Monday Monday Part II

FLUSH The bathroom door slammed closed, and Krista found herself alone in the ladies’ room once again. She had been hiding in the West hall girls’ bathroom since the cafeteria catastrophe. Her entirely traumatic exchange with Trey Raines, the one and true object of her affection, had happened nearly an hour ago. The image of a dog with its tail tucked between his legs, flashed in her mind.

How could I have been so stupid, Krista, berating herself yet again. Why couldn’t I have said something intelligent? Oh, forget intelligent…why couldn’t I have said more than stammered gibberish?

She was finally about to emerge from the bathroom stall, but she was so angry at the whole situation. In her haste, she pushed the stall door a little too hard, and it swung back and smacked her in the face, knocking her to the floor.

Oooohh, my head, Krista winced. At least no one saw, she thought as she got up off the floor.

Krista dropped her head and clenched her teeth. She was so angry with herself. She could trace all her problems back to her inability to function properly within the immediate vicinity of a previously mentioned, cute boy who shall remain nameless. She hated that said boy had this effect on her.

Sure he’s a cute guy—but he’s just guy—even though, he’s kind, despite being popular and rich, and talented…and has the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen, Krista quickly shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

Krista looked in the mirror. Look at me, a flighty nitwit in the depths of a teenage crush, and then she saw the knot forming on her head from the fall. GREAT! I’m a flighty nitwit with a knot on my head and I’m talking to myself…I am so pathetic.

If you didn’t believe in predestination and were completely convinced that fate did not exist, Krista’s Monday track record would make a believer out of anyone. Krista knew that there had to be a carefully ordered plan to the universe—by which, some jerk, eons ago, had decided that every Monday for eternity, Krista Parker would wake up to a living hell…or so Krista thought. Why does everything always have to happen to me, especially today…Monday. That’s it! All this can’t possibly be my fault. All this is happening, because it’s Monday, she realized. Every horrible aspect of her day flashed into her mind— Her forgotten report, Madison’s comments, Mr. Wills’s projectile spit, the cafeteria scene, her feelings for Trey. In moment of blinding fury and frustration, Krista slammed her fist against the bathroom wall. “AAAAAHHHH!” She screamed in pain. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! HUH?! WHY CAN’T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!” She shouted to the ceiling.

Suddenly, a stall burst open and a very scared looking freshman girl ran out the bathroom screaming. Great, so much for private humiliation. Not usually one to usually wallow in self-pity, Krista hung her head in resignation, wondering what else could possibly happen today. Then, the 5th period bell rang; lunch was over and she was late. I HATE MONDAYS, was her last thought before she rushed out the door.

Krista was “lucky” (if she could ever be considered lucky on a Monday) that “the event” in the cafeteria had happened during lunch. Her fifth period class was AP European History with Mr. Connelly. She did not have too much trouble convincing him to let her get by for being late from her little “bathroom break” Mr. Connelly was cool like that.

The bell rang, indicating the end of fifth period. The school day was nearly over. Krista had mixed feelings about that. Part of her was ready to do cartwheels through Randy Prep’s halls, but before Krista could reach that last school bell, she had to endure the final and greatest torture of all: Choir class. Krista’s last class of the day was RP choir, and she usually loved everything about it, save two things: Madison Standish and Trey Raines’s presence as RP choir’s student accompanist. Today, more than anything, she wished that something, anything would happen to prevent the day from continuing. Snow. Hurricane. Earthquake. Mudslide. Anything. But as expected, the end of the day came, and Krista, reluctantly went to RP choir class.

She wanted to get to class early so she could find the best position to steer clear of Trey and Madison, but she, of course, had forgotten her music in her locker. At her locker, she realized that she had forgotten all of her things in the cafeteria in the rush of her not-so-graceful exit. At least, I have my music, she thought looking down at the black folder in her hands. That’s when the minute bell rang, signaling that she had one minute to run across the school to get to the Everett Thomas Winthrop Memorial Music Hall for choir class. No time to look for her belongings.

Flushed and out of breath, Krista rushed into the choir room, but unfortunately, she didn’t see the music stand next to the entrance, which she then proceeded to knock to the floor. Of course, all eyes in the classroom followed the crash and fixed on Krista as she righted the stand. She felt the stares and snickers, but she was most concerned with the deep blue-green eyes that watched her at the moment. She looked over in Trey’s direction and their eyes locked for a moment and held. She blushed crimson, looked away, and quickly made her way to her seat in the soprano section. Trey, as in the cafeteria, stared after her a minute.

Interesting girl, he thought as he turned back to his music.

From her seat in the front row of soprano section, Madison Standish watched Krista’s clumsy display and the lingering look at Trey that followed, and she also saw again that spark of interest in Trey’s eyes. She decided that she might have to rethink her strategy when it came to Krista. She could not have that girl becoming a threat to her plans.

The bustle of students getting to their seats and preparing for class immediately silenced as in a burst of his usual energy Professor Dr. J. Thomas Winthrop enter the choir room.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in his usual direct tone, “Shall we begin?” Professor W, as he was affectionately known by his pupils, took his place at the conductor’s stand. Without instruction, the class stood and waited for direction when…Claire Addams and Laurel Mosley came rushing into class. Krista knew the sophomore altos and at that moment did not envy them at all. “Professor Winthrop, I’m so sorry we were…” Claire began. Before she could utter another syllable of excuses, Prof. W held up his hand and pointed to the door…“To the dean’s office” was all he said. A disgruntled Claire and Laurel left through door they had just rushed in. It was futile to argue the point of punctuality with Professor W. He would not tolerate the continuing disruption and irresponsibility of tardy students. If you could not be to his class on time, you could not be in his class, and if you were tardy enough, you were immediately expelled from the choir. No compromises, no exceptions.

He had stated that in the director-student contract he got his choirs to sign every year. Many of the faculty/alumni/parents found his attitudes fanatical or abrasive, but Krista was in awe at his depth of knowledge and his discipline to his craft. She didn’t know much about him other than what she was an available in his school biography. He was a musical prodigy and had received his doctorate in music at the unusually early age of 22. His descendants were New England royalty, coming over on the Mayflower, and eventually settling in Pleasant. He had taught at the Julliard School of Music in New York for many years. His family had a close history with the academy. In fact, his great-great-great-great-whatever grandfather had been a Randolph Prep founder, and the music hall bore his name, Everett Thomas Winthrop Music Hall. Of all her teachers, he was probably the most difficult, but definitely her favorite. He challenged musically in way that no person had before.

With his laughing blue eyes and wavy brown hair, he did not look like a man in his early 50’s, which Krista knew him to be. Many were put off by his demanding personality, but if you took the time to get to know him, he had great wit and a wicked sense of humor.

The class went through the usual warm-ups for about 10 minutes. Then, Professor W began to pass out a new piece of music, a choral arrangement of Mendelssohn’s Ave Maria, arranged by…him. “Okay…what has just been passed out to you is our new piece. At practice on Wednesday afternoon, we will begin to work on this. I expect you all to practice it before then. Pointing the board, he said, “Today, we will be working on the selections from Vivaldi’s Gloria.”

After 30 minutes of perfecting some of their weaker parts, Krista was weary of the constant stopping and starting, but finally after what seemed like a thousand times, they made it through. After the first complete run-through, everything finally clicked, and there was not another mistake well into the next hour. When they finished the piece, she had to admit that the everyone sounded incredible, and Krista felt the pleasure of being a part of the collective achievement.

“Alright, you can relax for a minute…now we will have auditions for the soprano aria.”

Krista was not used to auditioning in front of the class. Mrs. Zimmerman, a strict, cranky older music director at her last school, had done all auditions in private. With the trying day she was having already, she was apprehensive about tempting fate. Please let me get it this time, Krista silently prayed. Though honestly she was by far the best soprano/mezzo-soprano in the choir, she always held back in class, because she was always unable to over come her own nervous stage fright. She did not understand it. She had sung in numerous places from nursing homes to open mic nights to talent competitions of every kind, and she never had this debilitating fear grip her in the way it did when she sang in RP choir. It was so much easier to sing in front of dozens, some times hundreds of strangers, than it was to sing in front of a handful of those she knew.

Naturally, Madison Standish was also trying out for the part. Madison had still maintained her unofficial queen of the chorus title, but she saw Krista as a threat. And she was not going to let her get in her way.

Professor Winthrop took the sign-up sheet. “First, we have Rebecca Smith.” She was a quiet, but kind junior with a pleasing tone to her voice. She made it through the piece adequately—but nothing spectacular.

Then it was Madison’s turn. She walked to the stand with an air of self-possess and confidence that Krista could only envy. She sang the piece perfectly. Everything was just right: dynamics, pitch, and diction. Madison had a gorgeous voice, had been trained by the best music instructors money could buy, but she sounded so detached. There was grace and beauty in her singing but no passion or fire.

Then, Krista made her way to the front. “Don’t choke,” Madison whispered in passing, smiling sweetly. Her palms sweated, her throat went dry. When the opening bars were played, Krista took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and no sound came out. Her throat completely closed: she couldn’t sing a note. She heard the whispers begin and Madison, seated like a queen on her throne, merely raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, “That’s the best you can do, I expected as much.” The room was silenced by a sharp look from Prof

She looked over at Professor W; although his face remained neutral, she saw a look of concern in his eyes,

“Could I please start again?”

“Yes, once more,” and he motioned to Trey.

The music began again. She could feel the eyes of everyone boring into her, waiting for her to make another mistake. Krista eyes locked with Madison’s, and she tried once again…nothing. Trey repeated the intro, and again, nothing. He looked over at Prof. W, who shook his head. Her cheeks, a deep scarlet, and unshed tears, she was trying desperately to quell, in her voice, “I- I can’t…I’m sorry.” Whispers started quickly giving way to snickers as Krista abruptly ran from the room, and then the final bell rang.

Professor Winthrop cleared his throat. “Thank you, ladies. The soloists will be posted this Friday…Class, I will see you tomorrow. Have a good afternoon and do not forget to practice.” With that, he exited the class.

The busy sounds of students leaving class buzzed around, and Krista, who had ducked in the janitor’s closet in the hallway, could hear everything through the vent. She was so engrossed in her attempts to regain her composure that she didn’t notice that the noise had died down until some time later. When she was sure that the hall had emptied, she emerged from her hiding place.

Krista walked into the deserted practice room to grab her music folder, but unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. Who should have stayed behind but Madison Standish? Of course, she’s here. Come on, universe…heap on the misery. Krista thought wearily.

“It is just too bad class today. I know if I continually humiliated myself like that. I would seriously think before trying out again.” Madison’s tone, so sugary sweet, belied the venom in her tongue.

Krista sidestepped the blonde beauty, trying fearfully hard to keep her temper in check. Experience told her that all Madison wanted was to get a rise out of her. But Madison grabbed her arm, and Krista swung around to face her.

“What do you want Madison?” Krista said curtly, her eyes narrowed and her scowl set.

“I want you to realize something that I have graciously tried to show you for months. Something you fail to grasp over and over…you do not belong here.” A look of superiority in her eyes.

“What bothers you more Madison my background or that I might actually be better than you? Can’t you handle a little competition?” Krista ground out. Her eyes, blazing emerald fire.

“You?! Competition?! Krista, I took you for a much smarter girl. That you cannot grasp the obvious disappoints me.”

Unwisely, she took the bait before she could stop herself. “And that would be?”

“No matter what you do, no matter how good you are. You are not my equal. You will never be my equal. And the sooner you recognize that fact, the better off you will be.” Madison smiled a dazzling smile.

“I think you’re scared.” Krista found a tentative smile of her own.

Madison, losing a little of her smugness. “I don’t care what you think.”

Then, she added sharply. “If today’s display is further proof of your so-called abilities, what do I have to be afraid of?” She leaned in closer, in the whisper said, “If you keep getting in my way…you will be sorry, Parker. I can promise you that. You should be afraid yourself.”

With a dismissive gesture, Madison turned and in her typically grand style, flounced out the room.

The Wicked Witch of the West’s theme from the Wizard of Oz, played in Krista’s head as she watched her exit.

She was about the leave the class to begin the desperate search for her belongings when quite by “accident” a chair found its way into her path. Although when later there was no evidence of her presence, she was sure she had seen Madison Standish with a quiet, triumphant smile on her face as she was hurled…right into Trey Raines’ arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked, steadying her.

“I, uh,” she stammered, looking into his eyes again. Haven’t we been here before? Not this again. Please speak with some measure of intelligence.

“Yes?” he said.

“Thank you,” she said quietly as she blushed profusely.

“Yes, I…uh…” Krista continued. She took a deep breath.

Trey was waiting for her to finished speaking.

“I…what I mean to say…I didn’t know anyone was still here.” Krista finally managed to say.

“Sorry, I startled you. I was putting something away in the equipment room when I, uh, saw you again.”

“I’m really sorry about this. Thanks again.” Krista pulled back.

“Parker, we have to quit meeting like this,” Trey said with a smile.

His dimples are showing. Wow...Okay Krista focus on the issue. You thanked him. Now go.

“How do you-” Krista began.

“Know your name? It was on your notebook” he finished.

Krista looked confused for a moment. “My notebook?”

“Yeah…from the cafeteria, you left your stuff, I hope you don’t mind, I put your things in my locker. I knew I’d see you in choir, so I was going to give them back to you after class, then you left and…but anyway, I have them” he said.

She quickly signed in her relief.

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to her. Oh, God, he has my journal…

“You have my stuff?” she asked her voice a little shrill from panic.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t mess with anything,” he answered, reassuring her.

“I wasn’t worried…um, I’m just glad someone for them,” Krista covered.

“Sure…well, if you’ll wait a minute for me to get my music and lock the door.”

Soon, they were trekking around campus to Trey’s locker in the East hall of the school’s main building. They walked side-by-side in silence. Krista kept her eyes trained elsewhere, anywhere but Trey. The one time she did try a steal a look at him, he caught her out of the corner of his eye. She blushed and looked away. She didn’t see him smile.

“Are you okay?” Trey wondered, concern evident in his voice.

“Why do you ask?” Krista was caught by surprise.

“You just seem really jumpy…stressed, I suppose. I just wondered why…”

“Mmm…I’m really not having a good day.” She didn’t elaborate further.

When she appeared more despondent, lost in thought. He quickly replied.

“Sorry if I brought up a touchy subject…I didn’t mean to pry.” Trey apologized.

“No, no…I was thinking about…it doesn’t matter…” She trailed off, coming to a stop.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to…” Trey said simply.

They continued in a silence. An awkward stretching silence.

They reached his locker. “So we’re here.” Krista said rather lamely.

“Yeah…finally, I wish the campus wasn’t so spread out. It takes forever to get anywhere.” Trey added.

Before her nerves could stop her, Krista actually managed a full, articulate sentence in Trey’s presence. “I completely understand. God forbid you might have something to do in between classes or you might be late. And tardiness is not—”

“Something we tolerate at Randolph Preparatory Academy.” They both finished Dean Holland’s mantra that was repeated to the student body on a daily basis. They both laughed, officially breaking the ice. Krista’s nervousness began to subside.

“Dean Holland is so dense if he thinks anyone actually pays any attention to what he says.” she added.

“Now, you should know better than to insult to the Dean like that…it’s hardly fair to accuse the man of thinking when I know he hasn’t made a habit of that for years.” Trey said with a wink as he opened his locker, rifling through his stuff.

Krista laughed. A true smile lighting her features for the first time all day.

“A smile. I wasn’t sure you knew how.” Trey joked.

The smile disappeared and she blushed…but only a little this time.

“Parker, it was a joke. You’ve really got to lighten up a bit.” Retrieving her things, he said. “And here are your things.” When she stared at him a moment, “I promise it’s all there and I didn’t mess with anything. You can check.”

“No, I wasn’t…never mind” Krista started to protest, but instead she thanked him. “Really, Trey, you don’t know how much I appreciate this. Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done without this, if you hadn’t found everything…Well, I owe you big time.”

Trey made a non-committal sound and with a dismissive wave of his hand, “Don’t worry about it. It is not a big deal.”

“But it is to me. You did not have to do what you did…Most people would not have.”

Trey protested again, “You’re making—”

“In circumstances such as these, it is customary to shut up and say ‘You’re Welcome.’” Krista said before she could stop herself. Did I really just say that?

Before she could agonize or show any outward reaction. Trey was quiet for a second, looked directly at her as if seeing her for the first time and smiled. “You’re right, Parker. I’m sorry. You’re Welcome.”

She sighed, smiled, and said, “And I do owe you one.”

“Okay, okay. I give up. You are indebted to me. And in that case, remind me to think of a tricky favor to ask of you since you’re so adamant.”

Trey closed his locker. “Well, I’m going to go. I have practice.”

Krista checked her watch. Oh no, I’m going to be late for work. “Oh no…” Not realizing she had spoken out loud.

“What is it?” Trey asked.

“Nothing. I really have to go.” Krista pulled her bag higher on her shoulder.

“Bye.” She said as they parted ways “And thanks again.” Smiling over her shoulder.

She turned and walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

“Hey, Parker…” she heard Trey call down the hall. She stopped and turned. “Yeah?”

“I hope everything works out for you. And…you should do that more often.”

He waved and turned to leave. “Do what?” She called after.

“Smile. You’ve got a great one.” He said looking back with a wink and then he disappeared around the corner.

A smile bloomed so big that she thought her face might crack in two. She simply floated—not walked—floated all the way to work. She didn’t even mind it that she was late. Maybe, Mondays weren’t all bad after all.