Do you know that feeling when you decide to do something but when the moment comes, you freeze so hard that you can put the ice at North Pole to shame.

It's at these moments when you stick to the ground like when a frozen spoon sticks to your tongue.

That's what happened to me the moment my name was called out.

I froze.

Would it have not been for my oh-so wonderful best friend Sam, I would've stayed like that for I don't know how long, resulting in more humiliation than tripping at Oscars.

So while I was busy trying to melt of the invisible ice that had me bound to the back stage while the anchor stood on the stage stupidly calling out my name again and again.

"ALI! Go. Now," Sam whisper yelled and pushed me on the stage.

When I finally tumbled onto the stage, only thing that came to my mind was 'thank God I didn't fall'.

Then when the realisation of me being on stage dawned upon me, the nerves inside my body decided that it was the perfect time to do the crazy tango.

"Go," I heard Sam yell and I staggered forward.

I could hear snickers from the crowd. It was going okay until someone from the crowd shouted-

"Hey, isn't that the girl from the posters?"

Dread crept up my body as everyone burst out laughing.

"She can sing? Doesn't look like it!"

"Hey, wanna show your undies again?"

"Get lost wannabe!"

I gulped before taking a step ahead, towards the mic.

The strange thing was that I didn't feel like crying at all. I was surprised at the fact that more than scared, I was tired.

Tired of letting everyone bullshit about me all the time.

So, feeling no more dreadful, I held the mic tightly in my hand and cleared my throat.

That silenced a bit of the audience.

Before I could speak, the tech guy called out for my name. I looked at him questioningly.

He gave me a sheepish smile before saying,"Hey, can you carry on your performance without the presentation for a while, there is some technical problem. We'll sort it out by the end of your performance. Promise."

I let out a worn out sigh, but nodded.

At least they were fixing the problem as soon as possible.

Returning my attention to the mic, I held it with slightly trembling hands. My hands weren't trembling because of the snickers that still persisted, but because of the nervousness of what I was about to do.

I hope Aaron could forgive me after this.

"Um, hi. I'm Alyssa Bent and uh, well I'm, uh, here to sing. That's something you all probably know," I spoke, quite lamely.

"So Alyssa, what's your theme?" One of the judges asked from the panel. He was a tall man around 40's, that is what I could tell from where I stood.

He was being accompanied by two more judges, one seemed to be in his twenties while the other was female of around the age of the first judge.

The men sat in black formals while the lady wore a white blouse. She had her hair in a tight and sophisticated bun.

I fidgeted around a bit nervously before taking a deep breath.

"It's friendship. It's for my best friend, to be exact. It's dedicated to him," I said.

"Okay, let's see what you've got," the female judge spoke, kindly, giving me a genuine smile.

"Yeah. But before that, I'd like to say something."

The female judge gave a nod while smiling, indicating for me to continue.

Letting out a breath, I began.

"Well, I-I just want to apologise to the best friend I've ever had and I could ever have. You've been here through so much with me and I screwed up, just like that. I let the seventeen years of friendship go down the drain because of just one misunderstanding. S-So I hope you can forgive me after this....," I spoke and took a deep breath before continuing ,"Aaron."

With that, the commotion arose. I knew this was going to happen. But I was ready to face everything that came with it.

So before anyone could say anything, I motioned for the musical group to start the first song since I didn't want the taunts and the screams to affect my performance.

With shaky hands, I grabbed the mic and began.

"Friday night beneath the stars,

in a field behind your yard,

you and I are paintin' pictures in the sky."

My voice was a bit trembling at first but as the song continued, my nerves settled and I gripped the mic tighter.

This was for Aaron.

"And sometimes we don't say a thing;

just listen to the crickets sing.

Everything I need is right here by my side.

And I know everything about you

I don't wanna live without you.

I'm only up when you're not down.

Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.

It's like no matter what I do.

Well you drive me crazy half the time;

the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.

And I'm only me when I'm with you."

The truth of the words I was singing hit me hard. It was as if whatever I wanted to say was coming out through the lyrics of the song.

The audience was silent just as if they didn't want to disturb the harmony.

Gaining more confidence, I shut my eyes and sang. I let the music guide my actions and let my body go lax.

"Just a small town boy and girl

livin' in a crazy world.

Tryin' to figure out what is and isn't true.

And I don't try to hide my tears.

The secrets or my deepest fears.

Through it all nobody gets me like you do.

And you know everything about me.

You say that you can't live without me.

I'm only up when you're not down.

Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.

It's like no matter what I do.

Well you drive me crazy half the time;

the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.

And I'm only me when I'm with you."

I finished the song. Now was the time for the second one. I was ready to start it when suddenly the music stopped.

I looked up to see a furious Shelly standing near the stage. She held up her mic and sneered.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I took a glance at the audience. My eyes widened when I saw a few gaping faces and a few incredulous ones filled with what seemed like awe.

Was that for me?

"Uh, what?"

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you really think that we'll believe the bullshit you're trying to feed us?" She snarled, heading up towards me.

The look on her face was actually scaring me.

"Do you really think a someone like Aaron would even look at you? You're such an attention seeking whore," she spoke and the audience watched in silence as she approached me.

I couldn't form words in my mouth as she took deadly steps towards me.

I backed away a little. Right now, I didn't want to be in the same breathing space as her.

"What a little bi- oh look Aaron. Now what're you going to do?" She spoke, a sinister smile plastered on her face.

My head snapped towards the audience where I searched for the familiar face.

And I did find him. He stood there in the middle of the auditorium. The narrow space that divided two sections of sitting.

"Tell her baby, tell her how much of a liar she is," she said as she stalked off the stage.

I breathed a sigh of relief before speaking into the mic.

"A-Aaron, I'm really sorry. I d-didn't know anything and I just assumed," my voice cracked and it became hard for me to even utter a single word.

I looked at him for a reaction but he stood frozen.

That's when a thought came to my mind.

'What if he doesn't want you to reveal your friendship with him?'

My eyes widened at the possibility. Why hadn't I thought of that?

I screwed up. Shit! What if he thinks that I am too stuck up and stubborn to handle?

He stood there watching me. Everyone had gone dead silent. They were waiting for his response. The silence had never been so deafening in my whole life.

He didn't seem to move. He just stared. Shelley was whispering things into his ear and cooing while running her hands on him.

I clenched my fists as my eyes traced the movements of her hands along his torso. I gritted my teeth in annoyance but said nothing.

I waited for his reaction, which seemed to come after a very long time.

And what he did, surprised me and shocked a quite lot of people. He pushed off Shelly, who wasn't expecting it.

He stood there with glazed eyes and slowly opened his arms.

Gasps filled the atmosphere and incredulity was thick in air when he did that.

My heart soared in happiness as I realised that he wasn't ditching me. He wasn't ditching me even though I was stubborner than the stubbornest person on earth.

The whole auditorium stood frozen in shock as I ran off the stage towards him. I ran off the stage and into his arms. Towards my safety. I wrapped my arms around him, with my heart beating furiously. He lifted me off the ground and twirled me around.

I didn't realise that I was crying until I felt the wetness of my tears sticking to his shirt.

"I'm s-sorry," I breathed out once he landed me on the ground.

He gave me a breath-taking smile. "I think you made up for it pretty well."

I grinned at him.

Before I could say anything, the tech guy called out my name. I turned around and saw him giving me a thumbs up. I nodded in return.

"I still have my second song left," I told him and dragged him towards the stage.

"And here's my presentation. And just a warning, I tried really hard not to include the things that might embarrass you to death, but...," I said sheepishly.

His eyes turned into saucers. "What do you mean?"

"Uh, you'll see," I quickly replied and motioned to the musical group to start the second song.

It was Showtime.