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Choir Fest Part 5

When the girls walked back, it was as if no time had passed. The other students were milling around near the auditorium and beginning to head in. Emma glanced at her watch. Only five minutes had passed. Emma quickly set Alli down and waved to Sunny as she and Lilly walked away. They had to just continue as usual.

Emma walked past the other students from her school. All the couples were sitting on a long bench, Josh and Amy, Katie and Levi, Jillian and Wyatt, and then Ellan was sitting at the end of the bench talking with Sasha. The other girls were just sitting on the floor in a circle, talking. As Emma and Lilly walked past, Diana, Emma's best friend, looked up.

"Oh, there you are. Ditching us again for her." she said, glaring at Emma and Lilly.

Emma sighed. "I literally see you every day! I get to see Lilly very rarely."

"You two look similar." Isabella, another girl from Emma's school, decided thoughtfully.

"Do we act the same?" Emma asked.

"Lilly's louder. And talks more." Lydia, Emma's younger sister, decided. Lilly laughed.

"I talk a lot, though." Emma reminded her.

Lydia shrugged. "Lilly talks more."

Another girl in Lilly's class, Melissa, came up. "Hey!" she called.

Emma, Lilly, and Melissa sat down and talked for a few minutes with the other girls, and then they were all directed back into the auditorium to practice singing more.

When everyone returned to their seats in the auditorium, the director asked the students if they would like to say anything they had enjoyed about the day or learned. A couple of students, sopranos and tenors, began to talk. Emma recognized one of them, a soprano named Nikole Thorson from Lake Region. She spoke about how much she enjoyed being in a group where she could hear all the separate parts and mentioned how she usually couldn't hear the boys singing in choir class. All of the girls around Emma nodded in agreement, and Emma shrugged.

"It depends on the song." she whispered to Nevaeh, and the other girl nodded in agreement. After Nikole had finished talking, the director turned to the altos and basses.

"Any altos or basses?" One of the basses mentioned something, and then the director turned around. "Any altos?" Emma looked around.

"No way." Juliet muttered, and Emma raised her hand. He handed her the mic, and Emma rose to her feet.

"I just want to say how much I appreciate having the privilege to come sing with all of you. I know many of you from sports, but it was nice to participate all together in something. I love talking and hanging out with new people, and it was an honor to sing with you." Emma's voice almost broke on the last sentence, and she quickly handed the mic back to the director and sat down abruptly. The altos around her told her good job. They were all dismissed for supper after practicing the songs on the stage. Emma couldn't eat any of the main food they offered, so she waited in the cafeteria until Lilly came. They sat down at a table together, but then Emma saw that Diana was sitting alone, and she went to join her, and Lilly came with her. Soon Lydia, Sophie, Christel, and some other girls from Rosemount came to join them. Diana watched Emma and Lilly.

"Emma, you're literally obsessed with this girl," Diana said. "You keep hugging her."

Emma sighed and stared at the table. She felt bad; she wasn't trying to be annoying. She listened as Lilly and Christel joked about leaving Emma and just running away together and made a sad face.

"It's okay; you can come with us too." Lilly said. Then they offered a dessert, a weird cookie shaped like a churro. Emma took a bite of it and frowned. She didn't know if she liked it or not.

"I don't even know what to think about this," Lilly said. "I like it, but I don't like it." Emma shrugged, agreeing with her, but ate it anyway. It wasn't horrible. After they had finished eating, Emma and Lilly went to Lilly's locker to get her concert clothes and then upstairs to get Emma's.

As the girls were changing in the bathroom, Emma brushed out her hair and watched as some of the other girls curled and straightened their hair and put on makeup. Emma quickly changed into her flats and tossed her other clothes and shoes into her bag. They had another half hour before the performance, so Emma talked with Noelle, another girl from Fourth, Lilly, and a few other random girls. They were talking when Jocelyn, a girl Emma had met at the same time she had met Lilly, walked into the building. Jocelyn had graduated from Fourth the year before. Emma and Lilly immediately ran to hug her.

"Jocelyn!" Emma cried. "I haven't seen you since last soccer season!"

"When was the last time I saw you?" Lilly asked. "It's been a while."

"Umm, three weeks ago at church." Noelle remarked. Jocelyn nodded.

"I meant, when was the last time I talked to you." Lilly rephrased her sentence.

"Three weeks ago, at church." Jocelyn laughed.

"I'll be back." Emma informed them and headed to the bathroom.

Emma stepped into the bathroom to see Olga, Mirela, and Sunny, three girls from Woodcrest. "Olga! You look so beautiful!" Emma exclaimed, hugging her.

Olga shook her head. "No."

"Yes, you do. Stella would agree with me."

"Oh, my word, you know Stella?" Mirela asked.

"Yeah, I love Stella!" Emma responded.

"Stella is so amazing. I support her." Olga smiled. "No matter what she does, I support her."

"Yeah, I wish she was here." Emma sighed.

"Stella is the only reason I like the St. Francis team." Mirela mentioned, putting on mascara by the mirror.

"Stella? Stella is so nice! I love her so much!" Sunny cried, peeking from behind the wall.

Emma nodded. "I really like the girls on that team."

"Yeah, but Stella is the best one." Olga decided, pulling on her shoes.

Emma smiled. "I won't argue with that." She walked over to the mirror to adjust her shirt and necklace and then turned to leave. "Olga, you look beautiful, and you're going to do amazing tonight. All of you are."

"Thanks!" They called as Emma left the bathroom.

Emma met Lilly and Noelle, and Alli ran up to them.

"Hey Lilly!" she said in her soft voice. "Are you excited?" Lilly nodded.

"Who are you?" Emma asked, remembering she wasn't supposed to know who Alli was yet.

"I'm Alli." the girl responded.

"Oh, you've read my story!" Emma recalled. Sunny had requested to send her story to a girl a few weeks before, and Emma had allowed her to.

Alli nodded. "I write too."

"Really? I write too!" Noelle exclaimed, and all three girls smiled at each other.

"We should write something together sometime." Emma suggested, studying Alli.

Alli nodded. "And Lilly can..."

"I'll be your editor." Lilly laughed.

Emma and Lilly went to sit in the pews while they watched the other choirs and a few adults perform for the concert before the big choir did. Before the concert began, a girl from one of the other schools looked at Emma and Lilly sitting next to each other.

"Did you two just meet today?" she asked.

Lilly shook her head. "No, I chipped her tooth in 9th grade."

The girl nodded slowly and walked past. Emma laughed. "Wow, we must move fast if we just met today."

Lilly laughed, and then the concert began. As the Fourth choir went to stand up and sing, Emma talked with Lynnea, a girl from Woodcrest, about volleyball. They immediately quieted down as the choir began.