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T.J. watched Kira stomp off and realized that he didn’t really care.
He had been so blind. He thought that once she had a friend - a real friend - she could change for the better in the same the way he changed for the better. He thought he could draw out the goodness inside out of her and maybe she and Buffy and Cyrus could be friends, too.
He was so wrong.
Turning around, he made to walk away and hide. Maybe find a quiet corner to himself. Or maybe he could hole up in the bathroom. Where was the bathroom?
“Teej!”
A hand landed on his arm, causing him to spin back around.
Cyrus was all red face, beaming smile, and sparkling brown eyes, his forehead a little shiny from the sweat caused by all his dancing.
So cute.
“Why aren’t you dancing?” he asked, sounding out of breath.
“Oh, uh, I don’t really dance,” T.J. replied, sheepishly.
“That’s a lie! I know you can!”
“Uh…”
That was strangely very High School Musical 2-esque. T.J. would know. He had seen the movies too many times to count.
“Come on, dance with us!”
Before he could protest further, Cyrus had a firm grasp on his jacket sleeve and was already pulling him back towards where everyone else was dancing. There was Andi, Buffy, and Jonah, of course, along with a blonde-haired girl and another brown-haired guy who just gave him a nod in greeting.
T.J. soon found himself awkwardly standing in between a dancing Cyrus and Buffy.
“Come on, Teej! Dance!” Cyrus goaded, jumping up and down as he spun around, laughing.
It was so infectious.
Cyrus’ fun always was.
Like the swings. It didn’t take Cyrus long to get him on a swing and have fun again.
Or making sneaky plans. Cyrus had a lot of crazy ideas and he couldn’t help but tag along with them.
And, now, dancing. T.J. started bopping along to the music, making little jumps and spinning around until he was laughing along with everyone else.
Cyrus faced him, grinning widely. “See? You can dance! You liar!”
“You’re the only one who can get me to do things I don’t normally do!”
At that, Cyrus turned even redder, shyly looking down at the ground… like he did back at the swings when they made up after their first fight. (Could he call it a fight? There were external circumstances that led to them not speaking for a week but they weren’t really fighting, right?)
Then, he lifted his gaze and grinned up at T.J. before saying, “I’ll take that as a compliment!”
“It is!”
Smiling at him, Cyrus spun around to dance with the blonde-haired girl next to him. T.J. felt a smidgen of disappointment but knew the other boy was just trying to include everyone. Cyrus was friendly like that.
“You should make a move.”
He turned to Buffy who was swaying along beside him. He flashed her a questioning look and she tilted her chin towards Cyrus who was holding both the blonde-haired girl and Andi’s hands, dancing with the both of them.
God, T.J. wished that was him. He never thought he would ever be jealous of girls.
Before T.J. could even ask Buffy how, Jonah spoke up, “I thought Bowie hired a band?”
“And by hired you mean asked them to volunteer and they bailed on us last minute? Yes,” Andi replied, sounding annoyed. “Which kinda sucks cause all the instruments are set up. He worked so hard.”
T.J. turned his head towards the next room where a stage had been put up along with a keyboard, an electric guitar, and a speaker.
As soon as he saw the keyboard, the wheels in his head began to turn.
“I could… play something for you, guys,” he casually said.
Everyone around him – and by that he meant Cyrus’ inner circle that he just infiltrated – stopped dancing and stared at him.
“You play an instrument?” Buffy asked, with a tone of disbelief.
He shrugged. “Yeah, I play the piano. I could do a couple of songs on the keyboard.”
“What can you play?” Andi asked, looking excited now.
“Well, there’s the typical classical songs but obviously, that won’t fit here. I know a few rock songs.” He hesitated before adding, “Some Lady Gaga…”
He prepared himself for some mockery but, by some miracle, no one made fun of him. In fact, they all looked thrilled.
“Lady Gaga!” was the immediate response.
Smiling to himself, he quickly added. “But, I need someone to sing. I’m not the best singer.”
“Jonah can sing,” suggested the blonde-haired girl.
“Or Cyrus!” Buffy piped.
Said brunette’s mouth fell open in horror at being volunteered. “No! No, I can’t! I shouldn’t!”
“But, Cy, you’re a great singer,” Andi said, patting the boy’s back. “We keep telling you to join Choir.”
“Jonah is a much better singer,” he insisted.
T.J. cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you could sing. I’d like to hear you.”
He mentally gave himself a pat on the back for being smooth.
Cyrus looked like he was considering it now. “Well… I guess I could…But, you all have to sing with me!”
Andi laughed. “No problem. I’ll get the mics. T.J. come with me, I’ll take you to my dad.”
With one last encouraging smile at Cyrus, T.J. followed the tiny girl to her dad.
Ten minutes later, after a surprise dance number from Andi’s grandmother in a dinosaur costume, T.J. was up on stage.
The nerves were taking over every muscle in his body but he shook them off. He did a few breathing exercises he usually did before basketball games before placing his fingers against the keys.
He began to play the opening chords. From the corner of his eyes, he scanned the audience.
“My mama told me when I was young…”
T.J. looked up, his cheeks hurting from how hard he was smiling.
Cyrus was walking up to him, climbing up on a platform to face him. Their eyes met and T.J. had to look away, wanting to hide the blush that bloomed on his cheeks but couldn’t resist and looked up to watch him again.
“…we are all born superstars…”
Cyrus’ voice was beautiful.
He was beautiful.
And T.J. knew he was truly falling hard and fast. And he can’t stop. He didn’t want to.
He just can’t hide it anymore.