“Thank God! I found you here.” Ryan tells her as he approaches her and embraces her in a hug.

“Ryan, what are you doing here?” She asked him.

“Well, there was this workshop...” But Olivia cut him off.

“Stop with the bullshit. We both know how much you despise this type of workshop.”

“One of your neighbours told me you moved here; I tried calling you several times. But you didn’t pick up, so I had no choice but to sign up for this stupid workshop.” He justified himself.

Jenna abruptly spoke, capturing the attention of the entire cafeteria.

“Hello, guys. So, you see, we have the winners of the interschool band competition ‘The Fire and Ice.’ We let them leave our school grounds without performing for us, which is unacceptable. So Ryan, Xavier, and Brad will you please perform for us?”

“Um, sure.” He replied. Musical instruments were set up in preparation for their performance.

Even the teachers and principal were present for their live performance, as were several other students.

Ryan snatched Olivia’s hand and dragged her to the stage with him.

“Ryan, what are you doing?” He drew a hiss from her.

“Olivia, I want to sing this song with you. You know, when I first came here, everyone was gushing about how well you sing. Back then, whenever we listened to music, you would hum but never sing.” He informed her.

Olivia remained silent.

“Come on, Olivia. For old time's sake.” Ryan handed her a microphone, which she accepted hesitantly.

Xavier and Brad gave her a supportive look. She stood in the corner of the stage, debating whether or not to sing with him.

Everyone was perplexed as to how Olivia knew Ryan and his bandmates, let alone Ryan approaching her and asking her to sing with him.

Nonetheless, the show begins. The music was fast and upbeat, and the song was jazzy.

[Ryan]

Come to Me 

Join me 

Hold my hand 

And dance with me

Olivia slowly took steps to join Ryan in the middle of the stage, which made him elated.

(Both)

Drag me with you

Push me into trying something new 

Bring me back 

Make me love myself till the end

[Ryan]

No questions asked 

No judgments passed 

You made me feel again

You woke me up 

And made the reality beautiful again

Hold my hand, join me 

And let’s begin the crazy dance

Fill this insane world 

With our not so crazy plans

[Olivia]

It’s not just a dance 

It’s a journey through moving steps 

It’s a beat to the soulful mess

[Both]

Before the song stops  

Do your best 

Make the time halt 

With your syncing steps

(Ryan)

Sing on top of your voice 

Spill out the lyrics loud 

From your heart inside,

[Both]

You have the fire 

Which is burning inside you

So 

Before the song stops  

Do Your best Make the time halt 

With your syncing steps

[Ryan]

You bring the best in me 

You make me feel things 

Be with me  

Dance with me 

Until the end 

stay with me

[Olivia]

No Questions asked  

No judgment passed, 

Complaint all you want 

I am not leaving you 

Till eternity tore us apart, 

[Ryan] 

That makes me say only one thing 

Hold my hand 

Travel the world with me

With your dancing shoes

Move alongside with me 

With your best foot 

[Olivia] 

Let us make it a done deal 

Let us shook hands on it 

Keeping my best foot forward 

I promise to stay with you forever.

[Both]

Sing on top of your voice 

Spill out the lyrics loud 

From your heart inside

Before the song stop  

Do Your best 

Make the time halt 

With your syncing steps

Ryan and Olivia were both dancing and having a good time.

“I knew I made the right decision when I chose you to compete against them.” Rodricks, the principal, said to her.

“You were incredible out there, Olivia.” Sia and Mason both complimented her. Caleb, Stella, and Zack were all there to support her.

“What do you mean, Sir, perform against them?” Jenna asked him abruptly.

“This time, Jenna, I have decided that your band will not be performing but theirs.” He alerted her.

“What the heck! You can’t do this. This is not fair.” She whined.

“You have been performing for a few years now, and it’s about time someone else got a chance.” He informed her.

“No! That’s not fair,” Jenna told him again.

“Sir, if you don’t mind, may I make a suggestion?” Ryan asked out of the blue.

“Yes, Ryan.”

“Why don’t you keep face off? Let both of them perform once and ask the students to vote for whom they want to represent their school.” Ryan suggested. 

“That’s a fantastic idea, Ryan,” Drake said.

Principle Rodricks seemed to like it as well, so he decided to keep the face-off. It was sudden. An impromptu competition, on the other hand, is the best way to judge talent.

Jenna’s band was the first to take the stage, and they performed a rock song that Olivia had never heard before.

It was now time for Olivia’s band to perform. Caleb grabbed her hand and wished her luck as she prepared to take the stage. She was taken aback at first, but she gave a firm nod and proceeded to the performance area where her band was about to perform.

They all chose their instruments, with Stella on synthesizers, Zack on drums, and Olivia on guitar, and began their song. It started slowly but gradually picked up speed.

(Stella)

Trying hard to keep myself sane 

It’s impossible 

Trying to play with my head 

but it ain’t possible 

I know I need to keep myself together 

However, it has become unworkable 

That how my life has become,

Since the time our story began

(Olivia)

I want to hide 

I want you to seek 

I want to run 

I want you to run for me 

This ain’t right 

Yet you are impossible to think about 

I know me, 

I know you 

I know what I gotta do 

Gotta keep myself together and dance around 

Gotta keep myself together and sing louder

With or without you 

Gotta keep myself together and dance around 

Gotta keep myself together and sing louder

Ignore me all you want 

Or talk about the world aloud 

But gotta keep myself together and dance around 

Gotta keep myself together and sing louder

Hate to feel this way 

Embarrassed to feel this way 

I gotta get myself together 

The world is waiting for me 

Happiness is ready to embrace me

(All)

Keep the sorrows aside 

Fight the world till you die 

Don’t lose hope because 

Gotta keep myself together and dance around 

Gotta keep myself together and sing louder

With us not together  

Yet people around us coming together 

This makes the world a beautiful place 

So bind ourselves together and dance around 

Join our hands and sing louder

(Zack)

Put your hand above 

Clap your hand aloud 

Dance your way around 

And sing from your soul in and out 

Music is an escape 

Upbeat, fast beat, slow beat 

You gotta deal with it 

Jump up, Jump down, or swing about 

Don’t let the beat of your heart die out

No one is better than you 

You are not better than them

It’s not a competition

It’s a goddamn unison 

(Olivia)

So Jump Jump High in the sky 

Reach stars way above your height 

Even if you fall down 

Just don’t be down 

So keep yourself together and dance around 

Keep yourself together and sing louder

(Girls)

Dance around, swing about 

Dance about swing about 

Sing louder and throw yourself up higher 

Sing louder and throw yourself up higher

Ryan joined them somewhere in the middle, playing the guitar and the school dance group performing the song. Olivia’s band had clearly gotten the better end of the deal, and they would represent their school in the competition. Jenna’s face was grim, and she was in a bad mood, so she stormed out.

Olivia left despite a few compliments and went to sit on a bench in the school’s garden.

“Hey,” Ryan said as he sat next to her.

“Hey,” she said. 

“You were amazing back there.” He told her the truth, honestly.

“Thanks for supporting me back there. It was nice of you.”

“Not a problem. Olivia, I am sorry.”

“I understand, and I forgive you.” She cracked a small smile at him.

“Olivia, for the first time in my life, I want to lose this competition. I want your band to win.” He told her with sincerity.

“We, too, agree with him.” They were approached by Xavier, Brad, and Katty. Olivia simply smiled gratefully at them.

“You two make a cute couple, Ryan,” Olivia said unexpectedly, causing him and Katty to stammer.

“Olivia...” Katty spoke softly to her.

“You guys give each other looks that two love birds would give.” Olivia’s statement caused both of them to blush.

They all exchanged a few words. Ryan and Olivia cleared the air, and things returned to normal. She said her goodbyes and proceeded to the canteen. Because the entire school was in good spirits, Principle Rodricks gave the following two lectures free.

“Ryan was the guy you were dating.” This was the first thing she heard when she sat down with her friends, Sia, Caleb, Mason, Stella, and Zack.

“Yes, Mason, he was the guy I dated in the old school.”

“Are you guys still together?” Caleb asked hesitantly. He didn’t want them to be committed for an unknown reason.

“No,”

“Why did you two break up?” Sia asked her.

“He did something that I was not ready to forget. When we first met, we were both good friends. But as we grew to trust each other, we decided to give it a shot. But then I found out that at the start of school, I was just a bet. I was furious to discover that he had befriended me as a result of a bet.

But, a few days before I moved here, he told me that he befriended me for the wrong reason and that he called off the bet in a week. So what we had was genuine. He was going through a difficult time after losing his grandfather, to whom he was very close. So, this was his way of dealing with things.” She explained everything to them.

“So, you don’t love him?” Stella was the one with a question.

“No, Stella. I never did, neither did he. We were both using each other for our losses. We were both in mourning and found solace in one another. It was great while it lasted, but now that I think about it, we were more of friends than a couple because we never showed any romantic affection for each other. In any case, Ryan and Katty are happy with each other.”

“Katty?” Sia asked her in confusion.

“Katty is Ryan’s girlfriend.”

Olivia shared more of her old school memories with her friends.

Caleb was initially envious when he saw Olivia and Ryan together, but his feelings quickly faded when he learned that their relationship was over. Olivia was a decent dancer. Caleb was also pleased that Olivia unintentionally spoke to him while telling them about her days at her old school.

Caleb needs to apologize to her for his rude behaviour on Saturday and then talk to her about Carson, among other things.