It started with Lyra.
Of course it did.
"We're doing a talent show," she announced at breakfast. "Everyone participates. No excuses."
Jay choked on her coffee. "A what?"
"Talent show. You know. Singing. Dancing. Magic. Whatever you're good at."
"I'm good at arguing."
"Then argue on stage."
"With who?"
"Keifer. Obviously."
Jay looked at Keifer. He looked at her. His expression was the closest she'd ever seen to genuine fear.
"No," he said.
"Yes," Lyra said.
"I'm the Principal. I can't—"
"You're a student first. Principal second. Talent show third."
"I don't have a third."
"You have a VOICE. I've heard you hum."
Keifer's ears turned pink. "That's private."
"Nothing is private in Black Hollow." Lyra grinned. "You're doing it. Both of you."
The next week was chaos.
Everyone was preparing. Lyra was doing interpretive dance (interpretive chaos, Jay called it). Adrian was doing a magic act with data projections (somehow fascinating and boring at the same time). Bella was doing live sketching (beautiful). Mila was singing (also beautiful). Daniel was doing... something. He wouldn't say what.
"He's doing a dramatic reading," Bella whispered. "Of what, no one knows."
"That's terrifying."
"That's Daniel."
Jay and Keifer still didn't have an act.
"We could argue," Jay suggested.
"That's not a talent."
"It's OUR talent."
"It's our DAILY life."
"Same thing."
"It's really not."
"IS."
"IS NOT."
"IS."
"IS NOT."
Adrian walked by. "That's actually compelling. The back-and-forth. The energy. You should do it."
"We're not arguing on stage," Keifer said.
"Why not?"
"Because we argue every day. It's not special."
"But it's ENTERTAINING." Lyra appeared. "Everyone loves watching you argue. It's like theater. Romantic theater."
Jay looked at Keifer. "She's not wrong."
"She's always wrong."
"Am I?" Lyra smiled. "Am I really?"
Keifer was quiet.
"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT."
They decided on a compromise.
Not arguing. Something else. Something neither of them had done before.
"We're going to sing," Jay announced at dinner.
The table went silent.
"You can't sing," Mila said.
"I know. That's the point."
"You're going to sing badly? On purpose?"
"We're going to sing together. Badly. And it's going to be hilarious."
Keifer, beside her, looked like he was reconsidering every life choice. "I agreed to this."
"You agreed to this."
"Under duress."
"Under LOVE."
He sighed. "Under love."
They practiced in his office at night.
Badly.
Keifer couldn't carry a tune. Jay couldn't find a tune. Together, they made sounds that defied musical theory.
Adrian, listening from the hallway, took notes. "Fascinating. Their voices are individually terrible. Combined, they're somehow worse."
"It's romantic," Bella said, pressing her ear to the door. "Romantically terrible."
Mila pulled them away. "Give them privacy. They're suffering enough."
The night of the talent show arrived.
The common room was packed. Students everywhere. Teachers in the back. Principal Morticia in the front, looking like she wasn't sure she wanted to be there.
Lyra was the host. Of course.
"WELCOME TO THE BLACK HOLLOW TALENT SHOW!" she screamed into a makeshift microphone. "WE HAVE DANCING! WE HAVE MAGIC! WE HAVE... WHATEVER DANIEL IS DOING!"
Daniel, in the corner, was practicing his dramatic reading. No one knew what it was about. Everyone was scared.
"FIRST UP! ADRIAN WITH HIS DATA MAGIC!"
Adrian took the stage. Projected colorful graphs. Explained statistical anomalies. It was actually interesting. People clapped.
Lyra came back. "NEXT! BELLA WITH LIVE SKETCHING!"
Bella drew the audience. Drew Lyra. Drew Adrian. Drew everyone. It was beautiful. People cried.
"THIRD! MILA WITH A SONG!"
Mila sang something soft and sad and lovely. Everyone got emotional. Even Daniel looked moved.
"NOW! LYRA WITH INTERPRETIVE DANCE!"
Lyra threw herself around the stage. It was chaos. It was beautiful. It was very Lyra. People cheered.
"FINALLY! OUR CLOSING ACT! JAY AND KEIFER!"
They walked onto the stage together. Hand in hand.
The crowd went wild.
"We're going to sing," Jay announced.
Silence.
"Badly," Keifer added.
More silence.
"On purpose," Jay clarified.
The crowd leaned forward.
They started singing.
It was terrible. Beautifully terrible. Wrong notes. Wrong timing. Wrong everything. But they were laughing. Holding hands. Looking at each other like no one else existed.
By the end, everyone was crying. Not because it was good. Because it was them. Real. Honest. Together.
Lyra ran on stage. "THAT WAS THE BEST ACT OF THE NIGHT."
"We were terrible," Jay said.
"You were REAL." Lyra hugged them both. "That's better than good."
Daniel went last. Technical difficulties.
His dramatic reading turned out to be... a grocery list.
"I'm reading it with feeling," he explained.
"THAT'S NOT A TALENT," Lyra yelled.
"Neither is whatever you did."
"MY DANCE WAS ART."
"Your dance was a crime scene."
They argued. Everyone laughed.
Later, in his office, Keifer held Jay.
"We were terrible," she said.
"We were perfect."
"We were terrible AND perfect."
"Same thing."
"It's really not."
"IS."
"IS NOT."
"IS."
"IS NOT."
He kissed her. She kissed back.
The argument could wait.
The next morning, Lyra's whiteboard was legendary.
THE TALENT SHOW
Best Act: JAYFER (by far)
Worst Act: Also JAYFER (by technicality)
Most Confusing Act: Daniel (grocery list)
Most Emotional: Mila (song)
Most Chaotic: Lyra (everything)
JAYFER STATUS: ETERNAL (TALENT-PROOF)
Bond Strength: STILL UNBREAKABLE
LEARNINGS:
Jay and Keifer cannot sing.
They can, however, be adorable.
Daniel's grocery list was surprisingly moving.
Lyra needs better hobbies.
Jay read it. Laughed.
Keifer appeared beside her. Coffee in hand.
"Ready for normal?"
"Define normal."
"Classes. Meetings. Arguing about coffee. No more singing."
"Perfect."
They walked away together.
Normal. Perfect. THEIRS.