THE GLACIAL SEASON OF WINTER is gradually coming to an end, and the Meadowbrook High School choir's grand performance was here — LGPE. It was an unusually warm March Saturday afternoon, so most choir students were comfortably dressed in their choir suits and dresses without feeling the bulkiness of their heavy coats or light jackets.
After every student was situated into the large, twenty-four seat school bus, Dr. Terry went over simple rules and regulations before she would allow the bus driver to pull out of the school's bus lane. "The day is here," she announced as she clasped her hands together from the front of the bus. "We will undergo your most important performance of the year, and we've been over this tons of times, but don't be scared. We've prepared for this for months, and we are Meadowbrook High's Advanced Mixed Choir — you guys are going to do great!"
A series of cheers erupted from the choir students, who were all revved up for their upcoming performance. Even if they were jittery, scared if the judges would give them an unsatisfactory score, they were also excited. On top of all the seriousness, the choir experience was supposed to be fun.
"Having that said, I want you all to do the best you can. As your choir director, it isn't about me. It's all about you, and what you can do," Dr. Terry encouraged as she planted a hand on the rim of one of the front-row seats. "I've been a choir director for years. Throughout all those years, I've won awards, gotten a lot of my choirs from beginning to advanced superior ratings, and the list goes on — but it doesn't matter to me. What matters to you is you all have the skill to do the best you can because this is for you."
She is as serious as a heart attack based on the determined look on her face. In a situation like this, who wouldn't be? It wasn't a time for fun and games. It was a time to put the choir into a friendly reality check.
"I believe in each and every single one of you. So . . ." Dr. Terry hummed as her lips grew into a smile. "Can we do this?"
A series of "yes" and "yeah" erupted from the choir all at once. The energy in the bus was lively and filled with excitement. As the choir director told the bus driver that the choir was ready to go, the bus driver obeyed, closed the bus doors, and pulled out of the bus lane.
Exhilaration was filled amongst every corner of the bus, including Alexander and Inez. The two-week old couple were seated next to each other, accompanied by the breeze that flowed through the window beside them, which hit their cheeks every now and then. Because of the wind, Alexander's hair was constantly blown out of place every few moments. Every time he tried to soften down his hair, it always ended up sticking back up afterwards. It was frustrating to have to adjust his brushed hair so often, but Inez couldn't help but giggle.
"The wind is not giving you a chance."
Alexander chuckled as he brushed his hair down. "Tell me about it. I spent so much time and effort brushing my hair for this."
"You still look great," Inez reasoned as she brushed her natural curls down so she could lean her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. She took out her braids last week, mainly so she could look better for LGPE because her braids were beginning to look old. Frankly, there wasn't anything wrong with going to the performance in the natural hair look. It was beautiful and more than presentable.
"I can say the same for you," the Korean boy mused as he sniffed. The nostrils of his nose picked up the warm, welcoming scent of shea butter, which was all over his girlfriend's hair and scalp. It smelled so good, and he's always admired the scent. It was something he never had. "Your hair smells so good. I could smell it forever and ever."
"I'm glad you think so," Inez pondered with a smile. "I honestly thought you'd have a lot of questions about it because—"
"I don't have any questions, Nezzie. I really like your hair," Alexander wrapped an arm around the girl so he could massage the girl's arm, which was clothed in the uniform of her choir dress.
"You're the sweetest," the girl gushed quietly. "Literally."
The Korean boy planted a small kiss on the tip of Inez's forehead. "It's my job."
The girl felt her lips crawl into a smile as she watched the window from a distance. From her view, she could see dozens of cars and trucks, busily traveling up and down roads to reach their destinations. Stores were beginning to get rid of winter decorations, replacing them with bright flowers, baby animals, and announcements of spring sales as the season was advancing.
The wind slapped Inez in her face, causing her to snap back into reality. "Do you think we'll do well at LGPE?"
"I think we will," Alexander remarked without hesitation. "For months, we've spent each class period and a few after-school rehearsals working our butts off, so we might get a superior score, maybe a fair one."
"True, but most of that practice was for the singing, not things like stage deportment," Inez reasoned right off the bat.
"Oh yeah . . ." The brunette-haired boy grimaced. "Well, I'm sure we'll do fine. Let's not worry about it too much. I don't want you stressing yourself out over it so much."
"Gosh, who taught you to be so caring?" Inez questioned.
"It's a skill I develop when you care and love someone," Alexander answered simply.
The ride to Crews High School was supposed to be twenty minutes long, but it ended up being twenty-five because it was extremely hard to find a place to park in the school's main bus lane. Just as the choir was directed to exit the bus, they were directed to park in front of the Commons portion of the school building by a staff member. It was a grueling situation, which took away an additional five or so minutes the choir had to better prepare themselves for their upcoming performance.
Even if it was disappointing, Dr. Terry tried to make light out of the situation by pushing it aside. With several other high schools who also wanted to pursue the same goal as them, setbacks were completely expected. Things may change, and it's completely okay. Things can always be done in a different way.
Dr. Terry allowed the choir to exit the bus in a single file line so they could enter the school's Commons, a common hub for many school-like things, like lunch and school events. The choir director announced to her students that they were allowed to use the restroom and purchase food from the vending machines or from the cafeteria since they weren't due for their performance until almost an hour later. However, there were restrictions. Since so many other high school choirs were invading the lunchroom, Meadowbrook's choir would have to stay at a specific set of tables located near the lunchroom's doors to be more efficient.
When Dr. Terry dismissed the choir to do whatever they had to do, Alexander and Inez headed straight towards the set of vending machines fastened against the wall, considering how they knew school food tasted.
And school food on a weekend? That sounded worse than school food on a weekday in a way.
"Oh shit, I didn't bring any money with me," Alexander groaned with a frown.
"Lucky for you, I brought a few bucks with me," Inez hummed as she fished three one-dollar bills from her small, black handbag. "How much do you need?"
"You are a lifesaver," the Korean boy purred as he planted a kiss on the softness of his girlfriend's cheek.
A snicker sounded from behind him. "Couple goals!"
The couple's heads shot back as they noticed their friends, Jolien and Jayden, alongside a few other choir members who were in awe of the newest couple in their choir. Couples were sure cute, but at times, they could be annoying to the people surrounding them. For instance, Inez and Alexander were blocking the only vending machine that wasn't in use, which kind of ticked off several other people who wanted to purchase something.
"Move along, lovebirds. We need to use the vending machine, too," Jolien quipped, sending off a wink to Inez.
"Sheesh, be patient. We were only here for like, two seconds," the girl with the natural curls defended with a laugh before turning back to her boyfriend. "But seriously, Alexander, how much do you need?"
He planted his hands on his hips as he closely observed the vending machine in front of him, which was for drinks. "Two dollars, madam. That's how much I need for a water bottle."
The girl handed the Korean boy two dollars, tucking the extra dollar back into her purse. She watched him place both dollars into the slot one by one before tapping on the button designated for a fresh, chilly bottle of spring water. Soon enough, the clamor of the bottle rolled down the machine's slot. Alexander foiled his hand into the limited space, picking up the bottle with his fingers to be more efficient.
"Wow, you seem to have great luck with vending machines," Inez raved as the boy and her walked away from the machines to their table. "I think vending machines hate me."
"How so?" Alexander questioned as he cracked his water bottle open.
"A lot of times, the vending machines at school just eat up my money without giving me my snack in return," the girl answered simply. "The ones out in public are just a little bit better, though. Just a little . . ."
"The vending machines at our school are a fraud," the Korean boy chuckled as he took a seat, gesturing to Inez to take one across from him. "We're lucky the ones here at Crews work just a little bit better."
"Somehow. A quick switcheroo in the vending machines from here and at Meadowbrook would be really helpful," Inez remarked with a laugh.
"Tell me about it," Alexander hummed. "But speaking of vending machines, are you sure you don't want anything? This is our only chance to grab a bite before we have to start rehearsing."
"I'm good. I ate a big lunch, so I'm still stuffed," the girl with the natural curls insisted.
"If you insist," the Korean boy said before he took another sip of water. Within the matter of minutes, Dr. Terry instructed her choir to follow her to the Fine Arts wing of the building. Her choir was given a choir room to rehearse for their performance. Of course, the chairs had to be set up in a way fit for their choir and their choir folders containing their songs had to be passed out, so that's what they spent a few minutes doing so they could better prepare themselves.
And that's what they did.
They rehearsed, rehearsed, and rehearsed until their time was up around forty or so minutes later, where they were instructed by one of the school's staff to report to the stage. After the choir was lined up properly and was ready to go, Dr. Terry took a brief moment to remind her students of basic fundamentals.
"Remember, stage deportment. The judges don't want to see you talking on stage — they came to see you all sing," Dr. Terry prompted. "You all can do this — I just know it. Now, let's go out there and show the judges what you can do!"
A refrain of cheers and hollers sounded from each and every choir member as the choir director escorted them out of the choir room, following the large, handwritten signs that marked the way to the backstage area of the school's theater. The area was loud as other choirs, ranging from beginning to advanced, made their way on and off the stage. Meadowbrook's choir, however, managed to make their way to the main stage area without getting out of line, following the rules of stage deportment along the way.
No one turned to talk to their friends.
No one decided to wear any color other than black and white.
Everyone decided to stay in their places, as hard as it sounded. At this point, they were already in the vast, high-ceiling theater, right in front of the judges who were seated in the front row in front of the table, who were already observing each move each choir member made.
Dr. Terry stepped up to the podium, placing her opened two-inch binder on the large music stand in front of her. She took out a baton from its case before she waved it in the air, gesturing to the choir to flip to the first song in their choir folders, Gloria In Excelsis Deo.
Thanks to the endless amount of time the choir has spent on warm-up scales for the past couple of months, each and every chord the group sang sounded glorious like angels from above. Hopefully, it sounded just like that to the judges as well, who were busy scribbling away onto their rubric sheets, darting their eyes towards the choir every now and then.
When the song peacefully concluded, Dr. Terry signaled the choir to stay put before she turned to the judges, who were making their last remarks on their rubric sheets as they whispered to each other. Like many other choir members, Alexander began to tense up as he wondered what the judges were talking about.
What if they were saying negative things?
One thing he knew was that the judges notice anything and everything, so it was highly possible. But Alexander tried not to break a sweat as he took a deep exhale. Soon enough, the middle judge allowed Dr. Terry to resume the performance. With a curt nod, she turned back around to face the choir as she turned to her second piece of music, The Seal Lullaby, motioning the choir members to do the same as she waved her baton in the air.
Once everyone had their folders in hand, the choir director gestured to the choir to begin singing after she did her brief countdown. The song started out peacefully, like the gentle waves of an ocean. It was like they were singing a lullaby to a baby that was yet too sweet, hence the song's name — The Seal Lullaby.
The song consisted of many major parts, including alto, tenor, the list went on. Even if those parts of the song split lightly, the choir still sounded harmonious. They still sounded like they were a whole.
One sound. One choir.
When the song finally concluded about three minutes later, Dr. Terry signaled the choir to bow to thank the judges for evaluating their performance. The judges were thoroughly observing their rubric sheets as they chatted to each other about the performance of the choir's two songs. That consisted of the nodding and shaking of heads, pointing to various areas of the stage, and the list went on.
They agreed on things.
They disagreed on other things.
It was all a dreaded cycle, especially for the choir, who was anxious to know what rating they were given, whether it was a one (a superior rating), a two (a satisfactory rating), or a three . . . which was bad.
Very bad.
All things considered, Dr. Terry aimed for a satisfactory rating, considering that it was still considered "good" by the judges. But frankly, for an advanced choir like this one, she expected so much more. Because why aim for a fair score when a superior score could be earned?
After the judges were finished discussing the grand performance, the middle judge cleared his throat. "Dr. Terry, thank you so much for bringing your choir here for Large Group Performance Evaluation," the judge remarked with a curt nod. "With all the choirs that we've judged over the past few days, yours has been quite a relief to judge."
Dr. Terry nodded "thank you" to the judge as she awaited another response. What the judge said brought hope to the choir member's hearts, considering how he explicitly said that they've been a relief to judge.
Did that mean the other choirs were a little . . . rusty?
Everyone was yet to find out.
"As one of the judges who evaluated this performance . . ." the judge continued as he held up his rubric sheet to have a closer look. "I am extremely proud to announce to you all, the Meadowbrook High School Advanced Mixed Chorus has scored an . . ."
That moment, Alexander Choi could feel blood pump in his ears. The judge was yet to announce how the choir did, which left him with many, many questions. LGPE was always known to be a tense performance, especially as everyone waited for the judges to release the score.
Next to Alexander stood Jayden, who was as motionless as a statue. Frankly, everyone in the choir looked that way. It was like they had all seen a ghost, one who was ready to haunt them in their sleep.
The middle judge seemed to be enjoying it all. His silence only caused everyone in the Meadowbrook Chorus to wonder what rating they really got, which tweaked on the strings of their heart.
Hard.
"You all have received a . . . all-superior rating!" The judge announced with a broad smile. "This includes stage deportment and the performance for both of the songs you sang. You all did so wonderfully to the point where you are the second choir so far to receive straight ones."
And then, there was silence.
Dr. Terry turned back to her choir with an enthusiastic smile, which caused everyone else to break out into cheers and hollers. All the anxiousness they were experiencing all went away as they reached out to hug other choir members while their choir folders dangled in their hands. Alexander reached out to hug his best friend, who practically rocked himself in his arms with a sense of accomplishment.
"We did it!" Jayden cheered. "It's a relief, honestly. I was stressing the fuck out."
"Same here, and the judge was not helping," Alexander sighed as he placed a hand over his heart. "I felt like I was about to get a heart attack or something."
"You and I both," Jayden admitted, followed by a short chuckle.
At that exact time, Dr. Terry ended up dismissing the choir to head back to the choir room to return their choir folders to its designated crate and to retrieve their belongings so they could head back to their home school. The Korean boy and his best friend ended up following the crowd to get off of the singing platform.
"Okay, tell me — how's everything with Inez? Y'all have been dating for like, two weeks now?" The mixed boy questioned the memory.
"Yeah, and things are great. She's so sweet and attractive," the Korean boy gushed like a fangirl.
His best friend smirked, a smile crawling up his lips. "In more ways than one? You know . . ."
It took a long moment, but he felt his face heat up like flames when he understood what his companion was talking about. "Shut the fuck up," Alexander nagged as he carefully stepped off the singing platform. "I'm going to wait for Inez here, but you can go ahead."
Jayden sent a wink to Alexander before catching up with a mob of other choir students to chat with them. Within the matter of seconds, Inez joined Alexander on the side of the singing platform. He instantly curled his arms around her for a hug — a hug of achievement and passion.
"We did so well!" The girl raved. "I did all that worrying for nothing."
"We all did," Alexander admitted as he let go of the hug so they could trail behind the other choir students back to their choir room. "But you know, the choir as a whole — we make a good team." He continued with a cheesy smile. "You and I do, as well . . . on and off the stage. I don't why I didn't realize that sooner . . . you know, so many months ago. Years ago, in fact."
"Exactly," Inez agreed as she snapped her finger. "I don't know about you, but I feel like I let my pride get in the way of seeing you past a rival, someone I always competed with."
"You took those words right out of my mouth," the Korean boy agreed with a curt nod. "But what happened between us was in the past. Now, things are different. But . . . do you think you still have that competitive side of you?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah," Inez said as a smirk formed on her lips. "First person who gets back to the choir room wins!"
"Oh, you're on," Alexander remarked, determined to participate. It may have been childish and way too old for their age, but neither of them cared. Childhood memories of having a fun race were usually always nostalgic. When contented memories are re-lived with a loved one, it feels special — more than special, in fact.
It just feels like there's always something to look forward to.
That's exactly how Alexander felt throughout the two weeks he's been together with Inez. He looked forward to each new day, awaiting the new joyful memories he'd live out with her. Chasing each other backstage was about to be one of them.
Even if they got in trouble.
"No running backstage or in the halls, please," a woman, who worked at the high school announced sternly as she stepped right in front of both individuals, which blocked the doorway that led to the corridors. "You two are more than old enough to know that."
"We're sorry. We won't do it again, ma'am," Alexander apologized simply as he tried his best not to crack a smile. More than anything, he didn't want to upset the lady more because that would get him in even more trouble.
"That's good to know," the staff lady hummed as she stepped away from the door to allow the individuals to exit.
As soon as they were a distance away from the woman at the door, Alexander and Inez exchanged impartial glances at each other before breaking out into a series of laughter. Frankly, they couldn't hold it inside of themselves, especially Alexander, whose face was completely reddened from all the laughing.
Inez felt her stomachache from laughing already, so she gasped for air. "I don't know why, that was just so funny."
"Looks like you have a fucked-up sense of humor like me. You know, the kind of humor where you find a lot of things funny," Alexander chuckled as the sides of his mouth ached. "But seriously, we can't have a little fun around here."
"It does kind of make sense. We're in a high school, and I guess people don't want us running around like children here," the curly-haired girl reasoned. "It does look kind of weird."
"But it's also fun, regardless of what people think," the Korean boy nodded. "I'm still looking forward to racing you to the choir room if you're up to it, Nezzie."
Inez giggled. "You're so bad."
"Hey, speed walking is still a thing," Alexander reasoned with a tut. "No one can stop us because we're technically walking."
"You always find your way to get around things by cutting corners," the girl with the natural curls claimed with a playful eye roll. "But I'm down. Starting in three . . . two . . . one . . . Let's go!"
And just like that, the new couple was speed walking their way from corridor to corridor to get back to the choir room. It wasn't as fun as running, but it was just as good.
Was the race necessary? Of course not.
But was it fun? Definitely.
Soon, they were to become new memories. Memories that were filled with compassion, adoration, support, and everything in-between.
The timeline between Alexander and Inez consisted of bad memories, which contained bad blood. Though they weren't pleasant to look back on, Alexander Choi was willing to make better memories with Inez. He was willing to make memories with her that he could look back on without cringing.
Frankly, he'd do anything for that.
a/n: hey loves!! how are you all loving these longer chapters? 💗
lgpe* finally came into the picture and they got a superior rating!! i'm so proud of all of my babies!!
and look at the new couple of town. Alexander and Inez are the cutest & i want what they have 😩
thank you for reading and see ya in the next one!!
*choral lgpe is a real thing that exists in the state of georgia. for all my fellow georgians who might have went thru this for any fine arts course, which is so unlikely, i decided not to include sightreading bc that's so time consuming lol