looked sad. "You'll rock their world."
I giggled. "Thanks Dad. But please don't try to talk like a highschooler."
He laughed. "Alright I get it."
"Well," Uncle Chad glanced at his watch, "we better get going."
"Alright, well drive careful. Michael and Nate, see you at basketball camp in two weeks, if not before!" My dad smiled.
"You got it Coach." Michael and Nate grinned at him.
"Bye Nate, Michael." I said, hugging both of them. "Nate, we'll get together soon to rehearse okay?"
"Alright, text me! And remember," he smiled, "this could be the start of something new!"
I nodded, smiling. Maybe it would be...
"Nate, are you sure about this?" I said, my stomach knotting. Three days ago after singing with Nate the first time, me getting up and singing in front of an audience had seemed like a realistic idea. Now, with just a few minutes left before we would be called upon to sing, it started to seem completely unbelievable again.
Nate smiled at me. "Don't worry, we've rehearsed. I know you're going to do great. And everyone here is rooting for you."
I bit my lip. "Yeah, but it's still scary, you know?"
To my surprise Nate grabbed my hand and squeezed it. But all he said was, "Yeah, I know."
"Nate and Ella?" Miss Montez turned toward where we were sitting. "You're up!"
Nate squeezed my hand again and then pulled me to my feet. I felt frozen, but I ordered my legs to move, and almost gasped in relief when they obeyed. It's alright Ella. Stop being such a wimp. You're going to be fine. As we got onstage, I took a deep breath and tried not to look directly at all the people staring at us. I glanced at Nate who smiled reassuringly, then moved to put the karaoke CD in the waiting CD player. As the music filled the auditorium, I was glad Nate had the first part. I was sure I couldn't sing anything right at that moment.
As Nate began to sing, I glanced down at Miss Montez and Kelly sitting in the front row. Kelly was smiling, but to my surprise, Miss Montez looked a little pale. She sat very straight against the back of her chair, and she was gripping the arms of the seat so hard her knuckles were white. I barely had time to think about it though, because I had to sing the next part.