WOAH. AN UPDATE THE VERY NEXT DAY? BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING.

YUP. NEITHER DID I.

For a moment, the teacher just stared blankly at us, as if waiting for Rachel and I to dramatically exit the theater for his own personal entertainment. As strange as that sounded, though, he probably was.

I glanced at Rachel. She was shuddering, fingers twitching a bit. Evident anxiety and shock coated her wide eyes. I bit my lip.

I hooked my arm through hers and began to guide her out of the theater as the teacher instructed, finally doing away with the mean-girl façade after an hour of it. It really wasn't my thing, honestly. That hour was the longest of my life. I don't think I was fooling anybody, anyways.

"Come on, Rachel," I said gently, glaring a bit at the teacher but not getting carried away.

As soon as I looked back, though, his face cracked and he doubled over.

Laughing.

He was laughing.

Giggling and snickers followed through with the pod of students. Before soon, however, they were as bad as the teacher. I even caught some emo guy chuckling a bit, though he looked more scared than anything.

Flash-backs change you, man.

When the teacher finally calmed down, he sighed and straightened out his back, walking towards our retreating figures.

"That was-" He chuckled again. "That was awesome. GREAT acting. I really enjoyed that! Your looks were so real, so scared, and you-" he laughed. Again. "You looked like you really thought I was going to suspend you!" He clapped me on the back. "Aye plus, both of you."

He then dragged his attention from us to his students. "Did you see that? That is how you act. You pretend it's real, no matter how 'out-there' or unreal it is. Understand?" He asked, waving his fingers in front of the crowd. Some nodded. Some were still catching their breath. Others just ignored him completely.

He clapped his hands together. "So, I would like all of you to take a seat. I have a few announcements."

With that, he left us to the pews, me and Rachel frozen with shock.

~{*}~

I was still chuckling when Mr. Bae told us to take our seats.

Me and Nico sat on the sixth row of pews, some of the football players along the line as well. I glanced back to find Annabelle and Rachel still standing in the middle of the aisle. I smirked- just a bit. Finally, Rachel seemed to snap out of it, shaking her head a bit and dragging Annabelle to a seat somewhere farther back.

"So, as some of you may have heard," Mr. Bae began, holding his hands behind his back as he wandered the creaky stage a bit. I prepared for the long speech we were about to have to endure. "The school Talent Show is coming up. Seventy percent of the money will go towards Charity, though they haven't decided which yet." Then he put a hand by his mouth to dramatically mock a whisper. "And, according to resources, it is said that Percy Jackson has dropped out of the competition, so someone other than him will win this year!"

At this the class erupted in more laughter and chuckles. I smirked.

"What- is he too chicken?"

The class looked back to the source of the voice, I slightly offended. I wasn't too chicken to participate in the Talent Show, I've just won the past two years, and then counting down through two years of middle school. I'd planned to drop out so someone else could win.

Annabelle stood defiantly from the pew near the back. I rolled my eyes.

"I am not too chicken," I grumbled, doubting she would hear. She surprised me by answering, though.

She put a hand on her hip and smirked. "So why not compete?"

I sighed. "I wanted to give someone else a chance at winning-"

"So you think if you participate, you're for sure going to win and no one else will?" She was furious by now. Her glares were pretty cruel, honestly. My hands clenched by my sides and I stood.

"I never said that!" I nearly yelled. Instead of breaking up our on-coming fight (not surprisingly) Mr. Bae watched with interest as if witnessing a movie being made rather than his students quarreling. "But based on the fact that I've won the past four years-"

Annabelle lunged, but Rachel held her back, gripping her shoulders. "Annabeth," she warned.

Oh. That was her name.

"I bet I could beat you any day!" she shrieked. I cocked my eyebrow.

"Annabelle-beth," I corrected after seeing her absolutely murderous stare. "I've been singing since the age of nine-"

"I've sang since seven," she cried, but based on the let down of her guard, I could tell she hadn't meant to let that slip.

Despite her looks, I couldn't help but wonder what she sang like. If she's telling the truth, and she really has been singing since seven, maybe she could challenge with me in singing.

I blinked. "Fine. I'll do the Talent Show."

THERE YOU GO MACKENZIE.

Thank you all soo very much for reading and your fantastical reviews, you have no idea how much they brighten my day. They really do mean a lot.

I plan to update STRENGTH next, then either 'Time' or 'HSD', your choice!

RIDDLE:

A boy was at a carnival and went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to give me $50, but if I cannot, I will pay you $50." The boy looked around and saw no scale so he agrees, thinking no matter what the carny writes he'll just say he weighs more or less. In the end the boy ended up paying the man $50. How did the man win the bet?

Haha. I'm still laughing from finding out the answer :P

The first person who gets it right gets a big shout-out and dedication next chapter xD

Review?

Yesung'sLittleELF

TRUST-OUT