Adlewood Academy

“I’m not ready, Harry. I’m not going to be able to do it.”

Ava was more certain now than ever that she’d never be able to get over her stage fright. How in the world was she going to go on stage in front of all of those people and actually sing? There was no way she was going to be able to do it, and all she was going to do was succeed in disappointing Harry and that was the last thing she wanted.

Harry was an amazing performer and he didn’t need Ava bringing him down.

“But you’ve been doing great,” Harry encouraged, grabbing onto each of Ava’s arms with his hands. “You’re amazing, Ava.”

Ava shook her head quickly, trying to pull herself away from Harry. He held onto her more tightly, nearly clinging her body to his. “I’m not, Harry. I’m just not.”

The small smile Harry was trying to give her fell from his face and was replaced with a sad look that she hated to see on him.

“What is it, Ava?” he asked, his green eyes looking right at hers. “What’s going on?”

“I just can’t do it,” she said quickly, shaking her head as she finally pulled her arms from Harry’s grasp. “I can’t have all those people looking at me. Listening to me. I can’t do it.”

Harry let out a sigh, biting his lip as he took a step towards her. His hands move down to hers and he pressed their fingers together. Ava had no idea what he was going to say, but he paused so long that it was beginning to make her nervous.

“Ava, you don’t need to be afraid,” he whispered, his eyes locked on hers making her knees weak. “I’ve heard you sing. You’ve performed in front of me. I know you can do it, because I’ve seen you do it before. Whether you’re singing in the shower, just in front of me, or in front of a crowd, you’re going to be amazing. You always are.”

Ava found it impossibly hard to believe what Harry was saying, because she knew she wasn’t a performer. All he had seen her do was close her eyes and sing. She couldn’t do that on stage without looking like a nut, and Harry had to know that. She was going to make him lose, and if anyone deserved to win it was Harry. He was everything that he took to be a performer… everything she wasn’t.

All the thoughts in Ava’s head clouded her for a minute, and it took her a few moments to realize she needed to speak, but she had no idea what to say. She was fully prepared to stutter out a horrible mixture of words, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Harry stopped her.

His eyes, which had still been looking so closely into hers, slowly moved from her eyes down to her lips, where they hovered for several seconds before looking back into hers.

Ava opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could, Harry shook his head.

“Don’t say anything,” he said, his teeth running over his bottom lip. “Just close your eyes.”

Ava gave one last long look into Harry’s eyes before taking a deep breath and letting her eyes fall shut. It seemed like she spent too much time with Harry with her eyes closed, especially since he was so pleasant to look at, and she didn’t really want to keep them closed anymore.

Just as she was about to open them again, she felt Harry’s warm breath on her lips, which was followed by his skin pressing gently against hers. It felt like magic against her body – even more magic than singing – and if his hands hadn’t rested on her hips, she probably would’ve collapsed to the floor.

When he pulled apart, leaving her absolutely breathless, he looked into her eyes and smiled. “You can do it, Ava. I believe in you.”