Chapter Eleven: 

 

James signed us up for the concert the following day.  I was not happy: he basically forced me to perform. But, to be fair, we did shake on it. I never once went back on a promise. Never. Even in JUVIE. One time, I promised Sam I would always take the blame for her. And I did. Although it probably made my sentence longer the more I would take fault for her mistakes. 

I sat in my living room, flipping through the channels on the TV. It was a Friday night, which meant I had plans of doing absolutely nothing. I was outstretched on the sofa wearing sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. Mom was taking a double shift tonight so I had the whole house to myself. Most parents would be worried about leaving their teenage daughter home by herself, but my mom knew me better than that. 

Finally, I found something interesting on the TV: The Voice. When I selected the show, there was a girl about my age performing for the coaches. She was phenomenal! She was hitting the high notes in Ariana Grande’s “imagine.” I wish I could hit a whistle note. 

 

Abruptly, my phone lit up beside me: it was a message from an unknown number. 

 

Unknown: Open the door plz

 

Who the heck is this? I thought. I replied: 

 

Who is this? 

 

The number texted back instantly: 

 

Unknown: Ur boyfriend ofc

 

I rolled my eyes. It was James. 

 

How did u get my number? 

 

Unknown: Doesn’t matter. Can you plz open ur door -- it’s freezing

 

UR AT MY HOUSE??

 

He didn’t respond back that time. Instead, there was a panicked knock at my door. I sighed and turned off the TV. So much for a relaxing Friday night. I ran to the door and opened it. Outside was James, shivering in the October cold. 

“Why the heck are you at my house?” I yelled. “No, how did you get my address? And my phone number? Are you stalking me?” I interrogated. 

James all but grinned. “I have my ways,”

I wanted to slap the smug look off his face, but I restrained myself. But, boy, did I want to beat him up right here and now. Instead, I replied, “What did you come here for?”

“Wow, some host you are. You didn’t even invite me in!”

“Why should I?”

“Because it’s the polite thing to do!”

I sighed. “Fine. James, would you like to come inside?” Quickly, I added, “For ten minutes.”

 

James came in and sat on my couch, taking the place I was originally sitting. I stood instead, my arms crossed as he grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels. I was trying my best to express how impatient and frustrated he was making me, but like the idiotic person he is, he didn’t sense any of it. 

I cleared my throat obnoxiously. “What did you come to my house for, James?”

He sat the remote down on the arm of the sofa and faced me. “So that we could discuss our plans for the concert.”

“What plans? What is there to discuss?”

James started ticking off his fingers. “There’s song choice: there are multiple songs to pick from. And there is outfit choice: I’ll obviously look good in anything but for you…” I glared at him before he could say any further. James clamped his mouth shut. 

“So you just came here to talk about two things?”

“Well, I figured I should ask for your input in the situation since you’re a part of the group.”

I sighed. This was stupid. “What song were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about ‘I Don’t Know What Love Is’ by–”

“Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, I know.” I finished. “I don’t think we should. That’s the song you and Alice sang together, right? If we sang that song, you’re just asking for…” I stopped. I understood exactly where he was going with this. 

“Wait,” I said. “Were you asking me to participate in the concert with you so you could aggravate Alice?”

James stared at me blankly. I caught him. 

“Why are you asking me to do all these things to annoy your ex, James?” I yelled. “I know you said she needs to be brought down, but I don’t think that’s the reason anymore! I think you are still in love with her and you’re trying to make her jealous by doing the same thing you two did with me!”

James stood up. “I’m not in love with her, Halo. I was the one who broke up with her, remember?” His expression changed into seriousness: mine shifted to worry when the look crossed his face. “Do you want to know the real reason why I asked you?” I didn’t respond. He answered his own question. “I asked you because I think you’re a talented singer.”

I felt a blush rise, but I pushed it down. “You…what?”

“I think you’re amazing. With singing, I mean.”

I sighed and smiled for both our sakes. I changed the subject. “Actually, I was thinking we could sing ‘Shallow’ instead.”

James’ eyebrows raise. “Are you sure? That song is–”

“Hard? Yeah, I know. But I think we can do it.” I added, “Now, I think you should leave.”

“What? Why?” He asked. “I thought we were good!”

“We are,” I replied. “But it’s been ten minutes.”

 

The next week at school, James and I got there early so we could rehearse our song in the music room. He brought his guitar and set up the sheet music. James started strumming some chords and I was adjusting the microphone to my height. I was surprised he hasn’t made a short joke yet. 

“Do you need help with that, shortie?” he asked, grinning. I stand corrected. 

“If you don’t mind,” I replied, struggling on the tips of my toes to lower the mic. 

James came up behind me and pushed the microphone down like it was nothing. He smirked at me and I scowled. But even still, I muttered, “Thanks,”

“Sorry, I can’t hear. I’m all the way up here and you’re all the way down there.” he teased. 

“Shut up,” I replied playfully. 

He laughed and went back to strumming his guitar. I, on the other hand, leaned into the microphone and started humming the melody of “Shallow.” James started backing me up by playing the song on his instrument. 

I started singing instead of humming now. “Tell me something boy. Aren’t you tired tryin’ fill that void? Or–”

“Do you need more?” someone sang. It sounded like an angel singing, but I knew it was the devil. James abruptly stopped playing and I looked toward the door of the music room. I saw Alice Anne standing there, looking innocent but had a wicked grin on her face. 

“What are you here for, Alice?” I asked, my voice echoing into the microphone. 

Alice dodged my question. “That was some great singing there, Halo. But are you going to be able to hit that high note during performance night? It’s a pretty hard note to hit, you know.”

“I’ve shown you before that I’m capable of hitting hard notes. You should be the one worried, Alice.”

“Why’s that?”

I leaned into the microphone, making sure that everyone in the school could hear me. “Because I am going to take you down.” The microphone screeched when I finished my sentence, making Alice cover her ears and scowl at me. 

“We’ll see, Halo.” Alice sneers as she begins to walk down the hallway. “If I were you, I would practice performing in front of a crowd. I know prisoners aren’t used to singing to a large audience.” she cups her hand over her mouth, playing coy. “Oh wait. You are used to it because I bet there were a bunch of people when you were being tried in court.” 

With her final statement, she left. I could hear her heels clicking down the hall on her way to her first class. My mouth was wide. I couldn’t believe what she had just said. I turned around: James had the same expression on his face. 

“What did she mean when she referred to you as a prisoner?” James finally asked. 

“It’s nothing,” I lied. Just tell him! 

“No, it’s not nothing,” he said and got up from where he was sitting. He placed his guitar against the stool and came up to me. I practically had to lift my neck up just to meet his gaze. He looked down at me like I was a tiny child who hadn’t hit their growth spurt. 

“Halo, were you a prisoner?”