Hey there! Okay, I'm going to force myself to try and type a new chapter every week. However, I would like to have 3 new reviews (for this or any chapter) before I post! That's right! Regular posting! Aren't you happy? Probably not... Anyhoo, just enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 11: Show Time

We nervously entered the school (minus Brooklyn, who was checking that the equipment was satisfactory) and headed to the stage where we were going to wait before performing. Tala and Spencer seemed a bit tense but that was the extent of it and Kai didn't seem nervous at all. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of the way they stayed so calm. There was a time where I probably would've shown the same reaction as Tala and Spencer but now I was fidgeting restlessly, my heart racing, and my palms sweating. It almost made me afraid of what I'd do if I sat down or stood still.

Rows of chairs were set out in front of the stage so it looked as if the room could hold a few hundred people. That didn't help my nerves at all. Were they really expecting so many people?

I glanced at Aya. She looked about to cry… or puke… or both. And why wouldn't she? She had more than just pride on the line. She had to prove to our entire group of friends—that is, if you could still call them that—that being part of these guys' act wasn't because of some huge crush on them. Okay, so she did have a crush on Tala, but that wasn't the reason we were here.

Somebody must have opened the front doors or something because people suddenly started swarming in, meaning we had to retreat to backstage. The director, if you wanted to call him that, shoved us all in an extremely crowded room with all of the other acts of the night. Tala, Kai, and Spencer immediately went their separate ways to go talk to Johnny, leaving us standing there awkwardly.

"What do we do Aya?"

She shrugged. "I've never actually been in the talent show before. I've gone to see it before and Mariam told me about the time she played guitar once, but that's about it." I smiled proudly. Aya hadn't even flinched or stumbled at the sound of Mariam's name. "She said that they sometimes let you stand just off stage and let you see the other acts if you're quiet, though."

"Tala!" I cringed when I heard Allison's voice above the unavoidable chatter in the room. A familiar head of red hair wandered over to the door somewhat reluctantly.

"You witch!" I strained my ears curiously, though it was hardly necessary. The room immediately fell silent as all eyes turned to the door. Aya was pushing her way through the crowd, leaving me there among a swarm of bodies.

Aya's POV:

After working my way to the front of the crowd I saw a cat fight in the doorway. Allison, done up in a cocktail dress, was trading verbal and physical blows with a blonde I recognized from health class last year. Tala was standing by somewhat nervous and yet, at the same time… amused?

Anger bubbled up in me. He'd just used those girls for his own entertainment. I'd been shocked when he implied he had more than one girlfriend but now… he was enjoying it.

"Casey…." I looked back, expecting her to be behind me but I couldn't see her anywhere. "Casey?" I peered through the crowd, which had turned into something like a mosh pit with people jumping up and down to try and see what was going on and since we had already been packed in there like sardines, making room for a cat fight required serious condensing.

Kai and Spencer had likewise pushed their way through the crowd and stood behind Tala waiting for the girls to finally get to—yeah, that. My attention was immediately focused back on the fight. They had just figured out that they were both Tala's girlfriends and had rounded on him.

"Tala how could you?" Allison screamed. "How could you cheat on me like that?"

"Allison?" Suddenly, Michael peeked through the door, obviously attracted by the fight and Allison's voice in it. "You okay?"

Allison's eyes widened in horror as he came over and wrapped an arm around her waist, looking her over for injuries. "Michael, no! Not now!"

He seemed taken aback by this and Tala had turned red-faced. "So you were cheating on me?" he demanded. After all, this was his pride on the line now. To have the nerve to say that after what he'd done fed my anger and I felt no sympathy toward him what-so-ever.

I pushed roughly through the crowd in search of Casey. It was their problem now and they could both burn for all I cared.

Back to Casey's POV:

I was lucky to still be on my feet. With everyone jumping up to see what was going on and having nowhere to safely land, they landed on their neighbors (ie: me). I was shoved back and forth and was about to fall on my butt when someone grabbed my arm. It was Aya. She righted me. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, Tala was cheating on Allison and vice versa." Suddenly her eyes widened in realization. "But you already knew that."

"Heheh." I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, but what'd they do?"

"Well Allison and Akiko started fighting, then they yelled at Tala, then Michael came in and Tala started yelling at her, and then I left."

"I see. Can we get out of here now?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, but you're going to have to be a little mean. Nobody's going to want to move out of your way."

"Right." We then proceeded to push our way through, receiving elbows to the face, back, and stomach as retribution. Finally, we were freed and snuck around the still-in-progress fight.

"Hey! Casey!" I froze in the doorway and turned to see what was left of the group. Aside from a few bumps and bruises on Tala and Michael's side, messy hair on Allison and Akiko's side, and everyone being red-faced from screeching at each other they looked unharmed. "You knew about all of this, didn't you?" I made a face at him, one of disgust, and let Aya pull me away. "Hey! Get back here!"

We were going to go hide in the bathroom but stopped when we heard a voice. "Ming-Ming's singing!" Aya hissed.

We moved closer to the stage and watched a profile of her performance. The small, blue-haired girl was standing in the middle of the stage with her hand stretched skyward and bouncing up and down with the beat that the star-struck freshmen behind her were keeping. She opened her mouth, sucked in a breath, and--. "Ack!" I clapped my hands over my ears. How could anyone—much less a whole room full of people—stand to listen to a note that high?

Oh, but it didn't stop there. The whole song consisted of notes like her voice, an octave higher than any normal human. Aya grinned at me and leaned in to whisper in my ear. I uncovered it a moment because it was Aya (though I wouldn't have, had it been anyone else). "Some visitors from other schools did that too. It's one of those things that has no grey area. You either love it or hate it."

"I noticed." Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and spun me around. A hand would've smacked into my face if I hadn't already had my arms up to block it.

"Why didn't you tell me Tala was cheating on me?" Allison demanded. Rick, a large sophomore with white hair, came up behind her and picked her up by the waist with a sigh before carrying her off the stage, kicking and screaming all the way. Luckily, Ming-Ming had finished her song. What with all the noise we'd been making, it would've been an embarrassing interruption. The small, blue-haired girl distracted the crowd for a moment before exiting stage right (where we were standing).

"What's going on?"

Aya and I exchanged glances briefly before shrugging. "Just a bit of high school drama."

Slowly the acts wound down to just a few. We had to borrow a bit of makeup from one of Tala's ex-girlfriends to cover up a bruise forming on his jaw and watched a few of the acts at the same time. Ray and Garland had a mock-battle on stage, showing off their martial arts; Mariah did some tumbling; Emily played the violin; and Enrique did some kind of ball room dancing with a girl I didn't recognize.

"For our last act of the evening, we have Kai, Tala, Spencer, Casey, and Aya performing 'The Final.' They'll need a moment to set up so please be patient."

The director-man came off the stage and motioned for someone to close the curtains so that some of the men Kai had hired could set up their equipment. Aya and I, not having been trusted with anything watched the audience from behind the curtain. To my horror, Mariam, Queen, and Salima were leaving. They had just stood up and headed for the door. Aya, seeming completely calm, snuck around off stage and went to block the door. I followed her nervously.

She stood there in front of the double doors with her hands on her hips and her legs shoulder-length apart in a sturdy, firm stance while I stood off to the side and watched. Salima stopped uncertainly and Mariam hesitated slightly but Queen kept walking and just slipped around her, waiting for the others to do the same. Several people from the audience had stopped to watch.

Aya didn't move, not even flicking her eyes to the side as the others drew level with her. Then she spoke. "I'm not going to stop you from leaving, but I'm not going to chase after you when you do, either. …Not this time…."

They froze but Aya was already walking off. I followed her again back towards the stage.

Brooklyn met us and tossed us our microphones. "Ready?" he asked, plugging them in.

"Ready." I looked nervously at Aya when she said this. After what had just happened, there was no way she could really be alright. She looked at me and smiled. "I said what needed to be said. Now I'm ready to do what I came here for."

There was a time when I would have laughed at this moment. It's hard to believe that something so small could possibly be that serious. But after you've gone through it with teenage hormones and the whole deal you learn that that small thing is what keeps you going. High school is like hell and if you don't have a flashlight you can't help but get swallowed up.

I received no more time to reflect on this. Everyone had gotten into place and the curtain was moving. I took a deep breath and turned on the microphone. My heart was pounding so loud, I swear the people in the back of the room could hear it. I heard the click of Spencer banging his sticks together, giving the beat. Then Kai and Tala started in heavy. After listening to them play so many times I could almost hear Brooklyn adjusting the soundboard even while they played (A/N I don't know if you can actually do that but they can in this story).

It seemed like an eternity before Spencer jumped in with the drums and Aya started off with the lyrics.

toketeshimau ito o mitsume... monji ni dekinai hidari te desu.
chi o nagasu tabi ni ikitere riyuu... miidasu kotoba ga azayakade

I jumped in here. I loved the way Aya and my voices mixed. Gradually, we started moving around the stage and playing off of each other.

te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to shiru

The Final

We made Tala do the screaming and the crowd didn't seem to mind at all.

hitotsu futasu to fuetsuzuku... naze ni waraenai esa ni naru?

fukaki goku no kokoro ketsushite modore wa shinai
ashita o sawarenai jigyakuteki rokasha
Suicide is the proof of life

te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to chiru

I was made to do the English part. It was, after all, my first language.

So I can't live
Sou naku shita mono wa umarenai
ikiteru atashi sae motomerarenai uta
Let's put an end... The Final

raisui no tsubomi sakaseyou

And then it was over. The crowd started cheering and I blushed horribly, panting after taking on the sound of someone else's voice. It wasn't easy you know. Aya and I shut off our microphones and bowed, grinning the entire time. We knew we'd done well. We ran off the stage while the curtains were closing and practically tackled Brooklyn at the soundboard (which we would've accidentally knocked over if Spencer hadn't been there). Tala and Spencer were grinning ear to ear and clasped hands. Even Kai had allowed himself a triumphant smile—small as it may have been.

Aya and I, still celebrating and too excited to sit still went out to stand at the edge of the audience to wait for the final announcement of the winner. But on our way down the set of stairs that led off the stage we were met by 3 familiar figures. For a long moment we stood there, faces betraying nothing, and then they shrieked and pounced on us. Well, not Queen, but she did give us a smile.

"You guys were amazing!" Mariam laughed, strangling Aya in a hug. "I still don't like that you hung out with those 3 but now I see why."

"We were so horrible," Salima added. "I'm so sorry!" I patted her back.

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Just as long as you forgive us for abandoning you for the last few days."

"Done!" Mariam squealed. I'd never heard her squeal before. Well I suppose that's what happens when you're excited.

"So…" We all stopped jumping up and down in excitement long enough to look at Queen. "Are we going to go find out who won or not?" We all exchanged looks, shrieked, and dragged the reluctant-to-be-seen-with-us Queen towards the audience.

Wow. That was probably the longest chapter I've written so far. Sad isn't it? Oh well. It's kind of touchy feely but, meh. Review please. 3 'til the next chapter is allowed up!