Emanon 1
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Summer was great.
I had spent a month and a half in Chicago with my mom's side of the family. From the pizza to the buildings to even the people, the city had been great. Now, unfortunately, I had to come back down to my home town in Texas for school. To be honest, though, being a junior was exciting. I actually couldn't wait to graduate and move up to Austin and become a photographer.
Now, I knew there was really not much money in that, but I just loved taking photos, developing them, and looking through them – I had a whole collection of them back in my room. Where my brother loved his music, I loved my camera.
After my mom dropped me off at school, I texted Kyle and told him to meet me at our regular spot outside of C Pod. Kyle and I had been best friends since 4th or 5th grade. It was actually a funny story how we met. Our entire grade level had been getting ready to take a field trip to our local zoo and I, being the impatient 11 year old I was, had decided to skip combing my hair and wore a Sponge Bob hat to cover up my bed hair. This one guy had pestered me about it and decided to take my hat away revealing my bed hair to everyone at school – I know, what an ass. So there I was, tearing up about my bed hair when Kyle comes by and hands me my cap back. He said my hair didn't look all that bad and I should ignore the other jerk. We've been inseparable ever since.
I won't lie, the fact that Kyle had grown up to be pretty handsome was a plus. He was 5'11'' with dark hair and a lean body from running cross country for the past two years. His white teeth and dark brown eyes added a little extra something to his face, too.
Don't get me wrong, at 17, I was quite the looker, too. It seemed I had acquired my mom's genes: I had her dirty blonde hair, her blue eyes, and, luckily, her pearly white teeth. Where Kyle had been in cross country for the past two years, I had joined my basketball team. Two years of basketball had left me lean with the right muscles in all the right places.
With only two more years of high school in front of us, Kyle and I had made a promise to get into the same college after graduating: The University of Texas at Austin. While both of us were average students, only Kyle was on the top 5% of our class which meant he had automatic admittance into Austin's university. I had to work a little harder to get into at least the top 8% - the minimum percentage for automatic admittance into UT.
After having met with Kyle outside of C pod, we both went our different ways for home room. I saw familiar friendly faces in the different classes I was in up until 4th period when I shared my class with Kyle. Not wasting time, we both sat next to each other as our Anatomy and Physiology teacher walked into the room.
For the next 45 minutes, Mr. Rookstool had us share what we did during the summer and what our plans were for this school year. When the bell for lunch rang, Kyle and I were one of the last ones to leave the room and head for lunch. Once we got our food, we joined the rest of our friends sitting outside the cafeteria under a canopy.
As first days of class go, this one wasn't too eventful. I had eaten lunch with my friends and spent the rest of the day trying to pay attention to my teachers. The only thing I was looking forward to was practice at the end of the day. It had been forever since I'd played on our court – I was itching to get back to it. I had even promised my coach I'd show up early to practice and help him set up.
As I walked to our gymnasium for practice, I was forced to pass through M Pod, also known as the arts building.
I wouldn't have paid it much attention to it if it hadn't been for the fliers that were posted outside the wall. As I read through the different fliers advertising the art club, band club and the choir club, I was distracted by the flier of a particular club: Emanon.
Curious, I looked at the room number and decided that I had a few minutes to check it out before I was supposed to help out my coach. I opened the door to M pod and walked to M103, the room Emanon was meeting in. I noticed that the door was left ajar thanks to a door stopper so I quietly allowed myself in. I walked into the dimly lit room to the sound of scattered applause and saw two girls bow and walk off a stage to my right. Before I could get a proper look at them, I saw a teacher walk upstage.
"Another round of applause to Ileana and Alyssa, guys." His words were followed by another round of applause.
"Hey, dude," I turned to my left as I saw a dark haired guy walk up to me. "You can take a seat if you want," he offered.
"Thanks," I said, rather sheepishly. "But I should probably be going."
"Nah, man. Stay." He motioned for me to follow him to where he was sitting. Reluctantly, I followed him and sat on the seat next to him. "Name's Chris," he said as I saw another guy step upstage.
"Hey," I said. "Name's Darren."
"Nice to meet you, Darren." He must have noticed the confused look on my face as I stared at the guy on stage. "His name's Michael," he said. "He's been in this club for the past three years. He's a senior now."
"Is he?" I asked. For whatever reason, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. The guy had short dark hair, grey eyes and a jawline to kill for. Don't get me wrong, I'd never been attracted to a guy before but something felt different when I looked at him. "So," I managed to tear my eyes away from Michael for a second and looked over at Chris. "What is Emanon, by the way?"
Chris turned in his chair slightly to face me. "If you're asking for what it means, it's nothing really. They couldn't come up with a name for the club so they called it that: Emanon. It's `no name', backwards. Kind of clever if you ask me." After another second, he continued, "As to what it is, we're like a hybrid of a choir and a music club." Chris pointed at the two girls that had just gotten off stage. "That's Ileana and Alyssa. Both of them are juniors. They joined last year with me. Michael and Diana," he pointed at an older looking girl sitting two rows behind Alyssa and Ileana, "they're the only seniors left this year."
"So you guys are, like, a glee club?" I asked.
Chris rolled his eyes, "I mean, yeah, I guess. It just sounds gayer if you call it that, ha-ha. You know," he started, "we'll be holding auditions Friday if you want to join."
I smiled as I thought that this was the exact kind of club my brother would join. "I don't know, man. I don't even sing."
Chris shrugged, "Well, have you tried?"
"No, not really, I guess."
"How do you know then?"
"I just – I'm more of a sports guy. If anything, I love photography."
"Well, you can be our journalist then. Just think about it."
"Hey guys," I turned my face to the stage and focused on the guy introducing himself upstage with guitar in hand. "Michael here and this song is called Where Are You Now by Chester See. I hope you guys like it."
.
"Your eyes – the windows to heaven.
Your laugh steals my attention.
You're everything that I've been searching for.
We've never met – you're just in my dreams,
But I know that you're looking for me.
We'll know it the moment we meet."
.
It was like I had been struck by something. I stared at the stage as Michael performed his song except I wasn't looking at him like a person. I was looking at him like I was looking at something ... more. As he sang, I couldn't stop myself from focusing on the soul his voice had. I had only heard one other person sing like that.
There was so much feeling in his voice that I almost felt like looking away – it felt too personal. I couldn't look away, though. I was transfixed by his talent.
.
"Your smile makes me do the same.
Your love takes me away.
You're everything that I've been searching for.
We've never met – you're just in my dreams,
But I know that you're looking for me.
We'll know it the moment we meet."
.
There was something about what I was feeling when he sang that made me feel a little self-conscious. I couldn't place it but I knew there was more to it than me just being impressed by this guy. Before I could make more of it, I saw Michael's eyes scan the room and land on me.
It might have only been for a second but it felt like a bolt of lightning had made its way through my chest.
I turned my head and coughed the feeling away.
What was going on?
.
"Where are you now?
Do you need to be found?
Are you lost in the crowd that I'm passing?
Am I moving too fast for you `cause I'll slow down."
.
A small vibration broke my trance. I looked down at my phone and read a text from Kyle asking if I was going to the gym or not. I blinked and remembered that I meant to head to the gym early to help set up for the first day of practice.
I put my phone away and looked over at Chris. "Hey, man. Sorry, but I have to go. I promised my coach I'd get to practice early."
Chris looked away from Michael and focused on me. "Yeah, ok. I'll see you Friday then, Darren. You're coming right?"
I felt a small tug in my gut and I looked over at Michael as he continued to play his song. "Yeah," I said. "I'll try and show up after school."
Chris gave me a small smile. "Sounds good then, dude."
Like that, I quietly stood up and headed for the door giving Michael one last glance before I walked out.
I realized later that, for the entirety of the day, I couldn't get the memory of Michael's voice from my head.
.
Where are you now?
I'm screaming out loud.
Hopelessly thinking you'll hear me and come running to me
But you're not around.
Where are you now?
.