Playing to Win

This guy was hilarious, I could already tell. “Dude, what are you doing in here, then?”

Jarom’s eyes met mine. “I’m in a band. We aren’t great or anything but Ms. Jackson’s not just a choir director, she’s a voice coach. I can’t afford lessons, and this is the next best thing.” He paused to grin. “Plus, it’s a great place to meet hot girls.”

I held out my fist and Jarom tapped it with his.

“Right on, man. So, here’s the skinny.” He pointed to a cluster of girls front and center. “The one in the middle, in the pink mini skirt? That’s Jenna. She thinks she’s the best voice in here. Tries to take charge, wants to pick songs. Very annoying. Stay away. Far, far away. In fact,” he paused and I looked his way again. “Don’t date her or any of her friends.” He held up his fingers, bent like claws, and hissed.

I was laughing hard at this point. “Got it. What else?”

Jarom pointed again, this time to a quiet girl sitting near Ms. Jackson’s piano. She looked sweet and unassuming. “She’s the real star. Sasha. Jenna can’t stand her because she’s by far the best voice in the room. And the nicest girl you’ll ever meet, but she’s just a sophomore. Let’s be real, this class is eighty-five percent women and one-hundred percent drama.” Jarom glanced at Sasha again. “I try to keep my eye on that one. She doesn’t know how to stand up for herself.”

“Right.” I could see that. From the top row, Sasha was cute. I had no doubt a girl like Jenna would chew her up and spit her out then grind her into the dirt.

“We have six guys, including you and me. Ms. Jackson likes to do men’s choir, so she’ll try and have us work on a few songs for concerts.” He gave me a look. “We have a lot of concerts.”

That was fine by me. I needed all the practice I could get.

Ms. Jackson entered the room, cutting Jarom off. “Okay, everybody, let’s get started!” She stood at the front trying to get everyone’s attention. She couldn’t be very old, twenties or early thirties at the most. And pretty. I bet there were a few guys who joined choir just because she was kinda hot.

For the first few minutes, she went over the syllabus, concert schedules, Jarom hadn’t been kidding, there were a lot, and what to expect over the next few class periods as she determined each of our strengths and weaknesses.

Then, she broke us into groups to get to know each other, so she could call us back individually to sing in one of the practice rooms. Every few minutes she’d also call out for us to switch groups.

By the time Ms. Jackson called my name, my cheeks were burning from all the female attention as we moved through the groups. Trying to shrug it off, I reminded myself it had more to do with being the new guy than anything else. Pretty soon, they would all forget I was even here.

I snagged my guitar on the way to the practice room. Ms. Jackson sat at a piano, but she spun on the bench when she saw my guitar, her eyes wide and sparkly.

“Is this okay?” I asked, pausing before sitting down.

She nodded. “Absolutely. I’d love to hear you play.”

Sitting down across from her, I cleared my throat and wished for a glass of water. I knew I could sing, but I had very little practice singing in front of other people, especially solo. More than anything, I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. So far, it was just a dream, heard mostly by the walls of my bedroom.

I avoided Ms. Jackson’s gaze as I strummed the first chord of a song I’d written over the summer. The melody came first, then the words. And for the next three minutes, I sang about dreams and wishes and all the things holding me back, each note, each lyric, a piece of me.

When the song ended, I opened my eyes to find Ms. Jackson watching me. Her mouth hung open and her eyes filled with moisture. She wore the exact expression I dreamed people would have after hearing one of my songs.

“Asher, what was that? I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

“I, um, I wrote it. Did you like it?” I thought I knew the answer, but I kind of wanted to hear her say it.

“Did I like it?” She shook her head a little. “I loved it. That was beautiful.”