Storiesonline.net ------- Lights by Phil Brown Copyright© 2013 by Phil Brown ------- Description: This was Alexandra’s worst possible nightmare. Acceptance by her peers had always been very important to her, but now she's in a new town and a new high school, trying to make new friends and searching for a place to fit in. Will she be willing to pay the price? Codes: mf rom 1st sch ------- ------- Chapter 1 Alexandra was lost! She could feel the panic swelling inside her. She was not sure how to get to her first period class and she was mortified of the reprimand she was sure to receive for being tardy. How humiliating! she thought. She could feel the tears swelling the corners of her eyes. And worst of all, she didn't know anyone she could ask! "Why?" she whined to herself for the millionth time. "Why did Daddy have to take a new job, and force me leave all my friends back in Sacramento?" And for the millionth time, her question went unanswered. If she would have admitted it, she really understood that this had been a big step for her dad, with more prestige and presumably more income. However, Alexandra McKenzie was not ready to accede to that kind of grown-up logic yet. All she could feel right now was the emptiness of losing all her friends and the almost abject terror from the worry that she wouldn't fit in at this new school. Over the last couple of weeks, amid all the clamor of getting moved in and getting unpacked, the pain of her loneliness had subsided a little. But now, the anguish of missing all her friends, especially Jeanie and Kim, surged through her again. When her mom had registered her for classes last Thursday, a tall skinny guy with wire rim glasses and a shock of wiry red hair had taken them on a very quick and confusing tour of her new school. He was polite, if somewhat condescending, to the new eleventh grader as he informed them that he was going to be a senior. "I'm going to run for President of the Debate Club this year," he had told them proudly. "The other two seniors on this year's team have already told me they aren't going to want the responsibility because they are in the band, so I should get it, no problem." He had made it a point, however, to show Alexandra where her homeroom was located. "Each day you'll come here first," he explained. "They make announcements and take attendance before you go to your first class." He had also walked them quickly to where her first class would be. At the time, it had not seemed too difficult to find... "But the halls hadn't been full of students then," she thought anxiously. The sheer number of students amazed her. Her old school had only a fraction of the number of students this school seemed to have. Alexandra had not slept well last night. Every time she had closed her eyes, those now familiar feelings of loneliness and fear had overtaken her. It would have been bad enough if they hadn't moved half way across the country. Had they not moved, she would have been a junior at a school that she knew with friends she had known from elementary school. Friends she had been comfortable with and knew that she was accepted. Now, her worst nightmares were coming true. Her mom had dropped her and her sister's off early this morning, before taking her brother on to the middle school. Her parents had told her that she would have that responsibility after today, which was the price she would have to pay for driving the family car to school, instead of taking the bus. She had found her homeroom, then sat quietly as it had filled with boisterous students, greeting each other happily as they returned for the start of another school year. As she listened to snatches of happy recollections of summer adventures, the feelings of loneliness crowded in. Alexandra quickly discovered that homerooms at this school were assigned by last name, not grade level, so she didn't have a clue which, if any, of these students were her age. A teacher had taken the role and she was embarrassed again, when she had squeaked out a small "Here," as the teacher called her name. Then a long set of announcements had blared over the PA, ending as the bell rang. She hadn't had the chance to meet anyone. Now, as she followed the other kids out of the room, Alexandra glanced at the stream of students pouring through the hallway while she searched for some kind of landmark that would remind her of which way to go. Looking down for the twentieth time this morning at the class schedule she had taped to the composition notebook that she cradled in her arms, Alexandra took a deep breath and waded into the roiling mass of students. One of the things Alexandra noticed right away was the size of the students in the hall. She couldn't decide if this was because the halls were smaller, or the kids were bigger than her old school. Or could it be that everyone else had grown over the summer, while she had remained the same? Alexandra had already accepted the fact that she would probably never get any taller. Maxed out at five foot, four inches tall for the last three years, she was used to looking up at some of the other kids. But for some reason, her short stature seemed a bigger issue now. Glancing up, over the heads of the other students, she was able to see the clock mounted on the wall overhead where two busy hallways intersected. She had less than four minutes to find her room. "Oh, no! Which way do I go now?" she moaned, the tears were ready to start any second. Alexandra tried desperately to remember which way her guide had led them last week as she fought to hold back the tears. She knew that if she started crying right now, that she would die of embarrassment. "Olf-f-f-f!" she gasped as she ran head-on into a set of tremendously hard abs covered by a maroon football jersey. "Hey!" he said quickly. "Watch where..." His words died in his throat as he looked down at the dark haired young girl in front of him. At the same time, Alexandra looked up to see the bottom of the white number eighty-four stitched into the maroon jersey and slowly began to follow the stitches up. And up, and up. "My god, he's so tall!" the thought momentarily distracted Alexandra from her panic. "You okay?" he asked with a rich baritone voice that sent a brief shiver through her. "The boys at my old school NEVER had voices like this," was her next thought. His question had sounded sincere and somewhere inside her brain, it had occurred to her that these were the friendliest words she had heard since they had moved to this god-forsaken place two weeks ago. That thought, and the kindness in his tone caused Alexandra to uncharacteristically begin pouring out the sad details of her dilemma, even before her eyes reached his. "I'm sorry," Alexandra started. She couldn't seem to stop the tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks, so she quickly looked down at the floor as she continued. "I ... I ... didn't see you," she stammered. "I'm ... I'm lost and not sure where I am supposed to be, and I 'm worried about being late to class, and I just wasn't looking, and I don't know any..." "First day, huh?" the tall young man asked gently in that same rich voice, interrupting her lugubrious tale. "Why don't you just tell me what class you're trying to get to." "Fr ... French," Alexandra stammered again, finally looking into his eyes. "In pod four-A." "Easy!" he told her with a warm smile. "C'mon, I'll show you." Then he turned and stepped into the stream of students. Alexandra hurried to catch up to him as a small measure of relief began to seep through her tortured emotions. She almost reached out to grab the back of his jersey as he led her briskly through the crowded hallways. She decided he must be an upperclassman, maybe a senior, as big as he was and the way all the other kids seemed to move out of his way as he approached. He made a quick turn into another hallway that wasn't as wide, but there weren't as many students, either. Then, his pace slowed so abruptly that Alexandra literally ran into him again. "Here it is," he told her, without seeming to notice her second collision. "Good luck!" Alexandra looked at the brass number plate over the door, and then down at her schedule. The numbers matched and Alexandra felt another big sigh of relief flood through her. She'd made it! And before the bell rung! Between the excitement of finally locating her class, and the relief that she had survived the trip, Alexandra was already through the door before she remembered she hadn't even thanked her tall benefactor. However, as she turned back to the hallway, he wasn't there. He was already gone. "Oh, no..." she whined softly to herself. "I don't even know his name." Her disappointment was quickly pushed aside as the bell rang and she realized that she had to choose a seat quickly. If Alexandra were still at her old school, it would have been so much easier. She would have simply sat next to one of her friends. But since she didn't know anyone, she now had to choose on her own, and without the luxury of being able to scope out the situation. The delay in finding her room had hurt her, she realized. Since the bell had rung and most of the others students were rapidly moving to the remaining empty seats, Alexandra simply sat down in the first desk she came to. And before she could look around, Mrs. Foggarty greeted the class in French and began laying out their course of study for the coming semester. The time in the class passed quickly and Alexandra's fears had subsided some as she became engrossed in her lessons. Mrs. Foggarty was going to be a good teacher, Alexandra decided. She was also one to use every available minute of class time for teaching. Since Alexandra had always been a good student, she immersed herself in the lessons, which seemed to cause her to momentarily forget her concerns. Therefore, when the bell rang, signifying the end of the period, Alexandra was surprised. Looking quickly at her schedule, she saw that she had Algebra II next, but she had absolutely no idea where the classroom was located. The class had gone by so swiftly, she had never had the chance to meet anyone. Alexandra felt the panic returning as she gathered up her things and fell into the flow of students rushing from the room. Maybe she could find someone else to ask this time. She looked around, but couldn't seem to catch anyone's eye. Suddenly she found herself in the hall, the flood of would-be scholars flowing like a river past her. Seeing no one she could ask, she took a deep breath and plunged into the river of teeming adolescence. "Olf-f-f-f!" she gasped for the second time today. She had barely taken two steps. "Not again!" she moaned softly to herself as she looked up at the numbers on another maroon jersey. The number eighty-four didn't register at first until she heard the rich baritone voice. "There you are," it said. "I was late to first period so I never had the chance to get your name." "Uh..." Alexandra stammered once again. "Did that mean he came looking for ME?" she thought quickly to herself. "I'm Chase Mattingly, by the way," he added, extending his hand. "I'm Alexandra," she said meekly, "Alexandra McKenzie." "Good to meet you, Allie," he replied. "Do you need help finding your next class?" "Uh, yeah ... I mean yes," she replied, not believing she had run into him a second time. And he had called her 'Allie'. She felt a shiver run through her. Her grandfather had called her that when she was a little girl. However, he had died when she was seven and no one had ever called her that again. "Until now," she finished the thought as she felt a little shiver run through her. This dreamy-looking guy with a voice that seemed to tingle her insides and make her feel both nervous and excited at the same time, had not only spoken to her... "he must have gone out of his way to come find me," she thought to herself. "I'm new here," Alexandra started, then abruptly cut off the rest of what she had been about to say. She cringed inwardly as she realized how obvious that must have sounded and prayed that she wouldn't say anything else that made her sound like a child to this handsome football player who had returned for her. "I gathered," he replied calmly. "So, where to next?" She paused to look down at her schedule. "It says I have Algebra II in pod three-C," Alexandra replied after looking at her schedule again. She must really be rattled because she had looked at her schedule only moments ago. Was it because she was having an actual conversation with a handsome older guy? "Jeanie will just die when I tell her," she thought before she remembered that Jeanie was no longer around for her to talk to. "Well, that's good. I happen to have Honors History in three-A," Chase informed her. "C'mon, I'll show you how to get there." Alexandra never had the chance to feel morose as she fell in step with her new escort. Walking beside Chase this time, the journey to her next class seemed shorter and smoother, and he talked to her the whole way. Suddenly, she realized two things at once. First, that they had arrived. And second, she wasn't sure how they had gotten there. She vowed to herself to pay closer attention next time, but she was too thrilled to chastise herself about her lapse of concentration. Not when a good-looking boy talking to her had caused it! "Thank you," she remembered to tell him before he left this time, finally peering into his eyes for the first time. "No problem," he smiled as he hesitated a moment before heading off to his own class. "Did he just blush?" Alexandra found herself wondering as she watched his number eighty-four blend into the stream of students. Once more, Alexandra just took the first seat she came to. She soon discovered that her Algebra II class reminded her of the Spanish Inquisition that they had studied in ninth grade. It was almost torturous to stay focused on Mr. Thomas as he droned on. His voice was raspy and seemed to grate on her nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. Unusually for her, Alexandra found herself daydreaming in class as she compared Mr. Thomas' voice to Chase's. She didn't know what it was about the tall young man's voice that attracted her so, but she sighed as she hoped that she might have made her first friend here at Mannford High. "And it's a boy!" she giggled to herself. At sixteen years of age, Alexandra didn't have much experience with boys, but she sensed that for the first time, she might like to. While some of her friends had had boyfriends last year, the boys had all seemed so immature to her. And to tell the truth, while she had discussed boys with her friends, she hadn't totally understood why they had wanted to talk about them so much in the first place. Now, she thought she was beginning to understand. Alexandra found herself wishing Jeanie were there so she could tell her about Chase. ------- As Chase Mattingly hurried to his Honors History class, he thought about the young girl he had just met. He realized that he had done all the talking as he had walked her to her second period class and didn't know anything about her. Well, that's not entirely true. He knew that her name was Alexandra, that she was new here at Mannford High, and that she was really cute. Quickly, he shook that thought out of his head. "She's the same age as my little sister," he told himself. "And besides, I already have a girlfriend!" Several of the guys in his class called out greetings and one of the other guys, also wearing a maroon jersey, lifted his closed fist to touch knuckles with him as he made his way to his seat. Chase was a good student, taking mostly Honors classes this year. He was also the starting wide receiver on the football team. And if Mr. Chamber's wasn't lying last year, he should have a leading role in show choir this year, although he didn't have a lot of confidence in Mr. Chamber's leadership or even his word. Once he was seated, several girls called out hello, and then the guys around him began to ask him about the football team's chances this year. He thought he had put her out of his mind, but somehow, when the bell rang at the end of the period, he found himself one of the first ones out the door as he hurried to see if the new girl needed help getting to her next class. ------- She did! And Chase did meet Allie as she left the Algebra II classroom and escorted her to her next class, which was Computer Science. This time, he asked her questions, encouraging her to talk as they walked. As they approached the classroom, he waved his hand to get another girl's attention. "Hey Cynthia, wait up!" he called to her. Alexandra's smile turned to a frown when she saw how pretty she was. "Oh, well," she thought, "He's too hot NOT to have a girlfriend." "Allie, this is my sister, Cynthia," he told her. "Cha-a-a-ase!" his sister cried. Then to Alexandra, "It's Cindy!" "Uh ... hi," Alexandra said tentatively. "Don't pay him any mind," Cindy said. "He never calls anyone by their right name anyway." Then Cindy slapped her brother's arm. "You're such a dork!" she told him. Alexandra couldn't help but notice the casual easiness between them when Chase ignored the slap as he put his arm around his sister and hugged her to him. She felt a pang of guilt as she couldn't remember the last time she had hugged any of her siblings. "I guess it's a good thing you love me, anyway," Chase told his little sister. Alexandra also noticed that Cindy didn't recoil in horror or try to pull away from her brother's brief embrace in the middle of the busy hallway. This was not at all like the sibling rivalries she was familiar with. However, Alexandra didn't have time to consider all the implications of that simple exchange because Chase was speaking to his sister now. "Cynthia, this is Allie's first day. Her family just moved here from California and she doesn't know her way around yet. Would you do me a favor and meet her here after this period and show her how to get to her next class?" Chase asked his sister. "I have show choir for the next two periods and can't make it all the way back over here." Cindy looked up at her big brother with a smile. "Well, I can, I guess. But ... you'll owe me one," she told him playfully. "Not another trip to the mall," Chase groaned theatrically. Cindy winked at Allie as she grinned up at her big brother. "I need some eyeliner," she told him. "Now look what you caused!" Chase said to Allie, obviously teasing her. "I'll sure be glad when you get your license." "Sorry," Allie smirked, as she recognized his tease. She suddenly felt that weird tickle in her tummy again as she stood there looking up at him. "Ohmygod!" Allie thought, as the tingling seemed to move a little lower inside her, to the area right between her legs. She trembled slightly, and then felt herself becoming afraid that she was about to make a fool of herself again as these new emotions swept through her body. It was Cindy that saved the day. "C'mon, Allie. Let's go before he starts blaming us for the dent in his fender, too!" she said as she led the new girl into the computer lab. "Dent? What dent?" Chase cried after them in mock horror. Allie was desperately trying to calm this new tingling sensation in her nether regions and was in the doorway before she realized that she hadn't thanked him. Again. "Come sit next to me," Cindy told her. "I wanna hear all about those dreamy California surfer guys I see on TV." "You're ... you're in this class too?" Allie stammered. "Yeah," Cindy replied with a sheepish grin. "But you don't have to tell HIM. I really do need some new eyeliner." Allie smiled as they took their seats. Maybe this new school wouldn't be as bad as she thought. However, she was going to have to ask her mom to let her call Jeanie tonight. She just HAD to talk to somebody about Chase and these new feelings! ------- Chapter 2 Even though he was going to be late, Chase was smiling to himself as he trekked across the campus towards the choir room. The music department, which included the band and orchestra rooms along with the chorus room, was strategically located behind the auditorium, and as far as it was possible to be from the rest of the school and still be in the same zip code. This was by design to help minimize the noise interference with other classes. Since the music students were always lamenting the long walk, Mr. Chambers rarely said anything if they were a few minutes late. However, that didn't appear to be the case this year as most of the students were already seated and the Principal, Mrs. Halliday, was already addressing them. She paused briefly, a disapproving frown on her face, as Chase hurried to his seat. Rhonda flashed him an annoyed smile but said nothing as he took the seat beside her. "As I was saying, Mr. Chambers will not be returning to Mannford this year," she told the fifteen assembled show choir members. "I want you to understand that your new teacher was personally selected by the school board just for the show choir and chorale. She graduated, from Yale University with dual degrees in music and theater and she has a doctorate in Music Education from UCLA. Chase looked at his girlfriend as the principal's announcement sunk in. Rhonda Waterman, his girlfriend since last May, seemed just as surprised as he was. Automatically, he could tell she was rapidly trying to calculate what this change meant to her chances of remaining the star of their little group. "She's frowning, so it must not be very good news for her," Chase thought. Of course, he also realized that all of Mr. Chambers' rhetoric about him finally being the male lead vocalist was out the window as well. "Oh, well," he thought. "There's always football." "She has served," Mrs. Halliday continued, "as the assistant choral director at George Washington High School in California for the last four years. For those of you who may be less informed, George Washington has one of the premier choral programs in the country and is a perennial contender in national choral competitions." Mrs. Halliday paused to let her words settle in as she looked over her shoulder to a little pixie of a girl sitting in a plastic chair against the far wall. "She also happens to be a Mannford High alumnus," Mrs. Halliday added, almost affectionately. "So I want all of you to be on your best behavior for her. I also want to wish you a successful year and tell you that the whole school will be pulling for you this year!" The young blond had risen and came to stand beside the principal as she finished her introduction. Mrs. Halliday placed her arm around the small girl's shoulder as she said, "May I present your new Director, Dr. Chapel." "Thank you, Mrs. Halliday," Dr. Chapel said confidently, then turned to face her students as the principal left the room. Now, it was just the new teacher and her fifteen students. "Good morning," she told them. There was an uncomfortable rustling as the kids didn't know exactly how to respond at first, even though thirteen of the fifteen students were upperclassmen. There were a few murmured "good mornings," returned, but for the most part, there was just an uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for everyone except Dr. Chapel. She was busy studying each of them intently as they squirmed. "Mm-m-m..." she murmured to herself. "Well, we'll just have to see." Another woman, one that Chase hadn't seen at Mannford before, slipped onto the piano bench behind the baby grand they used for rehearsing and began to play. It soon became apparent to Chase that she was just trying it out. Once she was satisfied, she began a familiar melody as Dr. Chapel motioned for them to rise. "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la," she intoned as she ran through the musical scale. Then she indicated for everyone to follow her and they joined in. It was a simple warm-up exercise where they varied the key up the register after each set, and then back down again. They kept this up for the next ten minutes, as Dr. Chapel moved through the students, listening to each of them individually. Finally, with some sign that Chase didn't see, the pianist ended the drill just as Dr. Chapel returned to the small director's podium in front of the semi-circle of three tier risers they were sitting on. There was absolute quiet in the chorus room as the students looked at each other and then back to Dr. Chapel, waiting for her to speak. Suddenly, the lights went out as a video projector came to life, casting its image on the large screen on the wall in front of the choir. Dr. Chapel didn't bother to explain what they were seeing, or even turn to look. She kept her eyes on the students as they watched the screen. It only took Chase a few seconds to realize that he was looking at a home video of a theater performance. It appeared to have been shot from an angle that might be a box seat, slightly higher than the stage and to the right side. While Chase quickly identified the music from 'Phantom of the Opera', it was Rhonda who was the first to gasp as she, and then the other students began to realize who it was that was singing. After thirty seconds of Phantom, the video switched to another scene. It was a different theater, and a slightly different angle, but he immediately recognized the 'Lion King'. There followed three more quick home videos, but the only one he recognized was the Lion King. Then the video switched to a professional production of 'Riverdance' and a white highlight appeared around one of the dancers. The highlight continued through very short pieces of three different scenes, in three different venues, before the images on the screen died and the lights came back on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present one of the stars of Riverdance, and your new Assistant Director, Ms. Campbell," Dr. Chapel intoned, introducing the accompanist to the kids. "And as you saw, I have appeared in several Broadway and national touring productions, including Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, Xanadu, Lion King, and Wicked, to name a few." "Wow!" gushed Rhonda excitedly. Dr. Chapel just winked and smiled at them as she continued. "Try-outs for senior chorus will begin Wednesday, after school, and continue for the next week. Everyone has to audition, even if you were in show choir last year. Just sign up for time that will be best for you. Since we will be competing in at least five competitions including regionals next spring, my goal is to start with twenty to twenty-four cast members. Our first competition is in Dallas, in nine weeks and we have much to do to get ready." "We're going to Dallas?" Debbie blurted out. "As in Texas?" Debbie Mead couldn't help blurting things out. It was just her nature to say whatever was on her mind like that. She was young, one of the few sophomores in show choir. Mr. Chambers had brought her up for last year's competition. She possessed a fine soprano voice with a hefty volume, and she was a natural performer, almost a ham. But was still learning how to dial it back a little and sing WITH the others. Dr. Chapel just nodded as she studied the kids. This was probably going to be the core group and she was anxious to find out more about them. "Will they be willing to pay the price?" she wondered. "Time will tell..." Chase's hand shot in the air. "What about football?" he asked without waiting to be acknowledged. "And you are... ?" she asked without addressing his question. "Chase Mattingly, ma'am," he replied. "What position?" she fired back. "Are you any good?" "I'm a wide receiver," he replied. "You'll have to ask the coach about whether I'm any good." "I did," she replied, cutting off the smirk some of the other guys had on their faces. "Coach Denton said you had the size and the hands, but your four point nine in the forty wasn't likely to get you a lot of scholarship offers." Chase's face paled at her words. "How does she even know what a forty is?" he wondered. "On the other hand, I have only heard you sing once..." she informed him, "at your church last Sunday. It wasn't enough for me to say for sure, but you may have some talent." Chase felt the anger churning in his gut. Coach had never told him about talking with Dr. Chapel. But he also felt thrilled that the new teacher had made a special effort to check on him and to hear him sing. It didn't occur to him that she really hadn't needed to ask who he was since she had come to hear him sing at church last week. "Relax. All of you," Dr. Chapel told them. "I went to school here, remember. I know how sacred the football and band programs are. We..."she waved her hand at Ms. Campbell, "have been hired to bring the choral department up to similar levels, and I know that we are going to have to make a few compromises from time to time. But the big question is, what do you want?" she asked, looking directly at Chase. "What do each of you want to do with your lives?" The diminutive blond had their attention now. Especially Rhonda's. "Competition Chorale is a team endeavor, just like football, basketball, or band," she told the five boys and ten girls. "If you're good enough, and if you work hard, you can win. And when you win, I promise you, it will change your lives." Dr. Chapel's enthusiasm was contagious. Most of the students liked the idea of winning. "However, no choir has ever won a competition without lots of hard work. So if you are chosen to be a part of this team, you will work harder than you ever have in your life," the Director continued. "Competitions are not cheap to participate in, so on top of learning the music and choreography, there's also the fund raising to be considered. Every crew member will be responsible for one fund raiser. We'll start a new fund raiser every other week. The sign-up sheet is already on Mannford new Show choir's website," Dr. Chapel explained. Chase groaned as he thought about how his workload had suddenly seemed to double. This was his senior year. It was supposed to be laid back and fun. Could he really handle football practice AND show choir? It had been a little rough last year, but with the schedule this new director was explaining, he just didn't know. Absently he reached for his backpack to write down the website's address so he could check it out tonight. However, Dr. Chapel was ahead of them as the lights dimmed again and the website was now displayed on the big screen. "I won't bore you with the details now, but if you'll text your information to Ms. Campbell, she'll send you the website address, along with links to each of the competitions we will be entering," said the Director. "Be sure to identify yourself so we'll know who you are. When you go on the site, you'll see that we have an ambitious schedule and it will require a lot of your extra time this school year. I know that all of you, especially the seniors are facing demands on your time, but I sincerely hope that you will choose to make show choir one of your priorities." Chase hesitated. He had not had to make the decision between show choir and football last year, simply because Mr. Chambers had never forced it. He had also never taken them to fall competitions. Of course, they had never won a competition either. "Let me show you something else," she said as the lights went out and the screen sprang to life. This time, it was a teenage choir performing in a large church. The acoustics were incredible, and they sounded wonderful even though there were only twelve of them. The scene then changed to a much larger choir, maybe forty kids, performing on a stage. It was easy to see they were good. Very good. "That, was the George Washington performance choir and the first group was their chancel choir. They are also two of your main competitors next spring at Nationals in California," Dr. Chapel explained. "If we make it that far..." "California?" Brittney exclaimed. The senior could feel herself getting excited and this was not what she wanted to hear. She had planned on going to the office next period and dropping show choir this year "They have two competition choirs?" Jason asked. The idea floored him considering how few students were in Mannford's choir. Last year there had been only been thirty-three students in the chorus counting the fourteen from the show choir. "Two different kinds of music and two different styles of singing," she explained without answering Brittney. She'd get into the schedule more tomorrow. Right now, she wanted to see how interested these kids were in singing. And competing. "And you think we're going to be good enough to compete with that?" Justin asked. To look at them, you would swear Justin and Jason were twins. Or at least brothers. Truth was, they were distantly kin and had grown up as neighbors since birth. They had both nursed on the same teats, the mother closest handling the chore, played in the same crib, and had attended school together from kindergarten on. Now both seniors, Jason played shortstop and Justin was at second for the baseball team, their GPA's were within a fraction of an inch, and to top it off, they were dating the Radford twins, Shelia and Sandy. "With two choirs?" Debbie asked. "Yes! I do believe we can compete with that. And it may take another year or so before we have two choirs, but it WILL happen," Dr. Chapel said adamantly. "But we're all are going to have to work harder than you ever imagined to make it happen." Dr. Chapel paused to look at them again, then nodded to Ms. Campbell who stepped to the podium. No one doubted that Dr. Chapel believed what she said. And belief, like enthusiasm is contagious. "As Dr. Chapel told you, try-outs begin Wednesday afternoon right after classes. If any of you know someone that can sing and dance, please tell them about show choir right away. We're especially interested in any of the incoming ninth graders, since we don't know much about them. Conditioning and dance rehearsal's will begin next Monday, immediately after school," Ms. Campbell told them. "Chase, you're excused from conditioning, but you'll have to find a way to catch up on the dance steps when you can," Dr. Chapel interjected. "If you don't know them, you don't go to Dallas." "Until they get the new studio built," Ms. Campbell continued, "we will be doing all our after school rehearsing at the Senior Citizens Center over on Maple. It's only three blocks from here, but if you have any problems with transportation, let me know. Choral rehearsal will begin at five-fifteen and run for an hour. You should be safe arranging to be picked up by six-thirty." "What new studio? Amy asked, alarmed. Amy Deveron was a senior and hated change. This was going to be her third year in show choir and she was already dismayed that Mr. Chambers wasn't returning. She hadn't particularly like him, but she knew what to expect, which gave a level of comfort. Now there was a new teacher and she seemed to be making changes. "Coach Denton said you would be out of football practice no later than five. I expect you to be on time for rehearsals," Dr. Chapel told Chase without answering Amy. She just wanted to whet their appetites for the new things to come. The bell rang and Amy forgot about the new studio for the moment. "Don't forget to pick up your course syllabus on your way out. It has all the details of the competition trips and you will need your parents' signatures. If they have any questions, our email and cell phone numbers are at the bottom of the front page," Ms. Campbell reminded them. Chase had remained in his seat, mulling over the copy of the class syllabus Rhonda had handed him. Meanwhile, Rhonda was busily discussing something with Dr. Chapel. Finally, Rhonda came back to Chase. "I have to get to class," she told him. "Will I see you at lunch?" "Yeah," he replied absently, his mind still on everything he had heard. He couldn't believe he might have to choose between football and show choir. Rhonda had been around Chase long enough to know when to back off. They had been dating for almost three months now, starting near the end of school last year. That was when Rhonda overheard Mr. Chambers tell Chase that he stood a good chance of being the male vocal lead next year. Rhonda had decided, almost on the spot, that it would be to her advantage to stay as close to Chase as she could. And since no seventeen year old male could ever stand a chance when any teenaged female puts her mind to something like that, it was a done deal before she even got him to ask her. "Okay, see you at lunch," she said as she hurried off to meet her friends at fourth period. "They are not going to believe me when I tell them about show choir," she thought. "At least five trips! I can't wait!" Then she immediately began analyzing which of her friends might have enough talent to join her in show choir, but wouldn't usurp her position as lead vocalist. Chase had remained in his seat, lost in thought. One of the things that Mr. Chamber's had done last year, was to arrange for Chase to also take music fourth period. This was the period that all the musicians who played for the show choir came together to learn the music. The fact was, all of them, except one, were in the orchestra as well. Since Chase could play the piano, he found that he enjoyed his time with the other musicians as they practiced, and last year, Chase had often found himself singing the show choir numbers with them so they could feel how the music would fit with the vocals. "Don't you have a class to get to?" Dr. Chapel asked him. Chase looked up to see that they were alone in the room. "Yes, ma'am," he replied. Then he proceeded to fill her in on the arrangements Mr. Chambers had made. "Well, okay, I don't see any harm," she told him. "What about your other classes. Are you on track to graduate with your class?" "Yes, ma'am," Chase replied. His grade point average was just above three point five and he had scored a twenty five on the ACT test. He was actually considering taking it again, in October, to see if he could improve his score, even though Mrs. Babcock, the guidance counselor had told him it was not necessary. There was a long moment where neither of them said anything, then Dr. Chapel asked him, "You seemed surprised about what Coach Denton told me. I just assumed you had already discussed your scholarship potential with him. You are planning on going to college, aren't you?" "Oh, yes," Chase replied quickly. "But since it seemed so far away, I haven't put a lot of effort into picking one. I kinda thought that if I got offered a football scholarship, even if it was not one of the majors, I'd just go with it." The Choral Director did not respond. She had seen students in this situation before. Waking up to the realities of higher education and the opportunities of scholarships, could dramatically change both their perspective and their emotional status quo. And it was at this point that they would usually make decisions that would affect them for the rest of their lives. She understood Chase's dilemma. She wasn't that far removed from those same decisions herself. She sighed happily, glad that Jimmy had come into her life about then, and hadn't allowed her to make those stupid mistakes. Her full name was Susan Chapel-Abbott, or Mrs. James Waverly Abbott as the occasion demanded. When she had been a student at Mannford High, almost a decade ago, she had been known as Sissy Chapel, and had been active in both music and drama. "I was just about his age when I met Jimmy," she thought to herself as she remembered. It was a true love story. She had met him while working part time at her mom's florist shop, when he stopped in to buy five dozen red roses. "I'm sorry, we almost never have that many roses on hand," she had explained to him. "Except for maybe the week before Valentine's Day. I'd be glad to order them for you. They could be here tomorrow." She had studied him closely as he quickly debated his options. He was dressed very nicely and she glanced up to see a large black limousine at the curb. "Do it," he finally told her. "Do you mind if I ask what they are for?" she asked, assuming they were for some sort of publicity deal over at Westman, the big manufacturing plant that the entire town was built around. Or maybe a radio station was staging a big promotion. It sounded like something that WKSS might do. "Certainly. In fact, I'm going to need your help on that," he told her in a conspiratorial tone. "I will if I can," she had replied. "Well, I'm afraid I have lost my heart," he started. "I came into town yesterday on business and last night, my hostess took me to a local production of My Fair Lady. The young lady who played the lead role of Eliza Doolittle was magnificent. Unfortunately, I have to leave, but do you think you could get the roses to her to her, along with my card?" "Are you serious?" she had asked him. Certainly," he had quickly replied. "I have the program from last night and it says her name is Sissy Chapel. My friend figured she was probably from near here, since it was a local production." "Why?" she had asked. "Why are you doing this?" "I thought I explained that," he had replied. "I plan to court her on my return from Hong Kong." "Court her? Does that mean you want to go on a date?" she had asked. "With her?" "I suppose you could say that" had been his measured reply. "Courting usually involves dating." "Well, then you can't..." she told him, "take me on a date, I mean. I can't date until July fifth. That's my birthday. I'll be sixteen." She remembered watching him for almost two minutes as he examined her closely to see that it was indeed her. At one point, she thought she might even have to sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" to prove it. Finally, he looked deeply into her eyes as he had told her, "It was a truly memorable performance and that you are only fifteen makes it even more remarkable." "Thank you," she replied. She was used to praise about her performances, but for some reason, his seemed even more important to her. "However, and the age difference be damned," he said. "You HAVE ... stolen my heart." She didn't know what to say to that. He looked old enough to be her father. But he was handsome, and charming, and he had said that she had captured his heart, but he wasn't looking at her as if he was about to crawl over the counter like some of the boys her own age would do. "Please," he said, "Would you see that your mother receives one dozen red roses every week for the next five weeks, and may I see you again on July fifth?" Someone beating on a snare drum at the other end of the chorus room broke Sissy from her reverie. She had once asked Jimmy why he had given her mother all those roses. "For bringing you into the world to be my soul-mate," had been his reply. She shivered as she remembered, then stood and called the fourth period musicians together. ------- Chapter 3 At Mannford High, Computer Science is a required course for every student. The teacher, Mr. Cunningham, had been teaching for almost thirty years and planned to retire at the end of this school year. He was smart enough to know that the kids these days knew much more about computers than he ever would. If he gave them the mandated tests and kept them off the internet sites they weren't supposed to be on, he figured he was doing his job. Cynthia Mattingly was beginning her junior year at Mannford High School carrying a four point oh grade point average, and had scored a twenty-eight on the ACT when she was a sophomore. She had talked her parents into letting her take the ACT test last year when Chase had taken it, outscoring her brother by three points on the standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions that Tennessee high schools used. As with most intelligent human beings, she had a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. As a result, she had bypassed taking computer science the last two years in favor of some of the more exciting classes she had discovered in the curriculum. This year, Cindy was trying to go back and pick up as many of the required classes as she could, to get them out of the way. Cindy and Allie quickly worked through the first day of required exercises on their computers as Cindy peppered Allie with a steady stream of questions. She found the California native interesting, partly because she had lived in, what Cindy thought, was a fascinating part of the country. But mostly, she found her interesting because she and Allie appeared to have a lot of the same values and opinions on a whole range of things. Both girls were happy to discover they lived in the same neighborhood, and came from stable families with both parents still together. And while Cindy was a Methodist, Allie and her family had grown up in the Lutheran church. Neither had ever had a serious relationship with a boy ... yet, but Cindy could tell that just as she was, Allie was hoping it might be soon. Cindy also discovered that Allie's mind seemed to work like hers, in that she liked everything neat and orderly, and that she used lists extensively. They also discovered that both girls had similar tastes in music, clothes, food, and possibly boys. It wasn't long before she decided she'd like to spend more time with this new girl, so she asked Allie about her schedule. After a quick comparison, Cindy asked Allie if she would like to be in a couple of more classes together. Allie was impressed with Cindy's obvious intelligence and her naturally friendly demeanor. But more importantly, she was thrilled at the easy acceptance she had experienced with her so far. She readily agreed that she would like to share more classes. She just didn't know how to go about getting her classes changed. "No problem," Cindy said, reaching for Allie's schedule as she opened up the school's online class schedules. Allie was also impressed that students had that kind of access here. After perusing the online class schedule, Cindy opened her email and typed out a quick, but detailed message. "There!" she said as she punched the send button. "Let's hope Mr. Greer is still in his office." Then she explained that Mr. Greer was the junior class guidance counselor. "I was his OA last year," she added. "That stands for Office Assistant." As the end of the period approached, the icon on Cindy's computer popped up to indicate she had received an e-mail. She opened it and studied it for a moment then opened the attachment and hit print. "Your new schedule is printing on the printer up front. Why don't you go grab it while I take care of this? Allie did as she was instructed, and noticed that she now had fourth period OA, and that her fifth and sixth periods had been reversed with American Literature now in fifth period and chemistry sixth. "What do I have to do as an OA?" Allie asked her new friend. "That's what I had to e-mail Mr. Greer about," Cindy explained. "It basically means we'll work together in the front office. You know, answering the phones and delivering messages. It's a good way for you to learn who everybody is and how to find your way around this place." "Oh, okay," Allie replied as she considered what Cindy had done. "It beats study hall with a bunch of kids I don't know," she thought. "But it means I won't get as much homework done at school." Still, it felt good to have a friend, and she was quickly coming to the conclusion that she did indeed have a new friend. Right before the bell was supposed to ring, Allie and Cindy were gathering up their things when suddenly, a pair of male hands slapped down on the computer desk between them. Leaning over, he leered briefly at Cindy before turning his invidious attentions toward Allie. "Hello, Sweetcakes," he said to Allie with a sneer. "What do you want, Brant-lee," Cindy replied cynically before the clearly uncomfortable Allie could say a word. Brantley honestly thought of himself as god's gift to women, regardless of the fact that he had never had a second date with a girl. In fact, it had been two years since any girl at Mannford would even go out with him. A fifth year senior, Brantley had a lot of erroneous perceptions about himself, and the world in general. The youngest of six brothers, their family would have been best described as dirt farmers, eking out a living on a rock-strewn East Tennessee hillside and trying to raise six boys. Then, when Brantley was in the eighth grade, the sixty-two acres of depleted farmland that his parents owned, just happened to lie exactly where Westman Manufacturing had decided they needed to expand. With this sudden bounty, Brantley and his family were able to move to a nice house in town, and the brothers all added the mantle of 'privileged' to their way of thinking and ultimately, to their infamy. Over the next three years, each heard the judge's gavel resonate throughout the courtroom as their sentences were pronounced, all at different times and on variety of different charges. Vernon, the oldest of the Belton brothers, was doing time in Federal prison for kidnapping and statutory rape. He had been twenty-three years old when he took a fourteen year old girl from the Lake's End Trailer Park over to the casino in Cherokee, North Carolina in his pickup with the camper on back. The two-hour drive had taken them a week, and when they finally got there, the fake ID he had provided her, saying she was eighteen wouldn't pass inspection. It seems the Casino Security folks didn't buy it and on further investigation found that her mom had filed a missing persons report on her the day they left. Vernon had been in prison for three years, now, with slim hopes of coming home anytime soon. That Joey Belton, the twenty-four year old second son was a gifted mechanic was without doubt. Three years ago, while he was spending a couple of nights at the county jail on a D&D (Drunk and Disorderly) charge, they had discovered his talent for fixing cars when he diagnosed and repaired an annoying rattle in a car belonging to the Sheriff's wife, which no one else had ever been able to fix. The next thing he knew, he had a job. Working at the Sanderson County Sheriff's Department in their vehicle maintenance facility, everyone hoped Joey would be the exception to the Belton Brother's rule. And it seemed that way for almost two years, as he was no longer seen hanging out at the local watering holes, and he never missed a day of work. He spent most of his time fixing folk's cars and pickups in the evenings and on weekends. Unfortunately, that hope died when the State Police raided an old barn out on Hawkins's Mill Road and discovered a truckload of missing parts going back almost two years. It seems that Joey's prices were so low because he never paid for the parts he used. He simply 'borrowed' them from the county's vehicle maintenance facility where he worked. The twenty-two year old twins, Sammy and Wesley Belton had been running moonshine since they were old enough to drive. Driving an old Dodge Monaco that their older brother had fixed up especially for running moonshine, they got into sampling their own cargo late one night and ran into the Baptist preacher's mother, totaling both cars. Everyone was thanking their maker that the Preacher's mom had been able to walk away with only a few bruises, but no one ever did say what she was doing out on Lost Pine Trail at that time of night. Bradley Belton, who was twenty-one, and was in the county jail because he had decided to borrow a new F-150 from the Ford dealership's new truck lot in the middle of the night. "Hell, I just needed something to pull my bass boat," he told the Deputy who found him the next morning, while using the stolen pickup to back his bass boat down the ramp to go fishing. Turns out, the boat didn't belong to him either. A lot of folks were amazed that Brantley hadn't joined his brothers. Yet, surprisingly, it was his brother's absence that actually robbed Brantley of the opportunity to follow in their footsteps. In the meantime, he was well known in the assistant principal's office. Mainly because he didn't think he should have to follow a bunch of useless rules. So he didn't. At least the ones he didn't want to. And those included almost all the ones about doing your OWN homework or not cheating on tests. Hence, he was back again. "Whoa, Sweetcakes, I was just being nice," he said lubriciously as he brazenly stared down at Allie's breasts. "I was thinking that she just might like to go skinny dipping with me sometime." Allie could feel the color rising in her face as she blushed. She had started developing breasts in the fifth grade, and so she had always been a little more well-endowed than most of her friends. It had been a constant source of embarrassment for her since the sixth grade. She kept hoping that as she got older, the boys would act more mature about them. After all, they were only breasts. Allie just didn't understand the fascination boys seemed to have with them. She had especially hoped that the boys here would be more mature and wouldn't make such a big deal over them. However, that didn't look like it was the case. "No way shrimp! There's not a girl in the whole school that would ever want to be naked in the same county as you," Cindy said curtly. "Now, leave us alone or I'll tell Chase you were bothering us." Brantley sneered menacingly at Cindy, shoving their computer table roughly, as he walked away, cursing under his breath. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Allie. Trust me, he's not like most of the guys you'll meet here at Mannford," Cindy said loud enough for Brantley and the students surrounding them to hear her. Then, before she could even reach for her fallen purse, someone else was pressing it into her hand. "She's right you know," he said sincerely. "We're not all like that." Allie noticed that he kept his eyes on her face as she accepted her purse. "I'm Jordan," he added. "Welcome to Mannford High." Allie's heart did a little pitter-patter as she gazed in to his grey eyes. Why had she never noticed that boys could have such sexy eyes? "I'm Allie," she said, introducing herself for the first time with the new nickname Chase had given her. Suddenly she was surrounded by several students, both boys, and girls, all introducing themselves and including her in their conversations. When the bell rang, Allie was smiling for maybe the first time since she had found out they were moving. She couldn't believe the difference a few hours and a collision with a senior had made in her life. Picking up her things, she followed Cindy out the door. As she did, Allie caught herself looking for Chase before she remembered he wouldn't be here this time. Cindy saw her looking as well, but didn't say anything. She knew what it was like to fall under her charming brother's spell. "C'mon, let's go introduce you to Mr. Greer and find out what time we can go to lunch. I'm starved," Cindy said as she led the way towards the front of the school. This time, Allie paid very close attention to where they were going. Neither girl noticed Brantley standing just outside the door, following them with his eyes as he started plotting his revenge. ------- Rhonda Waterman was worried. She had worked on Mr. Chambers, the previous choral director, for two years to insure that this, her senior year, would be the year she would finally get the lead vocals in showchoir. That Rhonda was one of the popular kids was without doubt. Her daddy owned the local Ford dealership and her family was well off. As the youngest of their three daughters, her parents had given her most anything she wanted. For her sixteenth birthday, it was a new Mustang convertible. They had even let her handpick the mint green paint job, which she loved because she thought it showed off her flaming red hair. For her seventeenth birthday, this past summer, her mom had taken her to New York for a week. It had been an embarrassing ordeal, but she had returned with a completely new wardrobe to better fit her new breast size. Rhonda always wore the latest designer clothes, and was always dressed to kill, with her hair and make-up perfectly in place. Because, more than anything, Rhonda Waterman wanted to be a star! She had known it since she began performing at talent shows and beauty pageants when she was a little girl. She loved the thrill of stepping on to the stage and the roar of the applause. Rhonda figured that her voice, while not the best, was good enough when coupled with her above average looks to make it as a star. And when you added that to her drive and determination there was no way she wasn't going to make it! Her plan was simple. That's why she was in showchoir, instead of being a cheerleader like both of her older sisters. That plan also included using anyone and everyone to get what she wanted. And that was why Rhonda became Chase's girlfriend. So she could keep him close at hand for this year's choir. She had had to be careful to keep him at arm's length over the summer, so she had flirted just enough to show her interest, but nothing that would give rise to great passions. And while she would occasionally condescend to give him a quick kiss, she was still a virgin and planned on staying that way. She didn't have time to become romantically involved with a boy, an unwanted pregnancy would ruin her all her plans. "What was that silly bitch doing?" she thought to herself, "Forcing Chase to choose like that?" With Mr. Chambers gone, and this new Choral Director putting Chase in the position of choosing between football and showchoir, Rhonda was really upset. She knew that no guy, especially one as popular as Chase, would seriously consider giving up a starting spot on the football team to sing in a choir, so his usefulness to her all but over. Deciding it was time to break up, she hoped he wouldn't make a big deal of it. "But you could never tell with boys," she thought. In her mind, Rhonda imagined that Chase was head over heels in love with her. After all, if she were a guy, she would be. And since she had made the decision to end it, Rhonda decided that she would handle that little detail at lunch today. That way, with all her friends around her, he'd be less likely to create a scene. But still, she was worried. With Chase gone, there was probably a couple of other guys might leave, as well. And Rhonda didn't see how they could even have a showchoir with ten girls and only a couple of guys. Her plans required a showchoir. If there was no showchoir, then there was no way for her to display her talents, nor receive the applause she craved. "It looks like I'm going to have to find a few more guys that can sing," she decided. "So I guess it's a good thing I'm breaking up with him." ------- Allie sighed as she closed her American Lit book, tossing it aside on the bed as she closed her eyes. She had read the assignment twice and still couldn't remember what she had read. The images that kept going through her head revolved around what had happened at school today. Allie had never worked in a real office before and was fascinated by the complex operation necessary to insure two thousand students all got an education. She had followed Cindy as they roamed the halls, delivering notes and escorting students back to the office. It had seemed overwhelming at first, but after the third such trip, this one to the gym, she began to get a feel for the way the school was laid out. Finally, Cindy had come to her. "You hungry?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. I can't remember when I've walked so much!" Allie told her. "Then c'mon, let's go get some lunch. I'm starved." After going through the line, Allie followed Cindy over to a table with two other girls. One of the things that Allie was discovering was that her new friend seemed to know almost everyone. And it was interesting to Allie that Cindy seemed to move between the various cliques that are all too common in high school with relative ease. Allie soon found out that Cindy and Leslie had been friends since elementary school. And that Gina had joined them in fifth grade. Allie was cracking up as Cindy related how Leslie and Gina had once gotten into a fight at a sleepover back in the eighth grade. Gina had finally shoved Leslie hard enough that she fell off the bed and broke her arm. "What were you fighting about?" Allie asked. The entire table became quiet before an obviously embarrassed Gina finally said, "We were fighting over who would get to sleep in Chase's bed." "They both had a crush on him back then," Cindy supplied. "He wasn't there, though," Leslie quickly added as it dawned on her what Allie was thinking. Cindy laughed as she caught it too. "Chase always took off to one of his friend's house for the night, just about anytime I had a slumber party," she explained. Then they turned on Allie and began to question her. What Allie was soon to discover, was an almost universal interest in California, movie stars, and buff, good looking, surfer guys. She was enjoying the conversation and not paying any attention to what was going on anywhere else in the lunchroom when Leslie said, "Look, Cindy. There's Chase! What's going on, you think?" Of course, all four girls turned in time to see Chase standing with his lunch tray in his hand, staring down incredulously at Rhonda. Then, without a word, he turned and started their way. Chase hadn't actually seen them until Leslie waved, then he had immediately headed for them. "Got room for one more?" he asked the table. They all scooted their chairs to make room as Chase grabbed an empty chair from the next table. Allie just watched as the other girls, both juniors like Cindy and her, bombarded Chase with questions about what had happened and why. It soon became obvious to Allie that Leslie and Gina might not be entirely over their crushes. While they all commiserated with the awful way Rhonda had treated him, Allie noticed that Chase actually looked relieved. And despite everything they did to prod him, Chase had refused to say anything negative about Rhonda. Allie also noticed that and was impressed with his discretion. She didn't know him very well, but everything she had seen so far indicated he was a classy guy. A few minutes later, in what had to be one of Allie's most triumphant moments since arriving at Mannford High, Chase had asked if he could walk HER, to her fifth period class! Of course, she knew it was probably because she was new to the school, and didn't know her way around yet. Still, the thought didn't diminish the thrill that shot through her as he led her out of the cafeteria. And Cindy had been so-o-o cool. She didn't say a word to her brother about their fourth period OA experiences, or even that they shared the same fifth period. In fact, as Chase led her away, Cindy just seemed to disappear. The magic moment came as they reached the door to her fifth period Chemistry class. Chase had turned to face her as he said, "I'm glad you came to Mannford. I'm looking forward to seeing you around." For the very first time, Allie was truly glad she had come to Mannford as well. ------- Chapter 4: Cruise When the alarm went off at five-thirty, Allie groaned as she rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom she now shared with her twin sisters. The bathroom was one of the good things about the move. In California, she had had to share a bathroom down the hall with her sisters and her brother. However, in this house, Stevie had his own room and bathroom downstairs, in the finished basement, and she, Dayna, and Deanna shared what her parents called a Jack-and-Jill bath. That meant that the bathroom was situated between her bedroom and her sister's bedroom, with no entrance to the hall, so they were the only ones to use it. After completing her shower, and wrapped in her robe, Allie settled into a lotus position on the floor in front of her closet as she examined the clothes hanging there trying to decide what to wear. This was part of a ritual she had developed way back in junior high, as she made her selections based on what she expected to be doing that day, what the weather was going to be, what she had previously worn, and of course, what she was feeling like. Usually, Allie dressed to please herself, making sure that what she wore would help her fit in with the others in her circle of friends. But this morning, for the first time in her life, she found herself trying to dress to please a member of the opposite sex. "I wish I knew what he liked," she thought for the tenth time before settling on a patterned navy blouse to go with the khaki shorts. The 'he' of her thoughts being one Chase Mattingly. Rainbow sandals completed her selection. After making her decisions, Allie returned to the bathroom to put on her makeup. She caught herself humming as she dressed in the clothes she had selected and couldn't believe she was actually excited about going to school today. Because of the studied approach of her ritual, she very rarely changed her mind once she had decided what to wear. However, this morning, she changed her mind twice before she finally finished dressing. Now, looking at the clock on her bedside table, she realized that she would have to hurry if she was going to get breakfast. ------- Chase waved at Allie as he and Cindy entered homeroom. "I can't believe I didn't spot her yesterday," he thought to himself as his younger sister went to join her new friend. Chase was sidetracked by a guy he had gone to school with since middle school, but had never hung out with very much. His name was Paul Mendelsohn and he wanted to ask Chase about show choir. It seems that word was already spreading about all the trips. Chase filled Paul in on what he knew, even though he wasn't sure how he was going to balance show choir and football this fall. This was his fourth year on the team, and his second as starting wide receiver. He had played a little at weak safety last year, and had wondered why Coach Denton didn't use him more, but after what Dr. Chapel had said yesterday, he figured he knew the answer. Mannford was the largest high school in the city and one of the largest in their region. They consistently fielded a competitive team, but it tended to cycle. They had been serious contenders for state champions his sophomore year and everyone said that last year was a rebuilding year. They were right; they hadn't even made the playoffs. This year, they were supposed to be better, but no one was calling them champs yet. However, Mannford was expected to win. Boosters and local politicians had worked hard to make sure Mannford had the best of everything. College scouts often turned green with envy when they saw Mannford's facilities, including the new weight room and a state-of-the-art training room. With two full-time trainers, a nutritionist, and a physical therapist among the members of the coaching staff, Mannford was well equipped to succeed. Moreover, the pressure was definitely there as well. Unfortunately, Chase didn't see the talent as being entirely in place for a championship run this season. Hopefully, he was wrong. He'd hate to give up and then Mannford go to the playoffs. However, he didn't see how he could do both. And that was his state of mind as he entered the choral room for third period. At least he tried to enter the choral room. Unfortunately, the door was blocked by yellow caution tape and he could see workmen demolishing the interior. "Whatthefuck?" exclaimed Shawn. Chase arched his brows as he shrugged. "We're rehearsing in the basement today," Ms. Campbell explained a few moments later, taping a sign to the wall directing them to the stairway at the other end of the corridor. "I didn't even know there was a basement," thought Chase as he descended the stairs with the other choir members. The old storage room had been emptied and replaced with the risers and chairs from the room upstairs, along with an electric keyboard. "If everything goes according to plan, we will not have to practice here very long," Dr. Chapel explained as they started. "The first number we're going to learn is the national anthem." "The Star Spangled Banner? We already know it," Rhonda exclaimed. "Good!" said Dr. Chapel. "Then you should pick up this arrangement easily and we can move on to the three hymns and the wedding song." "Wedding song?" Amy asked. "There are five basic songs we need to learn for our local performances. In addition to the National Anthem, we'll learn 'Amazing Grace', 'Come Thou Fount', 'The Lord's Prayer', and an old Paul Stookey song called 'There is Love'. We will be singing the national anthem at every ball game and civic event I can schedule. We'll also be performing in every church who will invite us between now and Thanksgiving. If any of you sing in a church choir, and can get us invited, please see Ms. Campbell after rehearsal." "But why the wedding stuff?" Amy asked. "Because you never know when we might be invited to sing at a wedding," Dr. Chapel replied, then nodded to Ms. Campbell who started playing the same warm-up scales as yesterday. They did a run through of the first four songs. The rehearsal went quickly, and except for the acoustics, Chase thought they sounded pretty good for the first time. "Okay, that's it. If you haven't signed up for an audition time and a fund raiser, please do so before you leave," Dr. Chapel instructed. And if you do not have a passport, please take a passport application with you. Does everyone have a social security card?" The sudden silence that descended on the practice room was comically reminiscent of the E.F. Hutton commercials of the 1980's. Finally, Rhonda, who was probably one of the few students in the room to actually possess a passport asked, "Why do we need a passport?" "You have to have one to get through customs," teased Dr. Chapel, drawing out the suspense. "And if you do not have a passport, you will not be able to make at least one of our trips this year. Now, if, for some reason, you have a problem, or your parents have a problem with this, please don't hesitate to call me tonight. You must have your passport in your hands before Thanksgiving holidays, and that means you have less than two weeks to get your applications completed. "But where are we going?" Stephanie finally asked above the buzz of excited whispers. "I'm not sure, but I know that it's in the Caribbean," she added a final tease. "You don't know where we're going?" Stephanie asked incredulously. "Look, it's not final yet, because we're still waiting on the school board's approval," Dr. Chapel said with a gleam in her eye. "However, if it's approved, the show choir will have the chance to spend the Thanksgiving holidays as entertainers onboard Majestic Cruise Line's new ship, 'Prince Michael' on its maiden voyage over Thanksgiving." Just then, the bell rang ending the period. Excited and confused, the students wanted to stay and hear more, but it was a long walk, and they didn't want to be tardy for their next class. The new director didn't even try to continue talking amid all their excited chatter. In fact, she was counting on their excitement. She needed at least twenty kids to even have a chance at competing this year. And to get those kids, she had to compete with Mannford's athletics and band programs, both of which were among the best in the state, if not nationally. Sissy had known when she accepted the position that she'd have to do something to get the students attention. However, it was Jimmy, her husband who had actually come up with it. Her mind wandered back to last night, as they were getting ready for bed. Jimmy had been explaining to her how one of his companies had been influential in helping Majestic secure the initial funding for the 'Prince Michael'. And how he was obligated to be on the maiden voyage and wanted her to go with him. When she told him how critical that time was for rehearsing the show choir and for fund raising, Jimmy had been clearly disappointed. It wasn't that they had never been apart. She had married him shortly after she had graduated from high school, and he had bought a condo in New Haven, so she would be close to the university when Jimmy's business holdings required him to travel, which happened frequently. Jimmy had lain there quietly for a moment before he offered a compromise. "Why couldn't you just bring your students with us and let them sing for the passengers?" he asked. "That's seven or eight performances plus at least four additional rehearsals in five days." "That seems like an awfully expensive way to rehearse?" she asked. "And I know you and I are financially well off, but that would still be a lot for us to donate just so you could get some ocean-bound nookie!" "I'll admit right now, I'm thinking with my dick, and I'm not sure if it will work. But the idea of having you naked on the high seas for five days would be worth every penny," he grinned at her lecherously. "However, I wasn't thinking of us donating any money. I was thinking it would be better if your choir could become employees of the cruise line for the voyage. That way, their accommodations and meals would be included in their compensation. All they'd have to come up with is their travel expenses," her husband had explained. "The only concession I would ask is that there be enough chaperones so that you could be with me during the cruise, when you weren't rehearsing or performing." "Do you really think it could happen? That the cruise line would hire us?" she asked. Sissy could feel the excitement growing inside her. Five days of rehearsals and performances would be invaluable to the program, not to mention the excitement of a cruise for recruiting. She was also more than a little turned on by the gleam in Jimmy's eyes. "I'll tell you what," Jimmy said. "I'll give Arthur Johansson a call first thing tomorrow." "You do that," Sissy said, sliding under the covers until she was on top of her husband. Then she began kissing her way down his body until she found what she was looking for. "But right now," she purred, "You have some personal business that I want to take care of." "He did say something about putting us up in the owner's suite," Jimmy said softly. But he didn't know if Sissy even heard him. She seemed to have her mouth full of what he had been thinking with earlier. ------- Belinda Campbell smiled at the youthful exuberance displayed by her charges. She had already been around the world with Riverdance, and had even spent some time performing on a cruise ship. Dancers had to be willing to travel if they wanted to work. Born in 1976 in Mars Hill, North Carolina, she could trace her direct linage back to Bascom Lamar Lunsford who it was said was responsible for bringing an Appalachian style of folk dancing called clogging to the nations way back in 1928 with the advent of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival is considered the first real Folk Festival highlighting the music and dancing that sprang from the Appalachian Mountains. By the time she was seven years old, Belinda was already winning awards for clogging, which is a derivative of both the Scottish and Irish step dancing, and Zapateo which later produced the more famous Malambos dance style of South America. Part of that is understandable, since the Appalachian heritage can trace its roots back to Scottish and Irish immigrants, but exactly how the Zapateo was able to influence clogging is a mystery. But young Belinda Campbell didn't worry about any of that, she simply loved to dance. As a high school graduation present to herself, Belinda took all the money she had earned performing for almost ten years and with a few more dollars from family and friends, took off with a girlfriend to explore her Irish roots with a visit Ireland in the summer of 1994. When she looked back on it, Belinda was always amazed at how much of her destiny was shaped by the old adage of being in the right place at the right time. For it was in the same summer, the summer of 1994, in the same town, Dublin, that John McColgan and Moya Doherty set out to find dancer's for their new full length production featuring Irish step dance. Since clogging and step dancing were so closely related, Belinda, who was staying in Dublin at the time, on a whim, auditioned for Moya after taking a few days to master the slight nuisances between the two styles of dance. It would be over four years before Belinda Campbell made it back to Mars Hill. The rehearsals began in September, and In November 1994 tickets were sold in Dublin for the first full-length performance of Riverdance, which opened at the Point Theatre on the ninth of February, 1995. The show ran for five weeks and was a sell-out with ticket sales of over one hundred twenty thousand. On the eighth of May, 1995, Riverdance performed at the Royal Gala 50th Anniversary of VE Day celebrations at the special invitation of Prince Charles. This attracted a television audience of 20 million. The rest, as they say, is history. Belinda toured in the UK for a while with the Liffey company of Riverdance, before joining the Lee company in America in 1996. It was the fall of 1998 when Belinda finally returned to the small town in North Carolina she called home. Their touring company was in Ashville for six nights and seven performances. The night that all her friends and relatives made the short drive to Ashville to see Belinda and the show, the town of Mars Hill was a virtual ghost town. Belinda went on to tour Asia with the show before finally, in 2000 she found herself in Los Angeles and nursing an injury. Deciding to retire, she spent a year healing up from the last six years of almost constant dancing, and learning to surf. Then deciding it was time to give some serious thought to her life, she enrolled at UCLA and began working on her degree in Music Education. It was there that she met Sissy and her husband Jimmy, and eventually came to spend almost all her free time with them, either studying or hanging out at the beach. She even taught Sissy to surf and they would almost anytime Jimmy had to be out of town. And when Sissy, while working on her doctorate, was hired by George Washington High School as the assistant Director of Music, she got her best friend, Belinda a job as her assistant. So naturally, when Sissy had the opportunity to return to East Tennessee, Belinda came with her. After all, she was now only an hour or so over the mountain from her hometown. ------- The news of the cruise spread like wildfire. By the time Cindy and Allie made it to lunch, it was the buzz of the school. Today, Cindy led Allie to a table of three guys. "This is my new friend, Allie," she told them. "She's from California." They greeted her hesitantly, and Allie immediately started worrying that they didn't like her. However, after a few minutes, they relaxed enough to resume their conversation about the latest Nicholas Cage movie and whether his theft of the Declaration of Independence had been realistic. "My dad says that the system that Caltech designed would never have been that simple to bypass," Luis said. His father was a Caltech graduate. "Technically, the system was designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena," Allie told them. "Of course, JPL is managed by Caltech, so..." They all stopped and stared at Allie. "What?" Allie asked. "How do you know about JPL?" Trevor finally asked. "I've been there. Twice," Allied told them. "Once with my family, on vacation, and once on a field trip with my school, last year. Our escort talked about the movie on our tour." After that, the boys peppered her with more questions about California than the girls had. And they didn't ask her anything about beaches or surfing. Allie noticed that Cindy left the table for a few minutes, but she was in the middle of discussing the advantages of Berkeley versus Caltech so she stayed. When Cindy returned, she told them what she had just heard about the show choir cruise. "Chase tried to get me to sign up for fourth period, but I had other things I wanted to take. Now, I'm wishing I had," Cindy told them. "I thought show choir was third," Kiyoshi said. "What's up with fourth?" Third period is show choir," Cindy explained. "Fourth period is for the show choir's band. I can't sing like Chase, but I've been playing the piano since I was six." Luis and Kiyoshi both had thoughtful looks on their faces. Trevor, Allie discovered, was the smartest guy in the school, on track to graduate next June and he was only fifteen! Because of his packed schedule, which also included night school once a week at Northeast College, Trevor was not interested in the show choir. However, Luis and Kiyoshi both asked Cindy what she knew about it. Soon, the boys stood to leave, and Allie thought she'd ask Cindy to explain more of what was going on, but just then, Chase and another boy sat down. Immediately, Cindy started grilling her brother about what he knew of the impending trip. Chase, and the other boy, a senior named Buddy, who was also in show choir, told her everything they knew. "You know, maybe I should have listened to you when you told me to sign up for fourth period," Cindy told her big brother. Chase surprised Allie when, instead of saying I-told-you-so, looked at his sister lovingly as he said, "It may not be too late, you know. They don't have a keyboardist yet. The new assistant director has been playing for rehearsals during third period." Cindy looked thoughtfully at her brother, but didn't say anything. Allie felt a sudden feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. If Cindy joined show choir, she would lose her new best friend for both third and fourth periods. "You okay?" Chase asked her when he saw the expression on her face. "Uh, yeah," Allie told him. However, Chase could sense something was wrong. He sat quietly thinking about it while Buddy talked to Cindy about their upcoming trips to Dallas and the Caribbean and his need to get his passport. "Show choir is gonna take so much more of our time, this year," Buddy was saying when Chase finally figured it out. He decided not to say anything just yet, in case he was wrong. However, he made a mental note to talk to Cindy about it later. Allie was so upset, she barely thought about it when Chase again escorted her to fifth period Chemistry today. Cindy had disappeared again, and didn't show up until right as the bell rung. The pit in Allie's stomach had continued to grow until Cindy sat down beside her. She knew they wouldn't be able to talk in this class, and she found it hard to concentrate, anxious for the bell to ring. Cindy was finding it hard to concentrate as well, but it was because she was excited. A very logical person, Cindy was a linear thinker, her dad would say. She set her goals, and then figured out the best way to get there. However, unlike Rhonda, she very rarely let a goal overwhelm her common sense, and she would never climb over someone else to reach them. But her excitement did preclude her awareness that her new best friend was upset. During Chemistry, Cindy had decided that the next logical step would be to talk to the new Choral Director and find out exactly what kind of opportunities there were for someone with her talents. She might check with her this afternoon, but it would probably be tomorrow before she could see about meeting with her. As for her schedule, there was nothing she could do until she talked to the choral director, so she put that out of her mind. It was after she had reasoned out what she wanted to do and how to do it that she realized her new friend seemed upset. "Chase was right. You're upset about something," Cindy said to Allie. "C'mon, let's stop by the little girl's room." It took her several minutes to worm the reason out Allie, and they were almost late to American Literature. Another class where it was difficult to talk, Cindy sat quietly contemplating the situation. But by the end of the class, which was the last of the day, she still hadn't come up with a solution. "Why don't you ask your mom if you can come over Saturday afternoon and we'll try to come up with something. I have to go somewhere with my mom in the morning, but I should be back by one-thirty or two," Cindy told her. Okay," Allie said. She didn't think her parents would mind her going to Cindy's, but she wasn't very optimistic about finding a new friend in third period, or how she would handle working in the office alone, in fourth. "And ask her if you can stay for dinner. I'll check with my mom too, but I'm sure it'll be okay," Cindy called as Allie headed to her car. Dayna and Deanna were already there, waiting for her. ------- Chapter 5 Brantley Belton was not happy. First, his mom had awakened him much earlier than he was ready for, and now he was on his way over to Darian, to pick up his twin brothers. It seems that the state, in its infinite wisdom, had decided to release Sammy and Wesley out on parole today. And they had told their mom that they wanted Brantley to pick them up. Brantley was not happy about wasting most of his Saturday making the two-hour trek over the mountain to pick up his brothers. Since he was in a foul mood anyway, it seemed only natural that Brantley's mind drifted back to yesterday and that stupid computer science class they said he had to pass to graduate. He couldn't figure out why they said he had to pass it. It wasn't as if he owned one. Moreover, he had no plans to ever own one either. When he saw that the new chick who always sat with that Mattingly bitch was sitting alone, it had seemed like a good idea to go and sit next to her. And he was just being his charming self when he had leaned in close and whispered in her ear, suggesting that she should go out with him and get to know him better. And it had seemed the natural thing to do to nibble on her ear to help persuade her. But what he hadn't foreseen was her slapping his face as she screamed at him to get away from her. Of course, old man Cunningham couldn't ignore an interruption in his class like that, so Brantley had spent the rest of the period in the assistant principal's office and now, he had detention every afternoon next week. All because the little bitch couldn't handle a real man! "Shit, why do I fuckin' bother with these fuckin' bitches who think they're too good for a little lovin'? Hell, she's probably still a virgin," Brantley thought to himself. Then his mind went off on a dozen different ways he would get even with her and all the rest of those bitches who had humiliated him. ------- Cindy Mattingly was in a much better frame of mind than Brantley. She was spending her Saturday morning shopping for back to school clothes with her mom. They had been going to do it for the last three weeks, but something always kept coming up. Finally, her mom said it just couldn't be put off any longer. "When your dad started noticing how your clothes didn't seem to fit you anymore, I knew it was time!" her mom had teased. Neither she nor her mom were big shoppers, but Cindy enjoyed going with her mom because she always seemed to find a way to make the experience fun. First, her mom had taken her to the Victoria's Secrets at the mall to be fitted for new bras. It hadn't been a fun experience but Cindy knew she needed to endure it. She had developed quite a bit over the summer, so she guessed it was worth it. At least she wasn't as flat as she'd been last year. To make up for her discomfort, her mom had let her pick out a sexy sleep set while they were there. After that, the rest of the shopping had been a breeze. Cindy was one of those girls that really did look good in just about anything, and while her parents could have probably afforded it, she had never had a big desire for designer fashions. About the only conflict they had was over swimsuits. Since The Mattingly's had a pool in the back yard, Cindy spent a great portion of the summer in bathing suits. Over the last summer, she found herself buying skimpier and skimpier suits. Secretly, she got a thrill when she saw her dad and her brother's reactions to them. Cindy's mom was a registered nurse who specialized in pediatric trauma care. The demands of her profession were gut wrenching at times but her mom always seemed cheerful. They had talked about it many times, but Cindy just couldn't see why she would want to care for children, that in many cases, would never survive. "When a sick or injured child comes through those doors, I never know if they're going to make it or not. But what I do know is that while they're on my floor, they deserve the best possible care and as much love as I can give them," Donna Mattingly had told her daughter. That had been several years ago. Cindy still didn't quite understand it, and she knew that she could never do that, but it made her love and respect her mother all the more. "Cindy? Can I ask you something?" asked her mom over lattés at Starbucks. "Sure, Mom," Cindy replied. She knew from comparing notes with her friends that she and her mom had a pretty unique relationship. Her mom had always been open and honest with her, and Cindy had found she could and usually did, talk to her about almost everything. Except... "Who did you have in mind when you bought that sleep set?" her mom's question surprised her. "Ah ... I don't know," Cindy hedged. She felt the guilt seeping in and hoped her mother couldn't sense it. Her mom just looked at her, waiting. "Who says I bought it for anyone?" Cindy said defensively. "Sweetheart, I'm a girl too. Remember?" her mom said warmly. "And when a girl buys a silk short-sleeve sleep set with sexy spaghetti straps like you did, it's almost always with some boy in mind." Cindy was mortified. She had always talked to her mom about everything. Everything but this! She didn't want to lie to her mom, but she just couldn't tell her the truth... Donna Mattingly studied her daughter over her coffee. This wasn't like her. Cindy had never hesitated to talk about anything before. That it was a boy was beyond doubt. But what boy would cause her to be like this. Then, Donna remembered something that David, her husband, had mentioned earlier this summer. "It's for Chase, isn't it?" asked Donna softly. Cindy lowered her eyes, refusing to look at her mom. Donna could see the top of her head quivering. She didn't need to hear Cindy's answer. "You know, I had a crush on your Uncle Chris at one time," Donna said after a long silence. Donna was relieved that Cindy hadn't lied to her. Cindy finally raised her eyes to meet her mom's. Her face was flushed and she had tears at the corners of her eyes. "I used to tease him, a lot. When I'd go to take my shower, I'd leave off my robe and walk down the hall in my panties and bra, hoping he would come out of his room and see me. And he did, several times." "Really?" Cindy asked, the surprise obvious in her voice. This was something her mom had never told her about. "When I was older, I learned that sibling lust was not that uncommon an occurrence," Donna said. "I've never even told your father, but ... well, I just wanted you to know you're not the first girl with a handsome older brother to feel like this." "Did you ... Did you ... and Uncle Chris... ?" Cindy stammered. She couldn't help herself. "I'm going to answer your question, because I have always told you the truth. But before I do, I need to know if you and your brother have done ... well, anything." "Uh-uh," Cindy said, shaking her head from side to side. "I sort of let my bathing suit top slip to the side once this summer. In the pool. But Chase didn't say anything. He just turned his head." "Nothing else?" Donna asked. "No, ma'am," Cindy replied, her face and upper chest flushed even more. Donna studied her daughter for a moment and her heart went out to her. She was used to feeling for her patients; it was part of what made her so good at her job. And her job had taught her that life was too short, and that you never knew when the end might come. She worked every day with young people who would never get the chance to grow up or fall in love. In her mind, being in love was the greatest experience in the world. And she had been fortunate in that she had found David and that they loved each other deeply. Donna also hoped that one day, Cindy would find such a man she could love and be loved by, just like her and David. But she also recognized that growing up is an iffy proposition, and life could be cut short at any time. So if Cindy loved her brother and wanted to tease him a little, she was not going to stop her. "I'll need to have David talk to Chase. Soon!" she reminded herself. "Chris was eighteen and I was turning sixteen the first time he kissed me," Donna began. "I had asked him to teach me how to kiss for my birthday present. The excuse I used, was that Mom and Dad had said I could start dating when I turned sixteen." "Really?" Cindy squeaked as she stared at her mother in anticipation of the rest of the story. "Yeah, really," Donna continued. "The truth was that he really wasn't that much more experienced than I was, and so it wasn't really that great. Oh, it was exciting, sure. And just a little naughty. But Chris was over two years older than me, and he had never seemed all that aware of me and while he loved his little sister, he wasn't in love with me like I was with him. So when we kissed, there were no, uh, fireworks. Not like when I finally kissed other boys, and nothing even close to when I first kissed your father." "That was it?" Cindy asked her mom. "That was all? Does Dad know?" "That's it. I was still excited that he had kissed me, and I loved him even more from then on, but I was also disappointed. It wasn't what I thought it would be. It will be the same for you too. You may kiss a lot of guys, but when the ONE comes along, you'll know it!" Donna explained. "And no, I've never told your father. I never wanted to embarrass him or Chris." "Gee..." Cindy said, her head bent in contemplation. "Cindy?" Donna said gently. "We need to go. You invited someone over and it's almost two." "Okay," Cindy said absently as she rose. She was still processing everything her mom had told her. Once in the car, on the way home, Cindy broke her reverie to ask one more question. "I don't know if I ever will kiss Chase, but if I did, you wouldn't hate me, would you?" "I would NEVER hate you, sweetheart," Donna replied. "And no, I won't be mad if you ever kiss him. What I would ask, is if you ever do, you'll promise me you will come and talk to me about it afterwards." "Okay..." Cindy replied. "Is that your promise?" Donna pressed. "Yeah. I promise that if I ever kiss Chase, I'll tell you. Does that mean I have to tell you about kissing other guys, too?" "No, you don't HAVE to, but I hope you will," her mom said, smiling warmly. "Oka-a-ay..." Cindy said as she contemplated everything that her mom had told her. It was at that moment that she realized how lucky she was to have the mother she had. ------- Cindy and Allie were sitting on Cindy's bed. Cindy had planned on introducing her new friend to her folks when she arrived, but when she and her mom had gotten back from shopping, her mom had grabbed her dad and practically dragged him down the hall to their bedroom. And they were still there! The girls talked for a long time, as Allie related what had happened with Brantley yesterday in third period, and how she had gotten lost and ended up in the boy's locker room while delivering a note fourth period. Cindy filled her in on what it was like to play for the show choir. She had met with Dr. Chapel Thursday morning and after playing for her, the choral director had immediately arranged for her third and fourth period class changes. "I'm glad you're happy, but I can't help wishing you were still in third period with me," Allie told her. "And fourth, too." "You don't happen to play an instrument, do you?" Cindy asked. "I played clarinet in the fifth and sixth grades, but I haven't picked it up since then." "Have you ever sung before?" "No-o-o. Except around the house, I sometimes sing along with the radio. And in the shower," Allie replied. "You've never tried singing with an accompanist?" Cindy asked. When Allie replied in the negative, Cindy said, "Come with me." Cindy led Allie to a big room that was dominated by a white, baby grand piano. Sitting down at the keyboard, she opened the cover and began running here fingers over the keys in the same warm-up that they used in show choir. After playing it through, she encouraged her friend to sing the La-la-la's with her. After running up and back down the register, she switched keys, to a slightly higher key, and did it again. Allie followed her friend without totally understanding. It just sounded like a bunch of la-la-la's to her. And finally, she told her friend so. "Damn! I feel like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music," Cindy exclaimed. "Oh! I loved that movie," Allie told her. "Okay," Allie said as she got up and rummaged through a stack of music books beside the piano. When she found the one she wanted she told Allie to come stand behind her. "You'll have to read over my shoulder because I can't play it from memory like Chase does," Cindy told her friend. They ended up going through half dozen songs from various movies that Allie had seen. "That was wonderful, dear," Cindy's mom told Allie. "Mom, this is my friend, Allie," Cindy said, introducing her friend. "Well, it's good to finally meet you, Allie. Cindy has told us about you. You just moved here from California?" Donna asked the teen. "Yes, ma'am," Allie said. "Well, welcome to East Tennessee. I'm sure it's been quite a culture shock to you after California," Donna told her. Allie hadn't really thought about all the differences and wasn't sure how to respond. "Mom, Allie has never sung before," Cindy said. "What?" Donna asked, confused. She was sure she had not heard her daughter correctly. "I said that before today, Allie had never sung where anyone could hear her!" Donna studied her daughter, as if trying to figure out the punch line of this little joke. "Okay, you got me. I don't see the point," Donna told the girls. "Where did she learn to sing?" Cindy grinned. Her mother's reaction had confirmed what she had suspected since the second song. Turning to her friend she asked, "Allie, before today, had you ever sang 'My Favorite Things'?" "My parents rented the movie for us when I was young, and I watched it a couple of times before they had to take it back, but I've never sung it before, not with words and music and everything," Allie told them truthfully. Donna moved to sit beside her daughter on the piano bench. Her fingers moved over the keys as she began to play. "Do you know this one?" she asked Allie. "I can show you the world?" Allie answered tentatively. "Can you sing it?" Donna asked. "I'm not sure I know all the words," Allie told her. So Donna showed her the words, then as she played it through, she listened as Allie sang. "Allie, I am having a hard time believing you have never sung before. You have a beautiful voice, with a phenomenal range, and excellent pitch," Donna told her. "That's what I thought, too," Cindy told her mom. Then she began to explain how this had come to pass. "Let's try another one, Allie," Donna suggested as she handed her the music to 'My Heart Will Go On'. "I'd like to test your voice a little, if that's okay." "Sure, I guess," Allie replied. She knew the song of course. Who didn't? And she had seen the movie three times. But suddenly, she was nervous. She had never thought her voice was anything special. "Cindy, why don't you play?" asked her mother as she stood. I'll be right back. A few minutes later, Donna stopped in the hall outside the living room, holding her husband's hand. "Listen," she whispered. "I hear it," David told her sleepily. His wife had awakened him up from a good nap. "The kids left the stereo on again." Donna smiled as she placed a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet as she led him around the corner. Suddenly, David's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped as he saw what his wife was showing him. They stood there, silently, watching their daughter play while a young girl he didn't know sang the theme from the Titanic movie. While Allie's back was to them, Cindy could see her parents and she almost laughed at her dad's reaction. She decided that they had found a way to be together in third period after all. Allie was going to join her in show choir. Allie's head whipped around at the enthusiastic applause when she finished the song. She hadn't known anyone was listening. "HOLY SHIT!" came another voice from behind her parents. "You were ... you were fantastic! I didn't know you could sing!" Chase told her. "Neither did she," Cindy told her dad and brother. "Today's her first time." They all talked excitedly for a while until Donna said she needed to start dinner. She sent Chase and David off to the showers, Chase because he had been mowing lawns, and David because he had been ... well, working out. Then, throughout the preparation of the meal, mother and daughter peppered Allie with questions. Did she play an instrument? Could she read music? Did anyone else in her family sing? The interrogation continued throughout the meal; this time, David and Chase questioned her as well. Chase told his folks about 'bumping into' Allie in the hall her first day. Cindy told them about how she had changed Allie's schedule. Through it all, Allie alternated between blushing at being talked about, and being awed at the openness and honesty between Chase and Cindy and their parents. "So you actually let me walk you to class after lunch, knowing my sister was in the same class?" Chase asked teasingly. "She sure did!" quipped Cindy. "And she loved every minute of it!" The topic then switched from Allie to the show choir. Her mom already knew most of it, so Cindy and Chase filled their father in. "Who is this new director?" David asked. "Dr. Chapel. Her first name is Susan, I think," replied Chase. "She graduated from Mannford." "I heard Ms. Campbell call her 'Sissy' a couple of times. When the other kids weren't around," added Cindy. David looked at Donna. "Wasn't there a Sissy... 'something' who graduated about ten years ago and went on to star on Broadway? I can't remember her last name." "You're thinking of Kay and William Abbott's daughter, but I thought she got married right after she graduated. That reminds me, I haven't talked to Kay in years, not since William passed away. I need to call her. "Now, we have to figure out how to get Allie into show choir," Cindy told everyone. She was the task-oriented one in the family. "She could just sign up for an audition on Monday," Chase suggested. "Yeah, but Dr. Chapel already has all her auditions spots filled up for next week, and she needs to be in there, like now!" Cindy said. "Chase?" his mother asked, "Aren't you supposed to sing a solo at church in the morning?" "Yeah," Chase replied. "So..." "So, why don't you and Allie sing something together?" his mom suggested. "We've never even practiced together..." Chase started to object when the light bulb came on over his head. "C'mon, Allie. We've got work to do. Will you play for us Cin?" The three teens scampered towards the living room, but Cindy returned a few moments later, holding the handout with Dr. Chapel's cell phone number on it. "Don't tell her who it is. I wanna surprise her like you did Dad," Cindy said hurriedly. ------- "THAT was an interesting call," Sissy told her husband as they lay reading in bed. With their busy schedules, Sissy and Jimmy had come to cherish the times when they could just lay next to each other and read or watch TV. Even on a Saturday night. "Who was it?" Jimmy asked. It was Donna Mattingly. Her son, Chase is the one I went to hear sing a few weeks ago. He's got a strong baritone voice, and I really would like to have him..." "But... ?" Jimmy offered. "Well, he's a senior and a starting wide receiver on the football team and I'm afraid he won't give up football. Not at Mannford. They would probably declare a state of emergency if someone chose choir over football." "Can he do both?" Jimmy asked. "He could, but there are so many songs and so much choreography to learn right away and with football season in full swing as well, it would probably be too much for him. Hell, I couldn't do anything else and still make it through the schedule I have for them!" "So what did his mom want? Does she want him to sing or play football?" "She invited us to their church tomorrow morning. She would only say that I needed to be there for Chase's solo," Sissy said. "She also said that his sister, Cindy, and a friend, will be accompanying him." "His sister?" "Yeah. She's younger than Chase, a junior, I think. She came in Thursday morning and auditioned for the accompanist spot. She's good. By the time we go to sectionals, I think she'll be better than Belinda." "Did she tell you anything else?" "Only that the kids were up to something and she was sworn to secrecy, but she thought I should happen to 'drop in', was the way she put it. The rest of the time, we talked about my folks. She knew them, but hadn't talked to Mom since Dad died." "So? Are we going to 'drop in' as she put it?" Jimmy asked. "I think we're going to church in the morning," Sissy told her husband as she tried to figure out what was up. She had already heard both of them, so it was probably just a proud mom, wanting the new teacher to hear them perform together. Still ... it couldn't hurt if it helped get Chase in the choir. ------- To Be Continued... ------- Posted: 2013-01-24 Last Modified: 2013-01-29 / 12:21:23 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------