On The Highest Branch

Chapter 13

"Hurry up, June! Or, you're gonna be late!"

June struggled to reclaim the right arm that Kedz was gripping so tightly. She was also struggling to keep her balance as Kedz was forcefully pulling her forward.

"That's the idea, Kedz. To be late and miss it."

She tried to stop walking, hoping that would halt Kedz' purposeful march through the school corridors. But, she remembered too late that, with her best friend, you either had to keep up, or trip. At the last minute, June managed to grab the locker on her left and righted herself before completely toppling over.

"Don't be stupid. You've been practicing your audition piece, right? It's show time." Kedz sounded impatient, but June knew she was enjoying bossing her around.

June huffed, "Where are you going anyway? The Music Room is that way." She pointed to the right, the opposite direction Kedz was pulling her to.

"It's being renovated, remember?" How Kedz could be walking so fast in those heels, June didn't know. "They're holding the audition at the SBC Headquarters instead. And, it starts in 5 minutes."

"SBC Headquarters? Hell no! He's gonna be there!"

"Who's gonna be there?"

June had waited for Parker for several hours the night before. But, he didn't show up. He had not even bothered with a text or a phone call. Twice, she had started typing a message to ask him if he was coming, but had deleted the sentence both times, right before sending it. She hadn't wanted to seem desperate.

Even to herself, she didn't want to admit just how much she had been looking forward to the study session. She had tried occupying herself with Chapter 13 of His Demon Princess. But, even her default stress reliever had failed to work. She had fallen asleep with her head on her manga and her hand on her phone.

Now, as she was being dragged to an audition she dreaded, to a part of the school a Vice Presidential candidate would most likely be in, she wondered again, for the umpteenth time that morning, why Parker had not turned up.

My snub probably hurt him more than I thought. But, could I really blame him?

"Uhmmm.... A classmate in my Math class. He snickered at me earlier, for not knowing the answer to a question." June's yearbook would probably award her Fiction Writer of the Year.

"He won't be snickering once he hears you sing," Kedz vowed.

Somehow, even with all of June's protests, both physical and verbal, they had reached the Student Body Council Office.

Kedz pushed her inside. June scanned the room. It was full of people.

The office desks of the SBC Officers had been pushed back to the walls, creating a big empty space in the middle. In this space, several classroom armchairs had been arranged in rows, all facing the front, and all of them occupied. In the first row were three teachers. The judges.

No Parker. At least, if I'm gonna embarrass myself, he isn't here to witness my slaughter.

June's eyes were drawn to the girl standing in front of all these people. She had on a yellow tweed blazer and matching yellow tweed skirt. She would have looked so smart in her get-up had she not paired it with ridiculous pigtails held high up her head by bright yellow scrunchies. As the notes of her song reached June, the sunny, almost blinding image started to make sense. The girl was belting out a heartfelt, though not quite pleasant, rendition of Tomorrow from the Annie musical.