Chapter 12

[Disclaimer: This story reads best in LANDSCAPE MODE on a smart phone or any other mobile device.]

“Thank you, Isabel. I am expecting you to try out for LES MISÉRABLES. I need a pretty little blonde girl just like you to sing that song in front of everyone who can hear you.”

“Thank you, Michael. That is a wonderful song. I must go on to my next class. Goodbye,” my future Little Cosette said to me. She was running.

Clara walked in and said, “She is fabulous, Michael. A perfect Little Cosette. You do know who her brother is?”

“Yes, I do. I am hopeful we can record the show and maybe get a copy for Bill to watch his little sister,” I said on the precipice of tears.

I met up with Jenn for lunch. She asked about the Lincoln High Orchestra, I told her what happened, but not the part about the teacher being hot. We had a nice lunch.

I also told her about Isabel and how wonderful she sounded. The other girls weren’t there today, which made it easier to talk to my girl. After we ate, we kissed until the bell rang.

She went to her Math class, and I headed back to work out some ideas for LES MISÉRABLES. Besides the robes everybody would have, I was trying to figure how many other outfits were needed. The music was much more important to me than what anyone was wearing. I will wait to talk with my mother and Ally when we get home.

I went on YouTube and looked for other school’s videos that had performed LES MISÉRABLES and found the video from the 1995 10th Anniversary production. I had wanted to see the 25th Anniversary show again, but someone pulled it off the Internet. I didn’t think you could do that.

So, I watched the 10th Anniversary show instead to see how they handled those people and the costuming. I liked the slides that told the year that some of the events happened. I know Jackson Heights doesn’t have an Audio-Video department, so I will ask Clarice about that when I go back to Lincoln tomorrow.

Choir was coming up in ten minutes, so I shut it all down and took my ANNIE score and my baton to work them as hard as I had the orchestra earlier. I am really glad I have got all of this time to work on everything. It may allow me to enjoy some of the upcoming summer.

I got there early, and Cece welcomed me. I discussed doing the same thing that Paul and I had done, going through every number they had anything to do with. She agreed, and everyone arrived. I got up, and told them the plan for the day. I also quickly gave them a heads-up on the August concert signups, and the date change to the LES MISÉRABLES auditions.

“OK, here we go, ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life,’” and we started up. Cathy was playing and actually sounding better than usual. Cece and I split singing duties as before, and we were done with time to spare.

“You guys get better every time you sing. There will be no more rehearsals at my place, until the evening we close the final performance. That night everyone is invited to come over and party. We have a pool, so bring a suit if you would like. We will have adult supervision to keep an eye on you guys. We will be listening to the music from next year’s co-production of LES MISÉRABLES and the August concert as well. There is a sign-up sheet posted, if more than one person wants to sing one of the songs, we will have mini-auditions, or you could simply sing together.”

The bell rang, and they all scurried out. I was picking up my stuff when Cece came over to me and asked me to sit down.

“Paul tells me that you met Jennifer Stapleton today. What do you think of her, Michael?”

“How do you mean?” I answered.

“Did she mention Paul at all?”

“Nope, don’t worry about him. He loves you, not her. If I had to choose between you and her, it’s no contest. You are much prettier, especially your legs.”

“Have you been looking at my legs that closely?” she grinned.

“I did see you in a swimsuit, twice! Do I have to answer that? I feel odd about telling you that. I can tell you that back when I first started here at Jackson Heights, I had a bad crush on you. I may still have, but I am now seeing Jennifer and you are engaged to Paul.”

“That’s so sweet of you to say Michael. If, and I repeat, If I were Jennifer’s age, I would have thought you were quite the catch,” she said. “You have gotten so tall.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, Cece. It would be remiss of me not to tell you how beautiful you are. If I were old enough, I would be fighting Paul over your affections.”

Before I could react, she put her lips on mine and began an adult kiss. She opened her eyes and reacted, “Michael, that was so inappropriate! I am sorry, I really am! Don’t tell on me, I would be thrown out and ... I don’t know what else?”

“Miss Crabtree, what are you talking about? I was walking by your room and heard you singing,” I stopped and said.

“Don’t cry please? It only makes you even hotter.” She slapped at my shoulder.

“Thank you. Maybe, in a few years we could sit down and talk about this chemistry you exude. You had better wash your face,” she added, wiping her lipstick off my lips.

“Maybe, I could forget a few more times?” I said with a lecherous smirk on my face.

“Michael, I didn’t know you could be so flirtatious?” she said.

“It all depends on my motivation, Miss Crabtree. I hope you have a real tight bikini to wear at the cast party.”

“Get out,” she said. “We both have significant others.”

“That may be, but you would never be insignificant to me?” I said. She literally pushed me out of her classroom.

That was fun.

I found the closest bathroom, and I washed my face. As I came out, I saw Joan walking by. I walked up behind her, covered her eyes, and trying to disguise my voice, I said, “Guess who?”

She took my hands and moved them to cover her breasts, saying “Michael?”

“How could you possibly know it was me?” I said as she covered my hands with her own. I tried to pull away, really?

“Only you would be so bold, hardly anybody else would walk up to me and say something like that. I love your hands on me. That is really nice, are you horny or something?” she said.

“Or something, you surprised me the first time you took off your jacket in my house. I never realized how developed you were ... are.”

“Thank you for that, Michael. I see Jennifer coming from across the way. Remember how good I feel. Anytime, Loverboy,” she said turning around and giving me a kiss.

My god, in a matter of a half hour, I kiss Cece and feel up one of the bustier fourteen-year-old girls at Jackson Heights.

I saw a smile breaking out on Jennifer’s face, “Hey stud, let’s go to lunch.”

All this while I was wondering if I should tell her of either event. Neither would end well for me, so I buttoned my lip. We went through the lunch line and saw the ladies holding us a space to sit with them.

They were talking about my assertiveness at choir.

“ ... And Michael sang today. He sounds so good,” Nancy Newman said, “Why haven’t you sung before this year? You have a marvelous voice, Michael.”

“Thank you, Nancy. My run-in with Bill Chapman directly contributed to my new and improved singing voice,” I said.

“How’s that?” Shirley asked.

“It apparently affected my larynx and vocal folds, which must have been stepped on. I could barely hold a note before that. Since then, my mother helped me a lot and my confidence has improved. Now, I can play the piano and sing to my girl at the same time, like I recently did.”

“Ooh, that’s so romantic,” Kaylee said. “Maybe you could sing to all of us, sometime, Michael?”

“I would need to have that pre-approved by the pretty blonde sitting next to me,” I said. Jennifer giggled.

“I may let him, but right now I have him all to myself. Anyone of you makes a move on him, I will have to beat you up,” Jenn said.

“What if Joan is the one who makes a move?” Nancy asked.

“I may have to ... but she wouldn’t do that. We have already talked about Michael. I got him; she doesn’t.”

“What if I made a move on her?” I asked Jennifer.

She looked at me and said, “I would never speak to you again, Michael. We would be over completely. We would never kiss, or anything else again in our entire lives.”

I was horrified hearing that. My heart was beating fast enough to be heard by all the girls. I directed that to a kiss upon her luscious lips. She began kissing me back and our mouths were really getting involved. All of this was happening in front of these other seventh and eighth grade girls.

We finally broke up, and the girls were all looking at me like I was a celebrity of some kind. Joan pursed her lips at me. Jenn and I got up and left.

“Clara told me that you had Isabel singing earlier. Is that true?” Jennifer asked.

“Yes, she sings wonderfully. I am giving her the early track for Little Cossette. I am doing something unique with the ‘Castle On A Cloud’ number.”

“What?” she asked.

“You know the show?”

“Yes, very well. What are you doing with that number?”

“You know that Little Eponine is the child of the Thenardiers?”

“Yes, but she never speaks in the story, or the musical.”

“She will sing the song with Cossette. My idea is to have Eponine walk into the number after Cosette sings the first verse, they will sing together until it is over, then her mother’s voice will make her get scared, and she will leave quickly. I may cut the Madam Thenardier entrance there to give whomever a chance to be applauded for.”

“Oh, that sounds so nice. So, you will still have her enter, and Cosette will sing the ‘Please do not send me out alone ... Not in the darkness on my own’ and will run away from the threat of her, running into the person of Valjean?”

“That’s better than what I thought of. You’re a marvelous thinker. Another reason to love you like I do. Yes! Then, Valjean encounters her musically for the beginning of music #8, The Bargain,” I explained.

“Oh, Michael that sounds fabulous. You still think Joan would be a good Mme. Thenardier?”

“Yes, it’s a character part. I don’t know if there is any Jackson Heights boy capable of Thenardier. Perhaps a Lincoln High freshman or sophomore will show up at tryouts,” I said.

“We start ANNIE complete run-throughs next week, don’t we?” she asked.

“Thanks for reminding me about that. Love you... ‘bye.”

I caught up with Paul.

“Yes Michael, what’s going on?”

“I want to start full-bore run-throughs starting next week after school at the Lincoln High School stage. Can you get the choir’s risers moved over there before the weekend?”

“I don’t see why not? You know Cece really likes me bald. She says it makes her feel younger. I can’t say I fully understand that, but what the heck.”

“Look up the Electra complex on Google. I found it by mistake, and it exactly explains what you just elucidated,” I said. “Just don’t take her for granted. Somebody could swoop in and sweep her off her feet before you two get married.”

“Do you know something I don’t?” he asked.

“I doubt there is anything that falls within that category, Paul. I am just saying she is beautiful. Surprise her sometime. She might enjoy it.”

“Sounds like a good idea, Michael. See you tomorrow buddy.”

I walked into my office and sat down for the final hour of the day.

“Is there anything I can get you?” Clara popped in to ask.

“No, I am fine for the moment. I need to work on my LES MISÉRABLES score. I am doing some cutting so it isn’t three hours long.”

“Very good ... call me if you need me, Michael?”

I opened my laptop, and found a libretto of all the lyrics online and turned it into a large MS Word file. I combined both acts to almost 60MB of data. I saved it and started listening to the music and started to decide what cuts could safely be made. I was halfway through the first act when my girl walked in and sat on my desk with her legs crossed and looking mighty sexy.

I saved the document, put the laptop in my bag and got it on my shoulder. I pulled her off my desk giving her a nice kiss before we walked by Clara waving goodbye.

At home, she pulled me into her room and got on top of me kissing me until she felt my hardness.

“You know what I did today?” she said between kisses.

“No,” I answered feeling her breasts against my body.

“I asked Joan to see if she could seduce you or not.”

“Really?” I said, swallowing for no reason whatsoever.

“Do you know what she told me you did to her?”

“It wasn’t meant the way it happened. I had just left Cece talking about significant others, and then I saw Joan walk by. Did you have her stalk me today?” I responded.

“Kind of,” she said moving down from my mouth and starting to unbuckle my pants.

I stopped her and said, “And ... what did she tell you happened?”

“She said you put your hands on her tits.”

“She put my hands on her tits, and then put her hands over them not letting me move, at all.”

“When she told me that, you know what I did?”

“It got you so hot, you two kissed each other in the girl’s bathroom?”

“Maybe, but I was so aroused by the way, she said you kissed after that, I could barely concentrate in my next classroom. Would you like to see us make out in front of you?” she asked.

“If that’s what you want to do, I wouldn’t mind. Watching that could only be as hot as anything I have ever thought of in my life.”

“I love you so much.” I said. “Nothing will keep us from enjoying a long life together. Absolutely nothing!”

We held each other for a while afterward, and then we got up dressed for bed, and went downstairs to dinner.

I was as happy as I had ever been in my entire life. Jennifer was glowing as I pulled out the chair for her.

There was no conversation at dinner — Unusual, but not unprecedented. We ate all the noodles and chicken the ladies made. There was typically a day or two of leftovers from this meal, but we ate it as fast as we put it on the plate.

The ladies offered to clean up, allowing us to do whatever it would be we felt like doing. I pulled the music from the boxes we would be doing in August. I had wondered how to get them all orchestrated, but I realized that all we really needed was a combo built from our orchestra. A drummer with a nice trap set, one of our bassists, two of our violinists, two flutes, two clarinets, a saxophone and at least one trumpet.

Most of the sheet music had the necessary arrangements so we could just make copies and tell each of them which line to play. We could give out some measures to let them be a featured soloist, as they wanted.

I turned on my toes and asked, “Janice, our late August concert needs the best available pianist. Are you available?”

She turned from clearing the table and answered, “Sounds like fun, Michael. I would love to. Could Ally be my page turner?”

“Of course. You can’t break up best friends now, can you?”

A big smile came over Ally as she mouthed ‘thanks’ to me.

I took the music over to the piano, and did my best to listen to each of the songs, twenty-eight in all. All were from musicals, but none were from any show we had previously got music from.

First up, was the song “My Daddy” that Isabel signed up to sing. It was from ANNIE 2 MISS HANNIGANS REVENGE. It was the only song from the show I could find sheet music to. It had a nice intro, which I played and sang...

MICHAEL THOMAS
This is my very darkest night
A sort of hopeless situation

My daddy’s gonna
come and set me free
He’s gonna know that she ain’t me

He’ll maybe hear it when she laughs
He’ll maybe feel it when he holds her

Or if he up and puts
her up on his knee
I’ll bet he’ll know that she ain’t me

“Here’s where maybe Mike Bell and his trumpet plays for a moment,” I said to Jennifer who was singing with me along to my playing.

My daddy’s really very bright.
And knows how very much I love him.
Well, she can kiss him, but I guarantee

He won’t forget my daddy,
He’ll save me yes my daddy
Knows me by heart, my daddy
You can’t outsmart my daddy,
He’s gonna know that she ain’t me...

Both mom and Ally came up and applauded. “Who signed up to sing that,” Alice asked wiping her eyes clear.

“Sandy the Dog,” Jennifer replied.

“You mean little Isabel Chapman can sing?” Janice asked.

“Like a little angel. Should I put this song first or last?”

Mom was quick to say, “She might get too nervous singing the final song of the evening, and so I suggest putting her first.”

“Yeah,” Jenn said, and her mother agreed.

“Great. We only have twenty-seven more to listen to,” I said.

Mom stepped over the piano bench and hipped me off of it. I landed on the carpet, with all three of them laughing at me.

“Mother, you broke my coccyx.” I said, realizing after I said it, how ridiculous it sounded.

“I doubt Jennifer would let either me or Ally anywhere near your coccyx, dear,” she said with a laugh.

Ally came over and helped me up. “Can I rub it and make it better dear?” She couldn’t keep a straight face very long. Both Jenn and mom looked at the two of us. I kept the ruse going by letting her walk me to the sofa and let me down easy. Nothing was broken, but it was sore, and I know exactly what, and where it is.

“What from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN are you including?” Janice asked with Jenn sitting alongside her.

“Anything You Can Do” and “There’s No Business, Like Show Business.” That should be the final song of the night, come to think of it,” I said with a grimace.

“Michael,” Ally whispered, “Are you really sore? I could get the menthol rub and put some on you.”

“What are you two being so quiet about?” Jennifer said.

“You got the CHICAGO score, I see?” mom said, “What songs are coming from there?”

“Mister Cellophane,” and the “Overture/All That Jazz,” I said. “I am hoping for a number of girls to do that together.”

Let me describe Ally again, but more completely, to help you understand how hot she really is. She is about 5ft5, blonde with roots that are a little darker blonde.

When I said before that she was chunky, that wasn’t really fair to say. Jennifer is so thin she makes everyone else look bigger and thicker.

An actress that Ally reminds me of facially is Demi Moore, but with slightly wider hips. However, Ally has nicer lips, which have always drawn me to her. Jennifer didn’t have her lips, but they are still quite nice.

Comparatively, my mother’s face brings to mind the younger pictures of Kirstie Alley. She is also taller than her best friend, but not by much. Mom does have a very nice figure, no doubt helping her be so very successful as a professional singer. The subject of what Ally did before her husband’s death has never come up. I suspect she prefers not to talk about it.

Jennifer knew what music I had picked out and they were alternating singing each song as it came along. I would normally be talking or conducting, but Ally took my attention and kept it this whole time.

Jenn and Jan were up to the music from ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, “The Swamps of Home” and “Happily Ever After.”

We turned to listen to them singing the two parts to ‘Swamps’, which was hilarious. Coming up was my favorite piece of music from PRODUCERS, so I got Ally off my lap so I could sing, “I Wanna Be a Producer” with my mother playing the piano and the others joining in as necessary.

After an opening all of us sang, it went on to go...

MICHAEL
I have a secret desire
Hiding deep in my soul
It sets my heart afire
To see me in this role

I wanna be a producer
With a hit show on Broadway
I wanna be a producer
Lunch at Sardi’s every day

I wanna be a producer
With a top hat and a cane
I wanna be a producer
And drive those chorus girls insane!

It goes on and on, but Mom stopped it there! All of them laughed so very hard. Next, Jennifer got up and said, “I want to sing this next song in the show -- Hit it, Janice.”

At the moment, I didn’t have the heart to tell her only thirteen-year-olds and younger will be doing this show.

Mom played a wonderful opening arpeggio, then...

ULLA
(Jennifer in a UMA moment,
with a wee bit of Lily St. Regis thrown in!)
Ven you got it, flaunt it
Step right up and strut your stuff

People tell you modesty’s a wirtue
But in the theatre modesty can hurt you
Ven you got it, flaunt it
Show your ass -- ets,
let them know you are proud

Your goodies you must push
Stick out your chest
and shake your tush
Ven you got it, shout it out loud

Now Ulla dance

She showed off some nice dance moves.
She was shaking her butt really nice.