A Girl I'd Kinda Be Into

Chapter Seven

(y/n)'s POV

I was running around, making sure we had everything we could need.

Phone, check.

Sheet music from online, check.

Music stand with the sheet music on it, check.

Water bottles, check.

Two chairs, check.

It seemed like everything was ready, which was ideal since Christine was supposed to be here in about ten minutes. I double checked our text conversation to ensure that I had given her the right address.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I thought it would break free and fall on the ground, with how hard and loud it was beating. I was almost convinced Chrissy would heat it when she got too close.

I knew she wouldn't be early, when it came to coming over to people's houses she was always right on time, in case they were still getting ready or just getting home from something else beforehand. She was seriously sweet and considerate. Like, she was practically made of sugar and cake, with a little froyo mixed in.

I shook my head in attempt to push those thoughts out, and instead checked my phone.

12:58pm was displayed across the screen, white text displayed over a picture of a sunset in Colorado I'd taken this summer. I smiled a bit at the memory, thinking of the gorgeous flowers and scenery had been all around where I stayed.

I slapped my face gently, deciding that no, I must focus on the task at hand. I just needed to be ready to work on songs. I decided we'd probably work on Dance With You first and flipped to that sheet music in the binder where I kept all of my music. Those harmonies would be important and since it wasn't an ensemble number, it probably wouldn't get worked on much at rehearsal.

I nearly fell off the chair I'd sat down on when I heard a knock at the door, a short snippet of King of New York. My god, that girl was a huge dork. Ooh, my internal monologue rhymed!

I got up, racing to the door before opening it, trying to not look just a bit out of breath, despite having just run to the door.

"Hey, Chris! Come on in, everything's already set up." I opened the door further to allow her in, and she did so. She fiddled with the sleeves of my hoodie that was was wearing, much too long for her arms.

"Great, and you told me you have the sheet music, right?" She asked, clearly awkward about not being sure that there was indeed music.

I nodded, grinning. "I printed all of it out last night, it's in my binder. I already opened it to Dance With You since I figured that would be what we wanted to start with," I assured her. She sighed in relief and grabbed my hand, grinning brighter than a thousand suns in one room. To say it was dazzling would be a huge understatement. Words couldn't describe how gorgeous she was when she smiled.

"Well then, let's get to it! We don't wanna run out of time, do we?" She didn't bother to get an answer, instead dragging me to where she saw the chairs and stand set up.

"Oh, you even have water! Thank god, I forgot mine," she exclaimed loudly.

"And it's room temperature." I bragged. She turned to me, smiling excitedly, before plopping down on the nearest chair. I went around her to sit on the other, making sure to sit up straight and not cross my legs.

"Should we start with the background karaoke track or no?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No, let's get used to the harmonies first." She decided and turned back to reading the notes scattered on the page. I took a deep breath and began to sing.

"I don't want to start a riot, I don't want to blaze a trail, I don't want to be a symbol, or a cautionary tale," I sang, trying to imitate the sunniness that Emma normally has in her voice while still sounding sad. I cast a quick glance to Christine, who looked enthralled in the music.

"I don't want to be a scapegoat, for people to oppose," I held out the high note, adding a touch of vibrato just to be fancy.

"What I want is simple, as far as wanting goes," I smiled as I saw Chris staring at me in some form of awe, despite knowing I could sing.

"I just wanna dance with you, let the whole world melt away and dance with you. Who cares what other people say?" I flipped to the next page of music while singing.

"And when we're through, no one can convince us we were wrong. All it takes is you and me, and a song," I finished, pausing to take a deep breath. Christine started.

"I don't need a big production, streamers hanging in the air," Woah.

"I don't need to spend the night with confetti in my hair. I don't need a room of people that I don't really know,"

"I just want to hold you," I sang.

"And never let you go!" She joined back in, and then we circled back to the chorus, careful to watch the music in all its little details. After the chorus, I said the Mrs. Greene part, since she had to respond.

"Two people swaying slowly, nothing more and nothing less! Why anybody fears that is any body's guess," I was now starting to remember and regret the fact that we had not done vocal warm-ups. I repeated the chorus once again and let it die out gently before silence ensued.

Christine was the first to break it, clapping her hands together.

"I knew you could sing but I didn't know you could sing THAT well! That was- you were- gah it was so good!" She squealed. I grinned in response, face heating up a bit.

"You were even better, you sound so beautiful! Absolutely wonderful, seriously. I'm honored to sing a duet with you," I responded, giggling. She giggled back, throwing her head back in laughter, and there was nowhere else I'd rather be.

(1,034 words)