A WEEK PASSED, and Alexander's hard work from stocking shelves and assisting customers paid off. With only two weekend shifts and one weekday shift, he managed to make more than enough money to pay for his Chorus dues. With a new debit card his father awarded him, he paid eighty dollars easily and set his extra bits to the side.

But the question was, would he keep working? That was exactly what his father wondered once his son informed him about his quick success. It wasn't rocket science to Alexander. If he kept working a little bit, he figured that he could give a portion of it to his father to pay for groceries and bills easily. It wouldn't be much money, but it would help.

His father, however, was on a different page. "Alexander, I appreciate you trying to help, but I don't want you tiring yourself out because of me," he rejected as he shook his head, his fingers clutching on his second cup of fresh-brewed coffee. "Sori, you need to focus on school more. I'll handle the bills, so don't spend your money on me."

"But Dad — it'll help you, Constance, and I out a tiny bit more," Alexander protested before crossing his arms. "You can't just keep denying the help you have right in front of you." 

"Lower your tone. Everything will be just fine, I promise," his father insisted before patting his son on the back. Alexander watched him disappear into the living room in disbelief. There wasn't much he could do to convince his father to let him help out a bit. His father usually rejected help and took all of the accountability for the situation he and his children were in.

All Alexander could do was take a deep breath before he grabbed his belongings before he went out the door for school.

The school day has almost come to a halt. It was the student's last period of the day, and Inez and Alexander were stuck in Chorus in the most unpleasant situation possible. Dr. Terry prompted the pair to start the choir off on Maybe I'm Amazed from Joyful Noise. The choir worked on the song bit by bit for the past week, but they never sung the song straight through. Instead, they intensively worked on everyone's vocals as a whole, as well as the delivery.

Now, they'd finally be singing the song. But only if Alexander and Inez led everyone in together. The Korean boy had the first part, which everyone depended on him for. He took a small peek at Inez, who was directly glaring at him side-eye. Within a heartbeat, the boy faced forward as he brushed his feet against the hard, carpeted ground below him. 

"Whenever you're ready, Alexander," Dr. Terry informed as she projected the song's soundtrack on the speaker system. When the piano introduction of the song concluded, Alexander kept his posture straight and did what he did best. He sang his part of the duet with his heart, remembering that it had a purpose. He wasn't given the duet for no reason, so he figured that he had to sing it with expression and love. After all, that's what Dr. Terry taught him all these years.

Once Alexander's part of the duet was over, he took a brisk glance at Inez to cue her into her part. All the girl did, however, was stare back at him blankly before she began to sing. It wasn't hostile; it was just blank. As she sang her part, the lyrics she sang weren't words anymore. They came to life in the most harmonious way possible. That's what singing is. It brings stanzas of words to life in the most powerful way possible.

Inez favored it heavily, and everyone else in the room could tell. She sang her heart out as if the world was ending. Her vocals remained strong; her voice didn't crack one bit. She was just doing the best she could — and it all came naturally. She didn't strain herself or force anything out, but that was all because she didn't have to. There were no difficulties present, especially since she remained in an upright posture and warmed up prior to singing.

The pair took turns in the duet without acknowledging one another. Before it was the other's turn, all they did was take a brisk glance at each other before performing their part. Soon enough, the entire choir sang the main chorus of the song in tune. Dr. Terry helped direct the choir as a whole by waving her hands in the air, pointing towards specific sections to achieve better success. As the song concluded, both Inez and Alexander shared a small part with only two words. Even if it wasn't long, they couldn't find a way to face each other. Inez looked straight at the bricked wall ahead, while Alexander looked down to the ground at his store-brand black sneakers.

Dr. Terry, who noticed their actions, cleared her throat. "Phenomenal job, everyone," she nodded her head with a wide smile. "However, Inez and Alexander — when you're at that last part, you need to look up, not at the ground or whatever, alright?"

"Yes, Dr. Terry," the pair said in sync with curt nods.

"Otherwise, great job," the teacher admired before walking to a piano, which stood at the front of the class. She put away her papers for Maybe I'm Amazed as she took a brisk glance at the analog clock on the wall. Dr. Terry flipped through a heavy-duty two-inch binder to retrieve her papers for the second song her choir would sing, Joyful Joyful. "There's about fifteen more minutes left of class, so we'll use this time to work on our second song. Mostly on the solo part for today."

A large majority of the class turned to Inez, who Dr. Terry had recently given the solo part to. It was a crucial decision, especially since she already had a special part for the previous song, but Inez accepted it without hesitation. But this role would be more than complex. It would require more energy and passion, not to mention all the different volume dynamics she would have to acknowledge. However, this wasn't anything that she couldn't do. With practice and memorization of the lyrics, she'd do just fine in this role.

With the small remainder of class left, Dr. Terry and Inez worked their way through the solo, as her teacher periodically redirected Inez in a subtle way. It was all for the better and really, after knowing her teacher for all these years, it was just a nicer form of tough love. Inez didn't mind all that much. She was lucky to have a teacher who was willing to help her advance in her singing.

When the electronic school bells rang from above, class was dismissed, and the school day was over and done with. Before anyone got a chance to leave, Dr. Terry announced. "We will begin having after-school rehearsals later this week on Thursday in the school theater. Everything will be set up there to properly prepare for our concert," she informed before adjusting the rim of her glasses. "I'm expecting all of you to attend, but if you can't for whatever reason, please let me know."

Whenever Dr. Terry announced rehearsals being soon, that always meant that their performance would be right around the corner. It would be the first of four performances of their senior year, and Inez couldn't help but feel all sorts of excitement through her veins. The whole idea of singing in front of a crowd full of people enlightened her, especially with the chorus singing alongside. It was one of the main reasons why she took chorus. There was no other kind of joy that felt the same as singing with the choir.

It was only something to look forward to for the next couple of weeks.

"Places, places everyone," Dr. Terry announced before clasping her hands together. Soon enough, Thursday came, and she was doing her best to do everything she pleased so the choir could be prepared. That meant passing out all forms of choir attire, instructing everyone what will happen the day of the performance, and working heavily on all significant portions of the two songs they will sing. It took a lot of effort, time, and energy, but in the end, it was all worth it. With the twenty-five minutes of rehearsal that was spared already, the choir was headed for a fresh start.

"Let's start on the trio, then we'll take it from there," Dr. Terry insisted as she stepped up from the rim of the stage. The three girls who were assigned this part were in the front row of the broad, arch-shaped singing platform for easy access.

After an additional thirty minutes into practice, the group had worked heavily through Joyful Joyful, and a bit through Maybe I'm Amazed once more. Dr. Terry dismissed the choir to be able to head home for the evening. Practice that day was sure busy and productive, twice as more efficient as they were during class time. Mainly because it didn't take place during school hours, but that was far from the point. After school rehearsals for the choir has always been a hassle. 

"Whew, that was a lot," Jolien exclaimed as she swung her dense, lavender purple backpack over her shoulder. "Two hours of singing, if you count class today."

"Yeah, but it was all worth it," Inez reasoned as Jolien's phone pinged twice. 

"It's my mom and she's outside. See you tomorrow?" Jolien said before extending her hands to meet Inez's.

"See you tomorrow," Inez echoed as Jolien let go of her hands and soon disappeared into the auditorium. She wasn't really friends with anyone else in the choir, so she remained alone as she headed to the backstage area to text her mother to pick her up. Once the text was sent, faced her phone to check any unread messages as she walked to the auditorium to take a seat.

Little did she know that Alexander would sit a few seats down from here.

"What are you doing here?" Inez questioned before she foiled her phone into her back pocket from behind her. "Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"In a few minutes," Alexander responded simply as he faced the stage, watching Dr. Terry speak with the stage crew to move things around and such. "Long day, huh?"

"I guess," Inez responded with a murmur, facing the opposite direction. "I'm surprised that you haven't called my Nezzie by now."

"You're right, Nezzie," Alexander teased with a sly grin.

"Ugh, you know how much I hate that nickname. How many times have I told you to not call me Nezzie over all these years?" Inez hissed as she shook her head with disbelief.

"Not too many times. Don't stress your pretty self out," Alexander chuckled before retrieving his backpack and standing up from his chair. He disappeared down the center aisle to exit the auditorium.

"He's so annoying," Inez muttered to herself as her phone pinged. The notification was from her mother, who texted that she was on her way. She reacted to the message with a red heart emoji before gathering her belongings to make her way outside the auditorium to the exit portion of the school building's Fine Arts wing. The small conversation she had with Alex stuck with her for the two minutes it took to get to her mother's car.

Alexander always found a way to intimidate Inez. Whether it was verbal or not, Inez found it irritating. Especially her forever unwanted nickname, Nezzie. She hated it more than anything. It always made her feel squirmy and icky on the inside, as if a bug was crawling right through her. That's how much it made her cringe. Alexander always took that to his advantage because frankly, seeing his rival squirm satisfied him in a way.

But that didn't mean he had bad intentions with it. It was all plain fun to him, which Inez could tell. Based on all the times she had to lecture Alexander to not call her the nickname, she was just intimidated.

Speaking of intimidation, there wasn't a car in sight when the girl reached outside. It would probably be an additional two minutes before her mom would be on the curb to drive her home. That meant two more minutes of standing through the light, chilly October wind. It didn't bother Inez all that much, especially since she was dressed in a cherry red hoodie and black jeans, which kept her warm. But without the company of everyone, she was alone, which didn't fight off the cold feeling.

Right then, a girl with straight, brunette hair wrapped into a low ponytail walked and took a seat beside Inez with a genuine smile. It was another member of the choir, Angelica Santana Ortiz. Inez didn't have many connections with her, but they were friendly with each other. In fact, they would be sort of working together on Joyful Joyful because Angelica had one of the most important parts as well, which would correspond with Inez's part. But that wasn't why Angelica came up to her.

"Hey, Nez. After the concert in a few weeks, I'm going to have a party just for the choir members at my house. My parents will be away in Santiago for their wedding anniversary, so it'll be lit," Angelica raved as she wrapped her arm around Inez enthusiastically. "We'll play games, maybe do karaoke or sing-off, and have all sorts of fun. Are you going?"

"Count me in," Inez nodded her head in agreement before taking her phone out to open iMessage. "Text me your address?"

"Of course. I'm glad that you're coming," Angelica said as she removed her cell phone from her pocket. "Have you seen Alexander? I didn't get the chance to tell him about the party."

"He just left," Inez shrugged.

"Shit," the brunette hissed. "I'll tell him tomorrow then. See you then?"

"Yeah," Inez said before she gathered her belongings. Her mother's two-year-old royal blue Nissan Altima pulled up on the curbside. The girl entered the car, putting down her belongings and fastening her seatbelt. The car itself smelled like Hawaiian-scented air freshener, which circulated throughout the vehicle. It was sure of an upgrade when it came to scents, considering how outside just smelled like nothing — plain and simple.

"Hey, how was your day?" her mother, Gabrielle, questioned with a genuine smile before pulling out of the side of the road. "And how was practice?"

"It was all good. We did great," Inez informed as she returned her mother's enthusiastic smile.

"That's good to hear," Gabrielle hummed as she let go of the car's steering wheel. The vehicle stood in front of a red light, so she had a brisk opportunity to adjust her shoulder-length curls in the rear-view mirror, as well as the sleeves of her nurse scrubs. She worked at a local hospital nearby as a nurse practitioner, specifically in pediatrics for children. Whenever she wore her scrubs, that always meant that she was about to go to work. "I'm going to drop you off at home, then I'll head to the hospital. Your dad is still at home if you need anything."

"Okay, alright," Inez nodded as she took her phone out of her pocket. She tapped on the colorful Instagram icon and browsed through her home page. She mainly went on the platform just to take her mind off things, like what happened today with Alexander. It was weird to experience, especially since Alexander always had to be intolerably annoying to her. She didn't want to think about him for the remainder of the day — she really didn't — especially after reminding herself of what she wanted to do in choir that year.

She had to cut contact with him for the spotlight. He was just being a walking distraction. An annoying one, too.

But Instagram decided to flip the switch. She scrolled through her "suggestions for you" portion of her account. The first account that popped up belonged to Alexander, as shown in the profile picture. It was a selfie of him in a car, one eye closed while the other was open. He was winking.

Inez's hands couldn't help but travel through her phone screen to tap his profile. There wasn't anything interesting there, really. Except for his bio, which read "wish you were here." It was all in lowercase letters with a mending heart emoji. Dozens of questions began to flood Inez's head.

Who did he miss?

Is it a friend?

Is it an ex?

Why do I even care? Inez questioned herself. She had no reason to care. Thinking about Alexander completely went against what she originally anticipated. This is just one big distraction, she mused.

Nonetheless, it stuck with her. 

a/n: hi, hello! it looks like Nezzie is getting a lil too curious about Alexander. since it's chapter 5, we already know who Alex is referring to, but Inez has no clue. how do you think she'll find out? 

also, thank you to everyone who's made it to chapter 5! i'm honored to have such generous support 💗

please remember to comment. i love hearing your thoughts!!