18. The one who could sing #2
Spring sat frozen, hand over her mouth. He’d hit notes without trying, as if the song was too easy for him.
By the time he got to the second verse, everyone was clapping along with him, as he commanded the restaurant like it was his own personal stage.
She had seen him sing before, but never like this.
He wasn’t holding back, submitting fully to his gift, and there was no denying he was a force of nature.
Spring noticed one lady wiping tears from her eyes, overcome with emotion, in awe of his magic.
When he finished, the applause came fast and loud. A standing ovation, someone shouting for an encore.
Cameron stood and bowed toward Preston like this had always been the plan.
Spring walked up to him slowly, eyes shining. “You just?—”
He laughed, breathless. “Too much?”
She shook her head. Before she could catch herself, the words were already coming out of her mouth. “I love you.”
“Whoa, hey. Things I didn’t want to hear when I come to work,” Cameron chimed in before Preston could respond.
Spring looked around and saw the crowd, touching her neck where her mother’s pendant used to be. There were cameras recording the moment.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. They paid their bill and got back in the car.
Preston was silent on the drive.
Spring was wondering what made her say it. It was the first time she’d ever said those words other than to her parents or her cousin. It meant something new. She wasn’t entirely sure how to process it, but she didn’t regret it either.
Too soon? She looked at him, a half confident grin on his face.
On the drive to drop her off, he detoured to his house, the city lights smeared across the windshield. When they parked, he turned off the car.
“I meant what I said. I love you. You don’t have to say it back.” she said finally. “But I do, in the ways you don’t even know yet. You get me. You don’t try to own me. You don’t ask me to shrink. You let me be me.”
He reached for her hand. “I have one more thing for you.” He turned off the engine, reached inside the console and handed her a small box.
Inside was a delicate necklace – a thin chain with a compass pendant that was unmistakable to her.
The tears came instantly.
“You… you found my pendant!”
“Two weeks ago. Well, technically, one of the AV kids found it, but they gave it to me. The glass was broken, so I had to restore it, and I made a couple of upgrades.”
She opened the locket. Inside the compass was a picture of Nubia, the Black Wonder Woman.
She put her hand over her mouth in shock.
“I hope you don’t mind. I just thought?—”
“I love it. Thank you.”
Preston smiled. “Well, if you like that, check out the back,” he said with confidence.
She turned it over to find an engraving that hadn’t been there before.
What’s true will return.
The tears flowed again. She touched it, as if fearing it might disappear.
“You know, people tell us that we’re young and life will change us as we grow up.
But I’ve never felt like this before. I know that time won’t change that.
I feel like I was meant to do two things.
One of them is to sing; the other one was to be standing in that hallway the first day you came to school.
Because that was the day I fell in love, and it’s only gotten stronger since. So, yeah… I love you, too.”
“This is us,” she whispered. He put the necklace around her neck and held his fingers on top of hers, both touching the pendant. “This is love.”
They kissed once more – slow, grounding, real.
Suddenly, a car pulled into the driveway, parking next to Preston’s. Spring recognized the car instantly, and looked at the time. “Oh shit, that’s my dad. I’m an hour past curfew,” Spring said nervously.
The man walked up to the car door and stood there. Preston rolled down the window. Ralph stood silent.
Spring began to protest immediately. “Dad, I can explain. Preston was going to drop me off, but he found my necklace Mom gave me, and we lost track of time and?—”
“Both of you get out the car and come with me.”
The pair looked at each other and obliged.
They walked into Preston’s house, a modest home in the middle of Bel Air.
Even though they were in trouble, they were still floating.
When they got inside, the front door clicked shut behind them, and the air shifted immediately.
Everyone was there. Preston’s mother stood near the kitchen island, arms crossed, but eyes lit up. Macknificent Townes leaned back against the counter like he’d been waiting in anticipation. And Spring’s dad walked over and sat at the dining table, phone in his hand, expression unreadable.
Spring’s smile faded first.
“Uh—” Preston started. “What’s going on?”
His mother didn’t answer right away. She just turned her phone toward them.
The video. Not the hallway clip, but one from earlier at the restaurant. Preston, standing, singing, Cameron on piano, the room on its feet. Millions of views and climbing.
Spring’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Preston exhaled slowly. “That… is that?”
“That’s you, Superstar,” Mack announced, his grin beginning to overtake him.
Preston looked closer. “Three million views in two hours… that was fast.”
His mother shook her head, half in awe, half in disbelief. “First off, I’m not even gonna ask where you got the money to take her to a place like that.” She paused, then added pointedly, “But I am gonna ask why you don’t sing like that all the time?”
There it was, the familiar edge beneath the pride. Preston rolled his eyes.
“You heard it,” she continued. “That’s what you’re capable of. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
Preston shifted uncomfortably. “Ma?—”
“I just want what’s best for you,” she said, softer now. “I always have.”
Mack stepped in smoothly, like this was his cue. “That’s actually why we’re all here, Superstar,” he said. “Because moments like that don’t just happen. This is rare.” He looked at Preston. “I can get you a deal off this. A real one. But you have to sound like that every time.”
Spring felt Preston tense beside her.
Mack turned to Spring’s dad next, voice respectful, almost deferential. “And with your permission, sir, I’d like Spring to come to the studio with us sometimes. She has an eye. A presence. And honestly, he’s better when she’s around.”
Spring’s heart skipped.
Her dad looked at her, not Mack. “You okay with that, honey?”
She nodded immediately. “Yeah. Of course. I… I want to.”
Preston smiled at her, the excitement undeniable now. “You’d be there?”
“Of course,” she said. “This is… us.”
Her dad nodded slowly. “Then I’m good with it. Provided an adult?—”
“You can save your breath,” Talia interrupted. “I’m not ready to be a grandmother.”
Mack clapped his hands once, satisfied. “Beautiful. This is how it starts.”
“How what starts?” Preston asked.
Mack put his hand on his shoulder, and with deep sincerity, said, “The story of how you’re going to change the game.”
Preston’s mother smiled like she’d just seen the future snap into focus.
Preston didn’t say anything. He just looked at Spring – hopeful, overwhelmed, pulled in two directions at once.
And for the first time, Spring felt it. That feeling you get right before something changes forever. Not bad. Not good. Just inevitable.