Vocalization

Summer Stars

The video was up. And I was finally free. The next day we had time, we went to Universal Studios to celebrate. I was wearing my black "Alice in Wonderland" – shorts and a nice white blouse. The fake suspenders were chiming like bells and their hoses were shining in the sun. Capital of sunshine. Yes, indeed. Now it was in my heart. Speaking of hearts, the black fabric of my jeans had white, heart-shaped writing on its front pocket, reciting the famous words of our one and only queen: The Queen of Hearts. "Off with their heads!" There were also the words "Curiouser and Curiouser" on the back pocket. "You do know that that movie isn't by Universal, right?", Earl addressed me, a cheeky smile on his face. I shrugged carelessly, knowing full well that he was right. "You're never wrong with Alice in Wonderland", I stated, smiling. "You're always perfectly odd." "True", he laughed, laying his arm around my shoulder. He treated me like a child. But I didn't mind.  My parents had never given me this kind of love. But these guys were the brothers I'd always wished I'd had. It made the fact that I was an only child with abusive parents just a bit more bearable.

I started skipping a little, making my way to the front where J was. He seemed exited. "What do you think, Eve?", he asked me immediately when he spotted me. "Are you excited?" "Well, you sure are", I smiled. He grinned. Suddenly, he pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "What do you say we leave you alone with Geoff?" "Stop it!", I hissed. I pushed him away and stumbled off as I felt my face turn red. J seemed unphased. "And what about Eli, huh? Or... me~?" I broke out into laughter along with him as I let myself fall a bit further to the back, finding myself right next to Eli. I'm pretty sure he was happy I wasn't wearing heels. Because if I was wearing heels, our heights sometimes matched up - or worse, I was suddenly taller than him. To be fair, they had to be acceptable heels, above five centimeters to say the least. The very least, in his words. I only owned one pair of heels anyway and that one wasn't very high, but I wore it to parties and formal events. Eli was proud of being at least taller than me. But he also had to face the harsh reality that this meant just about nothing since I was only 5"3'. To make him feel better, I sometimes spelled it out as five feet and 2.99 inches. Just so it wasn't a full number. Eli never told me his height. But I could estimate it, about 5"5'. It just made him feel better. It was bad enough that he was getting teased for it by our fans. Lovingly, that is. All of us had their flaws and insecurities. Even Geoff, even though I could hardly believe it. He was highly insecure about his muscles. Yes, about his muscles. But anyone who ever looked at him knew that he looked like a surfer model - or a stereotypical mechanic love interest from some romance movie, which was pretty accurate since he was a mechanic.

We saw the big gate and grinned. Then, I saw a group of friends from the corner of my eye. A young man pulled the sleeve of his friend and nodded towards us. Not even noticing it, I started smirking. It only took a second, then the two girls of the group turned around, shrieked and hurried towards us. The boys hadn't noticed, so I grabbed Earl by his shirt, getting his mind off going anywhere. He turned around to the girls and smiled. "Guys", he called the others to attention. And before we knew it, we were busy. A third girl that had been hiding behind her friends slowly came towards us, looking at me and clenching her notebook to her chest. As she came closer, I could see myself in her. She had dark brown hair that fell over her right eye and pale skin. Her clothes were dark and oversized, making her look so small, even though she was taller than me. On her face was a look of pure nervousness and social anxiety. The same look I must have had when approaching the guys for the first time. Way back when I was just a puppet for my parents to toy around with. And what struck me only when she came close: She was young. Like, really young. Maybe fourteen or fifteen. I mean, I was only about six or seven years older, which wasn't much the older you get, but this time, it really felt like ages. Because the way she looked at me with her deep blue eyes made me want to protect her.

"Hi", I smiled at her gently. The girl stayed silent. Then, she slowly caught herself. "I-it's Evelynn, right?" I nodded kindly. She gulped and didn't get another word out. "Who do you want to talk to?", I asked her, ready to give her a connection to one of the boys without having to deal with the other adolescents trying to get their attention. But she said nothing. "I... was waiting to see you, actually." I blinked confusedly. "Waiting?" "Well, not waiting. I... wanted to see you." "Why me out of all people? What about the boys?" I waited for an answer. The girl took a deep breath and got herself together. Then she looked me in the eye. "Ever since I heard you, you've been such an inspiration to me. Your voice is... unlike everyone else's. All the popular females these days rap or just focus on the power of their voice. But you... You focus on the beauty. Your voice is light and soft. – And when I finally saw you, wearing that corset dress-! I was sure you wouldn't just be another mainstream one. Pentatonix is great and all, but it falls into that typical stereotype of today so easily. But you, along with VoicePlay, you create something new. You're different. And you show that in your fashion style. Just being completely different. Not many people even noticed the corset and lacing, but I did. And I think it's lovely. And seeing you in person now, you keep up that expectation, by just being... perfectly odd." Her eyes glowed in joy, giving me that childish feeling I loved. I chuckled. "Thank you, that's what I was going for. We as VoicePlay try to create a unique experience that is interesting. And different. We don't just want to be another ordinary acapella group. We're just so weird and silly that we decided we had to show it." I looked at her notebook, on which she nervously clicked her fingertips. "Do you want me to- ""Yes, please!", she busted out, happy that I was the one who mentioned it. She opened it up to a page and handed it to me. On this piece of paper, she had drawn out the Voiceplay logo in black ink. The ink sparkled in the Florida sun. I took the pen out of her hands and swiftly placed my name under it. "... Could I ask you for a favor?", she asked hesitantly. "Sure, go right ahead." "Could you record my favorite song for me? Black Beauty by Lana Del Rey? Do you know it?" I nodded and she pulled out her phone quickly, pointing it towards me. I chuckled. But then I started to sing. I was glad I could make her happy by just something this simple. The boys and I spent some more time talking to fans and giving autographs, laughing and chatting.

When all of them had received what they had wanted, we said goodbye and left for the park. I waved to the girl, who I now knew was called Sabrina, and followed after them. My heart was as light as a feather.