Another World (Scömìche/Superfruit)

Chapter 33 - Competition Time

*Mitch's POV*

Scott and I stood waiting in the hotel of the lobby for all of the other students to arrive so that we could make our way over to the convention centre. I was dreading the journey; although short, it would feel like a marathon on my crutches. After a small wait, Miss Kirkland called the roll to make sure everyone was present before we headed out the doors of the hotel and towards to venue.

The rest of the choir were chatting happily to pass time on the short walk, but I was finding it hard to breathe let alone talk. A few minutes after we had begun, Scott took matters into his own hands and took my backpack before scooping me up and carrying me bridal style the rest of the way. I was surprised by his actions but apparently all of Scott's 'friends' were too cool to be part of any extra school based activities and none of them had joined. He still hung out with them in classes and at lunchtime but I could tell from across the room he wasn't that happy. I understand why he has to keep his private life from his friends because being gay is basically a death wish at school but I know he would be so much better off without them.

After what seemed like a lifetime but was only about 10 minutes, we arrived at the practice room of the Convention Centre to warm up our voices and make sure we all knew what we were doing; if we didn't by now though I would be a little worried. We've been practicing non-stop since it was announced that we were going to be attending this competition and we sounded pretty good.

Now that my leg was a little stronger I was able to stand in my usual position in the risers with the help of my crutches. If anything went wrong though, Scott would be standing right beside me to help me out. The competition consisted of two days and two performances from each of the participating groups. The first day, each of the choirs were required to perform a classic hit of their choice and on the second day, we were allowed to sing whatever we had previously arranged. For our classic hit, we would be performing "Hey Jude" by The Beatles and for our second performance we have been working on a sort of mash up of all of our favourite songs at the moment. Not many groups choose to do compilations as some judges don't like the idea of mixing different songs together but I think it'll make us stand out.

We continued to practice for a good hour before we were ushered backstage to wait for our turn. My stomach began to do flips as it usually did; I had competed before but being on stage in front of so many people still made me incredibly nervous. I grabbed Scott's hand for comfort and luckily he didn't let go.

*Scott's POV*

Mitch grabbed my hand and I squeezed back, hoping the simple gesture would help to calm his nerves slightly. Of course I was nervous too as this was my first performance in front of a crowd. We had practiced a lot and I was confident wit the ability of the choir but I was still a little scared that I would mess up.

The announcers voice boomed through the speakers as the crowd clapped for the previous group. A group of high school students passed us as they came off the stage, chatting excitedly to each other.
"Up next we have the students from Martin High School performing the classic hit by The Beatles, Hey Jude." Once again, the crowd clapped as we emerged from backstage and arranged ourselves on the choir risers.

The background music started and we all started singing in perfect pitch and harmony. I glanced to Mitch a few times throughout the performance to remind myself who and what I was doing this for and it made me feel more confortable on stage. I hadn't noticed but by the end of the performance, Mitch and I were holding hands once more. I smiled as the audience clapped and we made our way off stage to meet Miss Kirkland.

"Absolutely awesome guys!" Miss Kirkland exclaimed happily. "I think that is the best I've heard you perform it this year." The whole group smiled and broke out into quiet chatter, waiting to speak a little louder until we arrived back at our rehearsal room where we wouldn't disturb any other groups.

We gathered in the room and took a seat on the floor; well on a chair for Mitch. Miss Kirkland clapped her hands to gain our attention and slowly but surely the talking died down to silence.
"Great job today guys! I am so proud of you for going out there and doing your absolute best and I hope you are all pleased with yourselves. I think our song choice really impressed the judges and I'm excited to hear your performance tomorrow. If you sing like you just did I'm sure you'll be in the running for first place."

The whole group started talking once again about the performance as we grabbed out possessions and were led out of the room to make our way back to the hotel. Once we had gotten outside, I squatted down in front of Mitch and motioned for him to get on my back.
"What are you doing Scott?" Mitch giggled out of delight.
"Just get on, dummy," I replied jokingly, putting my arms behind me and waiting for Mitch to hop on. He struggled slightly as he was trying to keep his injured leg straightened but eventually he managed. I felt Mitch's arms tighten around my neck slightly as he was holding on and it made me incredibly happy to know that we could muck around and do whatever we wanted without anyone judging us.

*Mitch's POV*

The journey back to the hotel felt much shorter than the first trip, but that was only because Scott was carrying me. I was thankful that he didn't even think twice about helping me on the walk back and that we were able to be ourselves on this trip.

As soon as we arrived back at the hotel, it was announced that we had free time to do whatever we please, with the only rule being that we had to stay in the hotel and report back to Miss Kirkland before we were going to bed. Now that Scott and I were roommates, there were a thousand things that I wanted to do with him but I don't want to be too forward about it. I decided I wouldn't bring it up unless things began to go that way.

Scott and I made our way up to the room, but we took a little longer than other people and when we arrived, Kirstie and her roommate were standing out the front waiting for us.
"Hey guys!" she exclaimed happily. "I thought we could hang out for a few hours since we have free time. It's okay if Hannah chills with us, isn't it?" She asked, gesturing to the girl beside her.
"Of course!" I spoke up, not sure what Scott's reaction would be, especially since both of the girls were seniors and knew about Scott's 'reputation.' I grabbed the room key and used it to the open the door, letting Scott and the girls inside.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Kirstie piped up once we were all inside.
"You tell me Kirst, you're the one who wanted to hang out!" I laughed and raised an eyebrow at her, causing the blonde girl to giggle softly.
"How about spin the bottle? That's good harmless fun right?" I rolled my eyes and death stared Kirstie but she didn't seem to notice.
"Uh, maybe not. We don't really have enough people," I tried my hardest to get out of it but I could tell there was going to be a way around it somehow.
"Ah, that's no problem!" Kirstie hurried out of the room and Scott and I were left alone with Hannah, being forced to make small talk with the girl we hardly knew. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and when Scott opened it, almost the rest of the choir were standing in the hallway.
"Some of them didn't want to play, so they stayed in their rooms," Kirstie explained as kids were filing into the room. There was hardly enough space for them all but we managed to move enough furniture so that we could all sit in a slightly out of shape circle. Kirstie pulled an empty bottle from god knows where and placed it in the middle of the circle, ready to begin the game. This is not going to be fun.

A/N - I know this chapter is extremely late and pretty short but writers block is literally the devil. Hopefully the next few chapters will be waaay more interesting for you. I've mostly been writing fillers lately and I know it sucks but they need to happen so that there aren't gaps in the story.

My chapterly obsession is the fact that I am graduating tomorrow! I can't believe I've made it all the way through high school. Let me know your chapterly obsession in the comments and don't forget to vote if you like the chapter. Also, if you want to be notified when I update make sure you follow me so you can read it as soon as it is posted. Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you're having a lovely morning/day/night!

- Abby xx