9 Chapter 9

"Beck, please can you partner with me for the spring showcase?" I pleaded to him.

"I have to take care of a family friend," he responded, not even looking up from his book.

"Please? I don't want to be paired with someone random." I begged.

"Fine," he said, closing his book.

"Yay!" I squealed, for once in my life, and hugged him tightly. I was overjoyed.

"Okay, stop choking me." he joked, trying to get my grip off of him.

I let go of him and mumbled an apology. I shot a smile at him and we got to work.

•

"Okay, so you're going to sing," I stated. We were sitting in my living room, contemplating what to do.

"No. I sound horrible," he argued.

"Fine, let me listen. I'll be the judge of that." I said with a smug smirk on my face.

"Okay, but don't blame me when your eardrums burst." he finally agreed.

"Well, I shook hands with the devil

Down on the south side

And he bought us both a drink

With a pad and a pencil sat by his side

I said, 'Tell me what you think'." he sang.

For a second, I was star struck. His voice was so perfect, why didn't he sing at all?

"Wow..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I told you it was bad." he joked.

"That was amazing! How? That was... I think you broke me." I said, not knowing what to say.

An idea struck me. I remembered the song I was writing. I took his hand and dragged him into my room. I dug up all my old notebooks until I found the one. I rapidly flipped the pages and held it out to him for him to read. His eyes trailed across the lyrics and he reluctantly agreed to do it. I smiled. This was going to be awesome.

•

"Good luck," I told my partner, as we were about to go on stage.

"I still don't know why I let you drag me into this," he said, smiling.

"Because you love me. Love, love, love, love, loooove me." I dramatized.

"Yeah, I do," he smirked.

I felt my heart beat faster. My hands became clammy and my mouth was dry. I raised an eyebrow, keeping my calm facade, when in actuality, red lights and alarms were blaring loudly in my head, telling me this wasn't supposed to end up like this.

We were ushered out of the curtains, onto the stage. I felt hundreds of eyes on me, drilling into me. I nodded at the band next to us. I took a deep breath.

"Easy come, easy go

That's just how you live

Oh take, take, take it all but you never give

Should've known you was trouble from the first kiss

Had your eyes wide open

Why were they open?" Beck gave me a grin at my singing, one which I returned. I stepped further toward him, causing him to move backward as I continued to sing.

"Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash

You tossed it in the trash, you did

To give me all your love is all I ever ask

'Cause what you don't understand is,"

I took a deep breath. I turned around and did my part of the dance while singing.

"I'd catch a grenade for ya." I sang.

"Yeah, yeah." Beck sang in the background.

"Throw my head on a blade for ya." I sang, shaking my head back and forth.

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'd jump in front of a train for ya."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You know I'd do anything for ya."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I would go through all this pain." I sang, clutching my head.

"All this pain." Beck sang in the background.

"Take a bullet straight through my brain." I hit the high note.

"I would die for you baby,

but you wouldn't do the same." I sang.

"Black, black, black and blue

Beat me til' I'm numb

Tell the devil I said hey when you get back to where you're from

Madwoman, bad woman that's just what you are

Yeah, you'll smile in my face then rip the breaks out my car" he sang. All the girls went absolutely crazy. He jabbed his finger at me, as we circled each other.

"Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash

You tossed it in the trash, you did

To give me all your love is all I ever ask

'Cause what you don't understand is" he smiled at me, winking.

"I'd catch a grenade for ya." he ended off.

We waited for a second, before the crowd cheer. Applause could be heard. People stood up and clapped for us. We both bowed and walked off stage.

"That was amazing!" I screamed. I was so happy.

"It wouldn't have been possible without you," he said, pulling me in for a hug, kissing me on the forehead. I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach. God, I thought I was going crazy.

I was about to ask why he did that when I saw André standing in the room, talking to a girl. That made sense why Beck suddenly did that.

Suddenly, a girl ran out of the dressing room shouting incoherently. Let me tell you, her tongue was huge. André and the girl he was talking to rushed to her, freaking out.

I turned to Beck, who was watching the scene awkwardly. We stood there and watched them argue.

"You wanna get some sushi?" he suddenly asked.

"You have the absolute worst timing," I said, facepalming.

"Let's go then," he said, tugging me along.

•

"Today is the last day of being your girlfriend," I said, picking up the sushi with my chopstick easily.

"I know. Jade and I are getting back together," he said, sighing.

"That's great! How did that happen?" I asked.

"I realized that all this was just to make Jade jealous and that she is like the one thing I think I could survive without. All this is for nothing if I didn't love her. I don't know why, even when I think I don't love her, it always boils down to her." he smiled. My heart broke as he said that. I had forgotten how it felt like to be tossed to the side.

"That's great!" I said with a strained smile.

"Thanks for being my 'girlfriend'." he thanked me. He took my hands and cupped it in his.

"No problem. I'm the one that broke up with you if anyone asks." I winked at him.

"Sure. By the way, tell me when you want your week of 'Beck obeys Ava' to start." he said while eating.

We finished our food and paid our bills. Beck fetched me home, but not without planting a kiss on my cheek before leaving.

I held the cheek that he kissed. What was wrong with me? I wasn't supposed to like it, but here I was.

Ava Paige

Bye Beck. I hope you have a great life with Jade. I'm having a confusing time differentiating my feelings.

Mood: Confused 🤨