Vocalization

Starting Spring

The next morning, the sun came in through my window and warmed up my face. It was still too early to get up, so I picked up my diary instead. I had not written anything in it the evening before, but now was the time. My quill slid across the soft, old-looking paper easily and tainted it with ink. But the deep blue ink did not seem empty this time. Suddenly, the usual void was lit up with stars, shining and smiling at me. I decorated the page with swung lines and soft hearts and stars, sparkles mirroring my mood. Happily, I closed the book to keep the memories in there forever and got out to the bathroom. My hair looked a little messed up, but with a good hairbrush it was quickly fixed. I washed my pale skin and then went straight to the kitchen. It felt so natural for me to still be wearing my pyjamas. It was a Sunday morning, so I obviously had the right to. And I had a feeling the others wouldn't show up fully dressed either.

When I entered the kitchen, I immediately felt at home. As if I had always been living here. Our new home was not in a cramped apartment building. No, all of us together surprisingly earned enough to afford buying a house for ourselves (well, with some help from my parents), which was exactly what we had done. It was a really nice one, placed in one of the calmer neighborhoods of Orlando with green and nature all around. The kitchen was on the ground floor, the windows pointing towards the street. Simply beautiful. I knew for sure that we had all the ingredients for pancakes here, but I checked anyway. Good, everything there. We even had pancake fix, but who on earth even does that? Eli or Earl probably. And J might even drink it. But not me. I grabbed myself a bowl and the necessary utensils and mixed the batter together myself. After all, it was much more fun like this and it would be quite some time before the others would gather in the kitchen anyway. I had been raised into being the ideal housewife, but whenever my mother and the housekeeper had taught me, it had felt so forced. Now that I could finally use my skills at my own will, it was so much more fun.

"Gosh, Evelynn, you're up early", I heard Geoff's voice behind me as I was heating up the frying pan. I smiled. "Ask Eli. I threw him out of bed yesterday." He laughed and looked around the kitchen. "Coffee?", I asked, pointing at a kettle on the table. "You can read minds. Where-?" "First cabinet to the left." Geoff shook his head, smiling. He took a cup out of the cabinet and sat down at the already set table. "You really outdid yourself", he remarked, looking at all the work I had done. "But don't tell me you'll do this every morning." "This is still weak for a Sunday morning", I claimed. "What you see here is Saturday levels of work. Which doesn't mean I'll be lazy on weekdays though." "You know it's not the 50s, right?" "Absolutely." "Then you're aware you don't have to do this...?" I sighed and tightened the ribbon on my apron. Then I started explaining: "You see, Geoff. Things like this make me realize it's not the 50s. Nowadays, with gentlemen like you, it's considered so unnatural that a woman would cook and care for men at free will. Feminism is going just a step too far. Why can we not be women as we want to be, without having to blend in typically masculine characteristics? Do you get what I'm saying? I wouldn't even mind if you jokingly called me your housekeeper, as long as this is still my decision. And I love doing this, so let me." Geoff nodded and smiled. "As long as you're happy..."

The pan hissed as I started baking the first pancake, acting as prompt for the others to come into the kitchen. Soon enough, all six of us were gathering around the table, having fun and eating pancakes as if it were a celebration. "How did we deserve a domestic goddess like you, Eve?", Eli asked happily, placing his coffee cup down next to his plate. "Domestic goddess?", I repeated, shaking my head while laughing. "All I did was make pancakes. Any woman can do that. – And men as well. You just have to try. It's not hard." "I know for a fact I can't make pancakes", Earl claimed embarrassedly. "Trust me, I've tried." "Doesn't mean you can't learn it." With those words, I tossed the pancake upside down in the pan with trivial close precision. "Stop bragging, Evelynn", Geoff said. "Guess what, guys", J jumped in, "whenever she goes to work, she actually goes to the nearest circus like "Do you need a spare artist?"" All of us laughed, but I shook my head, handing him the pancake. "Here's your prize for being clairvoyant or telepathic or whatever you are." That very second, everyone shut up and looked at me with a priceless look on their faces. So priceless in fact, that I couldn't help but laugh. "Just look at yourselves! Did you really believe that story? No, really. It's only partially true." "You're a circus artist?", Layne asked, interest sparking from his voice. "Well, I could be", I explained. "Here's the story..." "Yes, please", Earl said, pointing at the empty chair. I sat down, crossing my hands on the table. "Well, when I was little." "You're still little", J interrupted, blowing raspberries like a child. "So are you, mentally", I grinned, continuing my story. "No, I mean really little. Like, three years old or something. Anyway, back then, I wanted to be a circus performer. My parents stood fully behind it, because they saw the money in it. So they sent me to all kinds of courses. Acrobatics, dancing, performance in general... I learned to juggle, walked the tightrope dozens of times and became a great acrobat. But as time went on, circuses became less and less popular and my parents ditched the idea, taking me out of all courses immediately. I was devastated." "That's messed up", J agreed, shaking his head. "Your parents are horrible." "True. Thankfully, PE classes still exist and I could visit some elective courses similar to the circus practices. Cheerleading, for example. I still have some practice in most things I used to do, but the only thing aside from acrobatics I still safely know how to do is juggling." "Can you show us?", Earl asked, obviously excited. "I can try", I offered, taking three apples out of the fruit basket. "Apples aren't really juggling balls", I remarked while weighing them in my hands and throwing them in place a few times, "but these should do. I think. – What pattern? Oh, right, you don't know what patterns are." I shrugged and started throwing the "balls". "My bad. At least that gives me more freedom." All I did was throw two apples up simultaneously. "So... This is a simple 22, nothing special. It's not fancy or anything and basically the first thing they should teach you, even if they don't. You can of course go fancier", I explained, crossing my hands in between throws, "but that's still easy." I caught both, then grabbed the third apple from the table. "Now for a cascade, that's a 333. It can also be a 444, but 3 is quicker." With those words, I started juggling the easy variant, before starting to cross my arms every now and then, changing rhythms and speed. Once I was done, the boys applauded and I bowed cordially, smiling and blushing. What a wonderful start to the day.

We got used to being with each other really quickly and got to know each other so very well we could soon finish each other's sentences without even mentioning it. I also had the schedules of each of the five boys in my head pretty soon, being able to adjust mealtimes accordingly. In between our jobs and other activities, we still found a lot of space to spend time with each other, playing videogames or watching movies. There weren't a lot of games you could play with six players though, almost none to be exact, so we either stuck to multiplayer games, each one of us in their room on their pc, or to backseat-gaming. A very valid strategy. One day, I got home from work late. Well, it was always late when I got home on Thursdays, but this day, it had gotten even later. It was already long past midnight when I finally turned the key. Since my room was so close to the door, I threw my stuff in there and sighed. I was tired, but decided I did not want to go to sleep without brushing my teeth. I got out of my room and walked towards the bathroom. As I went, I could hear ruffling from upstairs. I shook my head, thinking that that was impossible. Past midnight. How would that even be a thing? That was Friday levels of late night. I approached the staircase cautiously and peeked upstairs, trying to find something. But then I heard a voice from the dining room. "Hey, Evelynn", Geoff said quietly. "I've been waiting for you." "Oh, you must be insane", I whispered and walked over to him. We sat down at the table together for a cup of tea. "Now, would you mind telling me why you're here? More specifically why you waited for me until this late? I left at six, what happened this evening that is that important?" Geoff just smiled and took out his mobile, handing it to me after he had unlocked it. My heart jumped. Onscreen was a YouTube window for editing a channel. I warmed up and a smile spread across my face. "It was your idea. So you get to choose the name." I did not have to think for long and just typed down what first came to my mind. I nodded, satisfied with what I had created, and handed him back his mobile. He smiled. "Perfect. Just what I expected from you." I laid my head to the side. "What am I supposed to read out of that now? Just go to sleep, you're getting lightheaded." Geoff laughed, but nodded, wished me good night and then left.

I, however, went upstairs quietly. "Layne, what are you doing?", I asked in a whisper, upset out of worry by his behavior. "Go to sleep." He was sitting at the dinner table, sheets of paper and his laptop in front of him and a cup of coffee next to it. "I'm arranging", he explained quietly. "At least I'm trying to." I came closer and realized he was jotting down sheet music. "Let me see", I asked and he handed me the paper. The piece seemed very rough and unfinished. "What's the problem?" I sat down opposite from him and looked him in the eyes. "I just can't get it right. I don't even know what this sounds like. I have some idea, but it's so vague." "If it's just that...", I mumbled with a smile and got up. "That problem is easily solved. Go to sleep now, Layne. We'll talk about this tomorrow. If you're arranging for VoicePlay, it's better if everyone is there anyway." "VoicePlay?", he asked, but quickly understood, nodded and smiled. "Good night", I whispered, before leaving towards my room.