𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 (𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬.)¹

TWENTY-ONE. the words i most regret

"Hey, Kourt and I are ready to go," Nini told her.

"Okay," Bless replied and got off her bed.

Nini stepped into the room as something caught her eye - the unfamiliar opened notebook on her sister's bed filled with messy writing.

"What's that?"

Bless picked her bag from the floor and glanced over at her sister, wondering what she was talking about. She caught Nini's curious stare on her notebook and mentally scolded herself for not closing it.

"It's just a song I've been messing around with," Bless nonchalantly answered, hoping her deadpanned tone was enough to shut her sister's curiosity down.

Unfortunately, it wasn't because Nini's smile grew. "A song? Can I...?"

Bless sighed in annoyance. She knew that if she said no, Nini would not stop asking about the matter and would try to snoop through the notebook when she wasn't looking. Bless knew if she said yes, then she'd have to hear Nini's opinion and she didn't want anyone's opinion about a depressing song she wrote.

After a moment, Bless gave a hesitant nod. "Fine. But only the first page."

Nini's grin managed to grow as she sat where Bless previously was on her bed. She placed the notebook on her lap and her eyes began taking in the words written on the page, while Bless waited for her to finish.

"Wow, Bless, this is amazing," Nini finally spoke, tearing her eyes from the song and to her sister as she wore an impressed look. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Bless chuckled, knowing that Nini was only joking. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Bless assured with a nod. This time, she meant it. "I'm okay, Neens."

. . .

The halls of East High School were deserted, only holding the Salazar-Roberts sisters as they headed to the gym. Kourtney split from the girls, wanting some alone time to quickly attempt to learn all of Taylor's lines. Miss Jenn made the very last-minute decision of making Kourtney the new Taylor. While she did that, Bless was being dragged by Nini to the school's gym. The gym was the place where the production would be taking place now, thanks to Miss Jenn's quick thinking.

"Dude, no one's here!" Bless complained to Nini as they continued walking. "I don't understand why we're at school so early. It should be a crime to walk through the walls of Hell on a weekend."

"Dramatic much?" Nini remarked, shaking her head a bit. "By the end of tonight, you'll understand why us thespians arrive early before shows."

"Again, we're the only ones here," Bless repeated her statement. She and Nini arrived at the doors leading to the gym, the latter pushing it open. As the sisters stepped into the gym, Bless found that it wasn't empty as she previously anticipated. Instead, it held Miss Jenn and Ricky Bowen who both glanced the girls' way. "I stand corrected."

"Uh... We didn't know anyone would be here," Nini said.

Ricky chuckled. "Let me guess, jitters?"

"Little bit."

"No jitters here," Bless responded with a shrug as she and Nini approached Ricky and Miss Jenn. Oddly, she wasn't nervous about the show tonight at all. "I thrive under pressure."