Just before Christmas, Jason auditioned for the show choir. He had a chance to prepare some other songs, and decided on one just in his range. He also didn't have to sing it a capella this time; Jarod's sister played piano, and was glad to play for him. This audition was for the show choir, which he had decided to do. Just standing and singing was one thing, but he was used to moving when he sang.
Mrs. Foster smiled and waved him over as he was on his way out the door with Terry. "That was very good," she told him.
"Thanks."
"You realize you're asking to sing solos," she said.
He grinned. "Yeah. If there's no one else,..."
She looked at him in calculation. "Do you have an older brother or sister whose shadow you've been hiding in?"
"No.... A younger brother." He smiled with an effort.
"That's a new one."
"He's not as shy as me." He shrugged. "Do you know when you'll post those who made it?"
"Probably sometime next week." He didn't seem as excited about it as the others had, Mrs. Foster decided as she thought about the conversation. He had a maturity that comes with experience. She'd find out later. He had definitely made the show choir.
He spent Christmas with some of the other students, calling home that evening. They had gotten his gifts, but he thought his mother might have been a little disappointed that he hadn't sent them in the mail so that she could get his address from them. He'd sent them to a friend from school, who had dropped them off.
The first day of the show choir introduced him to a whole new range of experience. The first song they sang started with the men, then the women came in. As soon as they hit the first note, he started and looked around in surprise. Almost everyone noticed, and the song dissolved into laughter as Jason got himself straight again, his cheeks coloring slightly.
"Tina, what is so funny," Mrs. Foster asked.
"I think Jason's never heard girls sing before," the red-head said. Mrs. Foster looked at Jason, who blushed a deeper red.
"Well?" she asked.
"I was in... an all male show choir. I just wasn't expecting the women's voices." He didn't add that he'd been expecting Jordan and Joe to be singing the part. It was automatic, still, to partition parts out like that.
"An all male show choir?" Mrs. Foster said. "I'd like to see that. Where was it?"
"Massacheusettes, near Boston." He'd almost walked into that one. He took a deep breath to steady himself. This was not a comfortable situation.
"Is it still going on?"
"Yes. I just... had to move on." Diplomatic, he thought.
"All right. Ignore Jason until he's accustomed to the ladies voices, and let's start from the beginning," Mrs. Foster said, and started them up again.
Mrs. Foster, the sponsor, couldn't believe her luck. The same tenor voice from the semester before was coordinated enough to sing and dance, and taught her some methods of teaching and some dance steps. Jason thoroughly enjoyed the show choir, though he had to sing solos. The rest of his homework came easy, so he could put as much work into the choir as he had the group.
The end of the semester loomed close, and Jason didn't know what to do. He was sitting on the couch and looked up at his roommate Tim as he walked into the apartment. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked suddenly. "I need something to do for the summer."
"No money to go home?"
"Something like that." Money was not the problem. It was that he'd be home all of two weeks, then there would be a short break in the tour. He wasn't ready to face Jordan, Sam, Danny and least of all JJ. He didn't know if he ever would be able to face her again.
"Yeah, actually. I'm working at the state park, and they always need people on the trail crew. I could get you an application."
Jason perked up. "Hot. That'd be great."
The summer flew by with no nightmares at all on Jason's part, probably because he fell exhausted into bed each night, much like after the concerts. He could not even enjoy the feeling. He tanned deeply, working in the open, often without a shirt in the afternoon, and his health returned and improved. He called home less often, partly because he was so tired, and partly because he really didn't want to talk to Jordan. His mother didn't worry anymore; he'd left the house, like her other children, and though she couldn't get a hold of him as easily, she was coping.
School began again, coinciding with the next New Kids tour. Jason laughed at the irony and found another poster to put up in his room. This time he had the complete poster; it didn't have a picture of him on it. He also bought the new album. It was a surprise; they'd changed their style, but he liked the new sound. They had also dedicated it to him, which made him laugh every time he heard it. His other roommates, Tim and Jerod, knew for sure he was insane. No guys they knew liked New Kids. Only the girls.
Go on to Next Chapter | Grounds for Vengeance
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