snarling at the students there until they scamper off. I sit down and look out over the crowd but Joey is nowhere to be seen.
“Lips is a fucking wreck. You saw the text right? She’s jittering around the place like she’s on crack, because she’s that nervous about this shit. Why the hell would they make the performance mandatory? It’s choir for fuck’s sake.”
Lips, Blaise, and Avery finally arrive together just as the performances are due to start. Lips is wedged between the other two, Blaise’s arm slung over her shoulders as he leans in to whisper to her and Avery’s arm is threaded through hers.
Lips looks like she’s going to puke.
I don’t like that at all.
“She’s fucking terrified of doing this, don’t be a dick about it,” Harley snaps, and I turn to snap back at him but his eyes are still on the stage, like he’s plotting out how to start a fire and get her out of having to do this.
I’m dying to hear her sing.
Avery always gets this awed look on her face whenever Blaise mentions Lips’s voice, and her overall smugness tells me we’re in for a show, so as much as I don’t like seeing her so fucking jittery… I’m not going to lie and say I’m not looking forward to seeing what she’s got in store for us.
When the choir teacher walks out and starts off on her speech about what the students will be doing, I zone out, only focusing again when Avery’s name is called first and she walks confidently onstage. She sings beautifully, nothing show-stopping or flashy, but she only ever did choir to keep an eye on Blaise. The moment she’s done there’s a decent applause from the audience, most of the students too fucking terrified of her not to clap, and she prances off of the stage like a pro to sit with us.
The next girl is out of tune, and Harley keeps snickering under his breath at her because she’s swaying and gyrating like she’s the best fucking thing since sliced bread. At one point she dry humps the microphone stand and winks at Harley who stares her down like she’s diseased, which, if the rumors are to be believed, is accurate.
Blaise cheats and sings a Vanth song, not exactly giving it his all but still sounding good enough to have half the female population fucking swooning. I swear you can hear them all dripping for him and the applause is full of squealing girls as he steps down from the stage.
I smirk at him when he takes his seat, nudging Harley with his elbow and picking a fight with him right off the bat. Avery leans in close to me, whispering in my ear, “Lips is better.”
I don’t see how that’s possible so I’m assuming she’s just stirring shit with me. Harley and Blaise mutter amongst themselves through the rest of the performances and Avery spends the whole time on her phone, looking through security camera footage of what exactly Joey has been up to in the last week, which is both disgusting and typical.
A lot of alcohol and girls stupid enough to fuck him because even with his reputation, the Beaumont name is a draw for them.
After an hour, Lips’ name is finally called out and she walks out onto the stage, her legs still unsteady but her face a blank, carefully controlled mask once again. She fidgets with her ears for a second and takes a deep, deep breath.
“What was that?” I murmur, and Avery sighs a little at me.
“Earplugs. She can’t sing without them.”
I frown, but then the song starts and she opens her mouth and nothing else exists to me anymore, nothing but the sound of her voice and, fuck me, the Mounty can sing. She sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before, the hauntingly melodic tones of her voice send shivers down my spine and if it wasn’t already perfectly clear to me before… I am ruined for this girl.
I am fucked.
She stares out at the colored glass, tears starting up in her eyes, but she sings like an angel through it all like a fucking trooper.
There’s a stunned silence that falls over the chapel when the final notes of the song come to an end and then the entire room erupts. Lips obviously can’t really hear it, or she’s in too much of a trance after singing, because she doesn’t smile or blush or acknowledge it in any way as