Page 67 of Caged in Flames

With her shoulders set in determination, Jane begins the opening notes. We begin with her piano. Her fingers float over the keys creating a perfect beginning for my voice to join in with the lyrics to She Used to be Mine by Sara Bareilles.

Jane's voice joins mine for the chorus. She is broken and won't ask for help.

She is gone, but she used to be mine. I raise my violin to prepare for the second verse. Setting it under my chin, my bow meets the strings.

My violin sounds out accompanied by Jane’s voice as she takes over the vocals. She’s less raspy than mine. Her sound is almost angelic for this song.

When we come together for the last chorus, I can feel both of our emotions pouring into the lyrics. The power of our instruments is a musical force.

She is messy, but she's kind. I can feel a tear make its way down my face as the song comes to an end.

For a minute, the room is silent. I take a deep breath before looking at Jane. She's in tears but smiling. There's this look of understanding. A moment where we’re existing as people who just get each other. I am so grateful she skipped her ass into my heart.

"Ladies, you've both passed your midterm with that audition. While we can't make it official until every other audition has been completed, I am confident that you will have the honor of closing out the gala."

Jane does that awful squealing noise that I love so much now and runs over to embrace me in a hug. She ushers me off the stage, saying thank you for both of us.

We did it. We fucking did it.

I’m filled with something greater than pride. This better than any other performance. I didn’t look for a face in the crowd that would never show. I performed for me. Only me. And it was so much better than anything I’ve ever done on stage before.

I'm surprised to see all the guys standing off to the side. It's overwhelming to see them here. In this particular space. I can't say it brings me much joy, but I hold no hatred in my heart.

Gunner’s arms come around me and I’m instantly filled with warmth. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed, baby." His words settle the remaining nerves I had.

With how busy I’ve been with Jane to prepare for the audition along with our normal classwork, I haven’t had a chance to tell him about the breakdown and possibly make up I had with Jude. He joined in for the movie night, but I’ve been pretty obsessed with perfecting this song. Or maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to have to talk to him about it.

My feelings for Gunner haven’t diminished though. Sure, we’ve spent some time around one or more of the torture trio recently, but we aren’t all best friends or anything. As far as I know, he’s still struggling with who the guys are and what they’ve done.

We need to talk soon. We should get some time together, just the two of us, later.

"Baby blue, you've once again outdone yourself with a performance." He wraps me up in a hug and I don’t hesitate to return it. He kisses my forehead before grabbing Jane for a hug too. She ends up pulling me into their hug too, squealing the entire time.

Except now, I join her making that awful high-pitched noise.

"That felt amazing. I've never had anyone perform with me. Jane, you may think you're a mediocre level, but you're fucking spectacular. Thank you for letting me do that with you."

She stills completely, and the tears come back. "Are you kidding me? Nix…that was the only time I felt happy on stage. I've never liked the spotlight. What we did out there wasn't normal for me. That was both of us."

I nod at her because I'm afraid that I might start leaking from my eyeballs too.

"Daddy's girl, that was pretty fucking awesome." I roll my eyes at Charlie, but there's no heat behind it. We haven’t become friends, but he isn’t giving me shit for hanging out with his friends this time around.

Gunner walks back over and grabs my hand in his. I don't think he means it to be possessive, instead it feels like cautionary protection. He leans down and kisses me lightly on the lips in front of everyone, but he smiles at me and whispers, “It’s okay, baby.”

Why does that sound a lot like permission? And for what?

Sawyer speaks next. "I agree, Princess. That was incredible." I don't even want to correct their nicknames. For just a minute, I pretend like we aren't all enemies of their doing.

And I can’t deny how fucking awesome it feels to receive their praise. Not that it means anything. Nope, not at all. Those warm gooey feelings coursing through me? That’s just leftover performance jitters.

As if he can sense my dilemma, Gunner pulls me away. "Let's go get some food. You guys want to join us?" Even though I want to be alone with him, I admit the invitation would have been on the tip of my tongue as well.

Keeping the peace. Totally amicable.

There's a pause in our group, before Charlie nods at us a couple times. "Sure, right behind you."

Jane grabs my other hand, skipping us all the way there. "I hope Jasmine saw. We are supposed to meet up later for a quick date, but I hope my singing gets her all hot and bothered like your voice does to all this man meat." She waves her hand to all the guys behind us and I can feel the blush take over my face.

This bitch.

The guys cackle, but Jude looks a little uncomfortable. “I don’t think I want you referring to me as that. It’s weird. We share blood.”

Jane pushes him without letting go of my arm, causing me to lean over into her. “Well, I can’t call you the harem homies...yet.”

I choke. What is wrong with this girl? I straighten us up so we can finish our walk without falling over.

She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I can’t help but to laugh at her again. We can chat about her outrageous ideas later.

Until we walk through the cafeteria walls and my happy mood comes crashing down.

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