"I've never been much of a believer. No offense to anyone, but everything has some kind of logical explanation and reasoning to it. I'm not the type of person to grasp the concept of blindly believing that something like ghosts, magic or all-powerful higher beings exist when all the supposed proof that keeps being presented is to just have faith and believe they are real. Except aliens, you gotta be pretty narcissistic to think that in the ever expanding universe, humans are the only sentient form of life roaming around on one out of so many planets. That still doesn't make me much of a believer though. Even something as simple and rare as a miracle is still hard for me to believe in."

~

On a Sunday morning, the Johnson family all sat in a long row, gathered within a cathedral with many others attending, all families of different kinds attending the early morning sermon.

Andre and Bow looked enthusiastic about the church gathering, Zoey on the other hand looked bored of it and she opted to just hold Zahra's left hand and paint her nails whilst said girl was absentmindedly in her own world and daydreamt about the most random of topics, Junior was discreetly playing a game on his phone and making himself obvious by suspiciously glancing around every so often to check if he had gotten caught then craning his neck back down to the phone, Ruby had a bright smile as she held up a camcorder to record the sermon and Pops was outright asleep.

"Now before we begin, ladies and gentlemen, in preparation for next week's annual Youth Choir Contest our youth have come to bless us this glorious morning with a song of worship." The pastor up front announced, "Please show them the kindness and support they need and I'm sure they'll knock it out of the park today just as they will next week."

The church members clapped to welcome the youth members of the church as they walked up on stage. They formed and got into their set positions for the choir as a nervous and shaky woman stood in front of them and raised her arms.

Bow excitedly waved and blew kisses to Jack and Diane who were also a part of the children's choir. Jack waved back at her with the same excitement and Diane slapped his hand down, urging him to focus as their performance was about to start.

The choir director began directing her choir and they started to sing and while they did have the vocals for the song, the overall direction and alignment of the singing was honestly a blatant train wreck.

People frowned, cringed and some covered their ears at the disastrous singing that was occurring, hell, a few people's babies even started crying because of them.

Andre and Bow frowned with wide and horrified eyes, Zoey colored over one of Zahra's fingers because of the sudden horrible vocals, Zahra had snapped out of her daydreaming and was shaking her head at the denial of the singing, Junior took out his headsets and covered his ears as he continued to game, Ruby closed up the camcorder and slowly put it down and Pops just woke up to put on earmuffs he had brought in preparation as he drifted off to sleep.

Zahra watched as the choir got progressively even worse into their song, noticing how embarrassed and miserable the kids looked as they sang and how the choir director herself was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Goddamn..." Zahra could only muster, knowing that it would take some kind of miracle for their church to even participate in next week's contest.

~

Eris sifted through her locker for her books as Zoey slowly approached her. She kept pausing in her movements and deciding to walk in another direction, but forced herself to keep approaching Eris. This went on for a little while until Eris shut her locker and raised an eyebrow upon the appearance of Zoey now suddenly standing in front of her with a smile.

"Hey, Eris..." Zoey greeted, albeit awkwardly, "How's it going?"

"Going." Eris responded, checking her watch and leaning by her locker, "Can I help you with somethin'?"

"Not really, I just noticed that you guys were a little late to lunch and I just came up to check on you to see if everything's alright." Zoey explained.

"Check on me or check on Zaza?" Eris asked with a slight smirk and a tilt of her head to the side.

"Oh, y'all are already on a nickname basis, alright..." Zoey muttered quietly as she cleared her throat and her smile returned as she looked at Eris, "To check on both of you, of course. You guys are my friends after all."

Eris scoffed, "The fuck makes you think you and I are friends?"

"I mean...we've been hanging out for a while now in school, so..." Zoey pointed out.

"We've only been seen together because of Zaza. I hang out with her and you're just also there, that's it." Eris stated.

"Hey, she's my friend too." Zoey argued.

"Exactly. She's your friend just as she is mine. Us on the other hand?" Eris questioned with a laugh, "We're two sides of very different motherfucking coins."

"You don't like me very much do you?" Zoey asked with a frown.

"Never did. Sorry I ain't bending over backwards to get the queen bee's attention like the rest of this fuckin' school, but that ain't me and that ain't Zahra either. It's gonna take a lot more than cutting ties with your douchebag friends to win me over." Eris told her.

"Alright, then what's it gonna take?" Zoey asked and Eris gave her a confused expression, "Z sees you as a friend and I want to do that too. So what's it gonna take for you and I to be friends?"

"Bitch, you serious?" Eris asked with a laugh and Zoey nodded, "Aight, we'll see how far you're willing to go, but I gotta warn you, Zahra and I clicked like that, you and I on the other hand, shit finna take a miracle."

"We'll just see about that." Zoey said to her and Eris rolled her eyes as they now stood in silence. Zoey looked around for any sign of her best friend and gave Eris a puzzled expression, "Where is Zahra anyway?"

"Teach held her back for a while. Been waiting on her for a while now." Eris responded.

Meanwhile within a classroom, Zahra stood in front of a teacher's desk whilst a tall man wiped away the notes from his previous lesson off the board.

"You've been here a couple of weeks, Zahra. I gotta say, Sophomore year is a helluva time to be the new kid especially in the middle of the year." The teacher told her.

"Didn't really have much of a choice in the matter." Zahra told him.

"True, but that doesn't discount the things you have to catch up on now." The teacher said to her as he turned towards her with a smile, "Everyone already did the assessment I'm about to give you and then some. You have some catching up to do, young lady."

"Gotta catch up on lunch too. Y'know, seeing as I'm still standing here and everyone is also ahead of me with break." Zahra told him.

The teacher chuckled, "A sense of humor. That's good. Maybe a few jokes like those can help laugh the pain away."

"Pain?" Zahra asked.

"Yeah, a lot of students sent some feedback on this assessment, told me vividly on how draining it was to do." The teacher informed.

"Y'all sending us to the gulag or something?" Zahra asked with a confused expression.

"Worse." The teacher said as he handed her a sheet of paper, "Community service."

"We exaggerate and compare high school to prison for the laughs, but then y'all just go ahead and perpetuate the allegations." Zahra said with a shake of her head as she read through the sheet and the teacher chuckled.

"The basic rundown of it is to complete a week's worth of community service. It can be volunteering at a nursing home, mowing lawns, picking up trash etc. whatever it is, it's gotta be done over the course of a week with a recorded and signed statement from the person or facility you volunteered in." The teacher explained, "I expect it to be complete by next week Monday at the latest."

"Next week I'll be working commissary I bet." Zahra said with an eye roll as she started to leave the room.

"We're not a prison, Ms. Williams." The teacher reminded.

"This community service stands as one hell of a contradiction." Zahra retorted as she left the classroom.

Upon exiting the classroom, she did spot Zoey and Eris waiting by the lockers across from the class and they started approaching once they noticed her presence.

"Oh my God, two beautiful young women waited for me after I got my sentencing. This prison has some pretty good perks." Zahra said, receiving a smile from Zoey and a smirk from Eris.

"Hey, Z." Zoey greeted, wrapping her in a hug that Zahra happily returned.

One their hug was done, Zahra looked at Eris and held her arms out to also hug her, receiving a middle finger in return.

"What the fuck to you so long? A bitch been hungry." Eris asked.

Zahra handed her the sheet of paper, "I got charged with community service."

Eris read through the sheet and Zoey took a peek at it, adopting a confused expression.

"Is that why you were calling the school a prison?" Zoey asked and Zahra nodded as Eris laughed, handing Zahra the paper.

"Good luck with that bullshit." Eris laughed, "Most annoying week I went through."

"Just getting the assignment was annoying." Zahra said with a shake of her head, "What'd you do for it? Maybe I can do the same and get it over and done with?"

"I was going to pay someone to forge it for me, but my dad forced me to actually do the work. Had to volunteer at his company for the whole week which sucked some major ass." Eris explained.

"He willing to take in another temporary volunteer?" Zahra asked hopefully and Eris shook her head, "My goodness daddy's girl, you're selling hard right now."

"Suffer, bitch." Eris retorted with a laugh.

"It's still pretty crazy that the school's forcing y'all to do community service. Like, what's the point of it anyway?" Zoey asked.

"Preparing the crazy ones for their future lives maybe." Zahra said with a shrug, but then she smirked at Eris.

"You say it and I'm slapping the shit outta you." Eris said with a pointed look and both Zahra and Zoey let out a laugh.

"Fine, fine, let's just get something to eat while I figure out how I'm gonna do this." Zahra told them and the two nodded as they headed towards the cafeteria.

~

Zahra sat at the Johnson household kitchen counter while writing and researching different avenues on how she would go about the assignment. As she did this, she only took notice of Ruby sliding her a small plate of peeled oranges once it hit the laptop she borrowed from Zoey to use.

Zahra perked up and looked to see Ruby smiling at her, "It's brain food."

"For real?" Zahra asked.

"Yeah, building up those electrician lights and what not." Ruby said offhandedly.

"You mean Electrolytes?" Zahra asked amusedly.

"A tomato still a tomato, baby." Ruby said with an eye roll.

Zahra giggled as she took a bite of one of the oranges, "Thanks, GG."

Ruby gave her a smirk as she winked whilst Zoey entered the room with her purse in hand, heading towards the back door.

"And where are you off to in such a hurry?" Ruby asked.

"Eris told me to meet up with her at the park." Zoey informed.

"Who's Eris?" Ruby asked.

"A friend of ours. She's really cool." Zahra told her then she turned to look at Zoey, "I didn't know y'all hung out like that."

"I didn't either, but it looks like she's willing to go the distance. So I'm not complaining." Zoey said with a shrug, "I honestly wish you could be there too."

"You have no idea how strong the urge to just ditch this thing is for me." Zahra told her with a sigh, "My momma ain't raise no quitter though. Y'all just be safe and have fun, I'll join next time."

"I hold you to that." Zoey said, placing her hand on Zahra's shoulder and leaning to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Bye."

Zahra froze with wide eyes, hand slowly coming up to caress her cheek as Zoey left the household.

"B-bye..." Zahra stuttered quietly, a blush now painting her cheeks.

Zoey on the other hand paused with wide eyes once she stepped out of the house, realizing what she had just done. It wasn't intentional in any way, her body just acted without conscious and she didn't think much of it until the realization set in.

"Oh my God..." Zoey muttered quietly, looking back at the house with a blush and covering of her mouth in disbelief.

She hurriedly jogged away from the house, trying to push the kiss at the back of her mind as she made her way to the park.

Inside the house, Ruby took notice of Zahra's stunned state and she walked up to her, snapping her fingers in front of her to gain her attention.

"Sweetheart, you okay? You look like me when I realized that I was actually going through with marrying Earl." Ruby asked.

Zahra regained her composure by taking a breath and quickly nodding, "Y-yeah, I'm good."

Ruby slowly nodded as Andre entered the room with Jack and Diane in tow, both looking less than happy.

"Hey, mama. Hey, Zahra." Dre greeted, placing his keys on the counter with a sigh.

"Hey, Unc." Zahra greeted with a nod.

"Sweet Black Jesus, what did you do to my grandbabies?" Ruby asked, noticing their depressive state, "They look horrible."

"First we're told we can't sing, now we're told we look horrible." Jack points out.

"Best day ever..." Diane drawls out sarcastically.

"Who told you that you can't sing?" Ruby asked.

"Our choir director." Diane replied.

"That was before she had a mental breakdown, trashed the room and quit." Dre added.

"She hurt them? If so then I swear on Jehovah's-" Ruby was about to say, but Dre quickly cut her off.

"It's fine, mama. She didn't hurt any of the kids...physically at least." Dre said, muttering the last part.

"Oh, that's good." Ruby said with a sigh to calm herself down.

"No! It's not good!" Jack exclaimed, "What are we gonna do about the contest!?"

"Our choir director quit because of how trash we are! How are we going to compete now!? We'll be the church's laughing stock!" Diane shouted.

"Bold of you to assume y'all already weren't." Ruby retorted and Diane looked at her in surprise.

"Look, kids, it'll be fine. You're still going to sing on Sunday. We just have to find you a new choir director so you can keep practicing to be ready to win the contest." Dre told them.

Ruby laughed, "Win!?"

"Not now, mama." Dre said to her, with a glare and she rolled her eyes.

"But how!? It's not like a choir director is just going to fall out of the sky!" Diane argued.

Jack looked up at the ceiling and looked around, "Maybe we're not wishing hard enough for one."

"It's LA, honey. There's gotta be someone out there willing to do it." Dre said to her.

"I'll do it." Zahra announced and all eyes snapped to her in surprise.

"You!?" Diane asked in surprise.

"Say whaaaat?" Jack asked in surprise.

"I don't think you might be up for this one, Zahra." Dre told her.

"They practice in the afternoon, right? I can just help them after school and get them ready by Sunday. You don't even have to pay me a dime for it." Zahra said with a smirk.

"Is this about this community service thing you're supposed to do, baby?" Ruby asked.

"Community service? Did you get in trouble again!?" Dre exclaimed worriedly.

"One, I resent the fact that you have to use the term "again" with me, and two, it's just a school assignment that I gotta catch up on." Zahra explained.

"You're getting community service as an assignment?" Jack asked and Zahra nodded, "Is high school just a fancy term for prison?"

"That's what I said!" Zahra exclaimed in agreement as she smiled at Andre and Ruby, "Look, these kids need help and they don't have much time. Wouldn't it be great if you got a choir director that can help them not only sing their way to a win on Sunday, but also have me get a good grade for cashing in some bonding time with Jack and Diane? It's honestly a win, win situation all around."

Andre and Ruby looked at each other along with contemplative and wary looks as opposed to Jack and Diane who actually looked excited at the prospect.

"If Zahra pulls this off then we won't be the laughing stock of the church anymore." Diane said to Jack, "Our choir colors could actually mean something on the streets."

"The other churches would have to respect our set." Jack added with an enthusiastic nod.

"Daddy, you gotta let her do this." Diane said to Dre, "She's our only hope."

"You know we need her." Jack added.

"I don't know..." Dre muttered.

"Please!!!" Zahra, Jack, and Diane let out with excited smiles as they clasped their hands together.

"Alright, fine! Zahra can be your new choir director." Dre told them.

"Yes!" Diane exclaimed excitedly.

"Let's go!" Jack let out, high fiving Zahra.

"Just give me a sec as I go make some calls." Dre said, taking out his phone and heading to the living room to make the call.

"We better let the team know too." Diane said to Jack and he nodded, the both of them running off to call their friends.

"I hope you know what you're doing, baby. After yesterday's performance, this choir is going to need a lot more than practice to win this thing." Ruby warned.

"Boy, don't I know it..." Zahra said with a sigh, contemplating what she had just gotten herself into.

~

'You could've just said bye, Zoey! Left all of it at that! But nope, you can't just seem to keep your hands off of her! Oh God, it's gonna be so awkward between us again. I just got her back and now this might be the reason she pushes me away!' Zoey thought, letting out a groan as she sat on a bench, waiting for Eris, "Okay, okay, I just gotta stop thinking about it. Focus on the now and not the then. My goodness, Eris, where are you-"

Zoey was cut off by a dirty Bugatti driving up to the park and going over the sidewalk onto the grass, coming to a halt near Zoey.

Eris stepped out of the car and she smirked at a shocked Zoey, "Sup, bitch."

Zoey blinked, "Y-You have a Bugatti?"

"Yeah, well, no. It's one of my dad's cars. He lets me borrow this one a lot so I guess its technically mine." Eris said with a shrug as she walked over to the car's trunk and opened it, "Whatevs. That ain't why I called you here anyway."

"Then why did you?" Zoey asked.

Eris' smirk grew as she took out a bucket full of cleaning supplies along with a hose and shoved it into Zoey's hands.

"The car needs a wash." Eris informed.

"Then take it to a car wash." Zoey retorted, dropping the cleaning supplies, "I'm not your worker."

"You ain't my friend neither." Eris told her, "You said you'd put in the work, right? Well, this is it."

"Friends don't wash their friend's dad's cars!" Zoey argued.

"Then we can be special friends." Eris said, tossing the keys to Zoey, "Watch the seats, by the way. Leather is a bitch to maintain."

Zoey clenched her jaw as she watched Eris sit down on the bench she had been sitting, putting on a pair of sunglasses and smirk at her.

~

The next day, Zahra's hands were held by both Jack and Diane as they dragged her through the church aisle to the stage where their friends sat and waited.

"Guys, this is Zahra, our new choir director." Diane introduced.

"Hey y'all." Zahra greeted with a nod.

"She's really good at what she does." Jack said to them.

"Really? How long have you been directing?" One of the kids asked.

"Well, I just got here a few minutes ago so I'd say 3-4 minutes." Zahra admitted.

Many looked at her with looks of disbelief as one raised her eyebrow "Seriously?

"And counting." Zahra added.

One kid started crying and wailing upon her admission as Diane face palmed.

"We're screwed." Another kid said, shaking his head mournfully.

"Alright, chill. It ain't the end of the world just yet. Have faith, isn't that why y'all sing in the first place?" Zahra asked.

"It's one thing to have faith, it's another to be a fool." One kid told her.

"I didn't even want to be a part of this stupid choir. My mom just forced me because she heard me rap a couple of times." A girl said with a frown.

"Same!" Another boy agreed.

"I just sang in the shower. Now I'm singing in front of my mom and dad and their friends. I hate my life." Another admitted.

"Wow, y'all really do need help, huh?" Zahra asked in surprise.

"And that's why you're here." Jack told her with a smile.

"We honestly need all the help we can get." Diane said dryly.

Zahra looked at all the kids who either sported unsure and nervous expressions or were completely done with the whole ordeal and seemed to be at the brink of an early depression.

Zahra sighed, "Well, we won't get anywhere if we just sit around and do nothing. Let's get into order and start singing. We can improve from there."

"Your funeral." One kid voiced out as they listened to her command, all of them getting into and lining up in their orders and positions.

Zahra raised her hands, emulating the movements the YouTube videos she watched had taught her. She started directing and the train wreck of mixed voices ensued from the choir.

It was bad, not as bad as Sunday's spectacle, but my goodness was it still grating to the ears as they sang a song that was supposed to be joyous and holy, but only ended up being the epitome of bad vocals in a bad sequence.

"Stop! Stop! Cut!" Zahra yelled, waving her arms frantically and they quieted down as she sighed, "This might take a while."

"It's gonna take an eternity honestly." A snide voice said and she turned to see an older woman with an amused smirk walking down the aisle with three kids in tow, "I mean honestly, this is the best y'all can do? Might as well give me, Alicia DuPont, the Choir Power Trophy now and be done with it."

"Uh...excuse me, but who the hell are you and what are you doing in our church?" Zahra asked.

Alicia gasped, "Such blaspheming phrases. No wonder these poor children sound like a scratched up and broken record. Their director is from the wrong side of the tracks."

"The fuck you say to me?" Zahra asked with a raised eyebrow and Jack was about to yell out because of her curse, but Diane covered his mouth, wanting to see where this went.

The children with Alicia were mortified and they immediately started praying whilst she looked disgusted at the sight of Zahra.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Alicia asked.

"No, but I'd happily kiss yours." Zahra retorted as Alicia widened her eyes, "Bring her over once in a while, my hands aren't only good at directing."

A few of the kids a part of Zahra's choir group let out snorts and snickers as they watched Alicia fume in anger.

She glared at Zahra with a newfound hatred and stepped closer to her, "I don't know who you think you are, but just know that on Sunday, you and your pathetic excuse for a choir are going down. Hard."

"...Your mom does like it hard." Zahra retorted and Alicia clenched her jaw which caused Zahra to smirk in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep smirking that blasphemous smirk of yours, you heretic. We won't be seeing much of it when our church wins and embarrasses your below average church!" Alicia yelled, "It'll take a miracle to get these little wretches at our level."

"Why would you say something like that? Get them on your level? These kids suck already; we don't want them getting worse." Zahra told her and Alicia almost slapped her then and there, "Alright listen, Alicia, I'm going to get these kids that win and we're going to embarrass you and your hoity toity little choir. You don't have to worry about them getting a miracle, because she's right here still waiting on your mother."

Alicia let out a dry laugh as she glared at Zahra, "Oh, you think you're cute."

"Bitch, I'm adorable." Zahra replied with a smirk.

Alicia let out a yell, grabbing the kids that had arrived with her by the arm and dragging them out of the church as everyone watched the mad woman stomp out whilst screaming and cursing out the church.

The kids in Zahra's choir started clapping and let out cheers of excitement and shock from what they had just seen.

"I've never seen her so mad." One of the kids said in surprise.

"Our old choir director never stood up to her whenever she showed up." Another informed, "She'd always just make fun of her and us then leave for no reason."

"Her and her choir always think they're better than us and our church." Another told her.

"But, you stood up to her." A girl said happily, "You're actually pretty cool."

"She looked like she was about to blow a fuse every time you said something." Diane said with a smirk.

"That was so cool!" Jack exclaimed, running and hugging Zahra's legs which caused her to let out a chuckle.

"She wasn't wrong though. We suck, and a miracle is really what we need to even think about getting good enough to compete." Another said with a sigh.

"Relax, y'all. When I said I'd get you that win, I meant it." Zahra told them, "I might have a way we can win this, but it'll get all of us in trouble when we do it, y'all willing to take that small loss for the big win?"

The kids looked at each other and whispered amongst themselves, smirking and nodding to each other as Diane smirked up at Zahra.

"You're the director. Whatever happens, we follow your lead either way." Diane stated and Zahra smirked.

"Alright then," Zahra said with a chuckle, "Gather around, it's time we made some pretty big changes."

~

It had been a few days since Zahra had met all of her little choir members and things seemed to be progressing better than expected. With a change to the kids' lineup, a song change, routine change, vocal change, a focus on each kid's individual vocal talents and a more positive outlook on the contest, their choir looked to be heavy hitting on the day the competition arrived.

Zahra walked through the hall of the Johnson household with a cup of juice in hand, but paused when she noticed a dirty and tired looking Zoey walking up the stairs.

"Zoey?" Zahra asked, and Zoey turned to her with tired eyes, "What happened to you?"

"Your friend is a real piece of work." Zoey simply replied as she continued to make her way up the stairs.

Confused by this, Zahra quickly finished her juice and put the cup down on a nearby shelf, running up the stairs to catch up with Zoey who was already entering her room.

She managed to reach her before she could shut her door, unintentionally smacking the hard wood which caused Zoey to jump in surprise at the sudden action.

"Z, what the heck!?" Zoey exclaimed in shock.

"We need to talk. Now." Zahra told her, pushing her way into the room and shutting the door for her.

"This is a real invasion of privacy, y'know?" Zoey informed.

"Zoey, what happened?" Zahra asked, wiping away some dirt from Zoey's cheek, taking note of all the dirt and grime she had accumulated on her shirt and jeans.

Zoey let out a sigh as she shook her head, "It's Eris. I've been trying to be her friend these past couple of days."

"And what, she beat you up because of it?" Zahra asked with a raised eyebrow, "Because if she did then I swear Zoey, I will beat-"

"She didn't beat me up." Zoey cut her off, holding her hands and gently caressing them to calm her down.

"Then what?" Zahra asked.

"She's been meeting up with me at the park to wash her dad's cars. Told me that if she wanted me to be her friend then I had to prove it and put in the work." Zoey explained.

"And you listened?" Zahra asked in surprise.

"What else was I supposed to do? She's your friend and I want your friends to be cool with me so it's something I had to do." Zoey told her.

"You're going through all of this...for me?" Zahra asked softly.

"I'd move mountains for you, Z." Zoey stated which made the butterflies in Zahra's stomach go buck wild.

"Aww, Zoey!" Zahra let out as she hugged her, which was happily reciprocated.

"Y'know I'm covered in mud and dirt, right?" Zoey asked.

"And?" Zahra asked.

Zoey giggled, "Nevermind."

"Okay, Zoey, I'm going to help you out on this." Zahra told her as they pulled away, "What Eris is doing is fucked up and it has to stop."

"Putting a stop to this might get her to hate me more than she already does." Zoey argued.

"Eris doesn't like you because you're doing what you're doing right now." Zahra told her.

"What?" Zoey asked with a confused expression.

"She's a heavy non-conformist. She loves it when people match the batshit energy she gives out to the world. The reason why she's been making you go through all of this is because she wants to see how far you're willing to bend your back over for her." Zahra explained, "Stand up to her. Show her you're not her bitch and instead you're that bitch. That's the only way you'll get in her good graces."

"So you're telling me she's been making me wash her dad's cars because she wants me to not wash them?" Zoey asked.

"She didn't like you at first, but if she's still keeping this up then I'm pretty sure she hasn't given up on you yet." Zahra told her, "You're a badass, Zoey. Show her how much of one you really are."

"That's...she's...crazy." Zoey said with a baffled look.

"That's Eris." Zahra said with a shrug.

"You sure know how to pick 'em." Zoey said with a chuckle, giving Zahra a soft shove.

"Eh, you seemed alright." Zahra said, returning the shove.

"Seemed?" Zoey asked and Zahra smirked at her, "Take it back, Z."

Zahra shook her head, earning a smack to the chest.

"Take it back." Zoey said as she pointed at Zahra and she teasingly shook her head once again.

This earned Zahra another smack, that soon turned into multiple smacks as Zahra laughed. She grabbed Zoey by the waist and picked her up, earning a surprised yelp from her.

Zahra carried her and threw her onto her bed, climbing on top of her and tickling her sides much to Zoey's chagrin.

"Apologize." Zahra told her.

"No!" Zoey exclaimed as she laughed from the tickling and it had gotten even more rapid and unbearable because of said response.

"Apologize, Zozo!" Zahra instructed teasingly.

"Okay! Okay! Sorry! I'm sorry!" Zoey shouted, now in tears from all the laughing.

Zahra stopped tickling her and she stared up at her with a smile that Zoey happily returned. The two noticed their close proximity, but made no effort to untangle themselves.

Zoey was more than happy to have Zahra pinning her down on the bed like this and she bit her lips as her eyes ran down Zahra's body, scanning and trailing over the abs that she could catch glance at due to Zahra's shirt riding up.

Zahra on the other hand admired the beautiful girl below her, admiring her features and counting her blessings to have been so lucky to be in the current position they were in now. She smirked down at Zoey whose breath hitched at the sight.

'How are you so sexy?' Zoey thought, closing her legs together as she felt a familiar heat.

Zahra leaned down to Zoey's ear as she whispered, "I could ask you the same thing~"

Zoey blushed and widened her eyes as she realized that she had managed to utter her thoughts out loud.

She couldn't respond though, because her breath hitched once again from the long and sensual kiss Zahra placed on her cheek.

Zahra pulled back and looked back down at the blushing, blubbering and unsatiated mess that she had left of Zoey.

"Payback~" Zahra simply said, getting up off of her and exiting the room.

Zoey clutched her chest as she stared up at the ceiling with wide and unbelieving eyes at what had just occurred between them.

~

"Put your back into it! Those tires ain't looking spic and span from over here!" Eris shouted as Zoey scrubbed the tires of a Lamborghini, "Are you even trying, bitch?"

"Yes, bitch! I am trying! I've been trying this whole time!" Zoey shouted, angrily tossing the brush down and getting up with a glare towards Eris, "Y'know, what!? I'm done! Clearly being friends with you is worth more trouble than being friends with someone like Kimberly or Tyler of all people!"

"The fuck you say? Are you really doing this right now?" Eris asked, getting up from the bench and approaching her with a glare.

"Yes, I'm really doing this right now! I'm done being your car wash! If daddy's girl wants them washed, then she should do it herself!" Zoey told her as she grabbed the bucket with the dirtied water, "I'm done doing all this bullshit! I'm done with all this pointless effort! I'm done with you, Eris!"

As she shouted this, Zoey splashed the dirty water all over the car as Eris watched with a surprised smirk.

"And I'm sure as hell done trying be friends with someone who doesn't deserve me!" Zoey shouted as she tossed the now empty bucket at the car, but then she widened her eyes in horror upon seeing that she cracked the windshield, "Shit!"

The windshield was luckily just cracked and the bucket had bounced off of it, but the damage had been done and Zoey covered her mouth as she stared at what she had done in horror.

"Eris, I am so sorr-" Zoey was cut off however by Eris letting out a boisterous and excitable laugh. Zoey looked at the girl like she had lost her mind as she continued to laugh, pointing at the damage done and Zoey.

"Fuck yes, Zozo! That's what I like to fucking see!" Eris exclaimed as she clapped, "I was waiting for so long for you to do something like that. I swear I was pretty damn close to quitting on you."

"Y-you wanted me to damage the car?" Zoey asked confusedly.

"Fuck the car! I wanted to see you show some motherfucking backbone towards me. I like people that ain't afraid to show who they are and act on what they want or what line they draw. That's why Zahra and I clicked. She's cool because she don't give a fuck and I can see that behind that perfect princess persona you got, you got it too." Eris told her, taking out a large wad of cash from her bra, "This is for all the days you washed the old man's cars for, $500 ain't too shabby, eh?"

Zoey was stunned as Eris handed her the money and went to look at the car's crack with an excitable grin.

"E-Eris, I can't take your money. Not after what I just did." Zoey told her.

"You can and you fucking will. You showed badassery today, Johnson, own the fuck out of it." Eris told her and Zoey slowly nodded.

"So, what does this mean?" Zoey asked.

"I know you may not want to anymore, but I'd be more than happy to be your friend." Eris told her with a smirk, "If that's cool, of course."

"I'm not washing anymore cars." Zoey told her sternly.

"Bet." Eris agreed.

"Then it's cool." Zoey agreed, "I'll still be friends with you."

"Fuck yeah! Aye, come over here, let's commemorate our friendship the right way." Eris told her, taking out her phone.

"What's the right way­-" Zoey was cut off by Eris pulling her down near the car's crack as she raised her phone above them.

"Just call us a crack ship." Eris stated as she took their selfie.

"You're crazy, Eris." Zoey told her.

"You've never had a friend like me, baby girl." Eris said with a wink.

~

On the night of the Sunday Choir Contest, many from different churches had gathered at a grand cathedral for the event.

The contest went on with many different children's choirs showcasing their talents on the stage for all the parents to see and the judges to give their scores on.

Alicia DuPont's choir showcased their angelic singing for all to hear and they were damn good, earning a resounding round of applause from most if not all of the crowd.

Alicia smirked in victory at Zahra who stood on the side of the stage awaiting her turn. She left with her choir off to the right where the other choir directors and choir kids stood as everyone awaited the next and last choir group to perform.

"Alright, y'all, whatever happens, just remember that at the end of the we are...?" Zahra asked, looking at all of the kids backstage.

"Goated!" The kids exclaimed and Zahra smirked proudly at them.

"I know that's right." Zahra responded with a nod.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now introducing Ms. Williams' Concert Choir." A booming voice on the speaker announced.

"Here we go..." Zahra's teacher muttered within the crowd.

"It's about to go down." Dre said to Bow.

Ruby held up the camcorder as she awaited the choir to begin, "Y'all got this, my babies."

"You got this, Z." Zoey muttered, sitting next to Eris who looked bored from the past performances, but overall excited to see Zahra's group.

"Fuck shit up, Zaza." Eris said with a smirk.

Zahra's choir made their way on stage and got in position as the crowd applauded in respect of their participation. Zahra entered last, adorned in a suit with eye-catching red heels to finish off the outfit.

"Look at my girl!" Ruby shouted with a laugh, "Looking good, baby!"

"She hot as fuck." Eris let out.

Zoey slowly nodded as she stared at the suited Zahra with a stunned expression and hungry eyes.

(Cardi B – Bodak Yellow)

Zahra began directing the kids and their voices matched in unison as they all tempered and created a beat and instrumental sound with surprisingly only their vocals. This caused a few to widen their eyes at the familiar tune and a few teenagers had their jaws dropped in disbelief at the recognizable song.

"Oh my God..." Zoey muttered in shock as the kids started singing.

Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me
If you wanted to
These expensive, these is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes
Hit the store, I can get 'em both
I don't wanna choose
And I'm quick, cut a nigga off
So don't get comfortable
Look, I don't dance now
I make money moves (ayy, ayy)
Say I don't gotta dance
I make money move
If I see you and I don't speak
That means I don't fuck with you
I'm a boss, you a worker, bitch
I make bloody moves

By now, Zahra was getting into it as she started dancing along with the kids, but they kept up their singing and their positions all the same.

The watching crowd was completely in shock at the shocking events occurring before them. A few passed out at the lyrics that were sung, a few prayed and a few, Eris, started cheering and dancing along to them.

Now she says she gon' do what to who?
Let's find out and see, Cardi B
You know where I'm at
You know where I be
You in the club just to party
I'm there, I get paid a fee
I be in and out them banks so much
I know they're tired of me
Honestly, don't give a fuck
'Bout who ain't fond of me
Dropped two mixtapes in six months
What bitch working as hard as me?
I don't bother with these hoes
Don't let these hoes bother me
They see pictures, they say, "Goals"
Bitch, I'm who they tryna be

Ruby pushed and shoved past some people in the crowd as she made her way to the front to record the choir, dancing and cheering them along.

Bow and Dre on the other hand were completely shocked just as the crowd was as well. Zoey and Eris had joined Ruby up in front to dance and cheer along with her, Junior was looking on in joyful disbelief and Pops had woken up to watch in amusement at the whole spectacle.

Look, I might just chill in some Bape
I might just chill with your boo
I might just feel on your babe
My pussy feel like a lake
He wanna swim with his face
I'm like, "Okay"
I'll let him do what he want
He buy me Yves Saint Laurent
And the new whip
When I go fast as a horse
I got the trunk in the front
I'm the hottest in the street
Know you prolly heard of me
Got a bag and fixed my teeth
Hope you hoes know it ain't cheap
And I pay my mama bills
I ain't got no time to chill
Think these hoes be mad at me
Their baby father run a bill

"Yaas bitch!" Eris cheered at Zahra's and the choir's dancing.

Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me
If you wanted to
These expensive, these is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes

Upon that lyric, Zahra placed one of her red heeled feet on the pedestal and looked specifically at Alicia with a pointed and challenging look.

Hit the store, I can get 'em both
I don't wanna choose
And I'm quick, cut a nigga off
So don't get comfortable

With the last cut off, Zahra ended the song and the choir went quiet. Everyone was stunned into silence as they stared up at the kids and their choir director.

Zahra looked out of breath as she drank a bottle of water that had been provided to her and once she was done, she started clapping for her choir, expressing how proud their performance had made her

They weren't the only ones as Ruby started clapping along with Zoey, Eris, Junior, Pops, Dre, and even Bow. Many other choir kids joined in as they enthusiastically clapped and cheered for them while many parents and crowd onlookers clapped unsurely.

~

In the end...we didn't win. It was honestly expected seeing as how that was the least holy performance expected from the youth! A lot of us got into a lot of trouble that day, I honestly live to be grounded these days. I can't say we won officially, but our performance did trend online and on the local news, hell, we even managed to get turned into a meme. Now, I'm not much of a believer, but I can say that me and those kids preformed some pretty good miracles that day.