"Welcome to the 2019 Regionals Singing Competition!"

Applause erupted throughout the hall as the man standing on stage welcomed everyone. While we all quietened down again, the host of the day explained the outline and rules of the competition. Yep, today was the Regionals Singing Competition.

It had been a few months since Jellal and I had our promised beach date and ever since then, we've been very happy together and things have been going smoothly. There were many rehearsals for our choir and we have improved immensely. I used to sound like a dying cat but now... I sounded like a cat with a paper cut. We could definitely win this. (Five points to Erza for optimism.)

The location for the competition was a huge theatre hall where each singing group had their own designated seats in the audience amongst the people just watching. I was surprised to see that almost the whole room was full. We even got some of our friends from high school to come.

Once the host, who was called Present Mic, finished his speech, the auditorium burst into applause. Basically, there were ten groups and they would each perform two songs. The three judges would rate each performance and at the end of the day, they would award the top three groups a trophy and first place moves on to the Nationals Singing Competition.

"Now, put your hands together for the Sabertooth Sirens!" Present Mic shouted.

I clapped along with everyone as a line of girls and boys walked on stage. They stood in a symmetrical formation with their heads bowed to the floor. As the music started, their heads whipped up in unison and the sweetest sounds came from their mouths. It was like listening to angels, or sirens – no wonder that's their name. They were also mostly girls. The first song was a slow, soothing tune, but the second one was a very upbeat and hard-core song.

With their intimidating performance to start the competition, I feared we wouldn't be able to win. The other groups were probably just as good or better. This means my chance of winning the bet with Ajeel is slowly dying – along with my optimism.

Speaking of Ajeel, he was sitting right behind me. At the end of Sabertooth's show stopping numbers, Ajeel decided to tap my shoulder and annoy me.

"Hey, Erza," he hissed. "You ready to sink into quicksand?"

I scrunched my nose up at his weirdness. "That is a strange metaphor."

I faced the stage and pretended to be really into the show so Ajeel would get the idea that I didn't want to talk to him anymore. Unfortunately, he ignored me ignoring me and kept on pestering me. He pushed my shoulder roughly.

"We're gonna kick your ass," he whispered menacingly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, you're not. But can you please stop annoying me? I'm trying to watch the other teams."

"We're the only team you need to worry about. We're going to destroy you."

"You've been saying that over and over again. If you have nothing else to say, then shut up," whispered back.

"Come on, babe. Don't be like that."

Jellal, who was sitting me, noticed how mad I was starting to look. He turned around in his seat to face Ajeel.

"Excuse me?" my fiancé said to the dark skinned boy. "Can you please be quiet? Some people are trying to watch a show."

"Who are you? Some kind of blueberry?" Ajeel sneered at Jellal.

"I'm Jellal, Erza's fiancé."

Ajeel's mouth curved into a cruel smirk. "So, you're the famous fiancé, huh? Too bad you won't be for long. Your school will be nothing when we're done with it."

Jellal didn't look fazed the slightest. Instead, he had a curious tone as he asked, "Why does your school want to get rid of ours so badly?"

That was a good question. I was also very interested to how this feud started. Did they just wake up one morning and say, "I want to take down Fairy Tail University"?

Ajeel seemed more than happy to reveal the answer. "We've always hated your school for being the best. This year, however, a new student joined us and they're helping us with our dream to ruin you. You see, he also has a grudge against Fairy Tail Uni and the people there, especially you guys. He was let out of jail this year and he's ready for revenge."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to think of who it could be. Who was in jail and then got out?

"Cobra?" I asked.

"Zancrow?" Jellal guessed at the same time.

Ajeel just looked at us in confusion. "Who the hell are those people?"

"How do you not know who Cobra is? Hot guy, has a snake," I said, picturing the maroon-haired guy who went to jail a few years ago.

Jellal elbowed me in the arm, giving me a betrayed but playful look.

"I mean – ugly guy," I said, patting Jellal's arm in reassurance.

"You guys are stupid," Ajeel stated straightforwardly. "It's Zeref."

What? Zeref? I couldn't believe my ears and my heart skipped a beat. No way. How could they let Zeref out of jail after only four years? He did drugs and killed people. Zeref being out of jail was only going to end in disaster. There's no way Zeref would've changed or became good.

"But how? Wasn't he meant to have a longer sentence?" Jellal asked.

Ajeel shrugged. "Apparently, his behaviour was really good so he was let out early. That means he's out to get you guys." He then turned to me. "Of course, Erza, you could always move to our school and you won't have to suffer."

When he looked at me, he looked at me with lust and creepiness, but then he faced Jellal and there was only hatred in his eyes. "Jellal, on the other hand, you're just doomed. Zeref hates you for not joining him so he decided that there's no mercy for you. Your school's going down and then, you won't have a job or money or a future!"

Cue the crazy, maniac laughter.

I was about to say something back to him but before I could, the loud applause brought me back to the reality of where we were. As the team currently on stage walked away, the host announced the next group. While that happened, the Alvarez Acapellas left to warm up. There was another group performing now, then Alvarez and then it was us. It made me nervous thinking that we were going to be singing on stage soon. I don't do public speaking – let alone public singing – and I was starting to regret doing this.

A hand slipped into mine and gave it a comforting squeeze. I smiled gratefully at my fiancé. He always knew what I was feeling and always knew how to make me feel better. I'm glad he was here with me.

Soon enough, it was Alvarez's turn to perform. They stood in two lines and tapped a beat with their feet. When the first note came out of the lead singer's mouth, I could tell that it was going to be a tough competition. They were really good and I couldn't believe that Ajeel could actually sing. I didn't want to clap at the end, for that would mean I admitted they sounded great, but I reluctantly clapped three times when they finished. The crowd was a roar for them, unfortunately.

"Erza," Jellal whispered to me. "It's time to get ready."

I nodded and stood up as he did. Our team filed out of the row of seats quietly and headed back stage. Another group was going on stage now and we had time to practise until they finished, then it would be our turn. We stood in the practise room getting ready to warm up.

"Wait. Where's Mirajane?" Brendon asked.

I looked around and realised with panic that Mirajane was nowhere to be seen. This was not good. She was our star singer and the female soloist. If she's not here, we're not going to win.

"Someone, call her! Quick!" Brendon urged, biting his fingernails worriedly.

I felt sorry for Brendon. We practised so hard and we had a good chance of winning but now, our chance just flat lined to zero. Brendon was so optimistic today – no doubt that feeling left a second ago.

"Actually," Lucy said, holding up an iPhone, "Mirajane gave me her phone to look after. Last I saw her, she went to the toilet, but that was before Alvarez went to warm up."

"Then she should be back by now," Brendon muttered, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe she's having constipation," Natsu suggested.

"Not everyone has pooping problems like you," Gray said.

Everyone started piping up more suggestions but it just seemed to stress Brendon out even more. I stood up and told everyone to be quiet.

"I'll go look for Mirajane. Everyone just stay calm, focus on the competition and start warming up," I instructed.

Brendon nodded a thanks and rounded up everyone for warm ups. With one last look at my team that was counting on me, I left the room, full of determination. I couldn't let them down, especially since the fate of our school depended on the winner of this contest.

I rushed down the corridor, up a flight of stairs, down another corridor and to the girls' bathroom. On the door to the bathroom, was a piece of paper that said 'Out of order dew to maintanence.' What the hell? Why did they spell some words wrong? I analysed the sign closer. It was written in pen with really bad handwriting and taped to the door with rainbow sticky tape. Surely, if this was a real sign, it would be spelt properly, with neater writing and taped with clear sticky tape at least.

Finally deciding it was a fake, I pulled the doorknob but the door didn't open. No matter how hard I tried, the door wouldn't budge.

"Time for my badass strength," I muttered to myself.

I took a few steps back. I took a deep breath. Then, I ran forward and launched a big kick to the door. I internally cheered as the door gave way and swung open with a loud bang. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the bathroom as I entered so I ventured further in.

"Hello?" I called cautiously.

"Hello?" a familiar voice replied from a cubicle.

I stood in front of the only locked toilet cubicle. I could hear it unlock and then the door slowly opened. Inside, sitting on the toilet lid, was Mirajane. When she saw me, her eyes brightened up with relief.

"Erza. Thank god you're here. I thought no one would come. I've been in here for ages," Mirajane said, standing up to give me a hug.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"When I finished my business, I tried to open the bathroom door but it wouldn't open. I couldn't call anyone since I gave Lucy my phone so I tried yelling our but everyone must've been in the auditorium and they wouldn't have been able to hear me over the loud singing. Then I tried kicking the door open but I think something or someone was holding it closed. After a few minutes, I gave up and just sat here."

I frowned, wondering why someone would lock the bathroom door. Giving her an optimistic smile, I motioned for her to follow me out.

"Well, I'm here now. We're going on stage in a few minutes so we better hurry. We'll figure out what happened later," I said.

She nodded and we walked out of the bathroom. Unfortunately, we never made it to the stairs. Standing in the middle of the corridor in front of us, was Ajeel. His hands were casually resting in his pants' pockets as he smirked at me.

"Fancy seeing you here," he spoke, walking towards me and stopping a metre away from me.

As I observed the evil glint in his eyes, I realised something: he was the one who locked the bathroom door. Of course; it all makes sense. Their school wants to win so they tried to sabotage us by locking our star singer away. Too bad it didn't work.

"This is the way to the women's bathroom – which happened to have an 'out of order' sign on it when it seemed to work perfectly fine. In fact, there was someone locked in there. Would you like to tell us why?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? Wow. That is so very strange. But unfortunately, I have no idea why. I am so very sorry that happened though," Ajeel said in such a fake voice that it made me want to puke on his shiny, black shoes.

"Cut the act, Ajeel. I know it was you."

Ajeel gasped and put a hand to his chest as if he was shocked – but he obviously wasn't. He was really getting on my nerves now.

"So what if it was me? There's nothing you can do about it. I managed to convince them to give me the key to the girls' bathroom. I told them someone was stuck in there so I needed the keys to get them out; the stupid workers fell for my lie but they won't believe anything you'll say. What are you going to do now?" he taunted wickedly, his usual smirk back on his face.

He was right. I couldn't get them in trouble... but I didn't need to. I just needed to get us back to my group so we can get on stage to perform and win this competition.

"Nothing. So, if you won't mind, Mirajane and I will be leaving now," I said.

I stepped to the left of him but he copied my move and stood in front of me once more. I stepped to the right but then he followed me again.

"Excuse me," I said, a fake smile plastered on my face. "If you could let us pass, that would be great."

"I'm sorry," Ajeel replied with the same false tone. "I haven't finished talking with you."

"Well, I've had enough. If you don't move, I'll make you."

"Try me."

As soon as those words left his mouth, I didn't waste a second. I swung my arm back and then punched his face in one swift movement. Damn, that hurt. But that felt amazing. I shook my hand out as I stared at his unconscious body on the ground. There. That'll teach him to mess with me.

Then, I heard clapping coming from downstairs. Oh no. That must mean the group before us had just finished and it was now our turn. Quickly, Mirajane and I ran down the stairs and to the backstage area. Our team was standing in the same place from when I left but they were looking more stressed out. Brendon was still pacing furiously and biting his fingernails like it was his lunch. When he saw us, he squealed.

"Yes! Come on! Let's go; we're on now!" Brendon shouted.

We all ran on stage and got into our positions, mine being right next to Jellal. I calmed my breathing and made sure I looked presentable. 

"You good?" Jellal whispered to me.

"Yeah," I breathed out. "Let's just say; Ajeel got what was coming to him."

Nothing more was said as the light illuminated the stage and the music began. The bright light shined in my eyes but once I got used to it, I could see the silhouettes of thousands of people in the audience. My heart pounded loudly with the beat and my palms started getting sweaty but no matter what, I kept a huge smile on my face. It was very scary and the pressure of winning was like a heavy weight on my shoulders. Time for our show stoppin number.

When it was my turn to join in singing, I took a deep breath and then gave it my all. It definitely wasn't Beyoncé but I tried to apply everything I've learnt over the past few months and I think I sounded pretty good. The rest of my group, of course, sounded amazing. Out the corner of my eye, I could see them all singing with wide smiles and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The crowd seemed to enjoy it as well, which was evident by the applause at the end.

In our final positions, we stood in a frozen pose with a bright smile on our faces as the audience gave us a standing ovation. I stayed there panting for a few seconds before I relaxed my mouth muscles. We were ushered off stage and headed back to our seats to watch the last few choirs.

"Good job, cherry. You sang beautifully," Jellal said, kissing my cheek.

"Cherry?" I asked.

He opened his mouth to answer but I beat him to it. "Let me guess: because of my red hair?"

"Yep," my fiancé replied.

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders as we watched the other performances. Once they were all done, the host walked on stage, followed by a table of three huge trophies. The suspension was killing me at this point. I think we did really good, although I'm biased so I'm not sure who won. Jellal slipped his hand into mine and gave it a squeeze, which I returned. With my other hand, I crossed my fingers that we won.

"What a fabulous round of songs! Thank you to everyone who performed today. They were all incredible and the judges had a hard time deciding the winner. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for - the top three contestants," said the host, Present Mic.

People clapped and whistled, eager to hear the results. I was on the edge of my seat, just like the rest of them.

"Well, let's get to it! In third place, we have the Sabertooth Sirens!" Present Mic shouted.

There was a round of applause as the group from Sabertooth walked up on stage to claim their prize. I clapped quickly, wishing he would just get on with saying who won. Once this was over, I could continue focusing on school – midyear exams were in a month and a bit – and then my future.

"Second place goes to..." Present Mic said.

I leaned closer and squeezed Jellal's hand tighter. This was it. Second place could be us, Alvarez, or some other team. People said the best were Alvarez and us so we were most likely the top two spots, but who got which spot?

The next thing that Present Mic said made my heart stop. Everything was silent until waves of applause crashed me back into reality. I was completely speechless. 

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I'm so sorry for the long wait! I went camping for the long weekend and we did hiking/rock climbing (actual real rock climbing that was very high without a harness). It was the scariest thing I've ever done. Do you guys go camping or have you ever?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please VOTE and COMMENT  :)