Undercover Star

♪ Twenty-Seven ♪

Tuesday was our first choir practice after my solo the Sunday before. The group was still talking about it, and many of them wanted me to do another one the upcoming week. Luckily, Summer told them I couldn't.

"We are going to have a lot of songs between mass and the party. We want to keep simple ones for the mass. But maybe he'll do one at the party."

"We'll see," I said, forcing a smile.

Summer handed out the music, and we got right to work. The songs really were simple, and short, and I was very thankful for this. They were easy to work with, and we got them to sound amazing.

"Wow," Summer and I said at the same time. She flashed me a smile, before continuing. "We sound great. Imagine how great the party is going to go next week!"

"I'm excited," Marie said, nodding. "I got a new dress and everything."

"What songs are we going to sing?" Thomas asked.

"I am going to pick them out tomorrow," Summer told the group. "Then we can practice them with the other songs from now until then."

"I smell a Jesse solo!" Marie exclaimed. "Or perhaps a Summer and Jesse duet?"

I smiled slightly, just as Summer said, "He and I will talk about it tomorrow."

I looked at her. She seemed to simply shoo the idea away, like she didn't want it to happen. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about that, but it certainly didn't feel good. It made me wonder if Harley and her were close again, or something worse he could have done.

The rest of the practice ran smoothly, and luckily, the topic of our duet didn't come up again. I couldn't say exactly how I felt on the whole idea. Everything with Harley was filling my head, and I didn't have room to think about anything else. I wished he didn't have so much control over me, but that's exactly what he wanted.

***

It felt like things were okay for a moment when Summer and I were left alone in the church. I knew things were not normal, though, when she smiled apologetically.

"I'm really sorry, Jesse, about yesterday," she said. I could tell it was a real, genuine apology, but it was also as if she had been thinking about it for a while. I hated that I made her feel like I deserved an apology.

"It's okay," I said quickly, not wanting her to continue.

"It wasn't fair of me to leave you alone with him. I know you don't like him, and I understand why. He just forced me to," she continued, despite me trying to stop her. "And then at the end, I left you there. I'm so sorry."

I knew that Summer was the type of person to let a small thing seem like a huge problem. I didn't deserve it, and she didn't know that. I had to make sure she realized that without realizing who I was. I wasn't ready to tell her, mostly because I was afraid.

"Don't worry about it," I said, shrugging to emphasize. The fact that she apologized was enough.

"You know you mean more to me than they do," she said, making my breathing hitch for a second.

I smiled slightly, not able to think of the right words to respond with.

"That being said," she went on, a sheepish smile coming to her lips. "I completely understand if you don't want to help with the party anymore."

I was about to take up her offer and never see that barn again until the party, but something stopped me. It would be like handing Harley a golden ticket to ruin my life and my chances with Summer. I couldn't let that happen.