Adlewood Academy

Ava had no idea what Harry had planned for that day. All she knew was that he was dragging her through the city streets and toward some destination she wasn’t aware of, while he held tightly onto some guitar that she wasn’t entirely sure he even knew how to play. She probably wouldn’t even know when they got to their destination, but something about that was just so exciting.

“You really can’t tell me?” Ava asked, giggling as she and Harry crossed the street.

“Nope,” he said, turning to smile at her. “It’s a surprise.”

They turned a few more corners before they turned into the square, which Ava recognized immediately. She’d gone their many times with her parents when she was a child and even as a girl she always loved to watch the street performers. There was always something exciting going on, whether it was a woman playing a saxophone or a rope pulling mime.

When they stopped in the middle of the square, Ava looked over at Harry with a curious look on her face. It didn’t look like he was going to move and she couldn’t help but think that this was their destination after all.

“What are we doing here?” Ava asked, cocking up her eyebrows as she tilted her head.

Harry smiled as stuffed his hands into his pockets. “We’re going to sing.”

Ava was quick to disagree, tossing her hands up in the air. “Oh no, I can’t do that.”

“You can, Ava.” Harry smiled down at her before reaching out to grab her hand. The second his skin touched hers a chill ran through Ava’s body and she couldn’t help but give him a small smile back. “Look at all these performers. Do you think they care what anyone thinks of them? They’re doing what they love, Ava, and you’re going to do it too.”

Ava shook her head quickly, while Harry tightened his grip on her hand. “I really don’t think I can.”

“I know you can,” Harry said, taking a step forward so he was looking right down at her. “I’ve seen you do it before.”

“But it was –” Ava stuttered before taking a second to catch her breath. “But it was just me and you. There weren’t so many… people.”

Harry chuckled, still smiling at her as he shook his head. “Look around you, Ava. Who out here do you know? You’ll never see any of these people again and you have no reason to be embarrassed.”

Deep down, Ava knew that, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Her stage fright wasn’t something that she could just get over, and she thought she was lucky enough that she was able to sing in front of Harry, because that was the biggest step she had taken in a long time.

“I believe in you, Ava,” Harry continued, blinking his eyes as he looked down at her. “Just sing.”

With that, Harry pulled the guitar from his side and began playing a few struggled notes. He wasn’t as good as some of the players at Adlewood, but he was far better than she was, and he even managed to strum out a series of chords she knew.

It was the song she had sang on the stage – Somewhere Over the Rainbow – and something about the fact that he remembered just made her smile. Even so, she wasn’t sure she could do it. She wasn’t sure she could sing in front of all of those people.

Still playing his song, Harry nodded his head in Ava’s direction, speaking softly so only she could hear. “Just close your eyes and sing, Ava. It’s just me and you and that’s it.” He took a deep breath, smiling at her. “Sing just for me, okay?

Closing her eyes, Ava took a deep breath of her own, feeling her hands begin to shake at her sides. She was absolutely terrified of all the things that could happen. She could miss a note. She could forget the words. People could laugh at her. Nothing about the situation was comforting, except one.
Harry.

He was standing there with more confidence in her than she had in herself. There was something so magical about that, and it let Ava closer her eyes and sing.

She pretended she was alone in the shower, feeling the hot water pouring down on her. She imagined that it was just her and Harry out on that stage. She pretended that she was confident and that she knew what she was doing.

Her performance out in that London square was far from brilliant, but she was performing.