𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐘 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 | ✔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐞𝐲

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧
━━ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒆𝒚

The hour had arrived. Everybody was in the cafeteria waiting for Miss Jenn to enter the room and face her hearing. All the kids that had been at Big Red's the previous night were scattered all throughout the instance, in their assigned places waiting for the cue to start the show. They could not help but look at each other nervously, palms sweating and fingers fidgeting. Some of them were focused on a string from their ripped pants, others were biting their nails... They needed this to work, they needed Miss Jenn to stay. No one could lead the show like she did.

Even the parents wanted this teacher to stay, with some of them such as Mister Bowen and one of Nini's moms intervening in favour of the woman, even if the principal had told them to stay quiet. They had seen so happy their respective children were since the teacher arrived and they did not want that to stop.

In the middle of the hearing, Kourtney started humming, making everyone look around them confused. The rest of the teenagers followed her and started humming as well while she played music on a boombox. The show had started.

The cafeteria soon transformed into a dance floor and the choreography started. They moved in synchrony throughout the whole space, jumping on tables, twirling and moving Miss Jenn around, just as they had planned and practiced the night before.

"She stands for truth, justice and songs in our key, she stands for us and we believe," everybody sang together, making jazz hands at Miss Jenn and breathing heavily due to the effort they had just made. The choreography was lively but, all through it, they had not even noticed the pain on their backs from sleeping on the floor the previous night. They were too focused on what was at stake.

As soon as they finished, every parent stood up and started clapping at the act they had just pulled, which made of all them smile. They were not sure whether their act would have consequences, but seeing the support they were receiving made it all worthy. The clapping got even louder as someone who they recognized, although they did not know from where, asked how she could snatch tickets for opening night, making it clear that Miss Jenn was staying at East High.

Everybody started hugging each other (needless to say that Ava and Lisa took it as an opportunity to hug Ricky, maybe longer than necessary) and Juliette ran to E.J., who picked her up and spun her around while congratulating her.

"I didn't know you could sing like that!"

"I took singing lessons when I was younger," she admitted once she was on the floor again.

"You should join the next musical," E.J. proposed, looking down at her.

"Hey, who knows? Maybe I will," she giggled and turned around to see Nini waiting to hug her as well. Both girls ran to each other and melted in a hug while laughing from pure happiness on each other's ears. Nini had just performed a solo that deserved recognition. The girl had talent. But they were not together for long, since they had many people yet to hug. After her came Gina, Seb and Carlos.

Once Juliette thought the hugs had finished, she realized that there was still one left.

"Hey," she heard someone behind her, "you did amazing out there."

The girl, however, did not say a word and simply hugged him with a huge smile on her face. The boy picked her up from the floor, making her giggle in his ear. At that moment, Ricky felt his legs falter, that had been like music for his ears. He could not contain anymore so he put her down and kissed her, there and then in front of everyone, making the whole room fall silent.