meg made me another beautiful cover thank you so much i love it!! ♥

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I watched as Camila fidgeted around. She paced back and forth, biting her nails. I chuckled before crossing my arms together, "Calm down, Mila. I'm sure they liked it."

I forgot how she is a teenager sometimes. We were with a bunch of other kids at the backstage, anxiously waiting for the judges to announce who won. I looked around and saw a familiar face smiling back at me although I couldn't quite remember why she looked familiar. 

"Hey," she greeted as she took the seat to my right.

"Hi.", I said casually. "You write?"

"Joe helped," she smiled and reached out a hand to me. "I'm Hailee by the way."

I took her hand and shook it before giving her a genuine smile. "Shawn." Her gaze transferred from me to Camila, who was on my left. "Camila!", Hailee began squealing before standing up to give Camila a quick hug.

"So you've met Shawn." I heard Camila having another girly chit-chat (as she called it) with Hailee. I excused myself from the two before heading out to get myself a drink. When I got back, the atmosphere clearly changed. I sat back down on the chair before whispering to Camila, who was on my left. "What'd I miss?"

"The judges said they have made their decision. It's a tie!" she buzzed with excitement.

"Excuse me," a voice boomed over the speaker. "Ehem, the judges have made a decision. It appears to be a tie. Writers of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Rock Bottom please come up to the stage. As for everyone else, we thank you for joining this year's songwriting contest. Don't lose hope. There's always next year. All of you had done great."

I heard a fellow passerby mutter. "Lame motivation speech." I totally agree though.

I smiled and looked at Camila. She looked like she was going to run to Asia and forth on foot as she joyfully pulled me to the stage. I didn't even get to see who got tied up with us. I was filled with worry and excitement as I stood there awkwardly with Camila literally squealing beside me. It took a while before the other team arrived.

Hailee and Joe were standing next to us. I craned my neck to Hailee and whispered, "So...you guys were the lucky ones to get tied up with us." I joked.

Hailee punched me lightly and laughed. "Shut up."

One of the judges cleared her throat which made us both fluster in embarrassment. Joe and Camila both laughed. The judge sitting next to the lady judge who shushed us clasped his hands on the desk together.

"As you can see, there have been some changes," he continued. "Because two teams won, we'll be doing a remix of both of your songs. Will that be okay?"

We nodded in unison. Camila voiced out, much to my surprise. "So...what happens after then?"

"It will be played on the school's music festival. And, you'll be doing the remix of it live.", the lady judge smiled. "You just have to sign a contract and all about granting us the rights to work with your songs."

Hailee was the first to sign. "When do we start?" she asked after all of us had signed the contract.

"Tomorrow. After classes. Don't be late.", they reminded before dismissing us.

---

I entered the boys locker room to change into my jersey. Aaron, the team captain, headed towards my direction.

"Mendes," he nodded.

"Carpenter." I greeted back.

"Cam's looking for you. Where were you yesterday? You missed practice." Crap. I didn't get the chance to tell them I'd be absent. "I was in the auditorium," I said sighing as I closed my locker shut.

"You missed practice." he repeated. "Coach wasn't happy."

"I know. I'll just run a few more laps than usual." I shrugged.

"No." a voice boomed behind us.

My eyes widened. I turned around to see my coach crossing his arms. "Coach!" 

Ignoring me, he stated, "You'll be doing overtime today. 'Till six."

I nodded, sighing,  "Yes, sir." before heading out to the gym to practice. It was around 5 when I heard a familiar voice call my name. Suddenly, I didn't seem to feel tired anymore. Camila ran out to the field and embraced me.

"It's past five," her brows narrowed, "the party starts are seven, you know?"

Hailee's party—right. How could I have forgotten? "God, Mila. Coach has me on overtime. I missed practice yesterday, I'm so sorry."

She sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to do with Option 2."

"Option 2?"

"I'll have to go with Cam tonight."