Littlest Pet Shop: High School AU

Chapter 51: Last Minute Disaster

"Alright everybody we've got thirty minutes until the show! You all looked great during rehearsals! There's a huge line just outside the auditorium and we'll start letting people inside in about fifteen. If anybody has any concerns or questions, come find me. I'm going to be doing some rounds and checking to make sure everything is in order!" Russell announced.

The students participating in the talent show cheered after the announcement and could simply just feel their excitement and anticipation grow stronger with each passing minute. Everyone was frantic backstage as they were getting ready, going through their routines, and making sure everything was in order. Russell stood in the center of the stage and looked up at the sound booth.

"Do some mic checks and audio checks, please!" Russell hollered across the auditorium. After receiving a thumbs up, the orange-haired teen smiled and nodded. He glanced down at his clipboard and put a tick by one of the things listed.

"Um... Russell," Delilah tapped the boy's shoulder and waited for him to acknowledge her.

"One moment, Delilah. Let me check a couple of the students first so I know they're ready," Russell spoke, writing things down on his clipboard. He headed backstage, and Delilah followed him. "Are the first five numbers backstage here and are you all ready?" He asked, looking around.

"We're here Russell!" Minka suddenly jumped out from behind Sunil, and caught his attention. Russell paused when he saw her and could feel his face redden almost immediately. She was wearing such a beautiful and flashy dress for the show. She was Sunil's magical assistant, after all, so it made sense. Sunil seemed to notice that Russell was suddenly love stricken, so he tried to shake the man out of his thoughts.

"Snap out of it! You have to keep doing checks!" Sunil told his friend.

"P-Pretty..." Russell mumbled to himself. That's when Sunil had to slap him across the face. "Ow!!" The orange-haired nerd hollered and held his face.

"Sorry. I had to," Sunil smiled sheepishly and released Russell from his hold.

"Haha! That was a good one, Sunil. Do it again!" Tangier laughed as he walked out of the back room where everybody was getting ready.

"Tangier? What are you doing here? You're not allowed backstage!" Russell hissed.

"Oh relax, Russell. I'm just wishing Cashmere and Velvet good luck on their performance. That's all," Tangier shrugged. He crossed his arms and glared at Russell for a moment. He was still mad he wasn't made a student judge.

Russell returned the glare, then glanced down at his watch. "Ugh, whatever. Just... don't linger too long. You look suspicious," he muttered. Before Russell started walking around to make more checks again, Delilah tapped his shoulder once again.

"Oi. Russell," she began. "I don't want to be a judge anymore. I want to be in the show. My girls and I prepared a song, and also we want to be first and all that."

Russell nearly dropped his clipboard after hearing that. He quickly clutched the item to his chest and lowered his headphones. "Delilah, PLEASE tell me you're joking..." he gave her a worried glance.

"I'm not and like, my girls and I prepared costumes and everything so yeah," Delilah shrugged.

"You couldn't have told me this earlier? Like, I don't know, weeks ago? There's an order to everything, Delilah! This also means that we'd be down one student judge!" Russell smacked a hand to his face. He could feel his blood pressure rising by the second. This was probably the worst thing Delilah could have sprung onto him last minute.

"Relax Russell. Just put us first, yeah?" Delilah smiled.

"Delilah, everyone here had to audition! It'd be unfair to not only put you in the show, but also first in the show. You do realize Sunil, your boyfriend, is the opening act? There's a reason why I made the order this way! I can't just slap a singing number at the beginning!" Russell ran a hand over his face and then rubbed his forehead.

"Sure you can, Russell! 'Sides. My girls and I have the talent to be here so it's not that big of a deal, yeah?"

"Oh my my my! You're down a student judge? If only there were somebody here willing to take Delilah's place!" Tangier let out a fake gasp as he leaned against Russell, who was clearly not in the mood for this. Russell was beginning to feel a headache.

"Tangier, not now. Delilah, why? Why didn't you say you wanted to be in the show earlier?" Russell looked to Delilah and gave her a pleading look.

"You were busy," she simply answered.

"Russell, I think you're overthinking things. I don't see why she can't be in the show," Sunil shrugged. "Although you are kind of giving him a heart attack, Delilah," he suddenly turned to his girlfriend and rose a brow. "Also, why do you want to be first?"

"Oh, Suni. I just want my act to be over and done with, that's all," Delilah giggled. "And yeah like, it isn't that hard to put me and my girls in."

Russell looked back and forth between the two, breathing heavily. Minka placed a hand on top of the boy's head, and he was beginning to slowly calm down. After closing his eyes for a brief moment, he exhaled, then snapped opened his eyes and turned his head towards Tangier.

"You... You can be a stupid judge," Russell began, speaking in a surprisingly calm tone of voice that made everyone a bit uneasy. He approached the model and grabbed him by the ascot. "You can be a judge on THESE VERY SPECIFIC CONDITIONS: you will be fair and you will not be cruel nor bring others down with your words and actions. If you go against these conditions in any way, I will not hesitate to get Penny Ling," he leaned in close. It took a lot of restraint inside of him to not slam Tangier's stupid grinning face into the ground. After another moment of letting Tangier process his words, Russell let the man go and dusted himself off.

Without saying anything else, Russell stormed off to finish doing his checks. There was no more time to do anything else or say anything else about the matter except hope that things would be just fine. Maybe he was overthinking things, but for now, he just needed some water. Or a long nap.

"Delilah, perhaps you should have told him this earlier, yes? Also, I had no idea you wanted to be in the show," Sunil rose a brow at her.

"I thought about it and like, it looked like fun. Plus, I wanted to show my talent too," Delilah shrugged. "Anyways, I better get ready, yeah?" She smiled and gently placed a hand on Sunil's cheek. He gave her a weak smile and then frowned as he watched her walk away. Oh well.

—

Tangier happily sat himself down beside Shahrukh and gave him a little wave. "Seems like I'm the new judge now! It's about time, too," he chuckled and shook his head. When he looked over at Shahrukh, he frowned seeing that the movie star wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to him.

"Who are you again?" Shahrukh rose a brow at the model.

—

"Okay... okay... it's fine... five minutes until the show starts... the auditorium is filling up nicely... there are no other issues," Russell paced back and forth backstage, and then let out another deep exhale.

"Russell, I think the show will be great!" Pepper attempted to cheer him up.

"Of course it will. It's got us in it," Vinnie smiled some.

"Yes it will be absolutely fabulous and you've done such a great job putting it all together. You really must give yourself some credit here, Russell. Just relax," Zoe smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. Russell looked over his shoulder at all his friends and smiled some.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. You're right. The show will be just fine," Russell sighed and stood up straight. He watched as Delilah and her friends took their place on stage, and then smiled. Everything will be fine, he thought to himself.

Once the music started and Delilah and her friends began singing, Russell's clipboard clattered to the ground. His eyes widened, and he immediately looked back towards Zoe.

Zoe had kept her hand on Russell's shoulder, and as she continued to watch Delilah, her grip tightened by the second.

"Are... Are they singing MY song???"