“Hi! It has been a long time since we last met.” Hazel sat down in front of me with a cheerful smile.
“Definitely yes. How long has it been? Maybe a few months already?” I stood up and held out my hands to help Hazel by putting her handbag next to me.
“Thanks. But I’m really surprised that you took the initiative to ask me out. Hmm……are you facing some problems?” She looked me in her eyes and frowned suspiciously.
“Maybe?” I lowered my head and murmured to myself.
* * * * *
“Shh!” Although the environment was dark in the theatre, I could still hear the voices from the auditorium.
“Three, two, one.” After counting from three to one, the spotlights turned on slowly and I could finally see my surroundings. But at the same time, the auditorium seemed even darker.
“Smile!” The conductor whispered to us while maximizing her facial expressions to make us smile.
The conductor closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to the audience and bowed, which means the performance was ready to start. She then turned to the pianist and lifted her right hand. After halted for a second, she started to move her arms to count the beats.
“One! Two! Three! Four!” The music flew from the stage to the last row of the theatre. Our singing voices were also ready to join.
Different parts of the choir kept blending in with each other, but at the same time, every single singer was ready to make themselves stand out among the others. The sopranos hit every high note with confidence and power, while the altos used the smooth melodies which flew stably to wrap up the sopranos. The harmony led the audience to open up their five senses to feel the notes, the emotions, the temperature, the humidity, and every bit involved in the piece.
The song ended, but the melody still lingered for a while in the theatre. The time seemed to stop for a few seconds, then followed by cheers and a round of applause from the auditorium.
We went back to our seats gracefully as if we were taught by Miss Chan, the one and only music teacher in our school.
“You guys did a great job!” She whispered to me with delight and excitement. “Eva, I know this is the first year in your secondary school life, but you have performed so well in your soprano part. It may seem too early, but I still want to invite you to be our future conductor.”
It was only the first singing competition for me as a secondary school girl. And I know, being the conductor was the final goal of all the girls in the choir.
* * * * *
It was a regular school day in early December when I was in secondary three.
“Santa Claus is coming to town……” I was crooning the Christmas songs that the choir was going to perform during recess time.
It was a tradition for the choir to perform Christmas songs in the Hong Kong Disneyland. I could still remember the first time hearing this unexpected news from Miss Chan in secondary one.
It was three weeks after our school choir won a gold medal in the singing competition. All of us were still immersed in the joy of victory.
“Girls, please find a seat and listen carefully. There is a piece of surprising news from Hong Kong Disneyland.” It was the quietest time ever since I joined the choir. I could only hear the sound from the turbos of the air conditioners.
“Due to the brilliant performance in our last competition, the Hong Kong Disneyland is inviting us to join their Christmas concert!”
“Wow! Hurray!” The music room suddenly filled with cheers and laughter. These young ladies were looking forward to being a part of spreading joy and dreams.
“Hey, Eva! Are you going to choir practice today?” A girl shouted from the door of my classroom bringing me back from my memories.
“Hi, Hazel! It should be yes. But I’m going to have an English re-dictation with Miss Wong after school. It will take around five to ten minutes.” I shouted back so that my voice could get through the noisy classroom.
Hazel was my senior who was in Form 4. She was the vice-chairperson of the choir this year and she would probably be the chairperson next year. According to the tradition of the choir, there would be two conductors who are from Form 4 and 5 respectively each year. Therefore, she was also one of the conductors this year. Although she was a year older than me, we were still good friends since we first met.
“Hi, my name is Hazel. What is yours?” On the first day of choir practice, she came over and grinned at me.
“Hi, I’m Eva.” I didn’t notice that she was older than me. We kept chatting with each other throughout the whole preparation time. Until she was asked out by Miss Chan to give an orientation speech as she was one of the committee’s members. I suddenly realized that she was the first senior who was willing to talk with me spontaneously.
Because of her amiable and optimistic personality, she attracted a lot of lower form students to join the choir, and nearly half of my class were choir members at that time.
“Okay, see you after school then.”
Doing my favourite things during my favourite festive season with my favourite friends was irresistible.
* * * * *
“Good morning! What are you guys talking about?” I came into the classroom and greeted my friends. I was so energetic as there was only one week before the Christmas show.
“Good morning. Hmm……actually, we are considering quitting the choir.”
I froze and went silent. I have got a thousand questions in my head but I didn’t know where to start.
“See? I told you already. She won’t leave the choir because she loves singing. I have also heard that she is going to be one of the conductors next year, which means she will be the vice-chairperson.” A whispering voice came from my back.
“Maybe you are right……” Another whispering voice agreed with her. “Miss Chan likes her so much. There’s no reason for her to quit choir. I don’t think she is brave enough to quit though.”
“She has been Miss Chan’s heel for the past few years. Trust me, she is different from us.”
Their mutters seemed quiet, but I could hear them all. My head was in pain. It seemed like there were thousands of arrows shooting through my brain. My heartbeat became faster and faster, just like having a party night inside.
No, I wasn’t a slave. I had to prove that I was not an obedient girl. Therefore, I started to rebel against Miss Chan, choir, and music.
I handed in my one-thousand-word letter, which she required from students who wanted to quit choir, to Miss Chan before the Christmas concert. Of course, I didn’t write down the truth. I just told her that I wanted to focus more on my studying. She was shocked and puzzled about my decision at first, but she sighed and told me that she respected my choice after reading my letter.
I was proud of getting rid of her, and I believed that I would never regret it.
* * * * *
“So, you want me to help you by begging Miss Chan?” Hazel sipped the cup of tea in front of her and asked.
“Do you think it is possible?” I was not putting high expectations on getting back to the choir. I was the one who left it first.
“But why do you want to come back? You are going to be Form 5 next year.”
“I thought I could prove that I didn’t love music at all. But I realised that I was different from my friends, just like what they have said.”
After quitting the choir, all of my friends were surprised. But the surprise didn’t last long, they all went back to normal school life. I tried to continue my school life and treated music as my enemy, but I found out that I could never hate music. It was what brought me joy and happiness. I quit choir because of my friends and I thought I was great. However, no one cared about my decision. It was only me sacrificing my favourite thing in my life, just because I wanted to please my friends.
If I could choose again, I would never give myself up on singing.
“Three, two, one.” I was facing backward from the audience. The lights turned on slowly. I took a deep breath and turned around.
Please enjoy our show.