You and Me (Plus Everyone In Between Us)

We Love

To be honest, I kind of forgot about the music video.

It came out this morning, and it already had like a hundred million views already. Say what you want about the D-1s, but you couldn't say they weren't absolutely dedicated to their cause.

Everyone was talking about it. More about the Dilemma than me, but they were still talking about it. It wasn't all bad. I looked pretty nice in the music video, and some of the shots we even took weren't used. Except for the one in which I tripped.

That one garnered the most buzz. I tried to avoid it. Avoid any mention of the man whose name started with A. I was beginning to have weird feelings towards him. It was time to pack up whatever this show was and pull myself back.

I would never have a chance with him. How could I? Why would he settle on me, when he could quite literally have anyone he wanted with the snap of his fingers? Pfft, like people hold hands with people they consider friends all the time.

This week feels like I'm into those 2000s music videos where they stand while the world blurs past them. Everything has gone so fast for me and I'm not sure how to keep up, or where I even am anymore.

It's been nonstop vocal lessons over and over again, with Lennon and Annie doing their regularly scheduled routine of digging into me. We finally made progress earlier, so here I was in the recording studio.

I went inside the studio again, slipping on my headphones and preparing to sing into the mic for "Burn". All I could think about was Andre, unfortunately, not the song. It was about the gut-wrenching feeling of heartbreak. I've never been heartbroken. All my songs are just unfortunate cautionary tales I have my associates to thank for providing.

I was choosing to stay away from Andre. I was too exhausted to think about him now. It was about me and the competition.

The music played and I began to sing, not tensely but just straightforward into the microphone, remembering how to activate certain feelings. I sang, and I sang, and I sang, and you'll never guess what I did after. Sing!

The song finished, they all complimented me for how I sang and I stepped out to listen to my processed vocals. I then went back into the studio to re-record the bridge because my vocals were shaky because of some phlegm in my throat. It was clearer the next time.

When I was done, I headed across the street over to a nearby cafe I'd been spying on for a while. It was called the Javawockee, so hopefully, it was good. I normally wouldn't spend money on this, but I also just got paid for the music video, so maybe I could spend a little as a treat.

"What do you want to order?" the barista asked generally, before looking at me. His eyes widened. "Wait. Are you Ezra?"

I stood stunned. Was I Ezra? Of course, I was. "Yeah. I am."

"No way!" he smirked. "You're from Finding Solstice. And you were also in the Dilemma music video?"

So he definitely knew me. "Yeah," I stammered. "That's me."

He smiled back. He was kind of cute. The barista looked East Asian and had hair in a tight bun over his head. His name tag said, Spencer. "Well, congratulations on your win. I hope you win the whole show. I voted for you."

"Wow," I said, in awe, not knowing what to say. No one had ever recognized me. "Anyway, what's my total?"

"Don't worry," he said. "It's in the house. We love everyone here."