Sweet Till The End

10 - Show Stoppin Number

"Welcome to the 2019 Regionals Singing Competition!"

Applause erupted throughout the hall as the man standing on stage welcomed everyone. While we all quietened down again, the host of the day explained the outline and rules of the competition. Yep, today was the Regionals Singing Competition.

It had been a few months since Jellal and I had our promised beach date and ever since then, we've been very happy together and things have been going smoothly. There were many rehearsals for our choir and we have improved immensely. I used to sound like a dying cat but now... I sounded like a cat with a paper cut. We could definitely win this. (Five points to Erza for optimism.)

The location for the competition was a huge theatre hall where each singing group had their own designated seats in the audience amongst the people just watching. I was surprised to see that almost the whole room was full. We even got some of our friends from high school to come.

Once the host, who was called Present Mic, finished his speech, the auditorium burst into applause. Basically, there were ten groups and they would each perform two songs. The three judges would rate each performance and at the end of the day, they would award the top three groups a trophy and first place moves on to the Nationals Singing Competition.

"Now, put your hands together for the Sabertooth Sirens!" Present Mic shouted.

I clapped along with everyone as a line of girls and boys walked on stage. They stood in a symmetrical formation with their heads bowed to the floor. As the music started, their heads whipped up in unison and the sweetest sounds came from their mouths. It was like listening to angels, or sirens – no wonder that's their name. They were also mostly girls. The first song was a slow, soothing tune, but the second one was a very upbeat and hard-core song.

With their intimidating performance to start the competition, I feared we wouldn't be able to win. The other groups were probably just as good or better. This means my chance of winning the bet with Ajeel is slowly dying – along with my optimism.

Speaking of Ajeel, he was sitting right behind me. At the end of Sabertooth's show stopping numbers, Ajeel decided to tap my shoulder and annoy me.

"Hey, Erza," he hissed. "You ready to sink into quicksand?"

I scrunched my nose up at his weirdness. "That is a strange metaphor."

I faced the stage and pretended to be really into the show so Ajeel would get the idea that I didn't want to talk to him anymore. Unfortunately, he ignored me ignoring me and kept on pestering me. He pushed my shoulder roughly.

"We're gonna kick your ass," he whispered menacingly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, you're not. But can you please stop annoying me? I'm trying to watch the other teams."

"We're the only team you need to worry about. We're going to destroy you."

"You've been saying that over and over again. If you have nothing else to say, then shut up," whispered back.

"Come on, babe. Don't be like that."

Jellal, who was sitting me, noticed how mad I was starting to look. He turned around in his seat to face Ajeel.

"Excuse me?" my fiancé said to the dark skinned boy. "Can you please be quiet? Some people are trying to watch a show."

"Who are you? Some kind of blueberry?" Ajeel sneered at Jellal.

"I'm Jellal, Erza's fiancé."

Ajeel's mouth curved into a cruel smirk. "So, you're the famous fiancé, huh? Too bad you won't be for long. Your school will be nothing when we're done with it."