ALEXANDER CHOI'S STOMACH could feel his organs drop. His heart, his stomach — his everything. And there was only one possible cause to it.
It was the afternoon of the concert, two-thirty to be exact. The Meadowbrook High School Advanced Choir are now at Berkeley Middle School, a few minutes down the road from Meadowbrook High. The entire purpose of this performance was to showcase to the eighth, soon-to-be ninth graders not only their school's massive choir program, but the entire Fine Arts program that Meadowbrook has to offer. The ultimate goal of this showcase is to encourage the students to join at least one of the electives during their freshman year and throughout when the time approaches.
It wasn't a formal event, however. The choir were dressed in their casual, school-colored royal blue choir T-shirts, as well as black jeans and black shoes. Because it wasn't so formal, it took place in Berkley's gymnasium, which was two times smaller than the main gym that was in Meadowbrook. That meant that the entire eight grade was in the broad, five-row bleachers. From what it seemed; all of the students chatted amongst themselves in the wildest way possible. A majority of them were either on their phones or playfully hitting one another while cacking to themselves as if they were witches.
They couldn't care less about the music and art they were about to experience.
They were just kids who were a bit on the rowdy side, the side that tried to care but didn't at heart. Even as their busy principal and stressed-out teachers were trying their best to calm them down a notch, they continued to be the children they were. Cell phones flung out of pockets and gossip and deep conversation continued to stir around like soup.
The foolery in front of Alexander wasn't anything surprising to him, however. Just like half of the choir, he grew up in this middle school from sixth grade to eighth grade. He had three years of experience of all the craziness and ruckus those kids brought out. Believe it or not, he was in their place at one point. Everyone was. That was middle school in a nutshell.
But the thing is, all of that craziness and ruckus brought back memories. They were memories of when Alexander first had to experience her mother's death. It was rough within the first few years — his middle school years. Those are the years where you're supposed to discover yourself. They're odd years, but you always have to make the most out of them. At that age, it's where you experience many firsts, like puberty hormones, first crushes, and the ups and downs of friendship. But instead of focusing on those new events at the time, all Alexander could do was grieve his mother's death. All in all, that was why he joined choir in the first place. It took his mind off of what hurt him most.
But now, he was just reliving dark moments from the past.
His hands began to tremble as Dr. Terry ordered the choir to get into their assigned spaces on the singing platform for Joyful Joyful since they would perform that song first. His choir director insisted that since the song was energetic, it would help lighten their spirits. The idea sounded reasonable to Alexander, considering how he was stuck with his thoughts in his head. Singing such an energetic song would keep his mind off of it. For the time being, anyway.
"Nervous?" Jayden questioned as he nudged his best friend's shoulder.
"Nah, I'm just a little jittery, I guess," Alexander replied as he shook his head. Still, his hands were flinching as if they were about to detach themselves from his body.
"That's the same thing as being nervous," Jayden quipped as he patted the boy's upper back. "You've got this."
He sent one last determined look towards his friend before the choir director demanded for everyone to get into their places. He disappeared through a mob of other choir students to take his appropriate place on the singing platform.
Once everyone was in their assigned spaces, Dr. Terry walked to the center of the gym and tapped on the microphone before speaking into it. "Hello, hello students of Berkeley Middle School," she announced with an enthusiastic voice. The voices of students began to simmer down as the middle school teachers and staff began to hush the students. "My name is Dr. Terry, and I am the director for all of Meadowbrook High School's choir programs from ninth to twelfth grade, as well as the chairman for our wonderful, award-winning Fine Arts Program."
A round of applause erupted from the students, as well as a few hollers. When the applause began to simmer down, Dr. Terry continued. "Meadowbrook High's Advanced Marching Band Drumline, Orchestra, Visual Arts, and Chorus are here to showcase our courses within our program. If you are interested in joining any of these groups, we're encouraging you to sign up for it as an elective when you get to high school next year. Your principal will give you more information upon signing up for these courses next semester," she informed the crowd with a genuine smile. "We will begin with our Advanced Mixed Chorus with our song, Joyful Joyful."
Dr. Terry set down the microphone on the podium and sauntered back to the choir, who all stood in their assigned places on the singing platform, either staring down at their feet or at the audience. The teacher warmed them up in preparation for the song, pointing towards Inez in preparation for her solo as the audio projected through the speakers.
The first phrases she sang were alluring. Her vocals were on-point, even with the help of her microphone, which firmly stood in between her fingers. The audience seemed shocked at how someone's vocals could be so pretty, based on how some eighth graders took out their cell phones to record. Even some of the other students who were part of Meadowbrook's other Fine Arts programs were amazed as they gestured others at the talented singer in front of them. Inez paid no mind to it, though. She didn't want to mess up so early in the song, so she looked up towards the ceiling at some points, focused on slaying her part of the song in the best way possible.
And she was indeed slaying it.
When the solo part came to a halt, there was a brief instrumental part, which gave some students the opportunity to take their places for upcoming parts. Inez backed up a bit from the microphone stand to blend in with everyone else before it was time for the main chorus of the song. The choir's vocals were in tune, their postures were straight, and Dr. Terry was pleased with the improved performance of her choir.
Towards the end of the song, Angelica and Inez were helping each other out with their individualized parts, which blended in with the rest of the choir, but stood out at the same time. Because the song was so energetic this way, it was fun to sing. Throughout the song, they got to move their bodies in all sorts of ways. It brought joy to their hearts, even after the song concluded.
A round of applause erupted from the audience as the choir bowed. Dr. Terry cued the choir to get into their assigned places for their next song, Maybe I'm Amazed. Through that, some choir members found an opportunity to exchange words with each other.
"Do you hear that?" Jolien questioned with a beam. Her face glimmered throughout the artificial, low-quality gym lights from above. "They're clapping . . . and it's all for us. For you, especially. You carried the song."
"Stop, you're too sweet. We all did great," Inez raved jokingly with an enthusiastic smile. "Let's survive through this one last song, then we'll be done. This one's with Alexander, so wish me luck."
"Girl, I'm praying for you," Jolien patted her best friend's back before climbing up the singing platform to the second row. Inez grabbed a microphone and stood a few inches beside Alexander, who took a gaping exhale.
Dr. Terry cued Alexander for his part of the duet as the song's soundtrack projected from the speakers beside the singing platform. The boy lifted his head up as he held the microphone near his mouth. His voice projected the first phrase, strong and steady. It shook all his jitters away, making him focus on one thing and that only — the song he was singing. He was careful with everything, making sure his voice didn't crack or that he didn't get tired. He wouldn't, considering that Maybe I'm Amazed was more of a calmer song compared to Joyful Joyful.
When his part of the duet ended, he took a peek at Inez, who gaped right back at him. It wasn't a glare or a gaze, it was just normal. The pair sang their way through the rest of the duet until it was time for the entire choir to chirp in.
Unfortunately, for Inez and Alexander, it was just plain awkward, especially as the song came to an end. This part was the real ending of their duet. It may have only been three words that were gradually separated, but they found themselves eyeballing each other like hawks. Inez quickly looked the opposite direction with an eyebrow raised, unable to comprehend what just happened or why it did. It was just confusion that she couldn't put a finger on, even throughout the rounds of applause of the audience, which grew quieter ever moment for her.
Instead of enjoying herself, she was stuck in her thoughts, baffled by what it all meant. Those same thoughts stuck with her even after the performance was over. She knew that it would have meant something. Even Jolien, who was all the way in the second row of the singing platform noticed.
"I saw that," Jolien smirked as she motioned Inez to the back door of the gym to head outside to the student drop off area, where the school bus they came to the school with was parked.
"Saw what?" Inez denied as she raised an eyebrow purposely, mainly so she could sound more believable.
She knew damn well what her best friend was talking about. The stare. Inez was having a hard time figuring out if it was intentional or not, but either way, it was strange.
"Alexander and you staring at each other after the song finished, duh," Jolien replied as they dove into seat twelve of the school bus, which was the last row. "What was that all about?"
Inez shrugged, her voice legitimate. "Okay, fine, you got me. But for real, I don't know what it was all about."
"Well, Angelica's party is in like, three hours. We'll see what else he there does," Jolien commented with a grimace. "Maybe he'll give you some hints."
"Maybe," Inez mused as she stared at the window beside her, filled with fingerprints and all sorts of smears. Just like all the fingerprints and smears, she probably had as many questions as possible in her head. If not, more.
A couple of hours later, a large majority of the choir were stuffed inside Angelica's house. It was a Friday night, so no one had to worry about going to sleep early or whatever. They could all be free and have all sorts of fun. A variety of modern rap and hip-hop music played from a speaker system, which gave some people the opportunity to begin dancing in the living room. Others decided to gather around the large rectangular kitchen table for all sorts of foods, like pepperoni and cheese pizzas, a diverse variety of chicken wings, and burgers — all ordered from food delivery services.
Inez couldn't help but wonder how much it cost to throw a little party just for the choir. It probably cost a lot based on how much food was there. Being that it was most likely ordered through DoorDash or Uber Eats, which significantly contributed to the prices rising up.
Like any usual high school party, the choir couples made out on the couch and some of the girls danced to the lively music in similar, matching moves, which put on a show for everyone. Best part of it was that neither one of Angelica's parents were there, so everyone could loosen up a bit.
Unlike everyone else, Inez didn't loosen up not one bit. She isolated herself from everyone else, drowned into her thoughts as if they were an ocean the entire time as she nibbled on a slice of pepperoni pizza. She devoured it slowly, yet steady. At this rate, it would take ages for her to fully finish her slice.
Based on how slowly she chewed and devoured each bite, Jolien frowned as she leaned her head sideways. "Nez, c'mon," Jolien protested with a playful nudge on her shoulder. "This is not you at all. You're so quiet. Are you still thinking about what happened earlier?"
"I guess?" Inez replied with hesitation as she set down her half-eaten slice of pizza on her paper plate, handing it to her friend afterwards. Her hands were oily from the grease on the sides of the pizza. Gross. "I'm going to wash my hands because the pizza is too greasy. Watch my food for me."
Jolien nodded her head curtly as she watched Inez disappear down a hallway. She had to have opened dozens of doors, hoping that one of them would be the restroom. But instead, they were all closets, whether if it was stored with food, shoes, coats, or simply, nothing.
At one point, she was lucky enough to approach the correct door. In a hurry, too, since she was already losing her patience to the point where she didn't even knock on the restroom door before entering. To her rotten luck, someone just had to be in the restroom doing their business.
Embarrassing, Inez Archer thought as she felt her entire face heat up in flames. All she wanted to do was to go back in time with a time machine to relive what just happened, except with her knocking on the door. It was too darn bad that it was harshly impossible.
Alexander stood before the porcelain throne, gawking at Inez as if he'd seen a ghost the moment she walked in. "Uh, the lock is broken," he informed briefly as he zipped up his jeans. "But you could've knocked."
"I know, and I'm sorry," Inez apologized briefly before closing the door shut. Her cheeks were flaming up like fire as she stood out in the hallway against the wall. It was humiliating to experience, especially since she didn't mean it. Who would've thought that Angelica's bathroom would have a broken lock? Inez has never been to her house before, so she wouldn't know.
With all things considered, a heads-up about the broken lock would've been nice. It would've prevented the highly embarrassing situation that Inez just walked into.
When Alexander was finally finished with the restroom, he snickered. Even if the situation was humiliating, he found a way to make light out of it. "Did you like what you saw while you were there, Nezzie?"
His attitude changed mad fast, which Inez found miraculously strange. But instead of questioning it, she fought back.
"Shut up," she shrieked as she shoved him in his shoulder. "And don't call me Nezzie."
"Make me," Alexander mused with a smirk before sauntering away back to the party. Irritated, Inez rolled her eyes as she entered the bathroom, closing the door shut. Despite the heads-up Alexander gave her about the door, she attempted to turn the small lock. Instead of doing a one-eighty-degree turn, it only turned halfway. She turned the doorknob with her hands, causing the door to open wide open.
The lock is actually broken, like Alexander claimed. He didn't keep the door unlocked on purpose.
Inez, however, just shrugged it off, especially since she was only there to wash her hands. She pumped a generous amount of coconut milk-scented hand soap onto her palms, scrubbed it thoroughly, and shadowed them under the running water tap. She allowed the soft foam to disappear into the drain, turning off the tap of water once no bubbles were found. When she was through, she dried her hands with a towel and made her way out of the restroom.
"Wow, my food is safe," Inez chuckled as she joined Jolien on the couch. "Knowing you, I'm surprised you actually watched it."
"Of course, I did. I wouldn't leave your food unattended just to go talk to someone, especially when I have my phone with me," Jolien rolled her eyes playfully as she held up her cell phone. "But what took you so long in the restroom? I thought you were only there to wash your hands."
"I was, but there was someone in the restroom . . . and I . . . I accidentally walked on him," Inez grimaced as she took her half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza. "He was finishing up using it, too."
Jolien's eyes widened as big as saucers. "Who? Who did you walk in on?"
"Alexander," Inez frowned. "He kept on teasing me. When he got out of the restroom, he asked if I liked what I saw."
"Well, did you?" Jolien asked with a chuckle. "Did you even see his dick?"
That was oddly straightforward. Too specific as well, Inez believed. But she shook it off because this was not her kind of conversation.
"Stop," Inez shook her head in disbelief as an uncomfortable laugh escaping her lips. "I was so embarrassed I walked in on him, so I didn't even look. I couldn't."
"Whatever you say," Jolien shrugged as before taking a sip of soda from a can, the orange flavor of Fanta to be exact. She tilted the can upwards more and more as she finished the carbonated drink, gathering all her trash to place in a trash bag, which just so happened to be only a few minutes away. Inez handed her best friend her trash as well, considering that she was closer to the bag.
Before they could get settled once again, Angelica projected her voice and lowered down the music from the speakers. "It's time to play a game," she announced as she held up a bottle for everyone to see. "Let's play spin the bottle. Everyone's playing, like it or not."
With cheers and hollers, a large majority of people gathered in the living room, pushing away any possible furniture that could get in the way of the game. Jolien and Inez sat down beside each other on the cold, uncomfortable wooden floor, amongst many other individuals who couldn't help but be excited about the game.
Inez, however, felt the exact opposite.
"I hope the bottle doesn't land on me," Inez mused as she clasped her hands together.
Jolien shrugged her shoulders simply as she adjusted her phone, which was on its way to fall out of her back pocket "And what if it does? What will you do?"
"Don't start with the what ifs already, Jolien," Inez said as she tilted her head back. "It's not going to happen. I just know it."
"Since you don't want it to land on you so much, let's both hope that it doesn't," her friend anticipated with hope. If that's what her best friend wanted, she respected that. She realized that she couldn't force her — or anyone else for that matter — to do anything. That just wasn't how the world functioned.
Speaking of functioning, Angelica placed the bottle in the middle of the deformed circle everyone made and spun it, just to see if it was functionable. It spun fast and barely rolled away, so Angelica decided that it was usable.
"Who wants to start the game?" The girl questioned as her head turned side to side.
From what it seemed like, everyone began to exchange looks at each other. Looks that said to one another "you go" but denied it instead. And just like that, the room fell silent. The booming contemporary hip-hop music playing from nearby speakers didn't help the silence get any louder, unfortunately.
As a good moment went by, no one volunteered to go first in the game. With a raised eyebrow, Angelica knew one thing: she'd have to voluntell someone to go first. To make it fair, she briefly explained what she was about to do. "Okay, since none of you chickens want to start the game, whoever this bottle points to is who starts the game. Then that person will spin the bottle and kiss the person the bottle points to. It'll be fair and square."
As Angelica released the bottle to spin freely, Inez's hands began to tremble. The what ifs began to invade her mind once again.
What if the bottle lands on me? It can't, it just can't.
What if I have to kiss someone I don't want to kiss? No, that can't happen.
But instead, the bottle began to slow down as it lost kinetic energy. Everything began to move in slow motion as if she was in a movie. It sure felt like it, and Inez wasn't enjoying it one bit. Adrenaline flowed throughout her veins as she watched the bottle near her. Instead of stopping, it continued to spin freely, moving slower and slower throughout each spin.
Biting her lip, Inez watched the head of the bottle pass her as it came to a gradual stop, pointing directly at Alexander Choi. His mouth dropped wide open, quickly forming into a wince.
Boy, Inez was forever grateful that the bottle didn't land on her that time. Letting out a relieved sigh, her heart began to get back to its normal beat. She began to play with her natural curls as she watched the commotion occur all around her.
"Spin the bottle, Alexander," the boy's friend, Jayden encouraged.
With all resistance, he seemed like he didn't want to spin the bottle based on the disappointed frown plastered across his face. However, everyone was counting on him to do it, so he did. The Korean boy leaned forward and twisted the bottle. Everyone watched it spin, their eye pupils moving back and forth as the bottle did the same. Some of the teenagers even had their fingers crossed, desperately hoping that it wouldn't land on them. Inez was considered one of those people. Not only were two fingers on both of her hands were crossed, but she did her best to cross her toes through her sneakers and socks, as well.
There was nothing wrong with a little bit of extra good luck, right?
The bottle began to slow as moments progressed. Everything began to move in slow motion once again, except this time, it all felt slower for Inez. Slow to the point where it felt like a tortoise was walking across the land.
Most people seemed lucky that the bottle didn't point towards their direction as the bottle slowed. When it gradually came to a halt, Inez felt her heart cripple into pieces.
Her eyes widened as big as saucers as she took a long-lasting look at the head of the bottle. The bottle had landed on Inez. Swearing that the bottle wouldn't point on her didn't work. Crossing her fingers didn't work. Not even crossing her toes worked.
Everything she did in her power to make sure the bottle wouldn't land on her didn't work at all. Her rotten luck was here to stay once again.
To make matters even worse, she wasn't about to kiss just anyone. She was about to kiss Alexander Choi, her rival, enemy, the person she disliked the most, and everything in between. They already had a bad enough history. Kissing him would surely be an awkward experience.
She didn't even want to experience it. All she wanted to do was dig a hole deep into the ground and die — anything that would get her to disappear from the game of Spin the Bottle.
Her mouth dropped wide open as her heart dropped all at once. Millions of questions began to flood her brain like the high tide of a beach. Unfortunately for her, all the questions she had couldn't be answered unless she took action, which she pretty much couldn't. She was stuck right there on the hard, cold wooden ground, surrounded by all of the other choir members.
What the fuck am I gonna do?
Is he going to kiss me?
She pondered about questions like these to herself over and over again like a merry-go-round. Frankly, it wasn't going to help the situation like she wanted it to. Inez would use any sort of help during this troublesome moment.
A masculine-like voice sounded from across the circle, impatient and rushed. "So are y'all going to kiss or what?"
"N-No . . . No. I can't. I won't" Inez shook her head as she leaned towards the ground with her hands to get up as she wheezed heavily. "I . . . need to use the restroom. I have to go now."
Without looking back, the girl rushed to the restroom, despite not being able to use it. With caution, she closed the door shut behind her and sat on the hard toilet seat. Breathing heavily, Inez withdrew her cell phone from her purse to text her mother to come pick her up.
I can't go out there. I just can't, she pondered. Going back out to the part meant that she'd probably have to kiss Alexander Choi. No one has forgotten about the dare in the span of a minute, so it would just have to be done. By all means, she wasn't going to allow that to happen.
It wasn't for no apparent reason, however. Today was an awkward day for Inez. It was like everything had been turned upside down for her. First, Alexander and her awkwardly stared at each other during the choir performance. Then, she walked in on him in the restroom. And now, she had to deal with this bullshit. It was too much for her to comprehend.
Running away from her problems would never be a good thing but going home was sure to provide her comfort and relief so she could tone down, she hoped.
As she abandoned the restroom to wait outside for her mother, the door creaked back open. Startled, Inez looked over her shoulder, viewing a frowning Jolien standing in the hall with her hands on her hips. "You okay?" She questioned as she planted her hand on Inez's shoulder.
"I'm fine, I'm heading home, actually. I don't want to stay," Inez uttered as her voice trembled. "Did Alexander end up kissing someone else?"
Why it mattered to her was all she could wonder about at this point. Why did it matter that Alexander Choi might've kissed another girl? It wasn't like she was dating him. They weren't even friends for that matter. They were rivals that disliked each other with all their hearts.
But she still found room in her heart to care a little bit for no particular reason.
"Alexander didn't kiss anyone else. He left the party after you came here to the restroom," Jolien informed as she escorted Inez out the front door. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I was just curious," Inez muttered as she shrugged. "You go enjoy the party. See you on Monday?"
"See you," Jolien mustered a smile before patting Inez on the back. "Get better, okay? Text me if you need anything."
Inez nodded as she watched her best friend disappear into the house. The strong wooden door swung open once again a few moments later, however. Angelica stepped out on her front porch with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay, Inez?" Angelica questioned apprehensively.
"I'm fine, I was just weirded out, you know?" Inez informed simply as she looked up at the fading, orange, blue, and pink sky. "So, I'm heading home."
"Thanks for coming to my party in advance," Angelica mustered a smile. "I hope you get better soon."
Inez returned the smile as the brunette disappeared back into her house. Once again, she was stuck in her thoughts, which clouded her brain. Today had to be one of the strangest days she's ever experienced without a doubt.
But more of all, she couldn't comprehend of what it all meant.
a/n: yikes! it looks like Inez and Alexander are in a bit of a sticky situation. party drama, am i right?
first, there was the bathroom situation. then, the spin the bottle dilemma. and we shouldn't forget about the whole stare down issue that happened earlier that day. any thoughts/theories/feelings on that? i enjoy reading you guys' comments.
overall, the whole Alexander and Inez situation is awkward. but feel free to sit back, grab some popcorn and your favorite drink, and watch it all.
like always, thanks for reading. please vote and continue to comment if you don't mind 🤭