On Monday morning, Beck met Jade in front of her locker just like every other morning. When she walked through the doors, he noticed something different about her. She was smiling. Even before having the coffee he always brought her, she was smiling from ear to ear.
"Wow, someone is in a good mood." Beck pointed out as he approached her and pecked her on the lips, handing her the cup of coffee he bought for her.
"Don't ruin it." Jade warned.
"To what do I owe this very happy Jade?" Beck asked with a smile.
"I just didn't have a lame weekend, that's all." Jade admitted.
"Aww, did someone's boyfriend plan the perfect surprise-filled weekend?" Beck teased.
"You're ruining it!" Jade scolded.
"Am I, Mrs. Oliver?" Beck joked.
"Mrs. What?!" Tori exclaimed as she and Robbie approached the couple.
"Nothing, I was just messing around." Beck defended.
As Beck explained himself, Jade finished getting the necessary notebooks out of her locker, still rolling her eyes and laughing at her fun little argument with her boyfriend. Tori took notice in Jade's rare smile and questioned her about it just as Beck had done earlier this morning.
"So what's with the smile this morning, Jade?" Tori asked.
"Why do you care?" Jade snapped, her smile fading quickly.
"I just—never mind." Tori surrendered.
They all continued to socialize, and eventually were joined by Cat and Andre just before the first bell rang. They took their normal seats in Skiowitz's class and waited for the lesson to begin.
"Alright teenagers, I have a splendid announcement for you all!" Sikowitz announced once the class began.
The entire class listened carefully to their teacher, but got no continuation. He got distracted while sipping on a fresh coconut, and most likely forgot what he had said just a few short moments before.
"SIKOWITZ!" Jade screamed.
"Yes?" Sikowitz replied, looking up from his juicy coconut.
"Aren't you going to tell us the big announcement?" Tori spoke up
"The what?" Sikowitz asked, completely confused about the situation, as usual.
"You said you had an announcement to tell us." Andre answered.
"Ah, yes! The principal, Helen, has decided to have a 'Farewell Grads Night' for all of our seniors here at Hollywood Arts." Sikowitz started.
"What's a 'Farewell Grads Night'?" Cat squeaked.
"It's a night dedicated to our graduating class, where you may all preform a little something in the Asphalt Café, either as seniors for the last time, or as underclassmen you may perform something to say goodbye. " Sikowitz explained.
"We can do anything?" Beck questioned.
"Yeah, can Rex and I do a comedy act?" Robbie chimed in.
"Yes. Whatever you would like to preform, whether it be a song, dance, or a skit,—as long as it's not dangerous—it's acceptable." Sikowitz answered, gesturing towards Jade, making sure she heard the safety rule loud and clear.
"So when is it?" Jade spoke up after an eye roll directed towards her favorite teacher.
"Not until mid-April. Since you will be graduating in May, we would like to have it as close to graduation day as possible." Sikowitz replied, taking another sip of his coconut.
Just as Sikowitz finished explaining, Sinjin walked into the classroom with a pile of purple papers and one green one on the very top. After handing the papers to Sikowitz, he muttered something strange—as usual—and walked out of the room very content with himself.
"What are those?" Tori asked, pointing to the pile of papers.
"These are the fliers with the audition dates and information for the event. You all may take one if you'd like." Sikowitz continued.
"I thought you said we could all perform something, why do we have to audition?" Jade interrupted.
"Yes, but Helen would like to make sure she approves the acts before letting any potential disasters go on stage." Sikowitz responded.
He left the pile of purple fliers on an empty chair and invited those who were interested to walk up and get one. Most of the students in class grabbed one to have the information just in case they did decide to audition something.
"So what's that green paper?" Cat asked wide-eyed.
"The sign-up sheet. It will be posted outside of my door for those of you who will be auditioning something. Just put your name down next to one of the audition time slots and make sure to be there on time and ready to perform!" Sikowitz explained just as the bell—marking the end of their class period—rang.
The group of friends wanted to discuss the 'Farewell Grads Night', but they all had to get to their next class before they were late. So they decided they would talk about it during lunch, said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.
At the start of lunch, Tori rushed from her locker to the lunch table she and her friends normally sat at, where Robbie and Cat were already seated.
"Hey guys! Where's everyone else?" Tori asked, sitting down with her burrito.
"Andre had to stop by the music room to drop his keyboard off for next period." Robbie began.
"And I don't know where Jade and Beck are." Cat chimed in.
"Well I hope they get here soon! I want to talk about the auditions." Tori added.
"You have an idea of a song you want to perform?" Andre questioned, overhearing Tori as he walked up to the table.
"Well kind of…I'll explain once Beck and Jade are here." Tori started.
"We're here." Jade announced as she and her boyfriend joined the rest of their friends at the lunch table.
"Explain!" Cat boasted.
"Okay, okay. I think we should all do a song together." Tori suggested.
"I don't want to sing a song with you." Jade retorted.
"Babe." Beck scolded.
"What?! I don't want the last song I'll ever perform at this school to be ruined by her." Jade continued.
"Well we don't have to only perform one song. We can ask Helen if we can perform an individual act and one song all together." Tori explained.
"I think that sounds like fun!" Robbie exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's a good idea Tori." Andre agreed.
"So what song are we going to sing?" Cat asked.
"Well we should probably make sure we're allowed to perform twice first, but I was thinking a group version of Make It Shine would sound great with all of our different voices." Tori began.
"Ugh that song again?!" Jade groaned.
"What?! It's a good song!" Tori defended.
"Yeah it is, plus it's the first song Tori sang here." Andre added.
"Fine, but we have to make sure we'll still be able to perform individually before I completely agree to this." Jade reluctantly stated.
"Okay, we'll find Helen after school and just ask her, and then if she's alright with it, we can start practicing at my house on weekends until the audition date comes." Tori explained.
Once the friends were all in agreement of the plan, they cleaned off their table and headed back into the main hallway to get ready for their next classes that would end their day. Auditions weren't until later in the month, so they had time, but they really wanted to get Helen's approval as soon as possible. So, when the last bell of the day rang, they all met up at Tori's locker to go ask Helen for permission. They walked all the way down the hall to her office where they could hear music playing from within. Tori knocked softly, but there was no response, so Jade got tired of waiting and decided to just open the door. Even though she was the principal, and got the final word whether or not a student graduated, Jade treated her just as she treated everyone else.
"Hey, Helen!" Jade yelled as she led the group of her friends through the office door.
"You should try knocking sometime!" Helen sassed back, turning down the music to hear the students.
"Um, Helen, we were wondering if we could ask you something." Tori started.
"Sure, go ahead cheekbones!" Helen said, gesturing to Tori's facial structure.
"So for this 'Farewell Grads Night', are we only allowed to perform one song? Because we were sort of wondering if we could perform one song together and our own individual acts as well." Tori continued.
"Well, this is your last performance at this school…okay! Just make sure you sign up for both group and single auditions." Helen agreed.
"Yay! We get to sing together!" Cat squeaked from the back of the crowd of friends.
They all walked out very happy that they were going to be able to have one last performance together. Their high school days were coming to an end so quickly and they were sad to see them go, but at the same time they were very happy they would be able to have one final memory in their school together. Andre agreed to write the song with a little twist to accommodate each of their different sounds. Everyone already knew the lyrics, but Tori suggested they meet up at her house on Friday night for a little practice anyway. When they all agreed, they split up and went home after a nice long day at Hollywood Arts.
Author's Note: Hope you all liked it! Let me know what kind of individual performances you think each of the friends will do. It really means the world to me that you're enjoying this so far. Thank you so much for reading and please continue to review(: