Caleb couldn't sleep that night. His mind was reeling with all of the different scenarios that might happen on the day of the party. He kept thinking of all the possible things his classmates would say about his embarrassment-inducing performance:

Cassy would probably laugh. Bea would give me her usual sympathetic smiles. Ethan's just gonna go 'Whooo! Go Caleb!' like how he does with anyone performing in front of the class. Alex probably wouldn't care, he's quiet just like me. Maybe Anne will like it? She's been trying to find out what I'm good at besides being smart....

It went on and on, and Caleb couldn't shut it off. He was so scared, excited, embarrassed, nervous, and hopeful all at the same time. Why did Damian have to push it through? Couldn't it wait like... until forever? Caleb tossed and turned in his bed.

He let out an exasperated sigh. He was not gonna sleep anytime soon.

He sat up and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He plugged in his earphones and played his favorite songs playlist. The songs that were in there always put Caleb in a relaxed and happier mood. He laid back down on his bed and listened with his eyes closed.

Whenever he was listening to music alone, or at least when no one was paying attention to him which was most of the time, he would close his eyes and really feel the music and the melodies dance around in his brain. If he wasn't singing, then deeply listening to music was another thing Caleb would do more than half the time when he's relaxing.

Sometimes even, when a really emotional song played and Caleb listened in closely with all his heart, he'd find that after the song, there would be some moisture in his eyes. That's how powerful some of the songs' emotions were when Caleb gave his whole heart to listening.

At last, when he was listening to a more calming song, Caleb finally dozed off on his bed. For that simple and short moment, Caleb forgot about all his worries and was at peace. When he dreamed, it was a dream full of hope and wonder and happiness. Caleb never wanted to leave that dream...

-------------------------------
THE NEXT DAY
-------------------------------

Caleb woke up to the sound of food sizzling loudly on a pan and the strong aroma practically lifted him out of bed. He sleepily made his way to the kitchen to find both his parents there, with his dad cooking the amazing smell. Caleb greeted both his parents and they greeted back. They ate their breakfast in silence with only the mention of the last day of school before they had their much awaited Christmas Break.

Caleb went through his morning routine after breakfast. He said goodbye to his parents as he exited through the front door. Then, just as he shut the door behind him, he remembered everything from yesterday's talk with Damian.

Oh shoot. I didn't give Chelsea my song. Caleb facepalmed himself and immediately started feeling all the negative thoughts and emotions from the previous night but this time more amplified since today was the day Caleb would humiliate himself because of his upperclassman Damian.

Caleb slowly walked through the streets towards school. He lived close by, so commuting there didn't even take ten minutes, but Caleb tried to walk as slowly as possible to prolong his arrival. It wasn't like he was the first one to perform during the party, but he made an effort anyway to take the longest route to school.

He checked his phone for the time. He had about seven minutes before school time officially started, which meant seven minutes before they started the programs and whatnot.

During the whole walk, Caleb was shaking and shivering with anxiety. No one he passed by paid attention to his shivering since it was a gloomy and cloudy morning. They probably thought he was just shivering from the cold December winds. But no, he felt alright on the surface. His inside was frozen stiff with what was about to come.

Despite all of his stalling and taking longer and longer walkways, Caleb eventually made it to the front of his building inside the school grounds. Oh great, with two minutes to spare too. Caleb thought miserably. He stood there at the bottom of the staircase for a long moment, hoping he could stay there the rest of the day.

When other students arrived though, Caleb was forced to walk up the stairs for fear of those students asking why he was just standing there. He sighed under his breath. He was going to perform sooner or later, there was no last last second changes to their schedule. His name was probably being flashed in the projector as one of the intermission numbers. The mere thought of it gave him more chills.

He arrived at his floor and he dragged his feet to get to his classroom. When he was there, the doors were closed, as per usual celebration programs in classrooms. He could hear music and loud chatter from outside. He took that opportunity and slipped into the room quietly.

The classroom was already a mess before the program even started.

All the armchairs were moved to the walls of the classroom while the students roamed free around in the open space. The teacher's desk was placed in front where they usually stood for presentations and reports, with food littering its entire surface area. A medium sized wireless speaker was expertly positioned in the room so that it echoed all around the room and even a bit outside.

Caleb made his way to find his seat then placed his sling bag around it. They didn't need any school related things, so most of them just brought their gifts for giving and their own personal food and drink if they didn't want to eat the spread on the teacher's table.

So far, no one noticed him. They were too busy being all excited and happy. Caleb sat down on his chair in an exhausted heap. He hadn't even performed yet and he was already tired from the pressure, worries, and negative thoughts. He looked over at the projector screen to see what was showing. Probably the slides for the program. Caleb was right, but he wish he wasn't when he saw it displayed the time frame of the day for the whole program.

As his eyes went through the list with their respective time, he grew increasingly afraid. Then his eyes finally dropped on his name. Dead center of their program. He was thankful though that they didn't specify what exactly Caleb's intermission would be about. At least he could hide behind that fact for a few hours...

The day moved on all too quickly for both Caleb and his classmates. He hadn't even realized it was almost time for his intermission. He only snapped out of his sort of happy trance when he saw someone peak into their decorated classroom. At first he thought it was Damian, but it was just a lookalike ninth grader.

When he didn't find what he was looking for, he frowned and closed the door again. Then Caleb heard his teacher call, "Alright give a hand to Bea for her super hip dance. That was great! Next we have Joy for some guitar playing and singing!" Caleb froze over again. He was the next one to perform after Joy.

Quickly, he left the classroom and headed for the  boy's restroom. It was just passed the staircase of their building. Caleb was so preoccupied with worrying that he didn't even think to get out of the way of someone carrying a tall stack of gifts that covered their face. Caleb bumped against their shoulder. Startled, he said, "Oh sorry sorry... Huh?"

The person carrying the stack of gifts, to Caleb's surprise, was Damian. He greeted Caleb, "Caleb, what a nice surprise! Hey, could you help me with this? These are for the teachers of the junior high department. Can you hand this to your adviser? By the way, how did your performance go? Were they absolutely dazzled??"

This triggered an extra large surge of fear in Caleb. He teared up instantly and ran past Damian and into the boy's restroom. He heard Damian call to him but he didn't respond. Then he heard a bunch of gifts being dropped then Damian running after him.

Caleb burst into the restroom and locked himself in one of the stalls. No one else seemed to be in there until Damian ran in right after. "Caleb! Why did you run? What's wrong?" Damian called to him. Caleb just yelled back from the stall, "Go away." He crossed his arms and stuck himself in the corner of the stall.

He heard Damian walk into the restroom. Caleb saw his shadow right outside of the stall he was in. "Hey, you can tell me what's bothering you. Did they laugh at you?" Caleb just made a no sounding grunt. He was close to bursting into tears at this point.

Damian said in his most soothing voice, "Then what's the problem? You haven't even sung yet and you're breaking down. Is there something else?" Caleb wanted to sound angry and blame Damian for his current state, but he sounded more sad and pathetic, "I'm not ready..." Damian's shadow shifted a bit. "Of course you are. Look, don't even think about it. Before you know it, you're singing your heart out and no one is making fun of you. And if they cheer for you, then that's great. None of this fear is gonna help you."

Caleb shook his head, even though Damian couldn't see it, "No...no. I can't do it. I'm sorry. Please just leave me alone..." Damian grew quiet, but Caleb saw that he wasn't leaving. He let a sniffle out, but that was a big  mistake. Caleb began sobbing uncontrollably. He didn't even know why he was crying. Sure he was ridiculously afraid, but somehow this specific time he was afraid, he also felt loneliness and sadness accompany it.

He continued to cry in the stall, with Damian hearing all of it. Caleb felt the most alone in that moment, letting all of his tears out. Damian stood outside the stall, thinking of some way to help his friend.