V.O.I.C.E

.Chapter Twenty Five.

 Chapter Twenty Five                              Evalyn

“Pause,” Mr. Conner called out to be heard over the singers. We all turned to look at him, waiting for him to tell us what we had to fix. “We need to play with some of the notes in this song. Some are a little high for the male singers. Other than that, this scene is going really well. Let’s take a water break.”

We all scattered out of the classroom faster than you could say arpeggio. Most people were taking a seat on the floor in the hallway as we had been standing since we got to school. Even my feet were being to hurt. Owen and Vic caught up to me as I headed to the cafeteria. Owen slipped his hand in mine and lacing our fingers together.

“I need sugar and a cookie,” groaned Vic.

“Those both have sugar in them, you know,” Owen pointed out.

“What we need to get you for next year is a system that will hook up to you and just keep pumping sugar into you,” I joked.

“Oh that’s a good idea. Pretty please, I want it,” she begged me, turning to face me and giving me puppy dog eyes.

“We don’t want to be the cause of you diabetes. You’re doing fine on your own,” said Owen.

“Hush you. Eva I want one. Please!” she said dragging out the word please.

“Well, if you write a letter to Santa and you are a good girl, the old man might just get you one,” I joked as I dragged her to the cafe. Opening the fridge door I grabbed a Dr. Pepper for Owen and a Coke for myself and headed to the end of the short line at the cash machine. Vic joined us a second later, chocolate milk and two double chocolate cookies in hand. I hadn’t wanted a cookie before but now that I had seen them I wanted one. Vic grinned and handed me one of the two. She knew me too well.

“Hey, Melissa,” I greeted the cashier. She worked every day, I had yet to see her take a day off and she seemed to know all of the students in the school. After a quick chat with her as she gave us our change we headed back to the classroom, taking our time as we went.

“So, I’ll bet you guys that Mr. Conner goes completely crazy before we even get out on winter break,” said Vic suddenly.  To say Mr. Conner was a bit stressed out was just a bit of an understatement. We had done musicals in earlier years, but never before were the students writing their own music for the play and pretty much writing the whole play which a basic outline from the Shakespeare version. Mr. Conner was there to make sure we stayed on task and if there were any issues, he would be there to help. But other than that, this was all up to us and it got a bit confusing sometimes.

“I think he’s going to go crazy before the month is finished,” said Owen as we stepped into the classroom.

                I went to grab a chair when I was tugged down from behind, onto Owen’s lap. His fingers wrapped gently around my jaw and he turned my face to his. Without hesitation, I lowered my lips to his and closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy the kiss.

Even as I let myself get into the kiss, my mind wouldn’t shut off. Instead, I compared Owen’s soft lips and short stubble to Carter’s firm kisses. It always seemed to say I know that I wasn’t supposed to be doing this. Those kisses were engraved in my mind.

I was broken from my thoughts as my coffee was pulled from my hand. I jerked out of the kiss and glared at Vic, who now had two cups of coffee in my hands.

“If you’re not going to drink it, then I will,” she said with a smirk.

“Give that back, you little thief,” I growled at her.

“No you weren’t. You were kissing Owen. If you want your drink come over here and get it from me yourself, I scrunched up my nose, knowing she really would drink it if I didn’t take it from her.

I got off Owen’s lap and grabbed it back before she held true to her theat. I had drunk about half when Mr. Conner called the classroom back to order and everybody gathered around the piano once again. I took one last quick sip before I set the drink down on my desk. I would have to finish it after rehearsal.

Those who weren’t involved in this scene went over to the next room that we had used as a space for different groups to practice in. My group gathered in a tight circle, waiting for Mr. Conner to take his usual seat on the piano bench.

“This scene is where the fairy queen sees Bottom for the first time and, because of Puck’s spell she falls in love with him. I like what this group did with the lyrics and the chord progressions, but I think it would work better if the music was paced differently. What are you thinking of doing on stage at this point?” Mr. Conner asked.

“I think we should have it so the four lovers chasing each other in the background but have Carter stumble out in the front of the stage where Eva is asleep. Everybody’s main focus is on them as she wakes up and the spell takes hold. Each singer will be singing about what their character is doing. We can make it like a fugue,” said one of the female fairies that was going to be in the scene as well.

“We should also have it so the audience can see Puck. Since he’s watching over everybody in the woods,” I spoke up.

“Okay, it seems like you guys are on track. You should get working on the finishing touches of the fugue,” Mr. Conner directed.

We all got organizes by groups, the four lovers stood together, Puck hung around the sidelines of the ‘stage’, and Carter, as Bottom stood beside me. We all worked on the fugue with Mr. Conner helping us when we were unsure.

At the end of the day, we had worked our way through finishing the song and making good head way on the next one we needed to write. We would start testing the song tomorrow to see how well it flowed and what little bits needed to be fixed.

“Hey Eva! Wait up,” called Vic as I headed to my locker. I slowed my pace so she could catch up and fall into step beside me. “What are you wearing to the Halloween party? She asked when she caught up.

“I haven’t figured out yet. Are you and Gerald going in couples costumes?” I asked.

“We are but we’re not sure what to go as yet. I’ve got lots of ideas but none that really seem to jump out and grab our attention,” she explained, “What are you going as?”

“No clue yet. All the costumes in the stores are all super trampy,” I complained.

“Don’t worry, I think I may have something in my closet that I could make work for you,” she said with a smirk.