A Reviving Vocal

XXXIV - Zeal

Eumeleia stood up from the swing she was just sitting on about two seconds ago while Aisha quietly walked towards her from the back. Aisha immediately scared Eumeleia by jumping on to her while tickling her. The latter gasped and giggled with Aisha. Both of them had so much fun but as soon as Eumeleia realized she was being made fun of, she quickly stood up and fixed herself up, and then glared at her best friend.

"You're so serious! Stop it!" exclaimed Aisha while waving her hand in front of Eumeleia. Again, she just stared at her angrily, not saying anything back. "Okay, do you hate me now? Because if you do, I'm going to quit the -" she was cut off by Eumeleia smiling once again, as if nothing even happened.

"I knew you couldn't be mad at me!" Instead of answering back, Eumeleia brushed it off by sighing and asked, "Okay, what is it? I know something's going on."

"Oh, about that." Aisha handed her a piece of paper she got from the pocket of her school uniform. Eumeleia snatched it from her hand and read it. As she was scanning the message in it, her heart fluttered in excitement. She jumped up and down and even hugged Aisha when she was finished looking through the said paper.

'Name: Mika Louise Cruz
Age: 15
Year & Section: 3 - C
Instrument/s Played: Electric Guitar
Contact No.: 09123456789'

"I didn't know it would actually work!"

"I know, right? I'm glad I moved the ballot box at the front doors of the school. If I didn't do that, we wouldn't even be able to meet this girl." Eumeleia nodded in agreement and then questioned her, "So where's this girl?"

"Oh, she's at the studio right now."

"Then what are you waiting for? Come on, let's go!" Eumeleia smiled as she grabbed her friend's hand in a swift motion, looking keen while running off to where the studio is.

Meanwhile, the girl who Eumeleia and Aisha were talking about was examining the room she's in. She was shocked to see that there aren't many furnitures and decorations inside, and the whole basement looked as if it has been bathed in charcoal. The walls were mostly black - the probable cause of this might be the recent fire that has started above the basement. The girl looked nervous as she sat down on the plain-looking beige couch, even though she already knows that the one she had already met is not even strict as she thought Aisha would be. Maybe the other member of the band she was talking about was Eumeleia. She never knew. So she just sat there, waiting for them while fidgeting with her fingers. The girl gasped when a loud noise from the banging of the door to the wall was heard all-over the room, and there revealed two girls.

"Mika! Sorry it took so long. Here's my friend, the guitarist, Eumeleia." The said girl bowed down ninety degrees and then afterwards, she offered her hand and said, "Nice to meet you! I hope you can be with us until the end." Mika simply replied, "Y-Yeah, thank you for accepting me."

"By the way, she was the one who wanted to create a band! Just a trivia, y'know." Aisha winked at the newest member of their band and giggled slightly.

Their conversation went on from bands and music to all sorts of topics, until Mika mentioned her friend. "My best friend wants to be in a band too and when I mentioned that I'm going to be in one, she was kind of sad. I'm feeling a little guilty now that I remember it... maybe I shouldn't ha-" Aisha cut her off when she grabbed both of her hands and exclaimed excitedly, "Then why isn't she here?"

"B-Because she doesn't own any instrument."

Aisha's smile faded away in a flash and sighed, "Oh... what does she want to play then?"

"Drums."

"Well, that's okay! We can just borrow someone else's drumset or... or maybe buy from a second-hand -" Aisha was cut off once again by Eumeleia, and that also caught her off guard. "I think I can solve this problem."

* * *

A man in a work uniform swiped off the beads of sweat trailing down his cheeks as soon as he finished putting down the last piece from the drumset he was moving in inside the studio. The man ran off to the front door and bowed respectfully to the girls. "Thank you! Have a nice day." Aisha shut the door completely as soon as the man was gone, and both Mika and Eumeleia were excited to see the drumset sitting on one of the corners of the room.

Both of them stood silently in awe. Mika fidgeted once again and whispered, "T-This is really too much... thank you, Eumeleia."

She pat her back and then smiled, "Don't mention it! It's for our band after all." Eumeleia suggested immediately as she remembered it, "Now, where is that friend of yours? I want to meet her already!"

Mika gestured her hand as if saying 'wait' and then got her phone out. She was dialing a number and as soon as the other line picked it up, she greeted. "Hey, Steph. I need you to come to this place now. Asap. I'm going to text you the address, m'kay? No more excuses, this is an emergency." When she was done talking, she put her phone back to its place and chuckled a bit, saying. "Might as well pull a prank on her this time."

After some time, Mika heard her voice outside, so she opened the door and left Eumeleia and Aisha in the studio. The girl was looking around for a sign of her friend and even shouted her name. Mika gave her a loud 'psst' and grinned when her best friend saw her.

"What is up with you and your prank? That is so not cool!" The girl with a light brown curly hair punched Mika lightly. The latter laughed and ignored her question, "I have a surprise for you."

"November 9, 2013 is not my birthday, fyi." Mika held her hand and guided her inside the studio. "I know that, just shut up already!"

Mika let go of her hand and as she did so, her friend panicked immediately because it was so dark inside that she couldn't see anything. "Hey, Mika... this isn't funny anymore. This looks like a haunted house. Are we going to do a ritual or something to talk with some ghosts?" Mika grinned as she found her way to the light switch and still ignored her friend.

The girl tried to locate the whereabouts of her friend but failed to do so. Instead, she just shouted, "Mika! Why aren't you listening to..." Her words trailed off like a waterfall falling into a river and was shocked as the lights went on. "...me?"

"What is that?" She pointed the thing in front of her. "Isn't that obvious enough? It's a drumset!"

The girl stuttered while looking back and forth at Mika and the drumset sitting on the floor. It was somehow sparkling in her eyes. "Why? Did you... did you buy that -"

"They did." Mika turned around to look at Eumeleia and Aisha as they smiled.

"This is Stephanie."

"Hello, Stephanie! I'm Eumeleia and this is Aisha. I am so glad we finally met!" She offered a hand and Stephanie shook it with her own in a flash. You could also see tears in her eyes. "Aw, don't cry Steph! You should be happy since we're in a band now!" Mika pat her head while she was comforting her friend.

"Yup, and we're called the Luminary!"

end of chapter thirty four