Voices • Jack Avery

14 • Band Practice

Third Person Point of View

Two days after recording with Jack, Alex was practising with London and Jackson for a show they had coming up. It wasn't for a while, but they planned on performing new songs off of their upcoming album as promotion, so they needed to make sure they were perfect before going on stage.

Alex began to hum as she connected her guitar to the amp. Jackson was plucking away at his bass and London was creating a steady beat on the drums. Once Alex had tuned her guitar and positioned herself in from of the microphone, she spoke up.

"You guys ready?" she asked. After receiving nods from the pair, she strummed the opening chords to Voices. It wasn't exactly a new song since they had performed it many times before, but it was a good song to warm up to.

Before long, Alex was completely lost in the music. The outside world faded away easily and it was just her and her band. Five songs later, they finally stopped to take a break.

Alex collapsed on the couch next to Jackson as she took a long drink from her water, thankful for the refreshing taste. London stayed sat at her drums but turned so she was facing her two friends.

"So, Alex. Are you finally gonna tell me what happened at the recording studio?" London suddenly asked while smirking at the girl. Alex groaned and threw her head back in annoyance. She had been hoping to avoid all of London's interrogations.

Jackson didn't seem to be interested in the slightest in the conversation and, instead, was fixated on his phone. When London's questioning gaze never left Alex, she rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to tell" Alex answered, shrugging her shoulders.

She pulled out her phone, hoping that if she focused on that like Jackson was, then London would give up. She smiled at a text from Jack she had gotten and began to type out a reply.

Suddenly, her phone was snatched out of her hand by London. Alex looked up at her and whined in annoyance while frowning. "What was that for?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. London smiled and pulled the phone back as Alex tried to reach for it.

"Considering you're smiling because he just texted you, I'd say there is something to tell" London's stated, smirking and waving the phone in the air.

Alex glared daggars at her best friend. She was growing sick and tired of London suggesting there was something going on between her and Jack. She would never give up on it.

"Bloody hell, would you stop going on about that? For the last time, nothing's going on between us. We. Are. Just. Friends" Alex said firmly. Maybe this time it would sink in, but most likely not.

"For now, you are anyway" London said, brushing off Alex's protests. "Besides, you guys would look really cute together" she continued, smirking as she threw Alex's phone back at her and walked back to her position in front of her drums.

"What do you want me to say? That I think he's funny? That he's kind? That he's bloody hot? Because I do think that, but we're friends" Alex rambled, throwing her hands up in frustration.

London looked at the girl, wide-eyed. She had always teased Alex about Jack, but she didn't realise that she though all of that. She also had no idea she would suddenly blurt it all out like that. Even Jackson looked up from his phone out of surprise.

"You said you guys are just friends, but you never said you dont like him" London stated after recovering from the shock of Alex's outburst. Alex groaned, silently wishing that they could start rehearsing once again.

"Well I don't" she defended, crossing her arms. London eyed her suspiciously, but thankfully she seemed to give up on the matter for now. However, this was when Jackson decided to join in.

"He likes you, though" he casually stated, now looking up from his phone. Both London and Alex snapped their heads towards him as soon as the words left his mouth.

"He told you that?" London asked excitedly. Alex almost rolled her eyes at her best friend's enthusiasm, but she secretly wanted to know as well. Surely Jack didn't like her like that. They were just friends, nothing more.

"No, but he doesn't need to. He denies it like Alex over here, but it's obvious. The other guys see it too" Jackson stated. Alex relaxed after hearing this, realising it was just Jackson making something out of nothing. However, London didn't see it the same was as Alex did. Instead, she smirked at Alex.

"Oh really? And how is it obvious?" Alex asked sarcastically. She knew there was no way Jack liked her, But she still wanted to see Jackson trying to justify himself.

"Well, firstly, the way he looks at you. It's like a kid in a sweet shop. He always gets really excited when he finds out you're going to their house or you're going somewhere they are. I mean, yesterday he wouldn't shut up about how amazing you were in the recording studio" Jackson listed instantly.

Alex scoffed at him, knowing this wasn't true in the slightest. "You know what, I'm going to settle this right now" she stated, picking up her phone again. She scrolled to Jack's contact and hit FaceTime, waiting for him to answer.

Jack's image appeared as he answered the call almost instantly. "Hey Alex" he said happily. His phone was  propped up against something on the table - the camera facing him - as his guitar sat in his lap.

"Jack, can you please explain to them that you don't like me and that we're just friends, because no matter how much I tell them, they won't believe me" Alex said without uttering any form of greeting. She was still slightly annoyed by her bandmates.

Jack frowned slightly upon hearing this, but laughed anyway. "Guys, she's right. We're just friends" he said, agreeing with Alex. She smiled proudly, looking up at London and Jackson.

Jackson rolled his eyes, seemingly not believing it at all. "For now" London said, pointing a drum stick at Alex's phone. Alex shook her head at the girl and turned to face Jack.

"See what I have to deal with?" she joked. "Hey, you only have two of them. I have four" he retorted while laughing. Alex grinned, thankful she didn't have to deal with the other guys as well all of the time.

"Hate to break this up, lovebirds, but we have to get back to rehearsal" Jackson stated, standing up to retrieve his bass. Alex flipped him off and turned to send an apologetic look to Jack. "Sorry."

"It's fine, go. See you tommorow" he said while waving and hanging up the call. Alex sighed and walked back over to the microphone, receiving questioning glances from both Jackson and London.

"Tomorrow?" London asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Don't get your hopes up. We have to go to a dance lesson to learn the choreography for the music video and then shoot it" Alex answered, knowing London would take it differently.

London nodded but chose not to say any more about it. She could tell that Alex was beginning to get annoyed, but this was really more than just a joke to her. She could see that her best friend liked Jack, even if Alex herself couldn't. She just needed to make her realise what she felt, but it wasn't going to be an easy task, knowing Alex.