"Catch you dudes later!" Luna exclaimed, waving back to Sam and her fellow rockmates.

She grabbed her guitar from her locker and made her way to the music department of the school. Nothing like jamming on some sweet tunes after a long boring day of school before heading home. Passing halfway from the choir room, she halted to a muffled but familiar melody on the piano followed by lyrical vocals just behind the doors. Luna peeked through the door's slim glass window to see who was inside.

Sitting at the grand piano and tapping at the keys was a boy about his height, seeing him more than enough times during her school year. He wore a grey hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, navy jeans and black sneakers. His hair was slightly tall and curled in a faint shade of brown. Over his eyes were a pair of dark orange glasses with light blue lenses, almost giving off an Elton John vibe. Luna knew him from their music class last semester, going by the name Jamie. Most of the students who took music knew he was exceptional at playing the piano. In fact, most of the music he played for everyone were covers of rock songs despite the teacher's more sophisticated taste in music; and Luna admired that. She wasn't so bad at the keyboard herself, but she had to admit, she wasn't as good as him.

With no hurry to go home, she stayed behind and kept watch, eyeing his fingers tapping at the keys while his upper body swayed back and forth like a demon of rock possessed him. He was playing with a deep passion like a true musician should.

Wait a minute… Luna thought, squinting her eyes upon a closer look above his chin.

Were his lips moving? Her brows suddenly raised with intrigue. Seeing many of his performances in class, she never took him for a singer. Curiosity got the better of her, reaching for the knob and turning it carefully. She bit her lip, closed her eyes tight, and prayed that the undesired creak of the door wouldn't give her away. Relieved that Jamie hadn't sensed her presence, she pushed the door inward. A tiny crack of the door let out a blast of music in Luna's face while she slipped herself in, undetected by the high volume in the room. She hid behind the choir stands and continued to watch Jamie from afar. Inside, she easily recognized the tune he was playing. Anyone who listened to old classic Rock n' Roll knew this song on the spot.

A personal favorite and a revolutionary enigma: Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Jamie had his laptop laid on top of the piano with the track running, hooked to the main speakers of the room to play along. His fingers softly hit the keys, playing out the iconic intro for the second verse, his lips before a microphone while mouthing along with the late Freddie Mercury's voice echoing from the speakers.

"Too late… my time has come… Sends shivers down my spine; body's aching all the time."

I guess he's just lip-synching. Luna thought, much to her disappointment. From afar, however, if she didn't know any better, she could notice how well the voice matched him perfectly, as if he was singing exactly like Freddie. But what were the chances of that happening?

"Good-bye, everybody… I've got to go… Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth!" The legendary voice swooned many people, including Luna herself. She too felt herself lost in the song. Her hips swayed back and forth to Roger Taylor's steady beats on the drums and cymbals. "Mamaaaaaa! Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooooooooohhh!"

"Anyway the wind blows…" sang the backing vocals.

"IIIII don't wanna diiiieeee! I sometimes wish I'd never been born at aaaaaall!"

Then came her favorite part. She took her hands and air guitared to Brain May's solo. He was one of her role models when it came to playing the guitar along with Slash and Eddie Van Halen. In her spare time, she would practice the solo in the garage. She struck the imaginary strings with a passion, imagining herself performing the solo on stage in front of a roaring crowd.

Then came the upcoming climax of the composition with the start of the piano, Jamie repeated hitting two keys just before he started to lip-synch again.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man. Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango? Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening me!"

The suspenseful operatic section drew Luna in as well as the always humorous calls to Galileo, her inner rock star urging her to join the fun. She approached Jamie from behind stealthily.

"I'm just a poor boy, and nobody loves me…" With luck on her side, her footsteps were drowned out by the track, but ceasing her steps just one mere foot away from him. "He's just a poor boy from a poor family! Spare him his life from this monstrosity!" Jamie continued to hit the keys with the beat as Luna kept air guitaring. She joined in, lip-synching for the background vocals.

"Easy come, easy go. Will you let me go? Bismillah! No! We will not let you go!"

The backing vocals cried out with Luna mouthing them. "Let him go!"

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!"

"Let him go!"

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!"

"Let me go!"

It was coming: the coup de gras of the composition. The flames of rock lit within the two, playing with a burning passion. Luna raised her arms high and rocked her head forward. She joined Jamie in the song's climax as he pounded the keys to follow.

"Oh mama mia, mama mia! Mama mia, let me go! Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me! For me! FOR MEEEEEE!" To the last verse, Luna let her voice out, singing in a great but startling falsetto.

A sudden chill ran up Jamie's spine as he heard a voice behind him. The burning passion turned into a frozen pick, striking him still as his piano playing and lip-synching came to an abrupt halt. The song went to its break of guitar and bass rifts and drums just as he turned around to find Luna behind him banging her head. Letting out a girlish yelp, he jumped, and along with the bench, he tumbled to the floor on his back.

Luna heard a loud thud and stopped her head bangs. She let out a gasp as she looked down to Jamie, staring up at her with spooked eyes. "You okay, dude?!" she shouted over the music.

"W-what are you doing in here?!" he exclaimed in heavy pants.

Luna merely chuckled, offering a hand to help him up. "Just rockin' your jam session, bro!"

Jamie went to reach for it, but his ears caught the song to where the next verse should've been sung. Mercury's voice wasn't there, and Luna seemed to notice it also.

"Crap!" He bolted up from the floor and reached for his laptop, tripping on the bench. His chest landed on the piano keys, blaring out distorted and off-key notes. With his finger pressed the touchpad, the video was paused, silencing the room. He closed his laptop and sighed with exhaustion.

Luna tilted her head, her puzzled gaze locked onto the frantic boy. "Hold on. Was that an instrumental?" she asked, pointing to his laptop.

Jamie's eyes widened as he blocked his computer from sight. An awkward smile grew on his face while a drop of sweat rolled down his cheek. "Uh, no! W-what makes you think that...?" He squeezed his hands tight behind his back, almost to the verge of twisting his fingers off. At least that was what it felt like. Luna peeked over to his computer, only for him to lean in with her, blocking it from her view.

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. He was hiding something, and she was going to find out one way or another. "Dude, I've been rocking to that song since I was seven. I know an instrumental when I hear one."

Sweat continued to roll down Jamie's face. He was backed into a corner, or in this case, the piano. "Don't know what you're talking about…"

"C'mon, Jamie. You can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying!"

"Dude, you got a smile so big, it's about to tear your face in half."

At this point, he strained to keep the smile up, and his heart was about to burst from his chest. He was cracking, but he wasn't going to give up just yet.

"T-this is my normal smile." he replied. "Nothing happening here, so there's no need for you stay here any longer."

A more devious smirk grew on Luna's face. So that's how he wants to play it, huh? She reached down for the knocked-over bench and put it back up on its legs, taking a seat. She crossed her arms once more, staring up at Jamie smugly.

"Sorry, brah. I ain't going nowhere. I'm staying here until you talk."

His smile finally broke, slumping over on distorted keys as if signifying his defeat. With puffed up cheeks, he let out a heavy sigh and opened his laptop. Luna looked over her shoulder to a YouTube video titled Bohemian Rhapsody (Instrumental). The silent boy looked away, crossing his arms with a disgruntled and immature huff.

Luna's smug smiled deteriorated into a softer one. Waving her hand over, she gestured him to sit next to her. Jamie hesitated for a moment, but sat down anyways. His eyes faced the floor as he fidgeted with his thumbs. An awkward but humble silence filled the void between the two. He didn't know what to say next. Maybe she didn't either.

That was until Luna took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "I just got one thing to ask."

The lack of emotion in her voice made him tremble, almost afraid to hear her question. He gulped nervously, unable to look at her. "And what's that…?" Suddenly, he felt his upper arms grabbed and pulled towards her, now faced with a pair of ecstatic eyes and a big smile surrounded by freckles.

"Why didn't you say anything about your singing~?!" she squealed excitedly, shaking him back and forth.

Once she stopped, Jamie composed himself, brushing off his arms. Bringing his glance back to Luna, he was taken aback to her sudden change in complexion. Her eyes sparkled, she held her hands up to her chest, and was jumping up and down in her seat. Jeez, it was like looking at a giddy schoolgirl.

"I uh… I never bothered to..."

Her jaw dropped. "What?! Dude! Why would you hide such amazing talent like this?! Do you realize how great it would be if you were to sing that well in front of people?!"

Jamie scratched behind his head, feeling a rush of blush touch his cheeks. "I don't think I want to even try…"

"What's the matter with you?" She frowned. "Did you suddenly get stage fright? You seem pretty confident playing the piano in front of the class last semester."

"I don't get stage fright." he stated. "Look, playing the piano in front of people is no problem. I love entertaining people! But singing, it kinda goes deeper than that. Puberty hit my voice pretty hard."

Luna winced slightly, taking in a sharp breath. "Ooooh… did your voice crack a lot…?"

He nodded. "Before then, I could sing very well without any problems. But when my voice started cracking, kids laughed at laughed at how I sounded. 'Like an angry goose', they would say. So, I didn't want to imagine what they would think if I tried singing again. It doesn't crack anymore, and I can sing much better than I did. Don't get me wrong, I love to sing! I get such a wonder rush when I do, but I'd rather do it when no one's around."

Luna hesitantly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, not sure how he would acknowledge to a gesture from someone he doesn't know closely enough. "Sorry, brah… I didn't know it was like that."

"Thanks. It kinda helped talking about it."

She smiled and stood up from her seat. "I'm always around if you need someone to talk to, or if you wanna play a little music together." She winked. "Oh, and sorry for scaring you earlier. I... never pass up a chance to listen to some Queen."

Jamie chuckled. "Who doesn't?"

"You know, you almost had me fooled. I thought you were just playing and lip-synching to the song."

"Sorry about that." He laughed.

"No no! Don't be sorry! I think it's great that you can sing so well! It's just... for a minute there, I could've sworn your singing sounded exactly like-"

The thought hit her hard like a wrecking ball to the face. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped once again, letting out a quiet long-lasting gasp. She didn't have a reaction like that since she saw Mick Swagger at the Family Fun Fair last summer under his disguise.

And now she knows… Jamie thought, biting his lip with a shy smile, snickering at Luna's expression.

"You can sing like Freddie Mercury?!" Her voice echoing in the room. Luckily no one else heard it.

Jamie shrugged his head at her sudden use of her loud voice, rubbing his right upper arm. "M-maybe…?"

She was left dumbstruck to his response. "Maybe? Maybe?!"

"W-what more do you want me to say…?!"

Luna was rendered speechless. Such a discovery would've left anyone in extravagant awe. But was it true? A contingency like this was extremely rare, and she was determined to find out. The rocker girl wiped her stunned expression off from her face and cleared her throat.

"Sing."

"W-what?"

"I want you to sing. We need to find out right now." She was never more serious in her life. And her eyes were damn scary when she was serious. "Play and sing the outro of Bohemian Rhapsody."

Jamie's heart skipped a beat upon her spontaneous request, fidgeting with his fingers turning his nervous gaze away.

"I-I don't know if I can…" he whispered.

"Come on, dude. This is big! If everyone knew you can sing like that, they would be blown away! No one would dare to laugh at you!" Luna saw doubt eating at his face. Perhaps a gentler approach would get through to him. Taking in a calming breath, she took a knee before him. "Jamie, imagine this as the first step of getting over your fear of singing in front of others. Let me be the first step." She nurtured his ears with a softer and more confident tone within the natural rasp of her voice. taking his hands into hers. "Will you sing for me? Please?"

Jamie eyes met with hers. Deep down, he could see his reflection in her dark brown irises, finding himself trapped in a bubble of self-discontent. He wanted to sing, but his experience from puberty kept him from that. But then again, he saw himself in Luna's eyes. A girl who was all about expressing herself through music. He had seen her perform; such confidence and passion. Nothing stopped her from doing what she loved. He used the piano to show his passion, but perhaps it was time to let his voice express it even further.

Taking a deep breath, he returned the smile. "Okay. I'll sing."

"Attaboy, luv!" Luna cheered in her play-on British accent.

Jamie turned around to face the piano and reached to open his laptop, but Luna's hand covered it.

"Without the instrumental." This made Jamie swallow spit nervously. "Let the pianist within you finish the song. I take it you've practiced the song enough to remember?"

He nodded.

"If it'll help. I'll play the song with you too. Wait here."

Luna jogged off to the back of the choir stands and grabbed her guitar. She quickly set it up, plugging it into the closest amp she could find, turned it on, and strummed a few practice chords and a short solo. Jamie tapped on the microphone in front of him, picking up the echoed taps from the other speakers. Everything was in working order.

"Alright. I'm gonna pick it up right after the rock interlude and go into the ritardando and then the outro. Got it?"

Jamie nodded and took a deep breath. His fingers ready. It was the moment of truth.

"One, two! One, two, three, four!"

Luna took her pick and struck three ascending guitar runs. Jamie followed up with his right thumb and ring finger jumping around the keys, playing b-flats to the buildup of the outro. Luna lent her voice to the next vocal section before Jamie would get to his.

"Ooooooh-oooooooh-oooooooh! Ooh yeah, ooh yeah!"

Luna continued with a soft guitar melody while Jamie played gentle keys to his finale. A tightness grew in his chest, but he intended to push it out. His unique voice filled the room.

"Nothing really matters… Anyone can see… Nothing really matters… Nothing really matters… to meeeeeee…" Jamie ended the vocals with a soft and fading vibrato. He concluded the song with softer taps on the keys with Luna strumming one last melody just before he sang out the last verse. "Anyway the wind blows…"

He struck one final chord, imagining a gong peal in the background.

The room fell into silence as the last chord faded. There was a slight discomfort in Jamie's chest, but it was lighter than how it felt a minute ago. He stared down at the keys, exhaling softly. The boy did it; he sang before a person for the first time since his self-admission into long vocal solitude. He licked his bottom lip, immediately pondering what Luna's response would be now that she heard him.

"So Luna… how did I do?"

With a turn of his head, Luna's eyes were flooding with tears, running down her cheeks mixed with her mascara. Her hands covered her mouth, but were too small to cover a smile so big, it looked like it hurt trying to keep it on. All that could be heard from her were soft whimpers and sniffles.

"Luna…?"

Out of nowhere, she let out a high-pitched squeal that echoed throughout the room. Jamie jumped in the bench with the crap scared out of him. Forget the schoolgirl remark; Luna was now jumping and acting like a crazed fangirl. But based on her reaction, she loved every second of his performance. Jamie's cheeks flourished in crimson red, quickly averting his eyes. Once the room was silent again, he looked back at her. She wiped her eyes clean, but her cheeks were left with faint smear marks of her mascara.

"Dude! Do you know what this means?!" She just locked peers with him, her hands hanging out and trembling. "You could become the next Freddie Mercury!" She let out another loud but softer squeal. "We gotta tell everybody!"

Jamie bit his lip hard and frantically shook his head, already feeling the chill of anxiety climbing up his spine.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, gesturing the same answer with his hands. "Just because I sang to you, doesn't mean I'm ready to sing in front of everyone! I need time to adjust!"

Luna let out a disappointed groan. "Sorry, man! I'm just super-hyped about this! Think about it: with your voice, you could be famous! Hell, you could be Queen's new frontman! You already play the piano, so it's like you're Freddie's reincarnation! Adam Lambert's got nothin' on you!"

Jamie smirked with a chuckle to follow up. "I know you're excited. I am too. But this is just a lot to take in right now. And I need to take it slow if I want to get over this problem I have. So now that I sang to you with no issue, what would be the next step?"

"The next step is to sing in front of a few more people." Luna replied. "We'll just keep adding more and more at a time until we get you to sing in front of maybe, I don't know… a rock concert's worth of people. Is that a reasonable goal?"

Jamie looked down, questioning Luna's suggestion. She was no psychologist, but she certainly took the role of one for him, figuring out a treatment for his illness. He spent a minute before making a decision.

"Before I agree to this, let me ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you putting so much effort into helping me?"

A gentle smile settled between Luna's freckles. She put down her guitar and plopped next to him.

"Because I know talent when I see it. You play like a pro on the piano, but you're even more talented with that voice! It bothers me to see you let that knack go to waste if you don't share it. Music means everything to me, and I know it means a lot to you too. I wanna help you reach to your full potential as I let others did for me. And since we'll be working on this together, I'd like us to be friends."

Jamie smiled, following with a nod. "I'd like that too. In that case, I should properly introduce myself." He offered a hand. "Jamie Maverick."

Luna chuckled and shook his hand. "Luna Loud, a pleasure ta meet ya, mate. So... does that mean you're up to the challenge?"

"Oh yeah. I'm in."

"Great! Because I've got the perfect audience for the next step. Will twelve people be okay?"

"Sounds like a lot, but I'll give it a try."

Luna showed an excited grin, giving him a firm pat on his shoulder. "Perfect! If you're available, come to my place after school tomorrow and I'll have your audience put together." They quickly pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers. Luna sent the first text to confirm their connection as well as their location for Jamie's first music therapy. "That's my address! I'm looking forward to our next jamming session, dude!" In a thrilled hurry, she packed up her guitar and made her way to the door, but not before giving Jamie a friendly wave good-bye. "Stay cool!"

With one door shut, she was gone. Jamie followed her example and packed his laptop into his backpack. Throwing it over his shoulder, he looked down at the phone screen one last time before slipping it into his pocket:

( 1216 Franklin Ave. Royal Woods, MI )