Sworn Enemies

Chapter Six

Kara:

            When her alarm went off that morning, Kara gave serious thought to pretending to be sick. There was no way she ready to face what was coming in her third period class. Knowing that was only going to postpone the inevitable, she dragged herself from her bed. Of course she did take her time getting ready for school and almost made her and Shirelle late for first period.

            “Maybe you guys won’t even have to sing today,” Shirelle offered. “There are a lot of people in the class. There’s no way we’ll get through everyone today.”

            “I’d rather do it today and get it over with,” Kara said. “The sooner the better.”

            “The sooner the better for what?” Camryn asked when they took their seats beside her.    

            “The sooner Ethan and I get this singing thing over with the better,” Kara explained.

            “Maybe it won’t be so bad,” Camryn tried to encourage her.

            It won’t be good either, Kara thought as the second bell rang and Mr. Thomas called for everyone’s attention.

            “Would it be wrong for me to wish you good luck?” Camryn asked.

            With their geometry class over, they were on their way to their second period classes.

            “No, I need all the luck I can get,” Kara assured her.

            “No, she really doesn’t,” Shirelle countered. “She’s a great singer.”

            “At least it’s not the first time you ever sang with him,” Camryn said, and Kara frowned.

            How did Camryn know she and Ethan sang together before? She only met Camryn this year, and the school year wasn’t even two months old yet.

            “You guys sang together at the winter and spring productions last year, right?” Camryn said.

            “That’s not the same thing,” Kara disagreed. “Then we were singing with a group. Now it will be just the two of us, and we’ll be singing that super sappy love song.”

            “Good luck then. I’ll catch up with you guys at lunch, and you can tell me how it went.”

            “She’s right you know,” Shirelle said when Camryn was gone.

            “Right about what?” Kara asked.

            “This isn’t the first time you and Ethan have sung together,” Shirelle reminded her.

            Kara’s thoughts drifted backward in time to the early weeks of her freshman year when Miss Ambrose took them to the auditorium and had them sing for the first time. Kara had been surprised by the fact that not only could Ethan play the piano, but he could sing. She’d been halfway through her song from The Phantom of the Opera when Ethan suddenly started singing with her. That had been the moment their relationship really began.

            “You guys sounded great then,” Shirelle continued. “I’ll bet you’ll sound even better now.”

            That was what Kara was afraid of, but she couldn’t admit it. Not to Shirelle or even herself but especially not to Ethan.