Enchanted

The next day rolled around and it started off differently than my usual days. When I walked towards the campus building, Shelby and her friends were leaning about on her baby pink convertible, sneering at me as I walked by them. It was a bit disturbing since I didn’t have any problem with them nor Shelby herself. Right when I was just stepped into the hallway, Alex, who was leaning against the wall with his friends, grinned and gave me a chin up before I could pass him completely.

“See you in French.”, he smirked and I rolled my eyes again, flipping him by. I could hear his friends’ chuckles and when I was on my way to the locker, an arm snaked across my shoulders.

“Hey, Natasha.”, Malcolm grinned his thousand watt smile to me. “I didn’t see you in the first rehearsal yesterday… Oh wait, you quit.”

“Are you here to bug me?”, I scoffed when I got to my locker and opened it hastily, covering Malcolm’s face from my sight. “I’m not coming back and I’m not going to sing with you in homecoming dance or any other dance until we graduate.”

Before I could get my textbook, Malcolm shut it right in front of my face and all I could do to him was glare. “It was sad to see our shining female lead to leave and honestly, we couldn’t find anyone as amazing as you. Mr. Peterson asked me to persuade you. One dance. One song.”

“You’re bluffing.”, I hissed and opened my locker again, got all of my textbooks and closed it with a slam. “I would come back to glee when you quit and I could choose a lead partner.”

Malcolm scoffed and ran his fingers through his slick, jet black hair. “No guy in this school could sing as good as me.”

I bit my lower lip lightly and had the urge to swallow my tongue for my words. He was right. No one in this school could out top his voice. Yet. “I will find one. When there’s a guy in this school that is better than you, you’ll resign and leave me alone, how’s that?”

“A challenge. I’ll be honored to play your little pity search party and at the end of the day, you will want to sing with me and we’ll fall in love.”, he smiled and leaned over but I avoided his kiss by putting a textbook in front of my face. Malcolm ignored my behavior and walked off.

The first bell rang and I quickly dashed to the first class, which was French. It was a surprise to see Trisha already sitting next to Penelope again, discussing some conjunctions that Trisha didn’t understand. My eyes wandered around the classroom and I saw that Alex’s seat was still empty.

“Hey, slowpoke, what are you doing standing in the doorway?”, Alex himself chuckled and gave me a light clap on my shoulder, but made me jumped a bit, as he walked in and took his seat. Since it was already the second day of school, everyone was already getting comfortable in their own seats, so my seat was still next to Alex.

“Do you have any pen that I can borrow?”, Alex asked as soon as I sat down. “Preferably the one that doesn’t smell like food.”

I sighed and handed him a donut-scented pen. “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

He smiled as he took the pen from my hand and we sat in silent as Madame Jacqueline walked into the room. I looked around the class and saw his friends in the front of the class, right in front of Trisha and Penelope. “Why aren’t you with your friends? Or Shelby?”

“What?”, he asked back in whispers. “Oh. Well, my friends are idiots, so they want to pay more attention here and Shelby has her morning cheerleading practice. Why is that?”

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my attention to the whiteboard. “Nothing. Just curious.”

“Anyway, are you free this Friday?”, Alex asked when I was taking notes on whatever Madame Jacqueline was explaining. I furrowed my brows when I turned to him and looked at him with disbelief. “What?”

“Are you serious? You have a girlfriend and you’re asking me out?”

“Shelby doesn’t have to know!”, he whispered and chuckled again. “Come on. Movie? Pizza? Ice rink?”

My eyes narrowed at him and I looked away sharply, ignoring all of his offers through out the class. When the bell rang, I packed up my books and stood up before Alex could ask me again. I had two free periods and I decided to go to the choir room. Surprisingly, Mr. Peterson was there, sitting in front of the grand piano. “Missing the aura?”, he smiled when I walked in.

“I do.”, I chuckled. “I’m sorry for walking out on you and the others before the big nationals.”, I said as I watched his fingers danced around the keys, playing a song. “Is that your original one?”

He nodded. “Yep. I’ve been writing this for a year and it supposed to be yours to sing.”

“Can I give it a go?”, I asked hopefully and almost screamed when Mr. Peterson nodded. He started from the top again and I took a deep breath.

“When I first started out
I didn’t know what to expect
Going north or south
It’s hard to keep track

You came along the way
Out of nowhere, like they say
It’s a helping hand
You gotta get to where we would survive”, I sang and stopped.

“It’s a really great song, Mr. Peterson.”, I said sincerely. “But, you should give it to Patricia. She’d die.”

“No, no.”, he shook his head while still keeping that smile on his face. “I’m saving it until you make your big comeback.”

I chuckled and said thank you before walking out from the room. When I stepped out, I found Alex, leaning against the wall right next to the door. “I heard you sing again.”

“Do you always hang out in this part of the school?”, I rolled my eyes and started to walk away, not wanting to talk to him.

Alex’s footsteps were heard as he caught up with me until he was next to me. “You have a really great voice, Natasha. You should come back to that club.”

“Since when do you care about glee?”, I snorted out and stopped. “Alex, this is the first year we have a class together and you don’t even know a thing about me. We just started talking yesterday. All you and the other kids in school know is Natasha Patterson was the star of glee, but now, I’m living in my own live.”

“I still really think you should come back.”, he muttered with his head hung low. “I… I heard about what you and that dick, Malcolm, talked about this morning. You know, I could be… I could be the guy.”

My brows furrowed and my lips curved down into a slight frown. “Please don’t make jokes. I’m actually desperate to come back and I really need to beat Malcolm.”

“I actually can!”, he insisted. “Have you even heard me sing?”

“Do you even sing?”, I retorted.

Alex rolled his eyes and grunted. “Come to my place, tomorrow after school. I’ll show you what I can do.”