Ensemble
Kris moved slowly on his way to rehearse with their ensembles. He loved music, it wasn’t that. It was the fact that his ensemble wasn’t working in any sense of the word.
That and the fact that Kris had better things to do at 6:45 AM. Like sleeping.
Even though Kris had only been back in the States for a couple months after living with his parents and younger brother overseas doing mission work, he was already aware of how easy it was to categorize the people he was around.
He was the missionary kid, obviously, who could play guitar, piano and even viola, but had only sung for fun up ‘til now. Kris often wondered if living other places and eating different food had stunted his growth, because he was just small. Wimpy. The perfect size for football jocks like Michael and Danny to shove into lockers. But they didn’t. Probably because they had seen him at the See You At The Pole prayer mornings. They saved the shoving around for Adam.
“Hey, guys? What’s up?” he asked, looking around at the small, cramped room with an old piano and several blue chairs that were stacked high against the wall.
“Hey,” Adam responded, tucking his hands into his pockets, as if he was self-conscious. “We’re just waiting on everyone else.”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk, Lambert,” Michael quipped under his breath.
“Yeah,” Danny chimed in. “Weren’t you late, like, every day last week?”
“It’s because you losers made sure he was late,” Kris reminded, staring down Michael and Danny. “So lay off.”
Adam was the guy in all the theatre performances. He was great onstage, but off it, he was really insecure, though he tried not to show it. He was at least six feet tall, and built like he could have played on the football team, if he had wanted to. And if he was athletic. Which Kris knew, from watching him repeatedly get picked last for teams in PE, that he wasn’t. He was strawberry blonde with a lot of freckles and a nice, solid tenor voice that Kris felt could compliment anyone else’s in choir.
“So, are we gonna get to run the girls’ parts with them?” Adam asked.
“Hey, why do you wanna know about the girls’ parts, Lambert?” Danny teased until Kris glared at him.
Their ensemble only had three girls, and since there was no way to balance the sound if they gave everyone a different part, they were each given a solo.
Lil was a diva in the classic sense of the word. She could sing, and she knew it. If there was a solo, she was going to get it. Ensemble rehearsal only started when she got there, and the second she left, she expected that it was over.
“Hello, everybody!” she announced loudly, dressed in what Kris guessed was considered a fashionable outfit. It was gold and shiny and she had on lots of jewelry. Kris caught Adam surveying it admiringly.
“Hey, girl. You look nice,” Michael complimented.
“Thank you, baby,” Lil answered, unwinding a long purple scarf from her neck. “Okay, what happened so far?”
“Nothing yet,” Michael said, “We’re still waiting on the stragglers.”
“Damn it, I have a life, too, you know? I got things to do. Where’s Alli?” she demanded, looking around
Allison, Kris knew, was feisty in the best possible way. She was like a fireball of energy, complete with her hair, which was dyed a bright red. This girl was fun and made even the crabbiest people in the room smile. She got along with everyone, and everyone liked her. But when it was time to work, she was all business.
“Hey!” Allison greeted, bounding into the room, and surveying the chairs like they were a jungle gym.
“Don’t even think about it,” Kris warned, with a smile.
“Yeah, the last time you did that, Mr. J almost put you back in varsity choir with the freshmen,” Danny said smugly.
“Why are you asking about me and not asking about Megan?” Allison asked, reaching up to secure her hat on Adam’s head, and pulling a banana chocolate-chip muffin out of her coat pocket. She took a huge bite and continued. “She’s the one who’s never here.” Alli held the muffin out and Kris took a bite, grateful. He hated waiting for last lunch every day.
Megan was the reason that none of the girls got to run their solos last time. She never ever showed up to rehearse, even if she’d been in class. And when she did come, she was late. They all had their theories about what she did in the meantime, but Kris knew in the big picture it didn’t matter why. It just mattered that she was holding back the ensemble.
“Oh-oh-oh-oh!”
“For the longest time!”
Kris heard the voices from the hallway and identified them both as the ensembles two pianists. Matt, who sang first, had a vocal groove suited for the song, and Scott, who had a softer more pure tone had sang second. Though they were best buddies, you would never know it in the rehearsal room. They were always having “artistic differences” about how the song should be accompanied and sung, and who should be able to play piano at the actual concert.
“I still think I have a better handle on the fourth measure,” Matt pointed out.
“And I think I have a better handle on the song as a whole,” Scott countered good-naturedly. “We should put it to a vote.”
“If I was voting, you’d both lose.”
That was Anoop.
This guy was constantly trying to prove to all nine of them how smart he was. He talked music theory constantly, tried to relate music to math and science, and told them all random facts about how Billy Joel sang both the lead and background vocals on The Longest Time
“Did you know that Billy Joel recorded 14 different background tracks for this song, and they were all mixed into the song?” he asked eagerly.
“Yes,” Kris answered. “And we don’t care.”
“Kris, you know, you should accompany the song,” Anoop suggested knowingly. “You play piano, right?”
“I think we should rehearse…” Kris pointed out. “We’re running short on time already.”
“All right, guys, lets get going,” Scott directed, sitting at the piano before Matt could object.
Kris stood in the back, his sheet music in his hand, trying to get the most difficult measure in the song, so he wasn’t constantly messing everyone else up.
With five minutes to spare, Megan showed up.
“Hey,” she said, breathless. “So…what did I miss? You guys have to catch me up.”
Wordlessly, the group of them dispersed, while Megan stood in the doorway, looking like a knockout, but Kris knew that she barely hanging in there.
More stunts like this, Kris knew, and Megan wouldn’t be part of them at all anymore.
This was Concert Choir, after all.