Diary Of The School Misfit (#wattys2019)

The Day He Motivated Me

Dear diary,

We, that is the school choir, have a performance tomorrow during fellowship and Mr. Ji is making me take lead. I tried every way to explain to him that my stage fright won't let me but he's having none of it.

"But Mr. Ji!" I whined. "I can't do it." I added.

"Never say never." He replied. "You're good enough, the only thing stopping you is the crappy story you're telling yourself." He said. I swear if he wasn't older than I am, I would have rolled my eyes at his use of that cliché line.

"Besides, you have Lemuel to help you." He said nonchalantly while trying to put the pieces of a saxophone together or detach them; who knows. I always had no idea when it came to the sax. It's not exactly my favourite musical instrument in the world.

Mr Ji obviously had no idea the effect his words had. My breath hitched and Lemuel's head whipped up as fast as lightning. I think I saw a ghost of a smile on his lips before he turned his head back down to face the keyboard. And I was just there. STUCK.

I tried opening my mouth in protest again but Mr Ji beat me to it. "I have to go now". He mumbled as he scrolled up and down his phone.

"But Mr Ji." I whined quietly again. "No more Ruby. You're doing it. That's final". He said pointedly as he faced me and stared me in the eyes as if daring me. "I leave her to you Lemuel. Have a blessed day you two". He said as he slipped out leaving me staring at the door so hard that it felt like I could melt it with my stare.
As if reading my thoughts, Lemuel comes in between me and the door and says "Heat vision and things like that only exist in movies babe". Wait; Did he just call me babe?

Great. I've been left in the hands of someone who's in a class lower than I am but who isn't technically younger but, he still is and is absolutely stuck up and my heart happens to skip beats when he's around. JUST GREAT.

"So we're gonna be spending more time together uhn?" He bluntly spat out with a smirk on his face. This boy just loves to torture me. Ugh!

"So shall we?" He asked as he overdramatically gestured towards the seat facing the keyboard. I walked towards the seat and reluctantly sat while he walked over to the other side and comfortably took charge of his seat and the keyboard.

"I really don't want to do it." I half-whispered mostly to myself but loud enough so he could hear. "And why not?" He asked. I just shrugged in reply. I watched him as he skillfully glided his fingers over the keys on the keyboard playing notes of a song I realized he plays a lot. Yet it was a song I don't know. The view was mesmerizing I must say. How his uniform is tight enough to show every flex of his muscles but never ripping is a phenomenon I'll never understand. The music itself also seemed to put me in some kind of trance. PEACE. That's the word. Everything was just peaceful. It could go on forever and I wouldn't mind.

"You love singing don't you?" He said breaking the serenity in the air but at the same time invoking another aphrodisiac that is his voice. How I love that voice. I remember when I first heard him sing. I was lost again and I forgot he asked me a question until he looked up from the keyboard and raised an eyebrow at me. Then I remembered.

"Of course I do. It's life for me. A daily routine." I replied, seeming to pour out more of my heart than I should. "Then what's different about this?" He seemed to be asking a lot of questions and seemed genuinely interested if only he'd lift his head from the keyboard and look me straight in the eye. On second thought, scratch that. I'd have a heart attack if he looked me straight in the eye and talked so calmly to me. Talking so smooth. It was as if he cared.

"I dunno tho. It's just...the eyes I guess. And not being able to see or know what people think." I replied drifting in between. "So you're scared of criticism? I never thought you'd be the kind to be. I knew you were shy but I never figured it was because you didn't wanna be criticised." He told me which left me in shock because what he just said meant he's been studying me. Not only had he known I exist, but he'd been studying me. WOW.

"What's your motivation song?" He asked. "Easy. It's Firework by Katy Perry." I replied him and immediately, the song was playing. He played and at a point when I felt it, I carried the song and sang along.

🎵"Cuz baby you're a firework
C'mon let your colours burn
Make 'em go Ah! Ah! Ah!
As you shoot across the sky-y-y"🎵

I sang aloud mostly with my eyes closed but somewhere in the middle of the song I opened my eyes and Lemuel's eyes were on me and he was smiling. That rare but beautiful smile. It wasn't a mock or joke kinda smile. It was...dare I say...loving. I unconsciously smiled back and I regret that I did that because he turned his head back down to face the keyboard but he kept playing. That is; Until the bell rang and simultaneously, Caroline, his twin sister barged in. She looked beautiful as ever but a little tired. I'm guessing the stress of classes. She couldn't even come to choir practice. Poor thing.

She smiled at me but I took it as my cue to leave. The school day was over and I had about 10 minutes until extra lessons started. "Thank you." I said to Lemuel and walked out the door but not before stealing one last glance at him.

Extra lessons passed in a blur. And here I am, home, after homework and chores. Was a nice day. Wasn't it?

Anyway, good night diary...tomorrow's another day.

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PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE

Hi guys!! I've been off for a while. A very long while. I know. And I'm sorry. For some reason my Wattpad was being a b***h and wouldn't let me update. I've been fighting this battle for over a month and today I finally won. Yay me!😂

Anyways, guys come back and read. Pretty please. And don't forget to vote. The reads and votes are my motivation to keep writing because normally I hate typing for too long. But I was inspired once. Please don't let the inspiration die.
Thank you all. And once again, I am sorry for all the lost time, I'll try to make it up to you. I can't promise I'll write everyday because I have two jobs, but I'll write whenever I can.
Don't forget to vote. And share if you can too. Pretty please.
Thanks again guys. And goodnight 😊😊❤.