Urgh, finally. We made it through the first two lessons of freshman year.
Geometry was a blast.
No, really.
We'd had a ratty old lady rattling on and on about... well, I don't even know what she was rattling on about. The whole time Trent was whispering Professor McGonagall impersonations into my ear. I think all the internalised pressure from not trying to laugh might have caused me to self-combust if the lesson had gone one minute longer.
It was followed by Spanish. Mr Shoe-ster or whatever his name was kept looking at me weirdly, like 'was I sure I was meant to be in his class?' I'm small ok, but I'm not that small. When I finally answered one of his questions in perfect Spanish he seemed to accept that I was there to stay.
So now it's lunch. Alex, Trent, Heather-Leigh and I are doing the whole new kid routine, not quite sure where we can sit without upsetting the juniors and seniors of the school. We're making our way towards the cafeteria when we hear the music start up.
Some of the older kids are standing up and beginning to dance around as others jump onto the tables.
See the people walking down the street
Fall in line just watching all their feet
They don't know where they wanna go
But their walking in time
They got the beat
"Wow," Trent muttered, "This place is seriously old school."
I nodded in agreement. That song was really lame. It was embarrassing.
There was one cheerleader though. She was seriously hot and a really good singer. The rest kind of just looked like dancing elephants.
Sadly, I had to admit, the longer it when on the catchier it became. Heather-Leigh was clapping along next to me with her sweet, fun-loving smile and I couldn't help but join in.
It finished though, and the second someone yelled 'food fight' I was dragging the others away from there. I didn't want to walk around looking like medusa for the rest of the day. The lunch special had been spaghetti.
So, we eventually found ourselves outside, eating lunch in the stands of the football stadium.
Trent groans as he finishes lunch. "I can't get that stupid song out of my head!" he complains
"So put something else in it," Heather-Leigh suggests. I smile at her. She always has the simplest solutions.
"Hmm," Trent thinks for a minute. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply. He begins to sing. His voice has always has this hoarseness to it that makes the more feint-hearted girls, well, faint. All of us had a little experience in singing, it had been one of our electives at EA-AS, but Trent had more natural talent.
How the time passed away, all the trouble that we gave,
And all those days we spent out by the lake,
I know immediately what he's singing about. I remember the days we spent at the Elite Aerial and Acrobatic School. We'd been there for five years and had got into our fair share of trouble, especially when we snuck off on the weekends to spend time at the nearby lake. The only reason we'd never been kicked out was because we were the best damn acrobats in that place.
In the end that had been the reason we left.
Has it all gone to waste, all the promises we made?
One by one they vanish just the same,
We'd promised each other we'd go to Worlds together, but what if we never made it?
Of all the things I still remember, summer's never looked the same,
The years go by and time just seems to fly, but the memories remain,
Summer will never be the same again. We'll never go back to those carefree gym camp days; we're getting older and entering the world of summer jobs. Training won't something we can do for fun anymore. It will become our livelihood.
In the middle of September, we'd still play out in the rain,
Nothing to lose but everything to gain,
Reflecting now on how things could have been,
It was worth it in the end
Alex joins in; his slightly lighter, pop-style voice always complements Trent's nicely.
Now it all seems so clear, there's nothing left to fear,
So we made our way by finding what was real,
That had been part of it too. EA-AS had been all about the performance, all about faking it on stage so the crowd could go home happy. It became rather empty after a while. We found ourselves needing something more, something real. Life wasn't always happy and bubbly and silly.
Now the days are so long, that summer's moving on,
We reach for something that's already gone,
Heather-Leigh and I join in now. Leigh's voice has a rather unique quality to it. It's pretty without being overly sweet like Taylor Swift's 'I'm so sweet I live off rainbows and fairy floss' voice. There's something of Hayley Williams and Amy Lee in there. Something stronger and darker than her optimistic, everything-happens-for-a-reason attitude.
I don't really know how to explain my voice. I was better at harmonising than singing solo.
Of all the things I still remember, summer's never looked the same,
The years go by and time just seems to fly, but the memories remain,
In the middle of September, we'd still play out in the rain,
Nothing to lose but everything to gain,
Reflecting now on how things could have been,
It was worth it in the end
At that moment I notice a figure standing at the far entrance of the stadium, apparently watching us. I hope it's not one of the many apparent music-haters from lunch. He must have seen me looking, because he disappeared a second later. I quickly forgot about him.
Yeah we knew we had to leave this town,
But we never knew when and we never knew how,
We would end up here the way we are,
That's what it came down to. We all have big dreams of leaving Ohio for Vegas, the place where the circus has become so much bigger that a multicoloured tent and clever animals. That's our calling, and Worlds is the first step.
Yeah we knew we had to leave this town,
But we never knew when and we never knew how,
Never knew how,
Yet we don't have a coach, a place to train or any idea how we're going to get there.
Of all the things I still remember, summer's never looked the same,
The years go by and time just seems to fly, but the memories remain,
In the middle of September, we'd still play out in the rain,
Nothing to lose but everything to gain,
Reflecting now on how things could have been,
It was worth it in the end
I sure hope it will be worth it.
"Blueberries anyone?"