Episode 6: Got Stars in Her Eyes

So, the class was like every other class in middle school—well, except for the fact there were absolutely no boys in choir to balance out the girls. Hence the annoyingness.

The new class for her second year in middle school was no different.

Speaking of Jopi’s choir class… She has a story to tell.

★

There were only two weeks left until the first concert of the season (called, fittingly enough, the spring concert), and everyone was already prepared for it. Almost all of the songs’ solos were picked as well.

Note: Almost all of the solos.

Jopi was, to no one’s surprise, vying to get one of them in particular— “Popular”, to be more specific.

There is no way Mr. Iguchi is going to screw this up, right? I mean, I’m bound to get that one solo, right?

Jopi sure hoped so.

That was, until that day.

The day it was stolen.

Connie Haruka. The new girl.

Jopi’s teeth gritted every time she thought of her name.

★

The day that she arrived was a normal day as any in choir. All the girls arrived, one by one, and they sat down in their respective spots, chatter beginning to form as the girls took out their phones and went onto Snapchat or whatever. Jopi did the same.

However, as she was looking at her friends’ stories, she couldn’t help but feel like there was a presence at the door. She looked up, and sure enough, an unfamiliar-looking girl standing by the door, looking unsure of herself.

She must be new, Jopi noted. Is she in the wrong class or something?

That was when Mr. Iguchi entered the room and gestured for the girl to come in as well.

Ah. I guess she is then.

Jopi was intrigued to hear what they were talking about as they were now at the teacher’s piano but it was hard to hear them since the girls were talking so loud.

That was when she had a brilliant idea.

I wonder if I can manipulate the sound waves with my telekinesis so I can hear them better?

A brilliant idea, but also an evil one, as she was ruining the two’s privacy.

Sometimes you just gotta snoop though.

The girl cleared her mind and imagined sound waves coming to her like music notes on a staff. A crackling sound echoed in her ears like she was adjusting the station on the radio, and it hurt a little like a pinch.

“... No problem, Mr. Iguchi!” the new girl said in a sweet, high-pitched voice. “I love to sing. It’s my hobby, I suppose! I like to post videos of me singing on Youtube once in a while!”

Psssht. Jopi’s thoughts were nothing but bitterness toward the new girl. Whatever her name was.

“That’s very nice, Haruka-san.” Mr. Iguchi replied. “We’re glad to have you here. Please take a seat by… how about Jopi? She’s a nice girl. She’ll welcome you here.”

Ah. Haruka is her last name.

Jopi sighed and put her phone away, instead taking out her warm-up sheet (which she was supposed to be doing anyway) and prepared herself mentally for the new girl to sit next to her.

Because of course she’s going to.

“Okay, thanks!” Haruka replied, nodding curtly, and ran over to sit next to her, setting her backpack down in front of her seat.

Jopi tuned her brain out of those soundwaves and looked at the girl, a tight smile on her face. “Hi there! We’re glad to have you here!”

Haruka grinned. “Thank you! I’m excited to learn with you guys!”

★

When everyone quieted down, Mr. Iguchi finally addressed the (cute) elephant in the room.

“Yes, guys. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a new student here.” He gestured to the girl, whose face was red. “Her name is Connie Haruka. Why don’t you come up here so everyone can see you?”

Ah, so her first name is Connie. What kind of name is that? It sounds foreign… Well, it's not like there aren’t enough students here whose first names aren’t Japanese.

She watched as the girl hobbled up to the front of the room, face still red. All of the girls made noises like she was a puppy playing with a ball.

“U—um,” Connie said quietly. “Hi. Um, my name is Connie, like he said. It’s short for Concetta actually. I came from Germany. And, uh, I love to sing!”

“Ah! So cute!” Nine girls cried in unison, while the other ones said other things.

Connie jerked up and then lowered her head and continued standing there, shaking in place. Luckily, Mr. Iguchi noticed her embarrassment.

“Okay, Haruka-san. You can sit down now.”’

The new girl nodded and sat down, while the girls continued squealing like she was an entire boy band, or…

Her.

Well, until now.

Jopi frowned. I never thought I’d miss being fawned over, ever.

★

After school, Jopi was still frowning. She could have sworn that her face hadn’t changed since choir class (bar when she sang, of course).

Ean noticed something wrong immediately which Jopi found ironic because she was usually buried in her phone.

Wow. My frowning must be pretty noticeable then.

“Hey, what’s up with you?” she asked as she leaned over the table. “You’re looking particularly not cute today!”

Jopi flinched. Ah. There’s that word.

“Oh, you know. A new girl is just stealing the spotlight in my choir class, that’s all.” She said this in a tone that suggested that she wanted to murder to said girl.

Ean raised an eyebrow. “I kinda pity this girl. Your wrath looks pretty fuckin strong. Also… thought you hated the attention? Are you missing it or something?”

“I-it’s not like I do or anything!” Jopi pouted, and it was at that moment she realized was acting 100% like a tsundere.

Oh God. I am so unbearable right now.

“Take a chainsaw to your mouth, will you, guys?” Miharu quipped. The three girls looked over to see the girl, sitting crisscrossed in her chair, with a bunch of candles surrounding her on the table. (Which, for some reason, Jopi never noticed until now, she was that focused on her anger.)

“What are you doing?” chortled Ean. “A satanic ritual or something?”

Miharu nodded like it wasn’t a big deal or anything, which it totally, actually was.

“I mean, seriously?!” Ean cried. “We practice white magic in here, bitch!”

Jopi chortled. “Do we really though? Especially with someone like you. Need I remind you of what you almost did to the principal’s office?”

Suika, who was silent during this entire conversation, looked up from her laptop and cocked her head to the side. “Jopi-chan’s right. That doesn’t sound like a white magic user. White magic users are supposed to be innocent and pure of heart.”

The four girls looked at Suika like they were just seeing her for the first time, actually shocked that she said something sane…

… and then threw that into the trash as a creepy grin grew on the girl’s face.

“Shower scene,” she whispered, pointing at her screen.

At that, Jopi planted her face right onto the desk, almost hitting her eye on the corner of her history textbook in the process.

“You need to see a counselor, girl!” Ean cried, snapping her fingers in a Z formation.

“Are you trying to act black?” Miharu said, cringing. “You do know that I’m half-black, right? I’m offended by this.” She then summoned a voodoo doll with a poorly-drawn face of Ean on it and placed it in the center of her magic circle.

“AGH!!”

Upon seeing this, Ean ran her back into the hand on the bookshelf door, hurting her back. She shrieked.

“¡Me duele piernas!”

“Wrong word, dumbass!”

Jopi couldn’t help it, she had to say something. Luckily, Naoko saw the poor girl’s frustrated face and patted her on the back.

“You should see your counselor like Ean said.” Naoko’s smile looked sincere. “Go and schedule for tomorrow morning. It might help you.”

Jopi sighed and decided to take the bait in the end.

“Fine,” she confirmed. “Even if it’s for a really dumb reason.”

★

Jopi couldn’t believe it. There she was, sitting in the counseling office, waiting for her assigned counselor to come out and invite her into her office.

Hopefully this is quick. Just in and out.

The girl waited and waited, playing with a distraction toy that had glitter and multiple marbles in it, watching the marbles slide up and down the tiny slide.

Clunk.

Jopi looked up and saw her counselor come out.

The woman was quite attractive, wearing her dark brown hair in a curly bob. Her green eyes were vibrant from where Jopi was standing, which was a ways away. The floral dress on her looked nice as well.

“Hello,” the woman said. “My name is Mrs. Watanokushi, and I’m your counselor. You wanted to speak with me?”

Reluctantly, Jopi nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“Well, you can come right in.”

Mrs. Watanokushi’s room was like a standard office, but it had an aura in it that was hard to describe. In the vaguest terms, it felt welcoming.

Jopi took a seat in one of the wooden chairs, and the counselor took a seat behind her desk, in the spinny chair.

“So,” she began. “Tell me… what’s wrong?”

Jopi chuckled nervously. “Where to begin…?”

Mrs. Watanokushi tapped her pen on a piece of paper, nonverbally indicating to Jopi that she had to fill it out near the end of their meeting. For whatever reason, that prompted her to speak.

She drew in a deep breath and let it out.

Here goes nothing. My first therapy session.

“Well, okay. So there’s this new girl in my choir class named Connie Haruka, and she’s from Germany.”

“Mm-hm,” Mrs. Wyatt said, possibly echoing Jopi from a few minutes before. “And…?” she prodded.

“ … You see, everyone’s ogling over her except for me. And even worse, no one’s paying attention to me anymore! I mean, I know that I hated that everyone ogled over me before she came along, but now I feel like I don’t exist.”

“And how long has this been going on for?”

Sigh. “A day.”

“Hm. Well, that’s not very long at all.” Mrs. Watanokushi sighed. “It sounds like you have some issues regarding people liking you, Chiba-san.”

That’s a new one. “Um, okay?”

“I’d give it time. Haruka-san is new, after all. After a while, I’m sure the girls will go back to paying some attention to you—but I want you to keep this in mind: During this time, try to become independent, and try not to care about other people. Just focus on yourself.”

Jopi nodded, letting everything sink in. “Alright. Thank you for the advice.”

In Jopi’s head, however…

Give it time, my ass. The voice in her head snarled.

★

It was second hour now, which meant that it was time for choir yet again.

But it wasn’t just any day of choir…

“Today, we’ll be doing solo auditions for the song ‘Popular,’” Mr. Iguchi announced after warm-ups. “Everyone who is planning to audition, please form a line over here.”

Jopi gulped. Here it is. My time to shine! As long as a certain someone…

Connie raised her hand. “Even though I’m new, could I audition as well?”

Mr. Iguchi nodded, grinning. “Of course you can try out, Haruka-san! You’re a great singer. And you never know, you might make it.”

NO NO NO NO!!!

As Jopi got in line to audition, someone tapped her on the shoulder. The girl turned around and saw Suika, who had one of her thumbs up.

“Don’t worry,” she coaxed. “I’m sure you’ll win. And for that, I’m not auditioning.”

Jopi shook her head at Suika. “Thanks, I guess?”

And with that, Jopi mentally prepared herself for the audition of a lifetime—at least, in her opinion.

★

The girls who tried out so far weren’t awful, per se.. Each girl Jopi knew that just about all of them were talented singers, in terms of tone, diction, and pitch. However, none of them seemed to really fit the vibe of “Popular.”

That was until Connie sang, and Jopi had to admit… she wasn’t half bad. In fact, she was pretty great.

She’s not exactly Adele or anything but she sure does have a powerful voice.

Two more auditions passed and it was finally Jopi’s turn. The girl had already nervously drawn the kanji for “pumpkin” on both hands and “ate” them. How much more prepared could she possibly be?

Mr. Iguchi looked at Jopi, who was currently centered in front of the piano and nodded, signaling it was her tone.

The first few notes of the songs plunked, and Jopi took a deep breath, one that was even deeper than the one she took that morning in the counseling office.

Let’s rock this.

Jopi opened her mouth, and—

“‘Standing in the rain, with his head hung low

Couldn't get a ticket… It was a sold-out show

Heard the roar of the crowd, he could picture the scene

Put his ear to the wall, then like a distant scream—’”

During that moment, all eyes were on her, which she wasn’t even aware of. She wasn’t aware of the fact that Mr. Iguchi stopped playing the piano right when she sang the first syllable.

In short, Jopi wasn’t aware that she was singing the wrong song.

She was in her own little world, one without Connie, where everyone acknowledged her, where Asuka and Behami were back in her class.

The place that she had called home.

“‘That one guitar

Felt good in his hands

Didn’t take long to understand’”

Then, at that point, a stage grew in the middle of the choir room, placing Jopi right in the middle of it, a large light being cast right on her.

I’m a star. I’m in control.

And now it was the chorus, her absolute favorite part of the song.

“‘Somebody gonna make it to the top

And be a

JUKE BOX HERO!

Got stars in his eyes…

HE’S A JUKE BOX HERO!’”

Fireworks exploded everywhere when she sang that, going off into the sky, which had opened when the chorus hit. Jopi had her hands up in the air like she was a rock star (which, at the moment, she felt like she actually was).

“‘Juke box hero

He’ll come alive… tonight.’”

That was when the realization hit her.

Ah.

When she sang the last word of the first chorus, she was faced with an almost deafening silence in the room—not the roaring applause that she’d heard in her daydream.

Wait… did I really just zone out like that?

Jopi’s vision went blurry for a second, so she closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was faced with about thirty girls, all sitting in their seats, open-mouthed, with their phones out.

Shit. They were recording me.

But yet again, who wouldn’t?

Mr. Iguchi cleared his throat. “So, um, are you done, Ms. Chiba? There are still two girls in line that haven’t auditioned yet.”

Right then, right there, was when Jopi realized that she had accidentally sung the first half of the wrong song in front of everyone in class.

There was no way she was going to get that big solo now.

★

Ean snorted. “You sang a Journey song in choir instead of whatever that other song was? That’s low, man! Low!”

Jopi’s face was so red that she looked like a tomato. “Y-yeah,” she mumbled, her voice reduced to just a ghostly whisper. “And after class, he said that I wasn’t getting the solo for sure. He said it wouldn’t be fair since, you know, I sang the wrong song.”

“Also Ean, the song Jopi sang is by Foreigner, not Journey. Ding!”

Foreigner. Foreigner…

Jopi erupted into laughter. “Foreigner! HAH! Geddit, because Connie’s one?! That’s genius, Jopi!”

Miharu, who was actually doing homework for once, shook her head slowly. “It’s official. Jopi has gone insane.”

★

When Jopi came home from school, the first thing she did was fall onto her bed, roll around, and let all her frustration out.

“AUGH! AUGH! UNNNF! ERRRR!”

The noises sounded akin to a puppy that wanted to go for a walk.

That was Jopi—a cute little dog who wanted to get her way.

After screaming into her pillow for a few minutes, Jopi calmed her breathing and tried clearing her mind.

Thank God Mom isn’t here, though. Otherwise, she’d burst through the door, demanding if I was alright.

Jopi then reached for the top drawer in her dresser for her old iPod Classic and turned it on. As it was loading, she grabbed a pair of her cheap yet comfortable headphones and immediately thought of what she wanted to listen to—the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

After the Apple logo went away, Jopi went to the Artists section, scrolled down and chose the Chili Peppers, and found the song that she wanted.

Hi-hats began to play in her headphones, and she cranked the volume up.

“‘She’s the one, she’s the only one…’”

It wasn’t a coincidence that the song was called “Make You Feel Better.” In fact, it was her go-to comfort song. Chad’s steady drums, Flea’s melodic bass, John’s crisp guitar, and Anthony’s smooth singing made her feel better.

It was as if the song was magic in its own right.

As the song ended and went into the title track of the album, “Stadium Arcadium,” Jopi settled on something that was floating around in her head for the past few hours:

I’m not gonna go back in time to redo my mistake. I’m just gonna roll with the punches.

And so, Jopi just about accepted that it was Connie’s destiny to sing the part in “Popular.”

★

The next day an improvement on the previous one, but not by much. In fact, the worst part of the day was already here.

Mr. Iguchi was going to pick the girl who was going to sing the solo in “Popular” … and it was pretty obvious as to whom it was going to be.

“Everyone, quiet down!” The teacher repetitively tapped the highest key on the piano to get the class’ attention—and, of course, the sound startled the majority of the girls, who were deep into vapid conversations. “So yesterday, I was going through the names, thinking very hard about who was going to get the solo…”

Bullshit.

“ … Ultimately, I decided on who should get the solo. And I think it’s fair…”

Bullshit! Bullshit! BULLSHIT!

Although Jopi accepted Connie’s win, it didn’t mean that she could still rage about it. (Think about her predicament as rooting for a football team that sucks and you know is going to lose the game and they do.)

“ … I think it’s fair to say that Haruka-san deserves the role.”

AUGH!!!!

As the girls squealed around her, Jopi clapped politely. As Connie sat back down in her seat after bowing, Jopi said something to her.

“I’m proud of you,” she said, smiling a small smile. “I wish you the best of luck with performing your solo.”

★

Two weeks passed, meaning that it was time for the Spring Concert.

Where did it take place? At the high school, since it was the first concert. (It should be a big show, you know?)

Jopi, from behind the curtains, studied the crowd, looking to see if her friends showed up—from both the middle school and high school.

Right in the first row towards the back, she saw them.

Bingo.

Mimori, Kasumi, Tomo, Mari, Naoko, Erica, Asuka, Behami, Ean, and Miharu were all there, sitting neatly in a row.

“It’s a full house out there,” she commented to Suika, who was right beside her.

“‘Everywhere you look,’” she said in a monotonous tone.

Mr. Iguchi then walked onto the stage, gesturing to the girls to get into place. As they did, the lights dimmed and the girls quieted down and straightened their posture.

The curtains opened, and the crowd applauded. Mr. Iguchi stepped up to the mic and began his speech in his usual bombastic voice.

“Welcome everyone, to the very first concert of the new school year! Tonight’s theme is ‘Star-studded’, so tonight, you will be hearing a bunch of songs by the biggest artists and the most iconic musicals.” Jopi could hear him smile as he spoke. “But to start us off, I have a surprise performance for the opening act, from one of my treble choir students. Please welcome, Josephine Chiba, singing ‘Juke Box Hero’ by Foreigner!”

What.

Jopi felt like she was going to choke on her own spit.

What?! Oh my God, what do I do, go out? (Well, duh.)

The applause began to feel deafening. She could hear Mimori’s blood-curdling scream from out in the audience, and her dad whooping and hollering as well.

Who did this?! Was it Connie? Why do I feel like it was Connie?!

Jopi got off the risers and walked up to the front of the stage, knees knocking and sweat pouring down her face. Looking behind her, she saw Mr. Iguchi at his piano.

I guess this is gonna be the ballad version, huh?

After she gulped, she took a deep breath and signaled for him to start playing.

“‘Standing in the rain

With his head hung low…’”

Her voice came out shaky at first, but as the song continued, her voice became steady and full of confidence. Sure, she certainly didn’t sound like the lead singer at all, but that was the point of a cover. You take an already-existing song and make it your own.

And that’s exactly what she did.

And she was rocking it.

“‘Juke box hero!

Juke box hero!

He’s got stars in his eyes!’”

Jopi had to admit, she felt like she had stars in her eyes, too. And for whatever reason, she decided to take a look behind her at the girls on the risers, and there was good ol’ Connie, head bobbing to the song. Jopi could have sworn that she saw the girl’s eyes watering.

Thank you, Connie. I really do appreciate you now.

“‘Stars in his eyes…!’”

The piano went into full staccato, and then…

Da-da-dun-da-dun-da-da-dun!

The crowd erupted into applause once more, and as Jopi got back into her spot, the girls all congratulated her.

“You did great!” “Awesome job!” “Great job!”

Then, a clear, high-pitched voice said cheerfully:

“See? I told you guys Jopi deserved this!”

Jopi’s face, which was already still a tad red, blushed even more.

“And that Josephine Chiba with ‘Juke Box Hero!’ How can we possibly top that one?!”

Connie will, Jopi decided in her mind. She deserves something, too.