The heavy blanket of fear Airin had been carrying melted away as the applause grew louder.

  Whatever the outcome, Airin had sung in front of people. Maybe it wasn’t much, but it felt like a step forward.

  Airin set the microphone carefully back on the stand and followed Ephy off stage. Their legs still felt like jelly, but breathing was getting easier.

  Since Zephyr was the last suite to perform, they had barely walked off stage when the rest of the contestants flooded around them and carried them back onto the stage.

  Holly directed all the contestants to stand in line behind her at the end of the quad battle. A judge walked up and handed her an envelope.

  Holly ripped open the envelope instead of opening it carefully. It didn’t appear to be sealed.

  “Oh!” Holly peered at the paper, then moved to the microphone.

  There was some light applause.

  “First place goes to Jetstream for their innovative mesh of classical music with modern dance!”

  Airin felt both Ephy and Liska’s hands tighten on theirs. Zephyr hadn’t won. Airin didn’t know how they could feel so happy and so sad at the same time. Oliver should be happy, but what would happen to Ephy?

  Airin felt someone’s arm wrap around them, but they kept staring toward the audience, too stunned to respond.

  Oliver walked past, not glancing back to give them his normal smug smile. His roommates crowded around him to accept their award.

  Something broke in Airin. Whatever had happened, Oliver was still unhappy. And an unhappy Oliver meant that Airin could not trust him to not send them home anyway.

  Holly motioned for Jetstream suite to step back a few paces and then held her hands up. “But wait, there’s more!” The crowd grew louder for a moment, then quieted down. The Jetstream suitemates exchanged confused looks. Airin’s knees felt weak, but their suitemates held them up.

  “The judges have decided to give a judge’s award as well as the first-place award, and both quads will receive a pizza party and will be excused from lunch duty for the rest of the term.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Airin heard Liska gasp next to them; Liska started jumping up and down, still holding Airin’s arm, which forced Airin to lean heavily on Ephy. The guitar bumped their side. It was a good thing Ephy was so much taller than Airin; she felt like a sturdy, immovable statue.

  Holly went on, “The recipients of the judge’s award demonstrated poise in the face of technical difficulties and promising new talent. The winner of the judge’s award is...Zephyr Suite!”

  There was loud cheering, but it sounded far away to Airin. They had also won?

  Oliver turned around to face Airin, and, to their surprise, he looked more confused than mad.

  Somehow, the Zephyr Suitemates made their way around Jetstream and up to the podium, where Holly gave them an envelope.

  “Another trophy will be ordered for Zephyr Suite, but both suites can schedule their pizza party with the office tomorrow! Let’s give a hand to all our participants!”

  The next ten minutes felt as slow as molasses and as fast as a tornado all at the same time. Airin let themself be led off the stage by Ephy, and then they went out into the auditorium. Liska spotted her family on the other side of the auditorium and dashed off. Ephy said she was going to call her aunt and left Airin standing by the auditorium door.

  “You were fantastic! I can’t wait to hear you sing more!” Lennox had appeared in front of Airin, hands clasped in front of her.

  Airin smiled sincerely at her. “I really loved your performance at the assembly. Can we sing together sometime, like for fun?”

  Lennox grinned. “I would love to! I’ll ask Niara to set it up!” She waved and walked over to some other students whom Airin guessed were also juniors.

  “Rinny?” The voice was tentative. Airin turned to see West and Sola standing there.

  “You’re here?” Airin was so shocked to see their parents that they couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “We came with the Darklighters to see Oliver, but we didn’t think you’d be in this contest, too.”

  Airin looked around the room for the Darklighters, but they were nowhere to be seen.

  “They went backstage to find Oliver. I’m sure he’s happy his group won first place,” West said. They all stood there awkwardly for a moment.

  Of course, they came to see Oliver. Everything revolves around Oliver.

  Airin’s parents were exchanging glances with one another. Airin knew they didn’t approve of them singing in public, even though everyone in the family could sing and sing well.

  I wonder what the Darklighters thought of Zephyr Suite’s performance? But it’s a relief that Oliver got his first-place finish.

  After an awkward silence, Airin asked, “Are we doing anything after the performance?”

  West shook his head. “I think the Darklighters want to go soon. There’s a coven meeting at midnight.”

  They aren’t going to make me leave. I can stay at EA! “Okay, well, I want to go find my suitemates. Thanks for coming.”

  Airin tried to say they were grateful they had come, but the words sounded hollow.

  They didn’t respond but peered past Airin toward the backstage area.

  Airin left their parents standing in the auditorium, looking anxiously at one another as they waited for the Darklighters.