The room filled with the boarders from both dorms. The girls filed in and sat in three ascending rows, filling half of the small stage in the music room. The boys filed in and took their places on their side of the stage. Soon the stage was full with nearly an equal amount of boys and girls. The boys were on the left and the girls on the right. They chatted amongst themselves and even across to the opposite side, some seeing old friends from the previous year.
It was apparent who was a veteran of the chorus and who was a newcomer. Those who had been there before were at ease and chatting happily while the new students, including Peter, sat quietly and nervously waiting to see what was going to happen next. It had already been a long day of working around the school and some were very tired.
Peter sat in the middle row and thought to himself how exhausted he was. It was only the first full day and he was already worn out. Classes had not even started yet. Alongside him were the Kapule brothers, Kai and Oki, playfully bickering as usual while Vince scanned over the girls’ side.
“Whoa man,” Vince said in a low voice. “There are so many hot girls this year. Damn…” Vince nudged Peter with an elbow and whispered, “Dude, check out that blonde on the back row. She is hot, man.”
“Oh yeah?” Peter said looking in that direction. But he did not notice the blonde in the back row. Instead the first face he saw was down in the front row. He could only see her profile, but that was all he needed to see. His heart swelled at just the sight of Kaila. She was so beautiful. He kept staring at her as she talked casually to the girl sitting next to her. Peter recognized her too, the Samoan girl who was serving in the cafeteria, Taney.
Soon, the music teacher stood in front of the students and asked everyone to settle down. The room fell quiet almost immediately. “Aloha and good evening everyone and welcome to your first night of chorus practice!” the woman said cheerfully. “I’m Mrs. Song.”
Almost in unison, the entire gathering said in reply, “Aloha, Mrs. Song!”
Peter leaned over and asked Vince in a whisper, “The music teacher’s last name is ‘Song’?”
Vince answered quickly and frankly, “Yeah, she’s aptly named.” Peter did his best not to laugh out loud. But others heard him and turned to stare at him. Peter pretended to cough instead.
“Excuse me,” he said, trying to nonchalantly divert attention away from himself.
At that moment he caught a glimpse of Kaila. She turned quickly to see who was coughing and smiled when she saw who it was. She quickly turned back to look at Mrs. Song, but with a wide grin on her face.
“I see a lot of new faces,” Mrs. Song continued. “So welcome to you as well. We have a lot to cover so just follow with the music books you were handed on the way in. A lot of these songs you have heard before in intermediate school and some you may not be familiar with. But rest assured you, will all learn them quite well as the school year progresses. We have lots of fun events planned for this year where we will sing.”
Peter looked on with a curious expression. What other events? he thought to himself.
“Maui Fair is coming up in October, we have the Christmas concert here at the school and at the Cannery Mall in Lahaina, not to mention David Malo Day in April and lastly, graduation ceremony, just to name a few. However, opening convocation to present the class of 2013…” A few of the seniors started to whoop and holler in the crowd, but quickly quieted down. “Is coming up this week.”
Peter looked on with amazement. This was another thing that he had not really thought about. He remembered his father talking about how the school sings a lot of songs, but he never fully realized to what extent. In fact he never really gave it much thought at all. He was now understanding what a big part singing played in the boarding program.
“There are some other events still in the works as well, perhaps even a concert over at the Queen Mall in Kahului,” Mrs. Song announced. That created a great amount of excitement amongst the students. The Queen Ka’ahumanu Mall was a beautiful shopping area located in the valley, or middle of the island, situated in the heart of the hustle and bustle of the tropical island’s business district. The boarder students were rarely granted permission to leave West Maui. So getting to take a field trip there was always a treat for them, even if it was to put on a concert. They were all very excited about it.
They began to practice songs for the convocation, including the alma mater, which Peter had never heard at all. And they worked on other local songs such as the one his friends had mentioned, Yonder Lahaina Mountain. And lastly, they practiced Mrs. Song’s favorite, O Kuo Aloha.
When the students began to sing the last one, Peter was astounded to see how enthusiastic everyone sang the tune. Some even placed their arms over the person’s shoulders next to them and began to sway back and forth as they sang. Peter did not know what to think. He was amazed. He held his book high in front of him and tried to learn the words and follow along. It was a beautiful song. He glanced over at Kaila and remembered watching her sing in Mass just the day before, singing the hymns in Hawaiian. He remembered how beautiful she looked as she sang so enthusiastically. His heart pounded as he felt weak in the knees again. He wanted to get to know her. He wanted to know everything about her. He was completely taken by her beauty and grace. He knew then that he wanted to be a part of her life.
It was one of the happiest moments he had had since he arrived on the island. All of a sudden Peter felt something amazing. He was glad that he was there.