(Simon's POV)
"Mr. Seville," Vanessa, Dr. Rubin's secretary, said, "she's ready for you."
I sighed, grabbing everything I brought to school that day and bringing into Dr. Rubin's office. I sat in the only empty chair in the room, hanging my head in aggravation.
Dr. Rubin turned to face me. "Simon, I can't believe you," she began. "Of the several years you've been here, you've never once interrupted a class, so why would you want to go and change that?"
"Well..." I began, "...I didn't do this because I wanted to. I had to."
"Go on, Simon. Tell me exactly what happened."
I sighed heavily before I continued. "Mrs. DuBois called me over to sing a duet with Jeanette, and the entire situation just got out of hand. Ally left the room crying when Mrs. DuBois remarked 'Serves her right for sleeping on my property last night'."
Dr. Rubin seemed surprised. "She really said that?"
"Every word."
"And what did you call her again?"
I gulped. "I called her a hypocrite, but I have a reason for doing it."
She leaned forward to ask something under confidentiality. "You found out about... 'the incident' involving Ryan?"
"From Alvin."
"...Alright, Simon. I'm not even giving you a warning. You did the right thing."
There was a question in the back of my mind that had been bugging me since I came to her office. "Where's Ally?"
She pointed outside, where Ally was sitting in the snow on a bench, still crying.
"I'm letting you, Ally, Phelan, Theodore, Jeanette and Eleanor go home early. I'll mark your absences for your last three periods as dismissals..."
"But there's a catch, right?"
"Well, if you count me driving you home as a catch, then yes, there is." She smiled.
"Fine by me, as long as I sit in front and you won't tell Alvin and Brittany that I leaked about their skipped periods today."
She smiled. "You're good... It's a deal." She held out her hand.
I shook it. "It's a deal."
After a good ten minutes, Dr. Rubin dropped us off at our house, and the moment I walked in, Alvin and Brittany were in the middle of 'doing it'.
I felt like I was about to throw up - for two reasons. Those I'll explain later.
"Would you two get a room... PLEASE?" Jeanette asked behind me. "You two seriously have to cut the crap."
"Yeah, especially in front of Ally," Theodore added.
Alvin got up off of Brittany. "Our sister, Ally?" he asked. "We haven't seen her in years!"
Suddenly, Ally stepped in front of me. "Well, I'm here!" She cheered, rushing over to hug him. "It's been so long..."
"I know... Well, do you think Dave will let you stay here with us?"
"That's already been arranged, Alvin," Dr. Rubin answered. "Oh, and by the way, both you and Brittany are going to detention tomorrow."
Phelan grabbed Ally by the hand as the rest of us finished making our way into the house.
"Come, princess," he said. "Let me make you some room in the guest bedroom."
"Wait a minute there, buddy," Alvin interrupted. "We're supposed to do a jam today, remember? It's Friday!"
"Oh, right... Jeanette, I believe it's your turn to sing this week."
"Me?" Jeanette asked him. "I don't know..."
I wrapped my arm around the back of her neck. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"You really think so?"
"Of course. Why would I not?"
"Well, I just don't sound as great as you do."
"Stop putting yourself down, Jeanette. You sing better than anyone else I know."
Jeanette blushed. "Thanks."
"Can we get a move on?" Brittany asked cockingly.
Phelan turned to Jeanette. "Do you want to sing the one you were planning on doing?"
"Yeah," Jeanette replied, "but we're adding the male part this time."
"Am I singing it?"
"No, but you're still guitar. I want Simon to sing those parts."
"What parts?" I asked.
"You'll know when you hear them."
I nodded as Phelan began strumming his guitar. After a few bars, Jeanette started singing:
You never looked so good
As you did last night
Underneath the city lights
There, walking with your friend
Laughing at the moon
I swear you looked right through me
But I'm still living with your goodbye
And you're just going on with your life
I took a huge breath before I jumped in with her:
How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye?
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me?
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
Jeanette took over:
Like we never loved at all
For some reason, tears were coming out of her eyes. I heard rumors that she and Ryan had broken up, but I didn't believe them... until now.
You, I hear you're doing fine
Seems like you're doing well
As far as I can tell
I jumped in again:
Time (time)
Is leaving us behind (leaving us behind)
Another week has passed
And still I haven't laughed yet
So, tell me what your secret is
Baby (I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know)
To letting go
Letting go like you did, like you did
How can you just walk on by
Without one tear in your eye?
Don't you have the slightest feelings left for me?
Maybe that's just your way
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall
My throat tightened again. I had been reminded of my most recent ex-girlfriend Rachel, who was cheating on me last night... with a girl.
Imagine how shocked and humiliated I felt.
At least no one could tell I was almost crying at this point.
Like we never loved at all
Did you forget the magic, oh Did you forget the passion (passion)
Ohh, and did you ever miss me
Ever long to kiss me?
Oh, whoa, oh, oh, ohh
Baby (oh, baby)
Baby
I took the lead:
Maybe that's just your way Like we never loved at all (at all)
Of dealing with the pain
Forgetting everything between our rise and fall (oh)
We held out that last note until we ran out of breath, which didn't take very long.
"That was amazing!" Ally shouted out. "You guys were great!"
Dave then came in the room. "Guys, time for dinner," he said.
Alvin seemed interested in food for once. "What are we having?"
"Breakfast for dinner."
The eight of us jumped out of our seats to get a seat at the kitchen table.