Man I think I love her! (Jared Kleinman x Reader)

Jared: The Hero everyone no one ever thought they wanted

~3rd Person POV~

The small, E/c eyed teen looked up at her teacher, Mr. Ramos, from the elevated stage in front of her. It wasn't until now that she realized just how many people have chosen to participate in this event, even if it was just the practice round for what was to come a few nights ahead. She gazed around to see a handful of people she'd never expect to be here, these people included some hot-shot jocks from the BasketBall team and even some of the 'popular' girls who could barely hold a note.

That's when her eyes stopped upon her friends sitting next to her. At that moment Y/n silently thanked whoever was watching over her for such great friends. Y/n rolled her eyes in fake annoyance with herself, wondering how many times she will recall how lucky she was (to be alive right now...).

"Hello everyone, as you know, I am Mr. Ramos, the Theater and Art teacher. Tonight, although this is going to be a practice round, I want you all to try your best out there." His goofy yet gentle voice broke through the constant chatter of the room. The girl laughed to herself at the teacher unnecessarily introducing himself.

"This is how tonight is going to work: I will pick out a group at random and when you are called up you'll have five minutes to set up and get ready before you perform. You will act one scene of your performance, obviously in your normal clothes. Once everyone has finished I will call up your leader and give you guys some praise and some tips on how to improve yourselves. Now, does anybody have any questions? "

Since nobody raised their hand, Mr. Ramos quickly turned around and picked up a clipboard. He closed his eyes for a second before harshly bringing down his raised finger onto the sheet of paper. 'Please don't be us, please don't be us,' Y/n chanted in her head.

Mr. Ramos opened his eyes and spoke into the microphone, "First up is Harmony and her group performing Heathers," Just then, a cluster of popular girls (and a few boys) stood up and began to make their way towards the stage. Their attire was rich looking and was in no doubt ugly. A lot of them wore bright pink or other vibrant colors that could blind your eyes. No wonder why they were doing Heathers, she thought.

"That's ironic, popular girls performing Heathers. How am I not surprised?" The girl looked over to her best friend, Jared, who seemed to have read her mind. This caused the h/c girl to laugh. The boy looked over to her and gave a dorky smile. Each of their faces lamented a bright red shade. Five minutes passed and a petite girl with short brown hair in skimpy clothes walked to the center of the stage, with a boy behind her. The music to the song, Dead Girl Walking started to play. They began to sing and act out the scene. They were pretty good surprisingly.

"They look like fish out of the water, literally, they are flopping around like they're going to die," She lightly slapped Jared's shoulder even though she found the joke comment hilarious. The boy wiggled her eyebrows and smirked, causing her to laugh even more. A few students glared but Jared was sure to silently flip them off (when Y/n wasn't looking of course).

>Time skip brought to you by Jared not being able to read<

They were next, Y/n thought, there was no doubt about it. Every other group had gone up and performed except them. As if he could read her mind, Jared put his hand on top of hers and gave a reassuring squeeze.

In a matter of seconds, Mr. Ramos called us up and the warmth from Jared's hand left, leaving your hand feeling cold and empty. Michael and Jeremy were the first to get up on the stage so they can set up the sound system and lighting.

"So the plan is to perform Disappear," She told the group, who eagerly shook their heads.

"And remember, this is for fun! Don't stress out on the simple things!" Jared added. "Anyways, this is practice," He gave her a thoughtful, playful shove as if implying that he was talking to me. Y/n rolled her eyes.

Michael supplied them with mini microphones right before the buzzer rang, implying that time was up, for preparing at least. Evan took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Once he opened them again, he had a look of determination. Each of the group members gave him a thumbs-up as he walked confidently on stage. Who knew a person could change in such little time, especially with something as queer as this.

Evan performed perfectly, and then when Connor came out, the performance just got better. Y/n looked at the crowd and noticed how most of them were watching intently, their expressions full of curiosity. Jared looked off to the side and noticed the same group who went up first were softly snickering and rolling their eyes. His fist clenched and he casually raised his middle finger to the group.

Mr. Ramo's face, when they started singing, was almost hilarious. It was obvious that he was awestruck since his mouth slightly hung open and you could practically see the stars twinkling in his eyes. A small smile crept onto his face.

Jared was about to point it out to Y/n and the other's when it was their cue to come up on stage and do their part. 'I'll do it later,' He thought. 'I need to focus on the performance right now,'

Y/n looked over to Jared. "No one deserves to disappear," They all repeated the same thing in harmony as more and more of the cast came out. Compared to most of the groups, it was easy to tell that they knew what they were doing. They were confident, they were positive and they were downright amazing.

It all had ended too soon. Once the last chord stopped, most of the people in the theater clapped and cheered. Some even stood up and yelled encouraging words. Although none of the kids in the group didn't like attention (except maybe Zoe), they had to admit it felt nice.

~Time Skip~

Each team was called up individually in the same order that they came up originally so that Mr. Ramos could give them advice and praise.

"Finally, can I have the Kermit Cult come up please," Mr. Ramos had said into his microphone. The students laughed at the name of the group but not in mean spirit...hopefully.

"You guys were amazing! Don't tell anyone I said this but your's was probably the best I have seen tonight. Keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure that you will win!" We all cheered in unison and thanked the teacher for the advice.

The Kermit Cult stepped off the stage. Soon afterward, the kids were all dismissed. "Well, Well, look what we have here guys?" Y/n turned around and glared at the blonde behind them.

"What do you want Harmony?" Despite the amount of venom Y/n had used in her voice, the girl seemed unwavered. 

"I just wanted to let you know that we are going to win this thing whether you like it or not! You just think you are all that with your little group of losers, prancing around acting like you own the place! Well guess what, you guys are just a bunch of-"

"A bunch of what, huh Harmony? Because guess what, we don't care what little threats and insults you throw at us. At the end of the day we are going to win this competition and you and your group will be forgotten, like what you deserve," Jared yelled. "Come on guys," He waved his hand out the doors. "Let's go home," 

The group mumbled a bunch of 'yeahs' and 'okays'. 

"Tch, you are nothing without your little boytoy, am I right Y/n," The girl managed to say before leaving as well. 

"Don't listen to them," Jared muttered to Y/n. "You're my best friend and I would do anything for you including yelling at some slut," He wrapped his arm around he shoulders and brought  her closer to himself. Y/n had giggled and blushed at the sudden contact. 

"You are my hero, Jared" The girl grinned as the two walked out of the auditorium. As long as she had Jared was with her, her hero by her side, Y/n felt like she could do anything. 

Cheesy ending, I know