Everett sat in his room nervously as Michelle went through various copies of sheet music in his room. She'd been talking nonstop about their duet since yesterday, taking his acceptance of her presence as a sign of forgiveness for her past actions. Truthfully, he had decided to let his sister's rashness go for now, but more because he needed to talk to someone and she, for better or worse, was one of the only people he truly trusted with something this personal.
"So I was thinking something Rat Pack with musical overtones to suit both of our strengths," she finally announced, handing him a paper. "Guys and Dolls—Luck Be A Lady Tonight." She grinned. "Perfect, right?"
Everett took a deep breath. "Michelle, I can't duet with you," he told her.
His baby sister's face fell, her lower lip pouting out. "But Hiccup, I said I was double-Larrabee sorry, and this is, like, my dream—"
"I know," he told her, playing with his hands as they sat in his lap. "But I kind of wanted to ask someone…else. You know, to sing."
The change in Michelle's expression was instantaneous as she processed the response. "Oh my god!" she squeaked, flinging herself next to him on the bed and bouncing in excitement. "Your crush is in ND? She totally is—is it Nina? Because I always thought you two were super-adorable together, and—"
"No!" Everett exclaimed, flustered. He wanted to talk to Michelle, but he felt jumbled up about everything. He turned to his sister, watching her face turn curious at his sobriety. "Ellie, do you remember when we were little, when I needed you to promise to take some secrets to the grave?"
Michelle nodded. "Of course—you made me super-secret swear." She held up her hand as if under oath. "I've never told those secrets, Hiccup, hand-to-Marilyn. Just like—" her eyes grew wide in understanding. "Ohhh. This is that super-secret? It's not Stassi or Caroline, is it? Because that would just be so awkward—"
"Michelle, I need you to swear not to tell," the older boy insisted, refusing to reveal anything to her guesses. "This is really important."
The tiny Cheerio watched her brother intently for a moment before nodding, straightening her shoulders and raising her hand again. "I, Laura Michelle Harrison, swear to Doris Day and Audrey Hepburn, to never reveal the secrets that are about to pass your lips to another soul. And if I do, may I never tumble another time, never sing another note, never grow another inch." She nodded solemnly, then quirked her eyebrow. "You know, I'm not sure that last one is as important now as when I was little," she pondered thoughtfully.
"Michelle!"
The tiny brunette pulled herself back to the conversation at hand. "Right—breaking this vow means I super-suck as a sister and a person, and my older brother will never speak to me again until I break my own ankles and rip out my vocal cords." She exhaled noisily, seemingly proud that she'd remembered the whole oath that Everett hadn't asked of her since she was ten and he'd told her he was going to audition for Rocky Horror Picture Show. "Okay, so who is it?" she asked eagerly, leaning forward in anticipation.
Everett's voice lowered to barely audible. "I do have a crush on someone," he admitted. "In glee."
His sister huffed impatiently. "Well duh, Hiccup! I thought you were going to tell me who!"
"One of the other juniors," he told her nervously.
Michelle's face fell. "Oh my god—it is Stassi, isn't it? Aw, Ev, she is such a—"
"It's not Stassi!" he interjected, face burning up. "It's…" his voice dropped to a rapid murmur. "It'scobypally," he spoke in a rush.
"What?" the freshman asked.
"Coby Pally," he repeated a decimal louder, though by the way her jaw dropped, he knew she'd heard him for certain this time.
"Oh my god," she said, turning to stare at the wall as she processed the information. Her head snapped back at her brother. "Do Daddy and Pop know?"
"Not yet," he answered. "I haven't told anyone. Just you, Princess."
She smiled softly at him, biting her bottom lip as she nodded and took his hand. "Well," she said finally. "I guess I can find another duet partner. Especially if it means that you won't be going after someone like Scott Felds."
"Scott Felds?" Everett asked, wondering where the theater tech from his productions had come from.
"Oh yeah," she replied with a sly grin. "Super gay, but super lame—I'm just glad you realize how much better you can do." Michelle grinned as she began to bounce slightly on the bed again. "You know, I could help if you wanted—"
"No," the curly-haired boy cut her off. "I'll figure out how to tell him on my own, thanks. I want to keep this as low-profile as possible in case it blows up in my face."
"Hiccup? You're a musical theater geek with two gay dads. Most people already think you're gay," Michelle told him with a laugh, which he matched as he let her pull him into a hug. "Now go get him and kill the audition."
In the empty choir room, Michelle found herself pacing back and forth across the floor while Wally watched her with interest. He'd found her sneaking out of the office again and convinced her to ditch the rest of the class in favor of hanging out with him. She remembered that he would be sharing Study Hall with a couple of the other gleeks this period and figured he was too cool to admit that being ostracized was taking a toll on his conscience, so she'd agreed.
Not that it had distracted her from her current problem. "I just don't know who I'm going to duet with without Everett," she rambled to no one in particular as he texted absently into his phone. "I mean, in case you haven't noticed, I'm sort of particular about my sets, and anyways, we always sing together. Stupid…distractions," she inserted, cutting herself off from revealing anything in case the sophomore was actually listening,
Wally scoffed as he quirked his eyebrow at her. "I hope you're not thinking about asking me," he told her.
The freshman's footsteps faltered as she turned to him in surprise. "Why would I ask you?" she asked quizzically.
The older boy's expression widened in confusion as he stammered in response. "I just thought…" he sputtered. "I mean…since we're friends now or whatever…"
Michelle looked at him in amazement. "We're friends?" she repeated, trying to remember how she'd missed such a development.
Wally shrugged uncomfortably, his eyes back on his phone. "I don't know," he grumbled. "Only because we have something in common since a bunch of people hate us and everything. Plus I've saved your ass from having to hook up with jack-holes like Macy to get lackluster gossip."
"I didn't need you to save me," the tiny girl argued, but petered out with her case as she considered the idea of being friends with Walter Devlin. She finally nodded with a light, "huh". "Well thanks, I guess," she told him, to which he shrugged indifferently.
They remained in silence for another beat before she finally spoke up again. "So, what's up with that Collette girl anyways?" she asked.
The dark-haired boy looked up at her quizzically. "What Collette girl?" he replied.
"You know, the lead of our competition; the one that you convinced to cheat on her girlfriend with you and got you in all this trouble to begin with?"
"Oh," he replied in recollection. "Yeah, her—I haven't talked to her. I mean, she's texted a couple times, but I'm pretty much over it."
Michelle looked at him incredulously. "So you screwed her over with her girlfriend and now you're blowing her off?"
Wally looked at her pointedly. "That's exactly what I did. Look, I'm not the good guy that you take home to meet your parents. I'm the guy you sneak around campus with for a good time for like a week or two, or depending on how good you are, maybe a second or third go-round a couple of months later. I'm not boyfriend material, but I never lie about my intentions. I didn't force her into my car, to fool around, so I'm not going to feel bad that it blew up in her face. And I'm not going to hold on to her just because her girlfriend found out. We had a good run, but the conquest is over—we're done."
Michelle just stared. "Wow, that is a total asshole thing to do," she told him.
"Maybe, but I'm not pretending to be anything else, so whoever shows interest should know what they're getting into." He turned back to his phone. "Just because it doesn't conform to society's ideals of a relationship doesn't mean my supposed-friends should suddenly have the right to get on my ass about it."
Michelle shrugged. "I guess," she replied, understanding that people could suddenly become very critical about things that they already knew about if it ever circled toward them. "But don't you worry that, at this rate, you'll probably run out of girls to date before your senior year?"
Wally raised his head as he met her dark eyes, and he stared incredulously before suddenly laughing. Michelle joined him, realizing that for a guy as confident as he seemed to be, Walter Devlin seemed to appreciate having someone on his side.
This could be a very interesting friendship.
Emma stood outside of English class just before the bell rang. Usually she'd already be inside, setting up her notes for the day, but she couldn't help but be distracted by the sight that was not only making her late, but her ex-boyfriend as well.
"Hey Brainiac," a voice greeted, and Emma sighed as she turned her attention to the tall brunette that had just stepped in front of her.
"Hello Liam," she replied civilly; she couldn't really say she hated him anymore, though he still tended to grate on her nerves. The guy just never knew when to quit—or he didn't care.
"Getting ready for auditions?" he asked. "Let me guess, you and Ashwin are singing…We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel? Educational as well as musical?"
Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I hate to burst your bubble, Liam, but I'm not auditioning." She pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder. "I have other obligations to focus on, and the group number is taking up enough of my time as it is."
The tall boy's eyes went wide behind his thick frames, jaw dropping in astonishment. "Seriously? I would have figured The Wonder Twins would love to add a duet to your perfect couple skills."
"We're not dating anymore, remember?" the petite girl reminded him with a huff. "We're just friends now."
"Yeah, I think we all know how long that's going to last…" he said, trailing off as he followed Emma's gaze involuntary shift behind him, where the aforementioned dark-skinned boy was caught in a lip-lock with Rhi. "Oh," Liam said stupidly, and the girl felt herself blush at his pity. She shook her head and threw open the door, scurrying to her seat.
Unfortunately, the AV nerd had recollected himself and followed her inside. "Hey, sometimes guys just need to date a blonde bimbo before they realize what complete idiots they are. I doubt he really thinks anything of her."
"Except that she's blonde, beautiful, and willing to stick her tongue down his throat in the middle of the hallway?" Emma suggested. Liam shrugged and opened his mouth, but she beat him to the punch. "It doesn't matter," she insisted. "I broke up with him; and if he decides he'd rather be like Walt Devlin and hook up with every girl that he comes across, it's none of my business anymore. As his friend, I'm happy for him and his prospects so long as they don't interfere with his future."
She snapped her mouth shut and dropped her textbook on her desk with a loud thud, flinging it open and staring intensely at the page before in an attempt to close the conversation. In the sophomore's peripheral vision, she watched as Liam adjusted his glasses, looking like he wanted to speak but thinking better of it before turning back to the front of the classroom.
Emma huffed quietly as she stared unseeing in her book, managing to blink back the tears in her eyes and pull herself together just as the bell rang, not ignorant of how her former boyfriend slipped in the door just before the clamor ended with a slightly self-conscious smile, pressing his fingers to his lips as he leaned back in his seat.
Katie and Dylan sat on the edge of the stage in the auditorium to take a break. She could tell he was frustrated with himself for being unable to master the choreography, even though they'd watered it down quite a bit. "Maybe we could just practice the music for a while," she suggested as she took a sip of water.
"I just feel bad that I can't get this down," he told her, pushing his sweaty brown hair out of his face. "You deserve the spotlight, and instead you're stuck with a partner who can barely walk a straight line."
The girl smiled reassuringly and scooted closer to her boyfriend. "Hey; I didn't just want to audition to get the duet," she revealed. "I did this because I like singing with you. Even if we don't get it, I wanted to just get up in front of everyone and stand next to you. It's okay if someone else gets the spot, so long as I get you."
Dylan chuckled nervously, his face flaming up as he tried to meet her stunning blue eyes and return her smile. She felt her heart race as he nodded in embarrassment and turn to get the sheet music: he was so sweet, and smart and funny. There was a lot more to Dylan Jamieson than the baggy-clothes, quiet outer layer, and she was thrilled that those insides found her as amazing as she found him.
She nodded to Brad, who began the intro again, and turned to the shaggy-haired freshman. "Ready?"
He nodded. "And just to let you know," he told her as he offered his hand to help her to her feet. "I'll sing with you as long as you want me to."
She grinned, and the two started the song over from the top.