Damn, Clarence thought. Just a few inches more.
They both looked around, startled, as the noise kept on ringing. With a jolt, they realized that the noise was actually from Clarence’s phone. Someone was calling him.
He fumbled with his coat’s inner pockets and winced as he got hold of his phone. He took one glance at the screen and flicked it open as he cast a shy apologetic smile at Juliet.
She smiled back and silently mouthed at him, ‘Who is it?’ He mouthed back at her, ‘James’ She nodded and tried to stand up, but he looked at her eyes and gently squeezed her hands.
Juliet immediately understood his message and did not attempt to leave his side again. Instead, she contentedly leaned her head on his chest.
“Yo,” Clarence said as he placed the phone near his right ear. A short scream suddenly filled his eardrums, making him wince and move his phone slightly farther away from his ear.
“What the hell?” he asked, annoyed. From the pitch of the voice, he’d bet it was Ellie on the other side of the line.
“We won, Clarence! We won the tournament!” Ellie practically screamed again. He could hear his friends laughing and booming at the background.
‘Calm down, Ellie. We just won—“ he started, irritated with her shouting and was about to tell her to tone it down when her words finally penetrated his dazed thoughts.
“Holy--,” he said, unable to control his excitement. “Are you serious?” He asked as his grip on the phone tightened. He noticed Juliet looking at him with happiness in her eyes and a knowing grin on her face.
“We won?!” Juliet asked him in an excited voice. She quickly stood up and Clarence made no attempt to stop her as he was in shock himself.
“Yes, Clarence, we actually won!” Ellie said in a happy voice on the other line. Clarence then looked at Juliet and nodded as a wide grin appeared on his face. Juliet’s eyes widened and she let out a short scream.
Grinning, he watched as Juliet happily sat by his side again, glowing with excitement and happiness. He could hear her muttering about her plans for the scholarship on Juilliard.
“So, Clarence, they need to present us the certificates officially. And we obviously need to do that as one band. Maybe you and Juliet would care to get your pretty butts here now?” Ellie asked teasingly.
“Oh yeah. We’ll be there in a minute.” he said and ended the phone call. He placed his phone back in his pockets and turned to Juliet, who was bubbling with excitement, all her worries seemed to be forgotten for now.
“Let’s go?” He asked her and offered his hand. She nodded and happily held his hand. They walked back to the stadium, holding hands and laughing, unaware that a pair of eyes was watching them in silence.
Claps and cheers erupted once Juliet and Clarence stepped on the stage. Grinning, they went quickly to their friends on the center. They were looking at them with teasing smiles on their faces.
“Finally,” Samuel said teasingly as they approached him. “The lovebirds finally decided to come out from wherever they came from,” Clarence and Juliet both laughed but gave no other comments as to where they came from.
“Okay, now that we are all here, may we request the presence of our judges as well as the school administration board here on the stage to officially award Heaven?”
One by one, the judges stood up from their seats and went up the stage. They shook the hands of the grinning members as they passed by. The last one, Ms. Diana, smiled warmly at Juliet, who smiled back in return and instinctively hugged her. The woman, who looked a bit surprised, hugged her back.
Clarence smiled at seeing them hug each other. Perhaps their conversations before opened up Juliet and made her remember her mother, and no doubt she saw one in Ms. Diana.
“Thank you,” he heard her whisper. Ms. Diana just patted her on the back and released her hug to stand beside her fellow judges.
Sam quickly passed the mic to the principal’s outstretched hand. The audience quickly grew silent as they waited to listen for his speech. “How’s everyone doin’ tonight?” the principal asked to the audience, a grin on his face.
Personally, Clarence liked him because the principal was still like a boy even at the age of 32. There were days when he’d just suddenly announce that the classes were suspended for no apparent reason. He runs the school loosely but managed to make it retain its standards, probably because the students don’t feel like studying is a burden. With his way of handling things, the principal made the students see learning as a fun thing to do.
The audience clapped and cheered at his question. “Hmm, I’d guess you guys are enjoying, huh?” he continued on, his eyes travelling across the stadium. “It’s only 10 pm, and you guys are still on hype.”
“Well then, before we award Heaven here,” he said as he quickly turned to peek at the band. “I have a few announcements to make.” He faced the audience again, his face growing serious, all playfulness gone.
They all grew silent too, and waited a few moments for him to tell the bad news. Clarence instinctively squeezed Juliet’s hand as he felt something drop on his stomach. The principal rarely had a serious expression on his face.
“First, Ms. Patty and I are dating,” he finally said, a wide grin stretching out his face. They all groaned, including Clarence and Juliet. Goodness, they thought something seriously bad happened. The principal looked confused as they groaned and chatted among themselves.
“What, no one is happy for us?” he asked, pouting. Clarence laughed; the principal was such an overgrown boy at heart. He walked by the principal, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Sir, we are all happy for you and Ms. Patty, of course we are. But please, next time don’t tell that like a tsunami will hit us tomorrow.” he said to him, laughing. He heard some agreeing to what he said. He turned around to go back to Juliet’s side and saw Ms. Patty peripherally, who was shaking her head and blushing on the side of the stage.
“Oh, is that so?” the principal continued, chuckling too. “Okay, onto the next announcement. Seeing as you are all enjoying this even at 10 pm, I’ve decided to play Mr. Nice Guy and let you all have the day off tomorrow.”
A thundering standing ovation followed as soon as he finished. Clarence shook his head. He just can’t believe the craziness of their school principal. Other students were now buzzing with excitement as they plan for the unexpected free day tomorrow.
“Right, I knew that will catch your attention. Also, don’t bother texting me or Ms. Patty. We have a date tomorrow, and yes, I’m looking at you, Riley. Don’t flirt with her now or I’ll have you suspended,” he said jokingly to their history professor, who was a self-acclaimed player. Mr. Riley just shook his head, laughing and raised his right hand, as if promising he won’t do it.
“Okay, now that everything is settled, let’s go and award this amazing band that we have here.” He said and turned his attention to them. “Let’s talk about the scholarships the day after tomorrow at my office,” he whispered to them, smiling.
“We, the St. Rose Academy Administration and the representatives of Juilliard Academy of Arts, hereby award this certificates of excellence,” he stated as he passed the paper to Simon, “with the prize money of $1000,” he said as he passed a white envelope to James, “as well as the scholarship grants for the members of Heaven!” He finished as he passed brown envelopes to each of the grinning members.
“Oh, let’s not forget your medals,” the principal joked as Ms. Patty came into the stage with the medals on her hand. They each bowed slightly as she placed the music note-shaped-medals around their necks.
The crowd applauded as they stood on the stage and got their pictures taken for the school paper. Sam finally had the mic and was rambling on and on about gossip as groups of students finally find their way out of the stadium.
“Are we having a victory party for Heaven here?” Sam asked, his voice amplified all around the stadium. The students paused at the exit and looked excitedly back at the stage. They were definitely up for a party.
Wincing, Clarence looked at his band mates. His house was out of the question. His mother would clearly scold him if he decided to have the whole campus knock on their house in the middle of the night.
He looked at James, who had Ellie on his arms. His best friend just shrugged, which means his house was not good either. He looked around for Simon, but he didn’t see him and his eyes landed on Juliet, who was still talking with Ms. Diana. He was about to walk to her side when Simon finally appeared, with a pretty blonde on his side.
“Hey dude, party’s at Cam’s house,” he said, grinning. Clarence looked at the girl beside his best friend, noting her waist-length honey blond hair, forget-me-not blue eyes, and that charming smile that showed off a pair of deep dimples and perfect white teeth. She was wearing a royal blue dress that reached just above her knees, and white wedgies. He felt his smile widen as he looked back at his best friend. Simon was definitely whipped, he thought, just like him and James.
“Great,” he said. “Cam, is it? As in Camille? Nice to meet you,” he said pleasantly to her.
“Thanks,” Cam replied, smiling. “And it’s Camilla.”
He nodded then wiggled his eyebrows at Simon suggestively. Simon just laughed and tapped his shoulder. They would definitely talk about this later with James. He watched as Simon pulled Cam to James and Ellie, his arms around her waist.
Clarence went to Sam and asked for the mic, who immediately gave it to him with a wink. He laughed, hoping Sam would quit because he clearly doesn’t swing that way. “Party at Cam’s house!” He announced.
The other students who heard him cheered and excitedly texted their friends. “Those who don’t know, her house is in...” He trailed off and looked around for Simon as he had no idea where Cam’s house is.
“Around the corner of Metropolis St., pretty white house with barking dogs,” Simon said, suddenly appearing beside him and taking the mic from him. Grinning, Clarence took the mic and returned it to Sam. He slung his right arm along his shoulder.
“Looks like you know the place a lot,” Clarence commented to Simon, who laughed as he mock-punched his shoulder.
“I pass by her house every single day, so probably I’d know a lot about her house by now,” Simon replied, grinning.
“Huh, I bet you’d know the quickest way to her bedroom.” He teased, chuckling as his friend suddenly looked embarrassed. He saw James looking at them with amused eyes and motioned him to come over.
“Jeez, cut it out, man. She just said yes to me a while ago, don’t make her regret it.” Simon said jokingly at him.
“You’re avoiding the question, man. You do know the quickest way to her bedroom, right?” he asked teasingly. He noticed that James was already behind Simon, who didn’t notice him approaching them. With one look, he and James suddenly thought of a prank. They’ve done it millions of times when they were kids.
“Well, yeah –“
“What? How dare you, Simon!” James said in a voice which sounded like Camilla’s. It was actually a hidden talent of James to copy anyone’s voice. He always joked that he’ll just get a voice artist job if things won’t go well with the band.
Simon jumped a mile, looking startled as hell, sweat beading his forehead. Clarence and James laughed hysterically, placing their hands on their knees and stomach. Simon looked confused but then narrowed his eyes at his friends.
“You guys are idiots,” he said to them as he lightly punched them on the shoulder. “You make me wonder why I even bothered to be friends with the both of you.”
“Yep, but you love us anyways,” James replied as he wiped the non-existent tears from his eyes.
Simon rolled his eyes and slightly dragged them towards the exit. “Whatever, guys. Come on, let’s go. Get your girlfriends here so you can all drive to Cam’s place.”
“How about you?” Clarence asked curiously.
A wicked glint appeared on Simon’s eyes. “I’ll drive her home. Race you guys there.”
*****
A'N:
Hey you guys, sorry for the long looooonnggg wait! Got some stuff to do plus my laptop has some malfunctions which I hane no clue on how to fix them. Anyways, thank you for being so patient with me! And the banner on the side? I made it myself! Yey what do you think? :">
Anyways, I hope you guys like Clarence's POV this time. I hung out with my boy cousins last week and they told me a lot of stuff on boys' POV. >:)
Well, gonna upload the next chapter because I love you guys. :D
Please comment, vote and add this to your RL ;)
Love and Lyrics,
Lady Knight