Show Choir.

A few weeks pass in the run-up to Sectionals, and they’re full of intense, periodic and highly annoying rehearsals. Mr Goldstein doesn’t seem to realize that they could take Sectionals in their sleep.

“Sectionals is in a week! We’re up against Lutherville Academy and Baltimore Prep! And they’re not pushovers!”

Almost everyone rolls their eyes.

“Please,” Christofer comments from the back of the stage. “They’ll be quaking in their cheap costumes. We’re one of the most renowned show choirs in America. They have no chance.”

Alex nods in agreement, looking back from Christofer at Mr Goldstein.

“Surely a day off wouldn’t hurt?”

Mr Goldstein sighs, but nods anyway.

“Fine. But, let it be known, if we don’t place first, I’ll be after you, Drew.”

*

The ‘day off’ turns out to be a bad idea, in Jack’s case. The hockey team have managed to find something to get at him about, and are relentlessly stalking him through the corridors. He’s just taken to ignoring them. Rian and Zack however, not so much.

Jack’s talking to them about Sectionals when Kyle and Kent come over. Rian eyes them warily, but decides they’re decent enough people not to bother Jack.

Wrong.

“Hey, fag.” Kyle says, leaning on Jack’s shoulder like they’re best friends. Jack suddenly resembles a deer in the headlights. Zack narrows his eyes.

“Kyle.” He says, eyeing the boy’s platinum blonde hair with disgust. Kent makes a kissing noise from over his shoulder.

“Shut up, Burns.” Zack grumbles, catching Jack by the wrist and dragging him off. Alex eyes them from across the hall and wanders over.

“Are they bothering you?” Alex asks Jack, sparing Zack a quick glance.

“No more than usual.” Jack replies, looking at the floor.

“Well, I’ll still make them stay extra at hockey tonight. I needed a reason to torment them.”

Jack rolls his eyes. Kyle and Kent walk past and see the three of them.

“Ooh, threesome!” Kyle exclaims, while Kent wolf whistles. Alex glares at them.

“I’m not gay, assholes!” He yells, and Jack and Zack glower at him. Jack pulls himself away from Zack and walks back down the hallway. Zack trails after him.

Alex sighs, deflating again.

He always screws things up.

*

Alex is more than glad for choir practice the next day, which is unusual. He figures it’s because he gets a chance to talk to Jack. And possibly because Mr Goldstein’s letting him do a solo song that has nothing to do with Sectionals.

Alex is nervous, he really is, when he realizes he’s on his own on stage, with nothing but a guitar and two microphones. If he screws this up, he’ll never live it down.

“When you’re ready, Alex.”

Alex bites his lip, because, well, this entire song he’s about to perform will tell everyone he actually, maybe, does have a thing for Jack. Which he’s only just worked out himself.

“Alex?” Mr Goldstein asks, and Alex is drawn from his thoughts.

“Yeah? Just… Give me a minute, please?”

“Whatever you need, Alex.”

Alex nods, and pushes a rough hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut.

“’Kay. Let’s do this.” He says after a moment, pulling his guitar back up to a comfortable position. He plays the intro like he’s supposed to, and Jack recognizes the song within the first few bars.

“Oh Florida, please be still tonight. Don’t disturb this love of mine. Look how he’s so serene, you’ve gotta help me out. And count the stars to form the lines, and find the words we’ll sing in time. I want to keep him dreaming, it’s my one wish, I won’t forget this.”

Alex keeps his eyes downcast, so he doesn’t have to see the rest of the choir’s reaction. It’s probably bad.

“I’m outdated, overrated. Morning seems so far away. So I’ll sing a melody, and hope to God he’s listening, sleeping softly while I sing. And I’ll be your memories; your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right.”

“If luck is on my side tonight, my clumsy tongue will make it right. And wrists that touch; it isn’t much, but it’s enough. To form imaginary lines, forget your scars, we’ll forget mine. The hours change so fast; oh God, please make this last.”

“’Cause I’m outdated, overrated. Morning seems so far away. So I’ll sing a melody, and hope to God he’s listening, sleeping softly while I sing. And I’ll be your memories; your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right. Could get it right.”

“You could crush me. Please, don’t crush me. ‘Cause, baby, I’m a dreamer, for sure. And I won’t let you down. I swear, this time, I mean it. So I’ll sing a melody, and hope to God he’s listening, sleeping softly while I sing. And I’ll be your memories; your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right.”

“Very nice, Alex!” Mr Goldstein praises. Alex blushes furiously, looking back down at the floor. He disappears offstage to put his guitar down before walking back down to join the rest of the choir. Jack’s acting like it was just a regular old song.

Alex sighs to himself and sits down a little distance away from the rest of the choir, and tugs his knees up to his chest.

*

The next few days of Alex’s life are hell. Literal hell. The hockey team somehow found out about the song he sang for Jack (even though Jack himself didn’t know it was for him) and have been tormenting him for it ever since. The cheerleading squad started yelling at him halfway through practice for no reason, although Alex suspects it has something to do with Lisa. And to top it all off, Zack announced at practice that he was going to ask Jack out. And from what Alex has heard over the rest of the day, Jack said yes.

It’s at choir practice that Alex decides he should just disappear, to see if anyone notices. But he can’t, because Sectionals is in two days, and they kind of need him. He slumps back in his chair as Zack and Jack enter, hands twined together. Jack looks genuinely happy.

Alex mumbles something about going to the bathroom to no one in particular, before hurrying out.

He doesn’t make it three steps down the corridor before Jonathan and Marc collar him.

“Hey fag. You going to cry in the bathrooms because your little boyfriend ran off with Merrick?” Jonathan taunts.

“No! He’s not my boyfriend, Cook! He was never my boyfriend!” Alex retorts. Jonathan laughs in his face.

“That’s why you sang him a little love song then? Because you’re just friends?” Marc sneers. “That’s what all friends should do.”

“I didn’t sing it to him!” Alex yells. “I didn’t sing it to anyone.”

This, he knows, is a complete lie, and somewhere, he knows that Jonathan and Marc know that too.

“Yeah, whatever. We should just call you fag, version two.” Jonathan remarks. “That’s why Lisa left you, isn’t it? Because you kissed another boy?”

Alex opens his mouth to reply, but he doesn’t get chance. Jonathan twists his fingers in the front of his shirt and slams him into the wall.

“You’re a fag, Alex Gaskarth. A dirty little fag, who doesn’t ever deserve anyone.” Jonathan spits, and Alex can feel the tears brimming in his eyes. He can’t cry, not now. Not in front of Jonathan and Marc.

“Oh look, the little fag’s gonna cry.” Jonathan laughs. “Stupid little gay. Stay the fuck away from me.”

Jonathan slams Alex back into the wall one more time for good measure before letting him go and stalking off down the hall, Marc following like a lost puppy.

That’s when Alex starts crying. He rubs at his chest as he stumbles back to the choir room.

Everyone’s staring at the door when he falls back through it, and it suddenly hits him that they’ll have heard everything. The look of concern on everyone’s faces worries him. He wipes at his tears roughly, walking quickly over to pick up his stuff.

“Alex?” Rian asks nervously, Cassadee still attached to his arm. Alex shakes his head slightly, and leaves the room again.

“Did that just happen?” Jack asks quietly, glancing around. “Did Jonathan just make Alex cry?”

“I think so.” Zack replies. “I’m going to find him.”

“No, I’ve got this.” Christofer says, standing up and heading towards the door. “And besides, I play baseball. I’m the most likely to be able to do some damage to a certain Jonathan.”

Christofer heads straight to the student parking lot, and to Alex’s car. As he suspected, he finds the older boy resting his head on the steering wheel sobbing. Christofer sighs and knocks gently on the car window. Alex looks up at him and his lower lip quivers before he unlocks the car. Christofer walks around and opens the passenger side door, closing it gently.

“What did he say to you?” Christofer asks softly, wrapping an arm around Alex’s shaking shoulders.

“Just some stupid stuff. Nothing much.”

“Alex.” Christofer says sternly. “You’re crying. This isn’t ‘nothing much’, and you know it.”

Alex swallows, and buries his face in the sleeves of his jacket.

“It was nothing. I’m just… not used to things like that happening to me.” Alex mumbles in a watery voice. “I’ll be fine.”

Christofer sighs and embraces Alex in a proper hug, whispering to him to go home and get some rest, ahead of Sectionals in two days time.

Alex doesn’t show at school the next day. Mr Goldstein goes insane.

He appears the day after -Sectionals day- however, but keeps his eyes trained to the floor as he heads straight for the choir room. Everyone else is already there, and he takes a seat as far away from everyone else as he can get. There’s something different about him, Christofer notes.

“Nice to see you’ve decided to join us today, Alex. Where were you yesterday?” Mr Goldstein says with a slight frown.

“I was sick.” Alex says, his voice ever-so-slightly hoarse. He senses everyone looking at him when he speaks, and so once again keeps his eyes on the floor.

Mr Goldstein frowns a little more, but looks back at the rest of the choir any way.

“Ready to go?”

The choir piles on to the stupid minibus the school hired to get them across town to the theater where Sectionals was being held. Alex sits on his own by the window, and presses his forehead against the cool glass. He’s getting nervous now.

It’s when they’re all ushered into a dressing room with ‘DULANEY’ taped to the front that it really hits him.

“Okay, everyone get into your costumes and fix up a hair and makeup station!” Mr Goldstein instructs, “Then continue with practicing group vocals while I go find out the running order!”

He leaves the room, and the girls disappear off into a side room to get changed and sort out where they’re doing everyone’s makeup.

Alex sighs to himself as he picks up the pile of clothes labeled ‘ALEX’, and is unfolding the shirts when Christofer appears beside him.

“You okay?” He asks, ripping the tape label from his own stack of clothes. Alex shakes his head, pulling his tee over his head and quickly replacing it with the blue v-neck. He shrugs the white shirt onto his shoulders and toes off his shoes, not looking at Christofer.

“Still upset about Jonathan?” Christofer asks. Alex shrugs as he pulls the jeans up his legs. He buttons them and sits on the back of one of the sofas while he pulls on the shoes.

“I guess.” He says quietly. Christofer frowns.

“You weren’t sick yesterday, were you?”

Alex shakes his head.

Christofer is about to reply, but Sierra’s yell of ‘Alex! Chris! Hair and makeup, now!’ prevents him from doing so.

Hayley and Cassadee push them down into two chairs in front of a large mirror and produce an enormous box of hair products.

“Are you okay?” Hayley asks as she rubs some hair wax between her palms and rubs it into Alex’s hair.

“I’m fine.” He replies, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

“Are you sure? You don’t look it.” Hayley presses, twisting strands of Alex’s hair in her fingers and sticking it up.

“I’m sure. Just nervous, that’s all.” Alex lies, watching as Hayley’s reflection frowns at him. She wipes her hands on a nearby towel and grabs the can of hairspray from the counter top. She sprays his hair and admires her handiwork with a smile.

“Okay, you’re done.” She smiles. “Next!”

Alex sinks down into one of the sofas in the main room, and a few minutes pass before Christofer joins him again.

Mr Goldstein comes back into the room and gathers everyone.

“We’re going last.” He says, and everyone groans in annoyance. “Which is better for us, actually. The judges will remember us, and we have longer to rehearse parts.”

The loudspeaker crackles into action a few moments later.

‘All choirs backstage in five minutes!’

Everyone goes into overdrive then, all of the girls styling each others hair and trying to do the neatest makeup they can, and Alex is very, very quickly practicing Check Yes Juliet with Hayley.

‘All choirs backstage now please!’

The entire of the choir piles out of the door, Victoria and Lisa still hurriedly fixing up the others hair. Mr Goldstein hands out their ID tags as they walk, each with their name and their school.

“This is in case we lose each other. Remember to take these off before you go on stage to perform.”

Alex nods as he clips the tag through the belt loop of his jeans.

They reach the stage just as Lutherville Academy’s choir go on. A member of the crew ticks everyone off, and Alex and Christofer stand side-stage and watch the other choir. They perform a mash-up of two songs Alex doesn’t recognize, mixed in with Abba’s Mamma Mia. It’s not bad, Alex decides, but their horrific white outfits need work.

Jack appears beside them. Christofer nods at him in greeting, but Alex doesn’t respond.

“Alex? Are you okay?” He asks. Christofer takes the hint and slips away into the background to talk to Sierra. Alex makes a noise in reply.

“Alex?” Jack asks worriedly.

“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Jack frowns at him,

“Alex, you left choir crying the other day. That means you definitely weren’t okay, in my book. So what was wrong?”

Alex frowns at the stage, where the representatives from Baltimore Prep are now performing.

“Just Jonathan.”

“What did he do?” Jack presses. Alex frowns a little more.

“Let’s just say it involved a lot of stupid names and ended with me being an overdramatic queen and crying in my car.” Alex responds, his voice monotone. It’s Jack’s turn to frown now, and he looks at the older boy in confusion.

“What did you do to piss him off?”

‘And now, our final competitors, Dulaney High’s show choir!’

Alex and Jack look up in shock, quickly taking off their tags and throwing them on the floor, joining onto the line after Zack and Hayley.

The two of them are barely into position before the introduction to New Perspective starts up.

The song doesn’t go too horrendously –Alex doesn’t drop Lisa, in any case. The music fades out and he quickly puts the girl down, moving off to the front of the stage beside Jack.

He takes a quick glance around the audience while the lights are still down and the music for Any Way You Want It is still welling up. The judges sit up front, as always, and the rest of the seats in the auditorium are filled. Jack shoots him a small smile as the lights go up and the song starts.

Alex actually feels pretty confident right now, as the two of them lead the rest of the choir in the song. The judges seem to like it, he thinks, as he notices the wide grins on their faces.

The music fades and Jack disappears back into the choir, and Hayley appears beside him. She gives him an enormous smile and the lights go up again.

Check Yes Juliet goes astoundingly smoothly, and as the music crashes to a halt, Alex and Hayley freeze, barely an inch away from a kiss. The lights go down for the final time and the audience in the auditorium erupts into cheers and claps. Alex releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

All of them leave the stage as the announcer tells the audience about the fifteen minute interval that’s about to take place while the judges make their decision.

Mr Goldstein congratulates everyone on an awesome performance about three times, before handing out tags that he’d salvaged, and letting everyone go chill out for the rest of the interval.

Alex is standing with Christofer and Hayley in the corridor outside their dressing room, when he sees a figure he recognizes at the far end of the corridor.

She turns around and sees him, and she quickly starts to grin. Alex’s face lights up and he runs down the corridor to her, throwing himself into her arms. She laughs, and lifts him up a little.

“I missed you too, bro.” She laughs, hugging him tight. “Nice performance up there, though.”

Alex blushes and presses a kiss to his sister’s cheek. It’s been far too long since he’s seen Katie; far, far too long.

“How’s university?” He asks, dragging her down the corridor by the wrist. She’d left for some university in Alaska two years ago now.

“Good, but cold.” She says with a laugh. “You’d hate it up there.”

“Guys, this is Katie, my older sister.” Alex says to Christofer and Hayley with a proud smile. “She’s supposed to be in Alaska right now.”

Christofer stares at her.

“What on Earth possessed you to come back down here for him?” He asks with a joking smile. Katie laughs.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

Alex elbows her in the stomach playfully.

“Hey!” He cries, as she turns and starts to poke him in the ribs. “Quit it!”

She laughs at him, and is about to say something when the loudspeaker starts talking again.

‘All choirs backstage! That’s all choirs backstage!’

Katie gives Alex another tight hug and wishes him, Hayley and Christofer good luck just before they disappear off to the stage.

It’s tense back there, Alex decides, as they walk in and all three of the choirs are pacing around. Sierra, Lisa and Victoria are sitting on the floor drawing circles with their fingers and not speaking, and Hayley quickly moves over to join them. Jack is just leaning into Zack’s side, not saying anything but looking incredibly uncomfortable. Rian’s sitting down, with Cassadee on his lap curled up into a ball. Matt and Vinny walk over to Alex and Christofer and give them a barely there smile of reassurance before leaning back on the wall.

Yeah, Alex thinks, it’s really tense.

It’s then that all the choirs are brought back on stage to announce the results, and Alex shuffles out there with the other eleven of them and Mr Goldstein, all of them stopping to stand beside Baltimore Prep’s choir.

‘And in second place… Lutherville Academy!’

The choir on the far right of the stage explode with happiness, and start bouncing around the stage. Alex bites his lip, and exchanges a quick glance with Christofer, who gives him a reassuring smile. He’s pretty sure they have this in the bag.

‘And in first place… the winners are… Dulaney High!’

Alex releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding and the next thing he knows Jack’s pulling him and Hayley into a tight hug.

The next ten minutes pass in a blur of congratulations, cheers, claps and victory dances. And yeah, Alex is pretty proud of them for winning, even though everyone basically knew they would anyway.

Everyone’s heading back to the minibus when Katie grabs Alex again.

“Were you gonna leave without saying goodbye?” She says with a smile. “I’m so proud of you. And I know Mom and Dad would be too.”

She embraces him in the tightest hug she can manage and kisses his forehead.

“Now, you’d better call me and tell me when Regionals is, because I’m not missing that.” She says. Alex grins and blushes. He gives her another quick hug and she smiles.

“Love you, bro.”

“Love you too, sis.”