"Are you ready, Sidney and Dylan?" Ms. De Ville asked as Ed and I nervously looked at each other in front of the classroom.

It was Monday, the day Ed and I finally had to sing the song we wrote, and we all know that everybody hates Monday.

We practiced the whole Sunday just for this presentation. Ed and I even missed our usual "Movie Hangout Sunday" just for our song. I would've ranted and cried like a kid, but I decided not to. I don't want Ed to think I'm a bit of a crybaby (which sometimes I am). Also, knowing Ms. De Ville, if you want to have a good grade from her, the trick is to impress her. Big time.

"Remember class," Ms. De Ville said. "If you want a high grade on this, remember my rules. Write a good song, make a good melody, and perform it with passion. Do the three, and you can expect an acceptable grade from me." She all gave us a maleficent-look which made me shiver.

How could Maleficent and Ursula come to life together in one body? I seriously don't know.

Everyone nodded and got their attention back to us. I was sweating badly. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, which maybe came out like a shiver from a dolphin.

Ed noticed my nervousness, thankfully, so he held a grip on my hand. It may sound cheesy, but somehow, the touch of his hand made me calm. I started gaining confidence.

Is it magic? Is it a miracle? No. It's me being inlove.

Damn, this happens whenever I'm nervous.

Ed was used to perform on stage, since he's super talented. He can sing, he can dance, he can act, and he can play various instruments. If you add his good looks and him being a varsity player, you'll never wonder why he's so famous at school.

Now, meet the hearthrob's best friend.

Back in 1st grade, we had this stage play which I forgot what was about, and our teacher picked me as the lead girl actor. A few minutes before we finally had to perform, I started feeling dizzy even before the whole thing started. And when it did, after the five seconds that I stood there on the stage, I barfed.

Laugh all you want. You'll probably forget it ten minutes later.

Ed gestured for me to sit down on the chair and hold my microphone, while he held his guitar. We exchanged looks, and that moment, we knew we were ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Again, this is a poem. If someone can make a tune out of this, it will be greatly appreciated.

Sidney:
He's a guy I've known for years
He always stood there by my side
He's a guy who faces his fears
But a friend so true and kind

He helps me stand up from the ground
Says I'll be there when You'll need
He makes my world go round and round
He made me believe

Both:
So many yeaaaars,
So many daaaaays,
Friendship won't be over,
Won't go on seperate ways!

Chorus
You're the best I ever knew
Never thought I'd be friends with you
You make me laugh and never cry
Our friendship will never die

Ed:
Her long hair tugged behind her ears
Her smile that makes me smile too
I'll never make her cry in tears
I'll never make her blue

She sits beside me all the time
Makes me laugh till my nose is red
I'm really bad with all these rhymes
But I'm just me, she said

Repeat Chorus

Both:
He's here, she's here
We're always together
She's here, he's here
Best friends forever

Repeat Chorus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applause surrounded the room. We both looked at each other with wide eyes. My mouth would've hung wide open, but luckily I stopped myself before it did.

We knew that we worked really hard on the project, but we didn't expect them to actually like it. We actually thought they would just sit there, scroll through their phones, and act like they couldn't care less. But no, they liked our song.

I took a deep breath. It felt good. It felt good having to perform something you worked hard on. It may not be believable, but I actually didn't care about the grade anymore (not really). I was so proud of me and Ed that I didn't care about the people around us anymore (this one is true, though). I didn't care what Ms. De Ville was going to say anymore, because I knew that our song was amazing, because we both worked hard for it.

Ms. De Ville slow-clapped her hands, and it caused everyone in the room to become silent. "Well, done." She said. "I must admit, I already knew Ed would pass, but you Sidney?" She looked and tsked together with her head shaking. Ed and I exchanged looks. He mouthed a sorry and gave me a sad look. I just shrugged, but it did hurt me inside. I'm used not believing in my self.

"But," she continued, which made me look up in surprise. Uh-oh, maybe she isn't finished insulting me, I said to my self. Surprisingly, she smiled. "I'm quite impressed with what you did. You did well. Both of you did. So, I'm going to have to give you both an A."

Ed and I gawked. An A? Was she serious? It was probably my first time getting an A on her class! If I had known that working with Ed would give me an A, I would've worked with him a long time ago.

I couldn't hide my happiness and smiled with my mouth big enough for a basketball to fit in. Just kidding, of course.

But, something popped on my head. Was having an A really worth the risk that I almost confessed to Ed my true feelings? Nah. He didn't even hear it.

Ed ran to me and hugged me tight that I whimpered just for him to let go. "We did it, Sid!" He jumped for joy. I hugged him back, I couldn't get any happier. I was so happy for him, for me, for us.

We hugged for a moment without saying anything. We just stood there like no one else was in the room, and I loved every moment of it. It felt like the universe was around us. The galaxy surrounded us. The stars were above us.

But Ms. De Ville ruined our moment.

"Enough of that!" She spatted. "You two may now go back to your seats." She glared at us devishly. Ed and I hurriedly went to or seats, frightened and happy at the same time. Confusing, I know.

Ms. De Ville looked at her Class Record and wrote our grade. She looked up and called the next performers. "Okay, next. Aubrey Hart and Kevin Tott."

Aubrey and Kevin went to the front of the room with their heads high. Kevin is this American-Egyptian guy who doesn't only look damn hot, but is also a musical genius.

Aubrey is rich, Kevin is talented, I bet they'll get an A+.

Yeah, I said Aubrey is rich because her talent is..... I don't even have the guts to say it.

They both began to sing, and as expected, they were amazing (actually Kevin was, not Aubrey). Their chorus was catchy, their lyrics were meaningful, and Kevin's voice was heavenly. Aubrey was a bit flat, but Kevin did a good job adjusting his voice to hers. He seemed well-trained.

A few lines before the end of their song, Aubrey sang out of tune. It's like banging a cymbal with 300 pairs of spoon and forks. Even Ms. De Ville covered her ears, but she immediately took it off, probably so Aubrey wouldn't feel bad.

If I was brave and rude enough, I would've shouted boo! at them. She's lucky I was nice.

Aubrey looked nervous and embarassed. Her face was so pink I could add her to the pillows on my bed.

They ended the song and everyone clapped-hesitatingly. Their song was perfect, but Aubrey kind of ruined it.

Ms. De Ville, with her pen on her mouth, pondered what grade she'll give. If I was her, I'd give them a B. Aubrey was off-key the whole time! It was an acceptable grade, for her.

But of course, I was wrong. Ms. De Ville walked towards them, and surprisingly, she shook Aubrey's hand. Everyone watched them with wide eyes, not believing what they were seeing. "Good job, Ms. Hart." She greeted. Even Kevin was surprised Ms. De Ville congratulated Aubrey and not him.

I actually felt bad for Kevin. He was the talented one but he didn't even get recognized. I even bet Kevin did all the work. This is why life is unfair.

Aubrey acted as if she was so shocked. To me, It was kind of an overrated reaction. "I like what you two did." Ms. De Ville said. "I'll give Kevin and A, and Aubrey," she paused. "A plus."

Everyone's mouth hung open. Aubrey was terrible, but she got an A plus. Where's the justice? On Victoria?

Laaaaaaaaame.

Everyone started whispering and murmuring, probably talking about how unfair Aubrey was. I even overheard one of them:

"I heard her parents were big donors to the school gymnasium. I bet the teachers were afraid of them, so they gave Aubrey an A on every class. May is her Algebra classmate, and she told me that she gets an A all the time, even though her equations and solutions were wrong." The girl in front of me told her seatmate.

I looked at Ed to see his reaction, but he face was unreadable. "Are you okay?" I asked curiously. Even though I hated Aubrey, Ed still liked her and I didn't want him feeling bad. He's important to me.

He smiled, though it was obvious that it was fake. "Yeah." He said almost like a whisper. He seemed disappointed so I didn't press him. No one spoke after that.

When Kevin and Aubrey went back to their seats, she looked at me for a second and grinned.

That evil witch!

The rest of the period, I didn't bother talking to him or anyone anymore. I don't want to annoy him, and I definitely don't want to hear anything from him that's about Aubrey.

I ended up looking around the room. First to the ones performing in front, then to Ms. De Ville, then to my classmates, then to the instruments that surrounded us. There were guitars, violins, cellos, drums, keyboards, saxophones, and a whole lot more that I didn't notice were in the room the whole year until that very moment.

Sometimes, I think, I'm not too observant. I somehow don't know what's going on around me sometimes.

As I was staring at the Cello, the bell finally rung siganling for lunch. I pushed the thought off away.

.

The next day, we already forgot what happened, and acted like nothing happened at all.

We were at my house, doing a history project, which is making a banner about engaging chilren to read history books. It was easy for us, because we both love painting and creating art projects. So, we didn't have any much problem at all.

"Does it look okay?" Ed asked and showed me his banner.

I placed my thumb under my chin. "Yeah, it's okay. But add a little more color, to attract kids." I suggested and he nodded. In truth, it was too dull for me. I just didn't
have the guts to tell him (same with my feelings).

I returned on making my banner. My head was so focused on it that my eyebrows looked like a unibrow. But, Ed said something that made me stop what I was doing.

"Sidney, about prom." He started. "It's almost a month away and you're mother is going to talk to you about it. I'll just wait for that day because I'll know she'll never accept a no from you." He said so fast, probably so I won't butt in. He smirked.

I groaned. I actually thought he forgot about it. I rolled my eyes. "You know, it's like you're his son, and I'm this stranger that enters her house everyday. I think we were switched at birth and she knows that but she won't tell me because she's afraid I'll get hurt." I joked and grinned.

We both looked at each other for a moment, then bursted out laughing. "Good one, Sid. I'll let your mom know that." He joked back.

He kept laughing like a kid. His laugh was like music, to be honest. Then, a very childish idea popped into my head.

Ed and I shall have a paint game.

I scooped some red paint from my paint can, ran to Ed, and splattered it across his shirt. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to." I said sarcastically. "But look, your shirt is now a masterpeice." I laughed, definitely with humor.

At first, I thought he became angry at me because his face was emotionless. But, after a few seconds, he scooped some pink paint, came close to me, and cupped my face. I kind of looked like a narcissist who puts too much blush on her cheeks. Only the blush powder was paint instead.

I dipped my hand on green paint and cupped his face back. I also drew the letter H on his forehead with my thumb. Now, my best friend is Hulk. "Hah! Look at you. You look like Hulk." I laughed so hard. But it was kind of true. Sure, his face was green, but his body is just..... I don't even have the words to explain it.

But I'm his best friend so I better shut up. It's embarassing.

He dipped his finger on some black paint and walked towards me. I thought he would draw something on my face like I did, but no. I was wrong. He drew a heart on my chest, right where my heart is located. "See this?" He pointed at the heart. "That's your heart. It's black. Because your heart is too hard, like a stone." He joked and laughed.

I laughed back, but it was fake. I was angry inside. Betweeen the both of us, he was the stone-hearted one. If only I had the guts to say it.

"No, Ed. My heart isn't dull. It's actually very colourful inside. But, you were just colourblind." I shot back.

He cupped his heart and joked like a bullet shot him. "Oooh. That hurt." He acted then laughed. "Some words of wisdom today, eh?"

"Got it from Twitter." I made a face at him. But, it was a stupid idea. He splattered paint on my face. Some paint went on my tongue. It was disgusting. Paint tasted like, paint.

Our paint fight lasted for half an hour. When we finally decided to stop, our faces and clothes made us look like we had a carnival ride at Rainbow Palace for three straight days. My hair had seven different highlights, my shirt looked like I bought it from a tie-dye shop, and my face could pass as a museum artifact if I press it on a canvas.

"Goodluck going home." I told Ed as I was trying to get the paint from my lips. It felt like dried lipstick, but the taste definitely did not.

He chuckled. "Yeah. They'll probably think I'm too early for halloween and they'll think I'm Rainbow man." He joked.

I didn't mean to, but I bursted out laughing, way too much. I was pretty sure I sounded like an ape with a flu. Or worse, Aubrey with a flu.

It took almost a minute before Ed finally stopped laughing. But I like it when he laughs though. He laughs like the world is so perfect, like everything he has now was everything he ever asked, like he could just live with this kind of life forever. I secretly wished I had his kind of laugh too.

But as twisted as life is, he gets to have the perfect kind of laugh while I get the monkey kind one.

"Hey Sid," he said. "We did pretty good job yesterday on our song. I actually thought that  we'd fail considering I'm partnered with you." He joked and I sticked my tongue out at him. He shrugged."But you did have talent. You're just afraid to use it. I've known  for years that you were a great singer, I never thought you'd be an excellent songwriter. It's a gift you never found out because you always liked being in shadows than being in spotlights."

The words he said hit me. Everything he said was true. He had heard me sing for years and he would say I sound amazing, then he would ask me to sing with him on stage, but I would refuse and say I'm not good enough. Maybe he was right. I always chose to hide in the shadows when I could have sparkled in the spotlight.

And the songwriting thing? At first I thought it was ridiculous. But then, I realized it was something amazing. The way I felt when I wrote our song was something I never felt before. It felt good to pour out your feelings on a sheet of paper, and get to see it and say to yourself, "This is a memory, some unspoken words, only brought to life with music."

"You know Ed, your silly, cheesy, and definitely researched speech actually hit me." I said staring at nothing, and I could tell he was smiling because I was right. Not the researched speech part because I know it all came from him himself.

"Maybe, just maybe Ed. I'd like to be a songwriter someday."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey readers!

How's the book so far?

If you don't like something about it, please let me know so I could know my mistakes. :)

If grammar errors were everywhere, I'm really sorry. I'm not a grammar genius, though I try to check every word as possible.

It's a bit hard when English is not your first language.

Oh! And Aubrey Hart on the picture.

I know, Aubrey's a bad singer, but I seriously don't know if Vanessa is as well, since her sister Laura is a singer.

Just imagine she's not, for this book.

AND! If you can make a tune for their song project, I'll be happy to hear it.

Umm, that would be all for today.

Have a great day!

Z.