Chapter 6

At that moment, Ersel felt a little nervous upon hearing the choirmaster call his own name. He stood up and trembled with nervousness.

[It's finally my turn.] Ersel thought while trembling in nervousness.

“Hey, Ersel,” Van called.

Ersel turned around and looked at Van, with the former looking directly at the latter's eyes.

“You can do it,” Van encouraged while smiling gently. “Just believe in yourself."

Ersel paused and gazed at Van’s eyes for a few seconds, then the former gained a little confidence upon absorbing the latter’s encouraging words within the former's ego. Ersel then nodded and smiled back at his friend.

“Yeah, you're right,” Ersel answered with a confident smile. “I can do this. Thanks, Van.”

"No problem, man," Van answered while grinning at Ersel from ear to ear.

Afterwards, Ersel proceeded to get up the stage while he was also trying his best to fight his nervousness before he finally came up at the stage while everyone else was watching him.

“Hi, Ersel” the choirmaster greeted while smiling gently. “So, what will you be singing?”

“I’ll be singing ‘In Your Eyes’ by George Benson,” Ersel replied with his voice quivering slightly.

“Well then, please go ahead,” the choirmaster commanded. “Good luck!”

While still feeling a little nervous, Ersel did his best in singing his piece in the most heartfelt way. Although he was experienced in singing in a choir, he has rarely sung solo in front of many people, making him somewhat insecure with his singing skills and abilities.

While watching Ersel singing at the stage, Lino was also surprised with how good Ersel was in singing. He does not remember if he had ever heard Ersel singing back when they were children. Ersel’s singing voice was definitely higher than his own singing voice, but it was also deep enough to enable Ersel to become a bass.

[I didn’t expect him to be this good.] Lino thought in admiration while watching Ersel singing. [Looks like he was trained in singing very well.]

After Ersel finished singing, he saw Van smiling and giving a thumbs up gesture at the former, making the former feel at ease.

“That was great!” the choirmaster exclaimed while clapping. “Judging from your voice, I believe you are able to either be a bass or a tenor. Am I right?”

“Yes,” Ersel replied with an innocent smile and a nod.

“Then I’ll be assigning you to be a tenor,” the choirmaster declared merrily. “Just in case we don’t have enough basses, I will assign you to that.”

“Okay, understood.” Ersel answered while smiling innocently. “Thank you,” Ersel said with a smile with the choirmaster smiling back at the former.

After bowing, Ersel went down from the stage to get back to his seat.

“The last one is...Van Matthew Resurreccion!” the choirmaster said out loud. “Please come to the stage now!”

[Okay, it's my turn now.] Van thought upon hearing the choirmaster mentioned the former's name before the former stood up and headed for the stage.

While Van was walking towards the stage, he gently patted Ersel’s back and, while smiling, said, “You did very well, man. It’s my turn now.”

Ersel smiled back at Van and said, “Thanks, Van! Good luck!”

Van smiled back at Ersel before the former proceeded to head for the stage and the latter proceeded to go back to his seat.

Once Van was on the stage, the choirmaster asked the former the same question. Ersel could tell that Van was pretty confident and showed no sign of nervousness.

“Hi, Van!” the choirmaster greeted. “So, what will you be singing?”

“It’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Elvis Presley,” Van replied while smiling gently at the choirmaster.

“Oh, that’s one of my favorite songs,” the choirmaster commented cheerfully. “Then, please go ahead and sing it!”

Van nodded and began to sing. Just as Ersel expected, Van’s singing voice was low and deep since the latter's speaking voice was also deep. Although, compared to Lino’s voice, Van’s voice was slightly thinner and lighter. Considering Van’s singing skills, Ersel could tell that the former was much more experienced than the latter was in singing.

After Van finished his piece, the choirmaster looked satisfied and said, “You also pass! I’ll assign you to be a bass!”

“Understood,” Van answered and smiled gently at the choirmaster. “Thank you.”

Van proceeded to get down from the stage and get back to his seat beside Ersel.

"Nice one, Van!" Ersel said cheerfully while giving a high five at Van.

"Thanks, man!" Van said joyfully. "You also did well."

"Well, thanks to you, I managed to overcome my nervousness," Ersel replied while smiling innocently.

"That's great!" Van said in a jolly manner before both he and Ersel sat down.

After a few moments, the choirmaster went up the stage and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Hi, everyone! First of all, my name is Aaron Jude Magbanua and I would like to welcome all those fifteen students who passed the auditions for the Soul Chorale!” the choirmaster announced cheerfully. “You can all just call me ‘Aaron’. Nice to meet you all, guys. As your choirmaster, I hope that we’ll all get along really well with one another. Thank you very much for auditioning today! We’ll begin with practices starting next week at 5:00PM! Any questions?”

A female student raised her hand.

“Yes, what’s your question, miss?” Aaron asked while looking at the female student who raised her hand.

“Where will the practices be?” the female student asked out loud.

“It will be in the Chorale Room at Tydings Hall,” Aaron answered. “Also, our practices are every Wednesday and Thursday from 5:00PM to 7:00PM. Any more questions or concerns?”

Nobody raised a hand.

“Okay, so I guess we’re all good,” Aaron declared with a smile.

After going down from the stage, Aaron handed out a piece of yellow pad paper to one of the students.

“Everyone, please write your names and contact numbers on this sheet,” Aaron announced before passing the paper on to the students.

After all of the students wrote down their names and contact numbers on the sheet of yellow pad paper, Aaron got the paper back and said while smiling, “Alright, everyone! That’s all for today! Thank you very much! You may go now!”

While preparing to leave the auditorium, Ersel saw the tall and handsome guy named Lino who was walking towards the door.

[If I remember correctly, his full name is Lino Bryan Marciano.] Ersel thought while looking at Lino. [But I think I've heard his name somewhere before. But when? And where?]

After thinking for a moment, Ersel finally remembered that it was the full name of his childhood best friend Lino.

[That’s right!] Ersel thought upon remembering Lino's full name. [That’s Lino’s full name! Could that guy be…]

“Van,” Ersel called, making Van, who was arranging his things in his bag, look at the former directly. “I’ll be going ahead. Let’s meet outside the auditorium."

“Okay,” Van replied with a grin as Ersel rushed towards the door.

[Why is he in a rush?] Van thought with a puzzled look while watching Ersel running towards the exit of the auditorium.

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Lino was already outside the auditorium when he heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind.

“Hey, wait!” Ersel called from behind Lino.

Lino was sure that he himself was the one being called so he turned around and saw Ersel panting because of the running that the latter did to catch up to the former.

“What is it?” Lino asked while looking at Ersel with a piercing glare like what the former did to the latter a few times before.

While gasping for breath, Ersel said, “There’s...something I need to know. Do I know you? Have we met before?”

Lino, who was anticipating for this event to happen, was not surprised with the turn of events.

[So he realized that my name sounded familiar.] Lino thought while staring at Ersel with a serious facial expression. [I won’t let him know who I am for now. Just as I planned, I'll pretend that I'm someone else.]

“No,” Lino answered coldly. “I believe that this is the first time we’ve met.”

“But your full name is ‘Lino Bryan Marciano’, right?” Ersel asked with his eyes looking somehow desperate.

“Yes," Lino answered seriously with a nod. "What about it?”

“That’s the full name...of my childhood friend Lino whom I suddenly left ten years ago,” Ersel answered. “I’m Ersel. By any chance...are you my childhood friend Lino?”

Lino’s eyes narrowed with anger and thought, [I won't let you know who I really am, Ersel!]

“I’ve already told you that this is the first time we’ve met,” Lino replied with a piercing glare. “You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

“I-Is that so?” Ersel asked with an embarrassed look on his face. “You look a lot like him, though. I’m really sorry.”

[Yeah, that’s it.] Lino thought angrily. [You’re still just as gullible as before, Ersel.]

“Okay,” Lino answered coldly. “Apology accepted, but I’ve got to go now. Don’t follow me.”

Lino then turned his back on Ersel and walked away.

Ersel, who was following Lino with his own gaze, still felt that there was something weird.

[I really might have been mistaken.] Ersel thought while looking at Lino who was walking farther and farther away. [But still...something’s not right. Are you really my childhood friend Lino? I still feel that it’s really you. If it’s really you, why did you lie to me?]