THE CITY IS POURING WITH RAIN as a fourth of students at Meadowbrook High gathered their lunches at noon. Water droplets cascaded down the large windows at the side of the cafeteria, pelting the windows like bullets as it fell.

Alexander has grown to enjoy the rain. The sound it made while pattering on his roof at night was a soother that never failed to get him to fall asleep like a baby at night. The aroma of it was refreshing — a lot better than the odor of burned fuel from cars and trucks on a highway. A lot of people don't like rain because it gives them a shower they never asked for — but Alexander loves it and everything about it.

However, rainfall on the day of his last high school choir performance was something he's already growing to hate. As much as he didn't mind the rain, it was sure as heck going to ruin the event. Even if they'd be indoors, shielded by the large roof of the school's auditorium, rainfall has always given a strange vibe. Especially being that it was the season of May, moving on to June. Just for the day, Alexander would rather have the weather be blazing hot than to be wet and muddy.

All he could depend on, however, was the weather app on his cell phone. Tapping on the cloud and sun icon, the Korean boy looked through today's forecast hour by hour. The performance was set to be at six later that day, so he quickly scrolled to that particular time.

"Look," he said to his girlfriend, who sat beside him at a lunch table. He placed his phone in between him so she could see his screen better. "The weather app says that it's supposed to be cloudy at six during the concert. For the rest of the night until about ten, actually."

"Seems like a miracle is coming our way, then," Inez mused as she stared at the large windows meters ahead, the seats in front of her cleared. "It's pouring out there."

"I kind of like it, I'm not going to lie. Rain can be extremely relaxing," Alexander hummed as he viewed the water droplets smack against the window. "But not for tonight. Today just feels . . . different."

Inez planted a finger over her chin as one of her eyebrows raised. "Different because of what?"

"Different because today is a special day. Today will be our last day performing for the high school choir," the Korean boy answered. "You know, it just brings me to realize that there are only a few weeks of school left. Exams will start, and bam — we'll be walking across the stage, having our diplomas in hand several weeks later. It just feels so . . . real, yet fake at the same time."

"So this performance must be like a friendly reality check for you?" The girl questioned before she unwrapped her school-bought turkey sub, revealing a flat sandwich with no value whatsoever.

"Exactly!" Alexander exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. "This is making me realize how we're not going to even be in high school anymore as seniors. It just feels different."

"You're right. It does feel different," Inez nodded her head in agreement as she spread a small packet of mayonnaise over an assortment of tomato slices, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and turkey. "But we should enjoy the rest of our time here while we can. These are memories we're building here. It's all part of the high school experience — the choir experience, as well."

"We did create some nice memories," the brunette-haired boy chuckled as he turned his body slightly to face his significant other. "Remember the time when we got caught for running around backstage at Crews High after LGPE?"

"Oh yeah, that was fun. Racing each other really brought back some childhood nostalgia. Too bad we got caught," the girl with the sleek low ponytail laughed. "Speaking of getting caught, do you remember the time where we got kicked out of the school library by Ms. Dunn?"

Alexander wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "You mean by Walmart's Kris Jenner?"

"You and that obnoxious name for her," Inez teased as she lightly pushed her boyfriend in the shoulder. "Are you ever going to let go of it?"

"Nope," the Korean boy shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, what can I say? She is the perfect representation for a Walmart Great Value version of Kris."

"Touché," Inez nodded her head in acknowledgement. She couldn't disagree because he was pretty much correct.

"But all jokes aside, that day was fun," Alexander remarked. "But do you remember when we fed each other strawberries at prom a couple weeks ago?"

"Oh yeah, I loved doing that." the girl gushed as her eyebrows wiggled. "My favorite part was calling you Alexa."

"That was my least favorite part," the Korean boy frowned. He didn't particularly like the nickname, not one bit. It made him feel all squirmy inside, like worms were crawling right through him. But a surge of empathy filled his veins. He's called the girl her used-to-be least favorite nickname for years. This was a bitter taste of his own medicine.

The remaining two hours of school went by in a flash. The few hours at home they had before their grand performance were used to eat a stable meal, get into their choir wear, and even work on a few homework assignments before they'd head out the door.

Lucky for him, Alexander was all set. His father was generous enough to take a day off from work to attend the performance later on in the evening. "Alexander, your sister and I will be back when your concert begins. Good luck with your last rehearsal."

"Thanks, Dad," the Korean boy gleamed as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Be here in about an hour."

Jason nodded his head as he watched his eldest child elevate himself to exit the car. Once he was outside, he faced the car by the sidewalk, waving with a small smile as Jason returned the same energy before pulling off. Lucky enough for him, the city wasn't pouring with rain anymore. The more he inhaled air, he could smell the organic matter of leftover water droplets sitting on shrubs and bushes as Alexander slowly walked to the school's main entrance.

Using the school's security system doorbell, one of the main doors unlocked. Hauling the door open, he strutted into the building, pulling his phone out of the back pocket of his dress pants. Rehearsal was supposed to begin at five-thirty, and it was currently five twenty-eight. Since there wasn't any hallway traffic to delay his arrival to the choir room, he'd be at the choir room in the class without a problem since it wasn't too far.

Taking a nearby stairwell, the Korean boy made his way down each step, which eventually led him to the first level of the school building. After he made a sharp turn to the Fine Arts corridor, taking his sweet time as he strutted towards the end of the hallway to the choir room. The swinging door was wide open, revealing nothing but chaos. Instead of being seated, a large majority of dressed-up students in their black and white choir dresses and suits decided to get up, travel to various corners of the classroom, and socialize. Some students were in mobs, while others decided to sit where Dr. Terry urged them not to.

Speaking of her, the choir director was nowhere to be seen, despite it already being five-thirty. She was probably running late by making last minute preparations to the school theater, but she could be back any minute. Instead of getting to where he normally sat, he joined Inez, who was deep in conversation with Jolien.

Plopping his bottom onto an available chair beside his girlfriend, Alexander moved his fingers against her shoulders to massage them, causing her to jump slightly. "Boo!"

"Ah, you scared me, Alex," the girl said, her voice jittery as she turned her body to face her boyfriend.

"Did I, now?" Alexander hummed, his voice feathery as he leaned his head down on the girl's shoulder as if he were a little kid.

Inez rolled her eyes as she planted a hand on the boy's head, her fingers laced through his brunette hair. "I should be so annoyed right now, but you're cute at the same time."

"Ugh, you two are too cute. My heart is literally melting into goo right now," Jolien remarked as she fanned her face with her palm. "How am I going to survive the performance and the banquet?"

"You'll live," Inez cooed as she wrapped her arm around her boyfriend, planting a small kiss on his forehead afterwards. The Korean boy giggled slightly, darting his eyes towards the choir room's entrance.

In a long, black short-sleeved dress with black platform heels to match, Dr. Terry bolted through the doors of the choir room, a wooden clipboard in one hand as she held up a pen. As soon as she placed her items down, she clasped her hands together to announce her arrival. "Children, children, please sit down."

Caught off-guard, the students that were up and about scurried into their seats as they put away their cell phones. Taking this as a hint, Alexander removed the side of his head from his girlfriend's shoulder before anyone could get a chance to point it out.

With a sigh, Dr. Terry rubbed her eyes. "It looks like everyone is here, but I apologize for running a few minutes late. The caterers for the banquet arrived, so I had to show them around, but I'm here now. We still have time to lightly rehearse." She then took a seat on the bench of her baby grand piano, which was tilted to the side so she could still see her students. "But before we begin with scales, I want you all to know that you should try your best out there when you're on stage. Don't stress over anything — it's going to be fine. You're one of my best choirs, so I already know you're going to go out there and make me proud because we are . . ."

"The Meadowbrook Choir!" The students exclaimed as a whole.

"That's right," Dr. Terry cheered as she scooted over the middle of her piano bench. "Now let's get started on scales."

Scales. They were a thing that a lot of choir students hated because it was considered tedious, even pointless to some. But like their choir director iconically quoted, it was a hundred percent necessary. It was just intriguing to think that this would probably be the last time that this particular choir would do scales in high school. The seniors like Alexander, anyway. Even if scales weren't liked that much, it was hard to imagine singing a song without practicing them beforehand.

Sure, choir could always be done in college, but high school choir was rapidly coming to an end. The Korean boy wasn't sure what to think of it, but he was looking forward to this last performance.

It was sure to mark new beginnings.

When the Meadowbrook Advanced Mixed Chorus finished with their last rehearsal, they orderly headed to the school theater, where the performance would take place. The auditorium consisted of muffled conversation of the audience from parents, grandparents, siblings, family friends, fellow students — you name it.

As soon as a large majority of the audience realized that the choir was finally headed on stage, a series of cheers and roars erupted. Some consisted of names, but everyone seemed to be stoked up for the performance.

Despite being excited in all, Alexander couldn't help but feel jitters. Goosebumps began to crawl throughout the surface of his skin the more he thought about it. Even if singing always excited him, the sensation of stage fright was already beginning to hit him. It wasn't a feeling he normally felt when it came to concerts, but this particular performance was different, being that it would be his last high school choir performance.

But instead of letting his feelings take over his mind, he smiled it off as he stood in his place on the singing platform, shielded by the comfort of the rest of the choir. That was an upside to being in choir. It brings joy to the heart in multiple ways.

Dr. Terry stepped up to the front of the stage, yanking a microphone off of a stand, which stood next to many others as she tapped it with her fingers before raising it to her mouth. "Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to Meadowbrook High's Advanced Mixed Chorus' spring performance."

A roar of cheers erupted from the audience below. Some held up signs to cheer certain members on, but the energy of the room overall was charismatic.

Dr. Terry continued. "Whether you're a parent, a sibling, or a family friend, I'd like to thank you all for coming out today to support your baby. It really means a lot, especially since it is most of them's last choir performance of high school since a lot of them are seniors about to graduate. So having that said, we will begin the concert by singing Man In The Mirror."

As she turned around to place the microphone back on its stand, Inez stepped forward from the singing platform to the stage, adjusting the stand to match her height. Deep down, all Alexander wanted to do was to cheer her on out loud for the entire auditorium to hear. Being that he wasn't part of the audience, that just wasn't possible.

Out loud, at least.

If anything, Alexander knew how to turn a situation around. Even if he couldn't cheer his girlfriend on out loud, that didn't mean he couldn't whisper it out. Was it just as effective as yelling? Not at all. But was it something? Of course.

"Go, Nezzie! You can do this," the Korean boy whisper-shouted without hesitation. A few heads from in front of him turned with winces, but Alexander just shrugged. He paid no mind to his classmates' reaction. All he could pay attention to was Inez, who turned around slightly with a smile. She must've heard him cheering her on lightly.

That was the whole objective.

Turning to the choir, Dr. Terry cued everyone by lifting up her music baton, gesturing to the stage crew that hung out at the side of the stage who would control the audio systems. Swaying her music stick left and right, the choir director whispered. "One . . . two . . . one, two, three, four."

As the light tap of a piano key radiated from the speakers above, Inez synced her voice with the audio as she sung the first voice. Her voice was subtle, but not once did it tremble. Even if the first verse was quiet into the microphone, it was strong like boulders. Her voice could practically move mountains if she wanted to.

As she gently sang each verse, her voice calmed like the gentle waves of an ocean. When she eventually reached the main chorus, the rest of the choir joined. All of a sudden, the choir sounded like one. One choir. One voice.

That is exactly how a choir should sound. But even if they sounded like one, Inez's solo part peeked in here and there. Not in a bad way, however. It was in a way that made the song sound twice as better.

With that same energy, the choir sang their way through the rest of the song. The ending consisted of rather tricky high notes, especially at Inez's solo, but she managed to pull it through without straining her voice. After all, it was only about an octave higher. When the song closed out, it was quiet and still, like the waves of an ocean, exactly like how the song started out.

When the soundtrack came to halt, a few claps from the audience echoed against the room's high ceilings. Taking that as a cue, what seemed like everyone in the crowd clapped their hands together. A few high-pitched hollers stuck out here and there, making the room even more charismatic than it already was.

Smiling at her choir, Dr. Terry put down her music baton, placing it on a music stand before returning to the front of the stage. As Inez made her way back to the singing platform, the choir director yanked the microphone off of its stand once again as she stood at the rim of the stage.

"And that was Man In The Mirror. Let's give that another round of applause," Dr. Terry announced. The audience did so for a good thirty seconds. All Alexander could think of was how their hands had to be tired from all the cheering and clapping. But he shrugged it off as his choir director continued. "For our last song, we will sing We're All In This Together from the popular high school Disney movie, High School Musical."

Before Dr. Terry could turn back to the choir, a child's voice from the audience cheered. A little too loud, too. "High School Musical? I love that movie."

A few laughs stirred throughout the audience. Even Dr. Terry and a couple choir members giggled at the comment. Before he could let out a chuckle, the child's voice replayed in his head.

It was feminine, high-pitched, and sounded oddly familiar in his opinion. It sounded so familiar to the point where it sounded like his sister's voice.

That's when it struck him. It was his sister.

Feeling his entire face flush into flames, Alexander winced. He didn't know why he found it embarrassing, but he just did. Siblings always had a way of embarrassing each other. It was far worse in public.

But instead of panicking, the Korean boy let out a deep breath as he stepped off of the singing platform to stand further into the stage for his solo part as Ryan, one of the icons of the movie. Fortunately, not a lot of people in the room knew that he had a sister. Plus, it was only a rather loud and irrelevant comment about the movie. It didn't involve him whatsoever.

But he spoke too soon.

From one of the first few rows, probably the fifth or sixth, Constance began to wave at her brother as soon as she noticed him up front with a few other students who had solos just like him. Feeling his face tingling, he raised his arm to hesitantly wave back.

Wincing, he stared down at the wooden floor below him, hoping that Dr. Terry would signal the choir to sing before his sister could find anything to do that would embarrass him. To his luck, the choir director began to cue the entire choir for their last song. Instead of directly beginning, she began to whisper. "This will be your last song this school year — for high school for most of you. Make this memorable."

As she raised her music baton into the air, she cued the stage crew as she cued the choir to begin singing the popular musical song. When the audio began, the entire choir as a whole sang the first verse.

Even if they weren't East High from the movie the song was from, it was completely fine. They were Meadowbrook High. Nothing about Meadowbrook was fictional because it was real. But it surely felt nice to sing a song most of the choir knew from their childhood. Alexander was never a person that was big on Disney movies because of how sappy and unrealistic they could get — but it was a joyous feeling to sing this particular song.

When Alexander reached his solo, he practically sang his heart out. His solo may have been kind of short, but it was still just as important as every other part of the song. If anything, the lyrics meant a lot, especially since this would be the last performance of the school year. It was the perfect song to close it out with.

When the song energetically ended, Dr. Terry commanded the choir to bow as she smiled, applause stirring throughout the audience. "Good job, everyone. Very good job."

She then headed to the front of the stage to join the soloists like Alexander, taking a microphone to make one last announcement. "And that's a wrap! First things first, I'd love to congratulate this choir for everything they've achieved. This year, when we went to our LGPE performance, they won an all-superior rating. These wonderful children have achieved a lot throughout the years of teaching them. Now that deserves a round of applause."

Hollers and cheers erupted from the viewers below the stage, lasting a good thirty seconds before Dr. Terry continued. "To celebrate these achievements, there will be a banquet just for this choir in the Commons. There will be catered food, certificates will be given, and everyone is welcome at no cost. I'd like to thank the school for funding this entire event, as well as parents for paying for your child's choir dues this year. When I dismiss the kids to grab whatever belongings they left backstage, they can join you so you can head to the Commons for the banquet."

With cheers and hollers, some people in the audience began to leisurely get up from their seats as Dr. Terry walked back to the choir. "You guys are dismissed. Again, wonderful performance, everyone."

Hyping each other up, the choir began to leap off of the singing platform to file backstage. Approaching his best friend, Alexander foiled his arm around him for a side celebratory hug. "Jay, man, we did it."

"Yes, we did," Jayden quipped with a curt nod. "Since we did so well, we can finally eat. I can't wait to see what kind of food that was catered. I'm like, really hungry."

Alexander chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "On a scale of one to ten, how hungry?"

"A motherfucking eleven," the mixed boy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to go wash my hands real quick, so I'll meet you at the banquet?"

"Uh-huh, see you there," the Korean boy remarked as he watched his friend head further into the backstage area to get into the men's restroom. Before he could move an inch, two hands blanketed his eyes from the back, preventing him from seeing who was there. He flinched. "Who is this?"

"You're going to have to guess," the person giggled. The voice was feminine, charismatic, and a hundred percent familiar to Alexander.

"Nezzie?" He questioned. "If it's you, you kind of scared me."

"That was the plan. I'm so glad it worked," Inez quipped as she uncovered her hand from the boy's eyes. "I had to get you back from scaring me earlier. It's what you deserve."

"Alright, you got what you wanted," Alexander gave in as he spun his body around to face the girl.

"Damn right you are," Inez chirped as she grabbed a matte black handbag from a nearby hook fastened to the wall. "But I heard you cheering for me. Thanks for that."

"Had to cheer you on somehow," the brunette teased with a sly grin.

The girl fluttered her eyelashes. "I also heard your sister in the audience. She's so cute."

"Only when she wants to be," Alexander tutted. "But the banquet is starting now. Shall we head there together?"

"Yeah, but I have to find my parents first. They're out in the audience somewhere," Inez announced as she gestured to the rest of the auditorium. "We can find yours, as well. Maybe we could get our parents to meet during the banquet."

"Definitely," the Korean boy remarked as he gently stroked a strand of his mocha brown hair to sweep it away from his eyes. With caution, he climbed down the three steps that led to the main auditorium. Pointing to his father and sister, who were located a few rows into the left side of the auditorium, he mused. "I see my family."

Looking towards her boyfriend's parents, Inez's eyes darted towards her parents, who seemed to be speaking with Alexander's father. "I see mine too. It looks like they're both talking together."

"There's only one way to find out," Alexander mused as he circled around the first row to the main center aisle of the room. Without tapping a shoulder or muttering out a word, Constance automatically noticed her brother, her eyes twinkling as she ran a few inches up to him. "Hi, Cons."

"Hi, Alexander," the little girl raved with a toothy grin before she turned to her brother's boyfriend. "Hi, pretty girl that my brother is dating. What's your name again?"

"Hey, Constance. My name is Inez," the older girl recalled with a broad smile. Before she could say anything else, she could see her and her boyfriend's parents shifting from the corner of her eyes. With the warmest of welcomes, they stopped their conversation to surround the couple with greetings and hugs.

"Hey, you two," Gabrielle chirped as she rubbed a hand over her daughter's shoulder.

"Hi, Mom," Inez smiled before she looked behind her to view her father and her boyfriend's father. "Did you all . . . meet already?"

"Yep, we happened to be sitting right by each other. We started talking with a little small talk, but then we found out that Jason here is your boyfriend's dad as you guys were singing," Jared explained simply with a curt nod.

"Yep, I'd love to invite you all over to our house sometime to get to know you better. Maybe for some dinner whenever you're available. I can probably take some time off of work," Jason offered genuinely with a smile as his daughter approached him, tugging on his fingers for plain fun. "But for now, we can start off simple by heading to this banquet. Where is it again?"

"The Commons area, where the lunchroom is. It isn't too far from this end of the school. We will have to do a little bit of walking, though," Alexander warned. "About three or four minutes since there isn't any hallway traffic."

There was nothing more frustrating in high school than hall traffic. But since the choir's performance was an after-school event, the corridors were bound to be completely void.

"There's nothing wrong with a little bit of exercise," Gabrielle chirped.

Jared frowned. "Ugh, my knees are getting older and older as we speak. Can't we just drive the car to that wing of the school?"

"No can do," his wife said simply as she raised her hand to shake her index finger from side to side. "Now let's go."

Jared shook his head dramatically, causing Jason to let out a large chuckle. "A little bit of walking will be perfect."

And just like that, the three parents began to chat endlessly about grown-ish things, starting off with basic things like work and politics — building their way up to dramatic workplace gossip and shocking, unbelievable news stories. Inez and Alexander weren't too interested in any of what their parents were talking about, but that didn't mean they couldn't create a conversation of their own.

"Looks like they're getting along just fine," the Korean boy whispered.

Inez smiled, her eyes twinkling in the artificial light of the corridor's fluorescent lights. "Now that that's off my mind, I guess we can enjoy the rest of the night. I mean it's catered food at the banquet."

"It better be good," Alexander said as he wiggled his eyebrows. "But damn, it's crazy to think that this will be our last choir concert in high school. I don't know what to think."

"I know, it seems like we were at our first concert during freshman year four years ago, arguing our entire selves off," the girl said, monitoring her language because her parents were practically right beside her, possibly listening, but she heavily doubted it. "The choir experience has certainly been . . . interesting for us."

"It sure has. Despite how heated we were in the past, the choir experience brought us together," the Korean boy remarked.

"You know, you're right," Inez grinned as she nodded her head. The reality ahead of her was all crystal-clear, as if it just got cleaned with glass cleaner.

Smiling, the charismatic couple walked to the lunchroom beside their parents, giggling and teasing each other, talking about anything and everything. Maybe they weren't like this during freshman year, but they've grown — they've changed.

Change is inevitable. But this was a change for the better. 

a/n: we're only one more chapter away from the last one, y'all. i'm so excited!!