Chapter Thirty Two - The Big Day

"Surprise, bitch!"

Meera couldn't have a wider grin on her face the moment I opened the door to Mack's car in the morning and found her in the backseat. My jaw dropped.

I'd found it a little weird when Cheryl had texted me, asking me not to ride with Matt since her and Mack were going to pick me up to talk about something important.

And I would've told her that whatever it was, I could hear it from them at the school if things hadn't gotten so awkward with Matt at the karaoke. I was already dreading facing him, even though I knew he would've forgotten all about it. He didn't care about stuff like I did.

But upon receiving Cheryl's text, I'd breathed a sigh of relief and texted him to leave without me since I'd be riding with my friends. Two minutes later, he'd dashed out of his house, shoved his stuff in the backseat, slammed the door shut so loudly that I'd heard it all the way across the street up to my window, and left.

I wonder who riled him up this morning.

And for the next one hour, while I waited for my friends, he was all I could think about. Was it something football related? Or music? Or Rebecca? But all those thoughts were thrown out of window at the sight of Meera in Mack's car, grinning at me.

"Oh my God!" I threw my arms around her and gave her a long hug.

"Aw. I want in!" Cheryl pouted from the front seat and Mack shook his head at us as he started driving, saying, "it's not like you're seeing Meera after years. It's only been a few weeks. And we kept visiting her. You girls can be so dramatic."

He immediately threw a wary glance in the rear view but it was too late. Meera had already smacked his shoulder.

"Hey! I'm driving."

She chuckled. "I've missed this. But hey! First things first, I don't wanna hear any jokes about my limping. And if you hear someone at school being a douche about it, you'll help me kick their ass."

"You got it." I nodded. "But what are you doing back when your ankle hasn't healed completely?"

"The doctor said I could go to school now. I was bored shitless at home anyway. And you didn't really think I would miss your big day, did you? Tell me, Becks, on a scale of one to ten, how nervous are you?"

I'd forgotten all about the challenge too upon seeing Meera. Six weeks were up and it was the big day.

"Honestly, I'm not nervous at all."

"Wow." She blinked. "Matt must have taught you pretty good."

"I mean, I'm not overconfident but I know that I'll give my best. And that is enough."

"Good luck." She patted my back proudly, then started rubbing her palms together excitedly. "And now I wanna hear everything I've missed."

"Missed?" I scoffed. "You literally knew what we had for lunch every day, minutely updates about us and the school gossip. Trust me, you're all caught up."

"Well, you're right." She sighed.

"How are things with you and Chad?" Cheryl asked.

A little grin stretched across her lips at the mention of his name. "Last night, he showed up with fries. My mom was surprisingly cool with his visiting hours. I guess things are gonna pace up with him now that I'm back to school."

"So cute," Cheryl gushed.

"Do you guys realize Becks will be the only single member in our group if it works out?" Mack chuckled.

Always the one to put the cherry on the cake, Mack.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I really don't care."

"That's what they all say when they care the most." He pressed his lips together to hold back a smile but when he caught my glare in the mirror, his lips broke into one. "Okay okay! But good news is you don't have to wait for too long now. If today works out the way you've been hoping, you'll finally have the person you want aka Sean."

Sean

Right. I want Sean.

Now that I thought about it, it was kind of stupid that I was supposed to have to win a challenge just to score a date with him, or the fact that he'd even implied it. Who does that? Maybe I was too blinded by his charm to see it before.

And now, Becks? an inner voice asked.

Now, it is what it is, I answered.

"Keeping my fingers crossed," I said with a shrug and looked out of the window.

*****

Finally, it was time. I couldn't exactly say I was freaking out all the way, but I was definitely feeling jittery all over.

About five people, who I had never talked to, had stopped me in the hallway just to wish me luck. They were all girls who were secretly wishing for Rebecca's downfall.

But there was one person I needed to see and hear it from before the challenge. I'd assumed he would find me, but I hadn't seen him all day after he'd sped off in his car from his driveway. I wondered if Rebecca had coaxed him into sticking by her side.

I was utterly disturbed by that thought as I made my way towards the auditorium.

"Rebekah."

A little bubble of hope rose in my chest, and I spun on my heel with excitement, but it wasn't who I was expecting.

"Sean," I replied, managing a smile either way. Not smiling at him seemed like a crime. He was my Prince Charming, after all.

"Hey!" He walked up to me as his beautiful blue eyes ran across my face as if searching. "Are you nervous?"

"I'm not."

He looked a little impressed. "Great. I'm sure you already know, but you're gonna be amazing. I know it."

For a moment, all I did was stare at his face, wondering why the sight of it and the statement that had just come out of his mouth wasn't sending me bouncing off the walls with happiness.

Then I cleared my throat before it could get creepy and muttered, "thanks, Sean."

I buried my hands in my pockets and looked away awkwardly. I was speechless around him anyway, so it wasn't a surprise.

"Are you looking for someone?"

I realized I had been sizing the corridor up when he said that and blinked, directing my eyes to him.

"Of course not. I'm just..." I trailed off.

"Nervous?" He repeated with a raised brow, lips pulling into a little smile.

I shrugged. "Maybe I am. There's no point denying it."

"Hey, you do you, okay? Whatever works for you before taking the stage."

"Yeah."

"Can I walk you backstage?" he offered, and I realized he was trying to be nice. I was feeling a bit off balance, and it must've been noticeable, so he was trying to be there for me. "Who knows? Maybe I'm your lucky charm," he added with a wink.

I should've been swooning, but instead, I felt perturbed. I wasn't okay with him getting any credit if I won the challenge. It wasn't his, not in the slightest. It was Matt's, all of it. He was the one who'd trained me for weeks, and it felt wrong for someone else to just swoop in at the last moment and hog all the credit by calling themselves my lucky charm.

Chill out, Becks. It's not even that deep.

Sean held out his hand, and I stared at it for a quick second before directing my gaze back to his eyes, not wanting to make him feel awkward.

"Are you also going to give me a pep talk?" I took his hand unsurely. It felt nice, but for some reason, it felt like it didn't fit. Oh my God, they're hands, Becks. Not pieces of puzzle. They're not supposed to fit.

But then why does his hand...

NO!

I made my grip around Sean's hand firmer and surer. Then I let him direct me backstage with a smile.

"I'm not good with pep talk," he admitted. "But I'll tell you what I tell my teammates before a match."

"What?"

He looked me in the eye. "Go for it!"

I blinked, then burst out laughing. "You're right. You're not good at pep talk. But thanks? That was helpful."

He pushed open a door, and we were backstage. There weren't many people. Obviously, it wasn't as crowded as it was on the day of the assembly.

I took a peek at the audience, and to my surprise, half the auditorium was occupied. I wasn't even expecting the first row to be full, but damn! People were taking this more seriously than I thought.

This was it.

Right then, I looked at the stage, and when I didn't get any goosebumps, I realized why I'd been so worked up all day. I wasn't nervous because of the challenge. I was sad because along with getting through with it, I'd also be getting through with the training. It was the end of whatever Matt and I'd had going over the weeks—of us.

And he hadn't even come to see me off.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I felt my back prickle. Like I had a pair of eyes burning holes in it. I cast a look back.

A pair of brown eyes were watching me from across the room. I'd recognize them anywhere. I only caught a glimpse because, right then, someone stepped between us. A little annoyed, I stood up on my tiptoes and wriggled sideways frantically to get another look, but the person was tall. It took a few moments for them to move, and when they did, he was gone.

I registered a sigh.

Something within me told me to let go of Sean's hand. So, I did and offered him a little smile. He didn't seem to mind as he pointed towards the audience. "I think I should go. Are you gonna be fine?"

"Yes."

"Good luck, Becks."

"Thank you, Sean."

He had barely taken three steps when my eyes started searching the backstage area for Matt. But he wasn't there anymore.

"Hello there."

I turned around to find Principal Miller standing with a smile, her hands folded behind her diligently.

"Principal Miller?" I was surprised to find her there. "Hello!"

"I'm here for the challenge, of course." She rolled her eyes at the surprise on my face as if saying no way, I'm missing that. "I couldn't exactly ask for updates, but I hope you and Matt put in your honest efforts."

I nodded, smiling. "We did."

"Great! I wish you the best of luck. It's not like I'm being biased. If I see the other one, I'll do the same."

"Of course. Thank you."

She walked away just as a round of applause echoed from the audience. I immediately knew someone had just walked up on the stage. I sauntered towards the path that led up to it to get a view.

It was Rebecca.

"Hey, everyone! I can't believe so many of you showed up. It only shows how big of a deal everyone is considering this challenge to be."

A few hoots came from the audience.

"I obviously want this to be fair. Because when I win," she smirked right at me, making me roll my eyes. "I want everyone to know it was fair and square. Now you all know I've been singing my entire life, but our Becks here just got started about a month ago."

My brows furrowed. Where was she going with that?

"So, I feel it wouldn't be fair to defeat her yet when she probably isn't even ready. So, I would like to push this challenge for another six months."

The crowd booed at her while my jaw dropped, and before I knew it, I was making my way on the stage.

"Here," I heard someone say and toss me a mic.

I grabbed it and walked right up to her.

"I don't think you should be making that decision for me, Rebecca," I cut in.

The audience chanted in my favour, desperate for the much-awaited sing-off.

She snapped her eyes to mine, and that's when I realized that it wasn't her overconfidence that was making her do it. It was fear.

Maybe once she realized Matt was teaching me, she actually thought I had a shot at winning, and that just made a self-satisfied smile curl across my lips.

"Oh, Becks." She put on her sweet face for the audience. "I'm doing it for you."

"Well, I didn't ask you to. So, let's just get this over with, okay?"

She shook her head. "Like I said, I don't want an easy win."

Murmurs from the crowd became louder, and I could see people huffing out of their seats and leaving. Principal Miller, who was in the front row, looked so peeved and done as she got up and pointed her index towards Rebecca.

"Miss Morgan, first strike."

And then she walked out.

"No, wait!" I snapped, a little irritated. "We're doing this right now."

"I'm not," Rebecca confirmed with a shrug, put her mic on the floor and walked away while I just watched with an open mouth as the entire auditorium cleared out until the only people remaining were my friends in the third row, looking just as annoyed as me.

What the hell just happened?

Unbelievable!