Assigned Partners

Chapter 16

a/n: There's actually no trigger warning for this chapter :) Just fluff.

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The rest of the week from that point on was a bit of a blur. We had our performances in music class on Friday, and every chance we got, Normani and I were practising. I was scared, I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of my classmates. I managed to avoid any run-ins with Austin and Adrienne. Something was definitely weird about that. I didn't know why they didn't come approach me. Maybe they were scared of getting punched by Normani.

When Friday rolled around, I woke up that morning feeling sick to my stomach with nerves. I couldn't bring myself to eat breakfast, even the thought of it made me gag. Breathe Lauren, I though. Block out everyone today and pretend it's just you and Normani.

Thinking like that would probably help. Normani and I haven't spoken about what she said the other day about how we're not dating.. yet. I wanted talk about it, but that was one conversation that I was too nervous to start.

When I got to school, Normani was waiting for me out front of the building. She put her arm around my shoulders, so I put one of my arms around her waist.

"Ready for today?" she asked.

I shook my head."Nope.. Well, I am in the sense that I think we're prepared and good enough, but I'm not ready in the sense that I'm freaking the fuck out," I explained, and she nodded.

"You'll be great. I promise."

I wasn't so sure about that. We headed in to our class, and sat down with the other girls. Dinah threw her arms around me and smiled.

"Lauser, I'm excited to hear you and Mani. Mila, Ally and I are so unprepared, we're going to sound awful," she told me, earning a glare from Camila.

"Shut up Dinah, we're going to do fine," Camila told her, poking her in the side.

Dinah let go of me, and moved her arms around Camila, kissing her on the cheek playfully. "Yeah, you're probably right, Mila. But if you're wrong, I'm gonna kick your ass," she teased.

Ms. Callahan moved from her desk to the front of the room. She clasped her hands together and smiled at us. Ally being Ally, smiled back and turned to us, holding a finger to her lips, signalling that we needed to be quiet. The teacher cleared her throat, and the butterflies in my stomach only grew.

"Ariana, Justin, you're first. After you will be Camila, Dinah, and Ally," she said, and I breathed out with relief.

I was happy that we weren't first. Being first to go was so much pressure. You were the ones who set the bar, and you would either be who everyone had to measure up to, or you'd be the person who did the worst, having everyone after you do better. Being somewhere in the middle meant that it was unlikely that you'd be too memorable, but you'd still likely get clapped for.

Ariana and Justin got up and sang a duet, and they were pretty good. The bar was set high. When they finished, my friends went up. I wasn't sure what to expect. They were the only group of three due to the uneven number of students in the class. Camila strummed on the guitar, playing Mirrors by Justin Timberlake as the three of them sang the lyrics together. Their voices were really, really good. It made me nervous, knowing how many talented vocalists were in the class.

They finished, and Ms. Callahan pointed at Mani and I. Shit. I felt like I was going to faint. Normani took my hand and gave it a squeeze, which was kind of reassuring for me. I stood up, and let Normani lead me over to the piano. She grabbed a guitar and sat next to me. She gave a smile, and we started to play. I had the first verse before the chorus, so of course that made me more nervous.

"Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor.
Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?
For me it happens all the time."

I took a breath, thankful that I hadn't messed up. Normani's smile was bigger than it was before, and she joined me on the chorus.

"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without.
I just need you now."

I felt more at ease now as Normani began to sing on her own.

"Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door.
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?
For me it happens all the time."

We sang the rest of the song together, and I felt happier than I thought I would during this.

"It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without.
I just need you now.

Oh, whoa
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all.

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without.
I just need you now
I just need you now.
Oh, baby, I need you now."

I honestly didn't know how I had managed to make it through that. My hands were shaking after I finished playing, and the whole class was clapping. It felt good to be applauded liked that. Normani leaned closer to me, and I wasn't sure why. Next thing I knew, her lips were on mine. I reciprocated the kiss, and in that moment I forgot that we were still in class.

The kiss broke she looked at me with a smile. The rest of the class was staring at us, and my face went red.

"Mani.."

"I want to be with you," she told me.

"You shouldn't want to," I whispered.

"That's not true, but even if it were, I still want to call you mine, Lo.."

I grinned, kissing her again quickly.

"Then I'm yours."

This was the happiest I'd felt in a while. Nothing would be able to bring me down right now. She took my hand and we headed back to our seats where the other girls were.

"Damn Mani, bold move," Dinah commented, high fiving my girlfriend. That was such a cool thing to call her. My girlfriend.

"I'm so happy, y'all are so cute, it was just a matter of time," Ally said excitedly.

Camila looked really happy too, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders. I looked over at Normani and gave her hand a squeeze. This was turning out to be a better day than I could have hoped for.

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a/n: I hope you all liked this chapter! I know I did. I won't be able to update again for a couple of days because I'm leaving Friday morning to go camping and I won't be back until Sunday afteroon. So I'll likely update on Sunday night if I can, or sometime Monday :)