CHAPTER 12: NIGHT OF APPLAUSE
By sunset, the school had turned into another world.
The same hallways they crossed half-asleep every morning now glowed beneath strings of warm lights. Lanterns swayed above the courtyard. Music echoed from every corner. Laughter rose and fell like waves through the campus.
And somewhere behind the main stage curtains—
Kai was having a breakdown.
"I can't do this."
Mira adjusted the ribbon in her hair using her phone camera.
"You can."
"I truly can't."
"You truly can."
Jaden stood nearby with the lyric sheets folded neatly in his hand.
"You have exactly six minutes left to panic."
Kai pointed at him.
"Why are you calm?"
"I accepted death earlier."
Evren was checking the microphone cables near the side wall.
Liora stood in front of the mirror, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her uniform.
She looked calm.
Too calm.
Evren noticed immediately.
"You're nervous."
She looked at him through the mirror.
"I'm not."
"You've adjusted your sleeve four times."
"That means nothing."
"It means everything."
Mira spun around dramatically.
"Our vocalist is anxious."
"I am not anxious," Liora said.
Kai stared at her.
"You're lying to us while I'm honestly suffering."
Jaden nodded.
"Disrespectful."
Liora laughed despite herself.
The sound loosened the tension in the room.
Outside, applause thundered as another class finished their performance.
Kai nearly jumped.
"Oh no. That means we're next."
Mira clapped his shoulder.
"Stand tall."
"I'm sitting internally."
The backstage volunteer poked her head through the curtain.
"Class 3-A, two minutes."
Silence fell over the room.
For the first time all day, even Mira stopped talking.
Liora inhaled slowly.
The butterflies in her stomach suddenly felt very real.
She looked toward the curtain where stage lights leaked through the gap.
Hundreds of students.
Teachers.
Parents.
A sea of faces waiting beyond the dark.
Then a hand lightly touched her wrist.
She looked down.
Evren.
He didn't say anything dramatic.
Didn't smile.
Just held her gaze for a second and said quietly—
"Breathe, Lio."
The nickname landed softer than the noise outside.
She exhaled without realizing she'd been holding it.
"…Okay."
Kai looked between them.
"Can I also receive emotional support?"
"No," Mira said immediately.
They walked onto the stage to blinding light.
For one terrifying second, Liora couldn't see anything beyond the first row.
Then her eyes adjusted.
The auditorium stretched wide before them.
Rows of students packed shoulder to shoulder.
Teachers lining the sides.
Phones raised in the air.
Whispers.
Movement.
Expectation.
The microphone stand waited at center stage.
Kai muttered under his breath.
"I forgot how many humans exist."
Mira smiled brightly and waved at someone random.
Jaden stepped into position like he belonged there.
Evren adjusted the stand height for Liora before moving back beside the others.
The first piano note played through the speakers.
And everything became still.
Their opening song was warm and gentle.
The kind of melody that sounded like spring evenings and old memories.
Liora's voice entered first.
Soft.
Clear.
Steady.
The nervousness vanished the moment she began.
Kai blinked beside her.
Then remembered he also had to sing.
Mira joined with bright confidence.
Jaden grounded the rhythm.
Evren's quiet harmony slid beneath the melody like thread holding fabric together.
From the audience, the five of them probably looked polished.
Only they knew Kai had almost fainted backstage.
The first chorus rose.
Students in the front rows began swaying lightly.
Somewhere in the middle section, someone lifted a flashlight.
Then another.
Tiny lights flickered across the dark room.
Liora's chest tightened unexpectedly.
It was beautiful.
She glanced sideways for half a second.
Evren was focused ahead.
But just before the chorus ended, he shifted slightly closer—close enough that if she missed a note, she wouldn't feel alone.
She didn't miss one.
Applause crashed over them after the first song.
Real applause.
Loud enough to shake the nervousness right out of Kai.
He looked stunned.
"…They liked us."
Mira whispered through her smile.
"Of course they did."
The second track began immediately.
Slower this time.
More emotional.
The room quieted.
This song felt like sunset through classroom windows.
Like rain on the walk home.
Like memories you only understand after they're over.
Liora sang the first verse softly.
Every word landed cleaner than rehearsal.
Halfway through the song came the high note she'd worried about yesterday.
For one second, fear flashed through her.
Then Evren's harmony rose beside her exactly where it needed to.
Steady.
Unshaken.
Supporting the note before anyone else could even notice.
She finished the line perfectly.
The audience never knew.
But Liora did.
Her fingers tightened around the mic.
She didn't look at him.
Couldn't.
Because something warm and strange had already reached her heartbeat.
When the final note faded, silence held for half a breath.
Then the auditorium exploded.
Cheers.
Whistles.
Applause louder than before.
Kai looked ready to cry.
"I was incredible."
"You were average," Jaden said.
Mira bowed dramatically three separate times.
Liora laughed into the microphone.
Evren stepped back like he wanted no credit at all.
Typical.
They thanked the crowd and walked offstage into the wings, half blinded, half breathless.
The second they crossed behind the curtain, Kai shouted—
"WE SURVIVED!"
Mira screamed with him.
Jaden actually smiled.
A small, rare one.
Liora leaned against the wall, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.
Evren handed her a bottle of water.
"You were shaking before."
"I know."
"You're not now."
She took the bottle.
"Because we're done."
He looked at her for a moment.
"No."
She frowned.
"What?"
"We did well."
Something about the way he said it made her chest go quiet.
"…Yeah," she said softly.
"We did."
Later that night, after helping clean up cables and folding chairs, the five of them escaped to the rooftop.
The campus below still glowed with festival lights.
Music drifted faintly upward.
The city beyond the school sparkled under the dark sky.
Mira dropped dramatically onto the rooftop floor.
"If anyone asks me to sing again, I'm transferring schools."
Kai sat beside her.
"You were the loudest one."
"As I should be."
Jaden leaned on the railing.
"This was… good."
Everyone turned.
Kai pointed.
"He admitted joy."
"Historic," Mira whispered.
Liora stood near the edge with her camera.
The cool night wind moved strands of hair across her face.
She looked down at the school grounds glowing below.
Then back at her friends.
"Come here."
Kai groaned.
"Another photo?"
"Yes."
"Your obsession needs treatment."
But he still stood.
They gathered close under the rooftop lights.
Mira threw an arm around Jaden.
Kai complained because Mira stepped on his shoe.
Jaden ignored everyone.
Evren ended up beside Liora.
Close enough that their shoulders almost touched.
The timer blinked red.
Three.
Two.
One.
Click.
The flash lit the dark rooftop.
When the photo developed, Liora stared at it longer than usual.
Five smiling faces.
Night sky behind them.
Lights below.
Youth caught in a square frame.
Perfect.
She slipped it carefully into her bag.
Another memory no one knew would matter later.
They started downstairs one by one.
Mira and Kai were arguing over snacks.
Jaden was correcting both of them.
Liora stayed behind for a second.
The rooftop had gone quiet again.
Evren noticed and paused near the stair door.
"You coming?"
"In a minute."
He nodded once and waited anyway.
She looked at the city lights.
"At some point," she said softly, "this is going to end."
He followed her gaze.
"The festival?"
"This year."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"Not tonight."
She turned to look at him.
He pushed open the stairwell door.
"Come on, Lio."
She smiled without meaning to.
And followed him down into the light.