the gleeboot

part one

I sat with bated breath as the phone dialed; the seconds slowing into hours as I awaited an answer on the other end. I threaded the lace detailing of my most formal nightgown through my fingers and prayed for Jane to pick up the phone with good news. Just as I was starting to think she was already sleeping, she excitedly answered with a "Hello!", which was honestly pretty jarring as she doesn't usually show much emotion, but I tried not to get my hopes up.

"How did the lawsuit go?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.

"We won," I could hear Jane smiling as she elaborated on more of the details from the ruling.

She kept droning on, but I couldn't contain myself and interrupted her, "So we're officially students at Dalton Academy?!"

"Yes. They said they'd drop off our uniforms as soon as the tailor was done with them. Now go to sleep! We've got to meet with the Board of Directors tomorrow to go over our schedules and extracurriculars," we said our goodbyes and she hung up, leaving me to contemplate my next move. How should I tell my dad? Does he already know? What if I hate Dalton? I'd only get one chance at making such a momentous announcement and I was in the midst of questioning whether I even wanted to attend the school we spent months fighting for admission to. My mind kept racing until I heard footsteps approaching my door.

My dad gently knocked on the door, probably assuming I was asleep, "September?"

"Come in!" I sang and tried to remember how to act natural. "Dad, I-"

"You're going to Dalton!" He shouted and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back and let myself cry into his chest. We hadn't been that happy since before my other dad died. Still, there was some strange feeling hanging in the air around us, making the moment a little more bittersweet than it should've been. My dad's arms dropped down to my biceps and he pulled back from me, letting me see the tears streaming from his eyes. "You know, if he were still here he'd already be making you practice for your Warblers audition," Tears welled up in my eyes again and I crashed back into his chest, trying to force the memories away, but they kept flooding in. The choreography he practiced with me all day before my first dance recital. Dad trying to teach the both of us how to read sheet music. The song he sang to me every night before bed, even when I told him I hated it. It's funny how much you can take for granted when you already know you're the luckiest girl in the world.

"I think I know the perfect song."

"What do you mean I can't be in the Warblers?" I felt anger bubbling up within me and tried not to have another outburst in front of the Board of Directors. They were a chirpy bunch of flamboyantly gay men, with the most astute member sitting directly across from Jane and I.

"Oh, please, not another lawsuit," the table broke out in laughter but I could tell from Jane's furrowed brow that they wouldn't be getting away with it that easily.

"Exactly. No one wants another lawsuit. So stop the sexist behavior. Give me one good reason why we shouldn't be allowed to join the Warblers. We're both second-generation students and are up to our necks in talent," Jane maintained a calm demeanor which only instilled more fear into the directors.

"Well," a deep voice erupted from the right side of the room, "it isn't up to us."

The main director nodded slowly and I could see the gears in his head turning, "That's right! We'd be honored to welcome the first females to the Warblers but admitting new members has always been up to the Warbler Head Council. I can set up a meeting there directly after this." Even though our morale was as low as when the lawsuit started, Jane and I agreed to meet with the Warblers, hoping their being from our generation would give us a better chance of getting through to them.

As we packed up our bags, one of the directors commented, "Ladies, if there's anything else you take issue with, please don't hesitate to let us know." And with that, we left feeling less welcome than ever.

"I can't believe this," Jane said after the doors shut behind us.

"I know. I thought we already won this fight," we stood and I let my thoughts consume me for a second.

"Well, no point in wasting time. Let's go talk to the faculty advisor," Jane decided, leading the way through the elegantly decorated hallways.

We followed the sound of humming and something that resembled beatboxing until we came across the Warblers' practice room. They seemed to be practicing for a competition, and, honestly, it was pretty intimidating. I had heard the stories from my father's time in the club but chalked most of it up to those memories being from his "glory days". Jane and I took a seat on one of the couches in the center of the room and awkwardly waited for them to acknowledge our existence. I contemplated whether it was even the right choice to come here, clearly we were interrupting. Once the last note had been sung, three of the boys sat down at a big desk at the front of the room with a faculty advisor standing at their side.

"What'd you think?" The faculty advisor asked us excitedly.

"It was great, but we actually came here to discuss the possibility of us being able to join the team," the boys all started yelling over each other at the same time, prompting me to look away and fixate on my new blazer as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world as arguments surrounding whether cats or squirrels should also be allowed to join flew across the room.

"Order! Order!" The boy sat in the center of the desk exclaimed. The Warblers' squawking settled into an unbearably long silence. "Ladies, please wait in the hall for a moment," Jane and I scampered out, hearing muffled voices followed by a harmonious "aye". The faculty advisor opened the doors.

"Great news! You guys each have an audition tomorrow at 8 AM. If you have any questions, just shoot me an email at blainewarbler@daltonaca.org. You won't be guaranteed a spot, but it's a start. I'm so happy for you both!" Blaine announced and brought Jane and I in for a group hug. I doubted that the Warblers were suddenly fine with two girls joining the team, but decided to accept the news without mulling it over too thoroughly.

We were going to be Warblers.