jailey one-shots ☆♫

- ★ showtime ★-

A/N: this is probably rlly bad sorry it's almost 5 AM rn hope you enjoy 😭‼️

Type: Fluff, minor angst

Word Count: 1348

Friday, October 23, 2020, 6:45 P.M.

{Hailey's POV}

It's finally time. After a little over a month of practicing (and procrastinating), the competition is finally here.

I'm currently seated on a bench backstage. The competition this year is being held at one of our rival schools, one I've never been inside until this point.

To my right are seated Zander and Luke, interlocking hands like an old married couple, Milly, playing games on her phone, and Sean, who was reading a book.

And seated to my left is none other than Jake Sterling. I had only forgiven him for what he did yesterday. It's been a hell of a week for us both, after I had received that awful, awful audio. He explained to me how he didn't mean anything he had said, and while it seems unbelievable, I really want to believe with my heart that he's a good person. I know he is. You can tell from how he sings with his heart and soul that he really does have a passion for it. You can tell from the way he treats others, how he's treated me.

The night after we kicked him out of the club, I received a long few paragraphs from him over text. He understood if I needed space, he understood that even though he didn't mean it, he still said it anyway, and he understood if we didn't want to perform with us, if I didn't want to do the duet with him, and he said he just wanted to "make things right."

While I was somewhat reluctant about doing the duet with him, I decided to anyway. I know that this is what I need.

I glance over at him slightly, enough to see him but not enough for him to notice. He seems.. Anxious, just by his expression, and the deep breaths he's been noticeably taking.

"Nervous?" I quietly ask, facing my head towards him.

He quietly turns to face me, and it takes him a second until he realizes that I'm actually talking to him, until he responds.

"A little," He said with a small chuckle. "You?"

"Of course I am," I respond. "How could I not?
I'm also very nervous, probably more than him. The whole time I've also been taking deep breaths, nervously fidgeting, bouncing my leg and picking at the skin around my fingernails.

"We're gonna do great," He states.

"But what if we don't? What if I freeze up and ruin the whole thing?"

He gently places his right hand on top of my left in a reassuring manner.

"That won't happen." He reassured me. "And if it does, if at any point you don't want to do this, I'll step in. You're not alone, remember? I'm here for you."

I give him a soft smile. He subconsciously brushes his thumb slowly over my hand back and forth, like how one does with their lover.

I laugh. "How do you always know exactly what to say?"

"I'd assume that'd be from how astonishingly charming I am," he jokes.

"You are anything but charming," I giggle.

"Anything but charming? I must be handsome and eye-catching then, electrifying, even."

I laugh and roll my eyes. "You know that isn't what I meant."

He's giggling like a child. "Aw, but aren't I?"

"Rosemeadow High School?" A woman's voice catches our attention; a staff member of the school. "You're up."