The Duet

Chapter Thirty

The past week has been filled with sleepless nights trying to finish major projects, hard core studying for next week’s exams and daily practices for the duet. Austin and I have been practicing every single day after school until it was dark. Since we got back together, that’s all we’ve done; practice, practice, practice. We wanted to do really well, not because if we didn’t we’d fail, but because we wanted to prove how strong and incredible we are together. Not just as performers but as people.

“I’m so excited to see your performance tomorrow.” Sophia chirped.

“Me too.” Chad agreed. “Y’all are you going to kill it tomorrow.

We were all sitting outside in the quad for lunch. We sat at one of the round tables concrete tables and munched on our food. The sun was shining brightly and the cool afternoon breeze was refreshing. Surprisingly there weren’t a lot of people spending lunch out here today but that was alright with me.

“I’m kind of nervous.” I admitted, popping a grape into my mouth.

Austin wrapped an arm around me shoulder. “No need to be. We’re going to do well.”

When the lunch bell rang Brad, Sophia, Evan and Chad waved good bye and hurried to their third period class. Austin and I were excused from our afternoon classes to practice on the actual stage for tomorrow night. Further beyond Maxwell’s gigantic football field was a park that was deserted. No one ever went there. The only time that area has been used was for Phys.Ed classes, Spring Fling and Summer Serenade.

It was only a ten minute walk from the quad to the empty park. From a distance, I could already see that most of the booths and rides have been set up. A lovely banner, which read Summer Serenade and bordered with amazing floral prints, hung above from two trees. Austin and I walked in further. The place wasn’t completely set up yet but it still looked amazing. The large stage was placed at the far left side of the area. Multiple concrete benches were placed in front of the stage. A small smile broke onto my face.

“Ready to rehearse?” Austin nudged me lightly, after dropping his school bag onto the edge of the stage.

I rolled my sleeves up and sent me a bright smile. “Let’s get started.”

Austin and I spent an hour and half planning out our entire performance; where would he enter from, where would I enter from, how we should use the space on the stage, how to engage our audience, small choreography and many other details that were small but extremely important if we wanted to get a good mark. After countless suggestions from each other and many arguments, we finally had our performance plan. For the past hour, we’ve been practicing our entire performance until we got it right. It wasn’t until the last bell of the day rang, when we decided to take a small break. We sat on the edge of the stage. Our legs dangled off the edge as we rehydrated and refuelled ourselves.

“Have you ever been to the Summer Serenade?” Austin asked.

I shook my head. “Never. Kale always went though. He’d usually bring me home a box of deep fried oreos.”

Austin chuckled. “I only attended once. Only because they needed someone to work all the AV equipment and I got caught for skipping fourth period.”

I giggled. “You’re such a bad boy.”

“Was.” He stated. “I was such a bad boy. But an amazing loser waltzed into my life and made me a better person.”

A blush crept on my cheeks and I broke into a broad smile. “I could say the same thing about you.”

He smiled that smile that always left me breathless and erupted the butterflies in my stomach. He placed a kiss on my cheek and pulled me closer to him. “”I wish we could stay like this forever but we have to practice.”