Yours. ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Pen15 (Alex)

4. Solo

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"Lila!" Heather exclaimed, running over to her friend at her locker. "Wanna practice for the choir solo together?"

Delilah shook her head. "I doubt I'm going to get it, but I'll watch you practice. You're like, one of the best singers I know. Your only competition is probably Anna."

"Should be pretty easy, then," Heather smirked, linking her arm with Delilah's. "Come on, we're going to be late for science."

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As Delilah sat down, Ms. Honay began to explain the lesson plan.

"We are going to look at the microscope today, and we're gonna be very delicate. Time to pair up," she announced, placing a microscope on one of the desks. "Heather, go with Connie. Dustin, pair up with Sam. Maya, go with Brandt. Anna, you're with Jared. And Alex, go with Delilah."

"Yo," Alex said, dropping his backpack to the floor and sitting down next to Delilah.

Delilah snickered. "Poor Brandt. Check it out; Maya's staring him down again."

"Oh, shit," he laughed. "Looks like UGIS is his secret admirer."

"Speak for yourself," she grinned, giving him a playful punch to the arm. "Anna's totally into you."

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I don't even want to think about it. She keeps trying to talk to me, dude. Like, she came up to me and showed me this stupid fucking note and asked me if I was gonna go to the concert. It's literally required for everyone to go."

"I don't blame her," Delilah chuckled, looking into the microscope. "You're pretty cute and fun to be around."

Alex hesitated and looked away, his ears turning red. 

"Sorry," she apologized. "Didn't mean it in a weird way."

He shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You don't gotta be sorry. You're... also pretty. And funny."

She grinned at him and went back to doing their classwork.

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After class, Heather and Delilah were in the choir room, practicing for the solo auditions.

"What the hell, Lila? I thought you were gonna totally suck," Heather complained. "Didn't you say that you probably weren't going to get the solo? I'm starting to seriously doubt that right now."

"Please," Delilah said in return, rolling her eyes. "I'm mediocre at best. You've got this solo locked down."

Heather smiled and grabbed her hand. "I'm so happy we became friends this year. If I don't get the solo, I'll be glad if you do."

"Stop it. I love you," Delilah cried, wrapping her friend in a hug. "Fingers crossed it's one of us who gets the solo. If Anna does, her ego is going to fly through the roof, I swear."

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"And who'll be auditioning for a solo? Raise your hands," Ms. Bennett said. 

Anna, Heather, and Ian's hands immediately darted up. Hesitating, Delilah eventually raised her hand too.

The auditions were definitely... something. They were supposed to sing 'Happy Birthday,' which was stupid, since it barely required any vocal skill. Ian made all of his notes extremely exaggerated, Anna actually did pretty well, and so did Heather. When it was Delilah's turn, she awkwardly stood in front of the choir and sang as well as she possibly could.

"Round of applause again," Ms. Bennett cheered, clapping her hands together. "You guys have made my decision tough. Delilah, you will be singing the two-bar solo. Anna, you will be doing the sign language solo that accompanies it."

Although she should've been happy, Delilah was horrified. She had hoped that Heather or Anna would've gotten it instead. Her friend grinned and sent her a thumbs up. 

"I'm just glad I didn't have to do the sign language part," Heather whispered, sending Anna a dirty look. "That's even more embarrassing than not getting anything at all."

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"Hi Mai and Lila," Anna said as she walked backstage with drinks in her hand. "I got you guys some ginger ale to help you become less nervous."

"Thanks, Anna. You can have mine, though; I'm not thirsty or anything," she said as Maya grabbed one of the cans and began gulping the drink down.

"Alright. Mai, what are you doing? You shouldn't look at the crowd, it's just gonna make you even more nervous," Anna said.

"You're right," Maya groaned. 

When it was time for the choir to perform, Delilah was pacing back and forth. She walked up to Heather, freaking out. 

"I don't think I can do this," she said, nervously playing with her hair. 

Heather sighed. "Of course you can. I've heard you sing before; you'll totally pull this off easily. Don't worry, Lila. I believe in you."

"Okay... thanks," she responded, flashing Heather a small smile as she walked on stage.

As she sang, Delilah spotted Alex in the crowd and sent him a grin of acknowledgement. Suddenly, she didn't feel as nervous as before.

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Unfortunately for the school band, Maya was playing the timpani, ultimately leading to a failed performance. She did some weird solo that seemed more like the exorcism of a demon, leaving everyone in the auditorium completely shocked. The band teacher looked like he completely gave up on life at the end, when everyone just began playing out of tune.

After everything was over, Delilah's parents ran over to her and gave her hugs and a bouquet of flowers. 

"You were so amazing," her mom gushed. "I'm so proud of you."

Her dad chuckled and pointed behind her. "Looks like you've got more adoring fans waiting for you, kiddo. We'll be waiting in the car, okay?"

Delilah nodded and turned around, spotting Alex walking up to her with another white bouquet of pink flowers.

"Hey," he grinned, handing her the flowers. "You were great."

She smiled back at him. "Thanks. You didn't need to do all this for me."

"My mom suggested it," he chuckled, his ears becoming red again. "She saw you when she was picking us up from Heather's house, and said that you were really pretty. And that... I should ask you to be my girlfriend."

Delilah laughed. "I'd love to meet her. She sure knows she's saying," she teased. 

As she glanced over at Heather, who was smiling and mouthing the words 'Alex loves you,' she also saw Anna creepily staring at the two of them.

"Hey, am I crazy, or is Anna staring at us?" she nervously asked.

"Jesus," he groaned, running his hands through his hair. "She's so fucking obsessed with me. Probably thought the flowers were for her, or something."

"God, I hope she doesn't kill me in my sleep for taking her man or something," Delilah joked. "I'd better sleep with one eye open tonight."

Alex scoffed. "Yeah, you'd better. She looks like she's about to strangle you," he grimaced. "Sorry for doing this, I just wanna see her reaction."

She looked back at him with a confused expression. He reached for her hands and kissed her on the cheek with a grin.

"You did amazing."

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