I walked into my art class. Veneer was already in his seat, but when I walked in he looked up and grinned.

"Hey." He said as I sat down, putting his phone away.

"Hey." I laugh a bit, blushing.

"I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?" He asked, his voice and face twisted in concern.

"Um, yeah. I'm alright. People like that just... really piss me off." I say.

"Yeah. Homophobics suck." He agreed.

I chuckle. "Yeah."

He laughs. "Yeah. So... you, are gay? Like they weren't confusing you with someone else?" He asks.

"Uh... yeah. Why?" I ask.

"N-no reason!" He says flusteredly.

I laugh. "Are you blushing?"

"Um, NO!" He turns his head away, his face the color of spaghetti sauce.

I laugh. "If you say so."

After that, most of the day went by without any problems. I have gym every-other-day so I didn't have to deal with that. And eventually choir rolled around.

"Alright! Today we are going to do solo auditions!" Mr. Bubble began the lesson.

Leaf and Velvet were both whispering, but when he said this, they looked up, their faces laced with interest.

"And I would also like to add, there are only five solos available, and you all aren't the only class trying out, so if you don't get a part, I'm just gonna say, suck it up and deal with it." He said, hands on his hips.

"Hey, Ritz!" Sally whispered.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Two things. One. I freaking knew it!" She smirked.

"Knew what?" I asked.

"That Veneer was gonna ask you to the dance!" She squealed. A little too loudly.

A few people in the class looked over at us and Mr. Bubble narrowed his eyes at us. His way of saying: "Keep it down."

Snickers went through the class as he continued. I turned to Sally. "You had to  be so loud?"

"Sorry. I was excited." She laughed.

"How did you even know that Veneer asked me to the dance?" I ask.

"Um, Velvet told Leaf, who told Nick, who told me." She explains.

"Oh. Interesting." I say.

"Yeah. Anyways, Second thing, you should do a solo!" She squeals, a bit quieter than before.

"What!? No!" I whisper-yell.

"YES!" She whispers back.

"I- no way. I'm not even good at singing. There are two reasons I'm in this class, one, it's an easy A. Two, I just like singing. But I'm not doing a solo." I say.

"Prove it." Sally says.

"What am I proving?" I asked.

"That you can't sing." She smirked.

I panic. I froze. There was a reason I didn't want to do a solo. And it was that, I kind of had stage fright. I can sing with a group, but not alone in front of like fifty people. The truth is, I can sing, but my stage fright keeps people from knowing it. The only people I was comfortable singing in front of were my moms and sisters.

"Well?" Sally prods.

My jaw shook with fear. I couldn't even speak right then. I just sat there.

"Uh, Ritz? You good?" Velvet looks over.

"I- I don't know..." I murmered.

"Um... did I say something wrong?" Sally asks.

"No." Yes.

"Oh. Okay. Why won't you sing though?" She asks.

"Okay, listen... please don't tell anyone about this but... I can sing, just... not alone in front of a big croud." I say quietly.

"But... you sang at our last concert." She says.

"Well, I guess I can sing with a group. But not alone in front of a bunch people." I explain.

"Oh... sorry." She murmers.

"It's okay." I shrug.

The class goes on. And I couldn't help but wonder...

Maybe I should try and get a solo.

Mr. Bubble goes through the available solos and I find the shortest one. Although they were all pretty long.

I didn't want to sing in front of the class, so when the bell rings I swallow the lump in my throat and walk up to the teacher.

"Uh... Mr. Bubble?" I asked.

"Yes Ritz?" He turns his head towards me and away from his computer.

"Um, can I try out for a solo?" I asked.

"Sure." He says. "Which one do you want to do?" I was a bit shocked that he didn't ask why. Probably because of the obvious reason.

"Uh, the shortest one there. This one." I pointed to the words on the sheet of paper.

"Alright. Go ahead." He said.

I take a deep breath. "There will be no sunlight, if I loose you baby. And there'll be no clear sky's, if I loose you baby." I sang the lyrics quietly, looking down at my feet.

"Alright. That sounded good. I'll see. Thanks for trying out Ritz." He said.

I nodded, then turned and walked out.

When I saw Orchid waiting for me outside the school, I smiled.

"Hey Ritz! Where were you?" She asks as we begin to head down the sidewalk.

"I, um, I tried out for a solo." I said.

"YOU'RE GONNA DO A SOLO?!" Orchid exclaims.

"SHUSH! I don't know if I got it or not!" I hiss.

She laughs. "Okay, fine. Let's play some music." She grabs her phone and turns on Karma by Taylor Swift.

I roll my eyes as she belts out the song. I sang more quietly with her.

"Sweet like honey, Karma is a cat, purring on my lap 'cause it loves meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" We sang. Her being louder than both me and the song.

When we got home, I heard Anna barking like crazy. I open the door and she jumps up onto me and starts likcking at my chin. I laugh and rub behind her ears.

"I swear that dog is in love with you." Orchid jokes.

"Shut up!" I laugh, kissing Anna's nose.

"Hey! How was your day at school?" Mom one steps into the room.

"It was good. How was work?" I asked.

"It was good." She says. "I mean, sitting in a perfectly air conditioned room with the girl you love while painting is certainly a fun thing."

"Indeed." Mom two comes in and plants a kiss onto her lips.

"Oh c'mon!" I dramaticly cover my eyes and stick out my tongue.

"Oh pah-lease!" Mom two laughed.

Then Orchid excitedly tells them that I tried out for a solo.

"Did you really? What about your stage fright?" Mom one asks, running her hand through her purple hair.

"I wanna try. I don't know weather I got it though, so I wouldn't get my hopes up." I said.

"Well if their smart, you'll get it." Mom two kisses my forehead.

Hey! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading! <3