𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆

Chapter 8: Trying Out

I walked into my art class. Veneer was already in his seat, but when I walked in he looked up and grinned.

"Hey." He said as I sat down, putting his phone away.

"Hey." I laugh a bit, blushing.

"I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?" He asked, his voice and face twisted in concern.

"Um, yeah. I'm alright. People like that just... really piss me off." I say.

"Yeah. Homophobics suck." He agreed.

I chuckle. "Yeah."

He laughs. "Yeah. So... you, are gay? Like they weren't confusing you with someone else?" He asks.

"Uh... yeah. Why?" I ask.

"N-no reason!" He says flusteredly.

I laugh. "Are you blushing?"

"Um, NO!" He turns his head away, his face the color of spaghetti sauce.

I laugh. "If you say so."

After that, most of the day went by without any problems. I have gym every-other-day so I didn't have to deal with that. And eventually choir rolled around.

"Alright! Today we are going to do solo auditions!" Mr. Bubble began the lesson.

Leaf and Velvet were both whispering, but when he said this, they looked up, their faces laced with interest.

"And I would also like to add, there are only five solos available, and you all aren't the only class trying out, so if you don't get a part, I'm just gonna say, suck it up and deal with it." He said, hands on his hips.

"Hey, Ritz!" Sally whispered.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Two things. One. I freaking knew it!" She smirked.

"Knew what?" I asked.

"That Veneer was gonna ask you to the dance!" She squealed. A little too loudly.

A few people in the class looked over at us and Mr. Bubble narrowed his eyes at us. His way of saying: "Keep it down."

Snickers went through the class as he continued. I turned to Sally. "You had to  be so loud?"

"Sorry. I was excited." She laughed.

"How did you even know that Veneer asked me to the dance?" I ask.

"Um, Velvet told Leaf, who told Nick, who told me." She explains.

"Oh. Interesting." I say.

"Yeah. Anyways, Second thing, you should do a solo!" She squeals, a bit quieter than before.

"What!? No!" I whisper-yell.

"YES!" She whispers back.

"I- no way. I'm not even good at singing. There are two reasons I'm in this class, one, it's an easy A. Two, I just like singing. But I'm not doing a solo." I say.

"Prove it." Sally says.

"What am I proving?" I asked.

"That you can't sing." She smirked.

I panic. I froze. There was a reason I didn't want to do a solo. And it was that, I kind of had stage fright. I can sing with a group, but not alone in front of like fifty people. The truth is, I can sing, but my stage fright keeps people from knowing it. The only people I was comfortable singing in front of were my moms and sisters.

"Well?" Sally prods.

My jaw shook with fear. I couldn't even speak right then. I just sat there.

"Uh, Ritz? You good?" Velvet looks over.