Maps || l.h. au

17 // Spring break 2013

Of course his mom would never imagine that her son would suddenly decide to drop out after one semester.

She was so furious - he could tell; she was giving him the silent treatment - that he thought his parents would disown him or something.

Why had he dropped out? Well, it all began a few nights before New Year, where Luke decided to go along with Michael and Ashton to visit Calum at New York. Calum didn't proceed to go on to college for this year and wanted to save much more and experience new things before getting to college (for him, it was a point of no return if he stepped inside the college's premises). He was now staying at a fairly spacious apartment in New York, since he planned on going to NYU.

And in a spur of the moment kind of determination, they all agreed to do a little gig at this bar they found just a few corners away from Calum's apartment. The four of them haven't really played anything seriously nor with instruments on an actual stage (even if it was small) in front of a crowd. But funny enough, it worked for them. It was like there was this unspoken conversation that this was how the entire thing had to go.

The bar's manager liked them and asked them whether they could play in his bar for a few nights until New Year or something.

"And what would that offer benefit us with?" Michael immediately asked, earning a sharp elbow jab at the side from Luke. He threw Luke a dirty look, holding his throbbing side.

The manager shrugged. "Well, you could explore your love of music more and get to share it with the people who are interested with it," he quickly supplied. "And also, drinks are on the house."

It was a unanimous decision; they said yes (though it was partly forced because Michael was just too ecstatic about free alcohol). Their first performance as a band didn't suck but wasn't great since it got barely any attention from the audience who were probably drunk, but they took it as a good sign. Maybe it could lead them to something.

And in their luck, someone did - right on New Year's Eve. A music producer was actually in the bar and had been listening to them perform, and spoke with them for the whole night after they finished performing. At the end of the conversation, he asked them whether they had some original composition and wanted to hear the demos.

"Um, not really," Calum said nervously. "It's just been a few days since we thought we could try out playing for people."

"Oh, so that explains the bit of rawness in your performances," Steve (that was the name of the music producer) said, nodding his head understandingly. "Though I could clearly see the potential with the four of you. So, you don't have any original works yet?"

The four boys shook their heads.

"Well, what about this for a deal," Steve continued. "I'll be going back to California a day right after New Year and I'd like to share your talent with some record labels. I'll be coming back here in New York probably by the end of March and I'm hoping you'll have finished a few songs by then. Even if they're simply acoustic demos, it'll be fine."

Everything seemed a bit surreal at that part. The four boys threw each other incredulous looks. Luke's heart thumped madly in his chest; it has been a long time it did that.

"So you mean . . . you want to produce our music?" Ashton asked.

Steve chuckled. "That was the point of the entire conversation, wasn't it?"

So now that it was Spring break, Luke decided not to come back for the next semester and informed both the school staff and his parents about it. Harvard accepted his decision but his scholarship slot open only for him, in case he wanted to go back. As for his parents . . . well, things weren't as smooth.

They've been writing songs for days and managed to borrow a studio, thanks to a phone call from Steve. Mostly, it was Luke who was writing, since it felt as though a wonderful outlet to let his heart out without directly saying it was exactly how he felt. Michael, Calum and Ashton were the only ones who knew who the song was about, and Luke felt a bit happy that they weren't teasing or prodding him about it.

On the other hand, he kept the map hidden back at his old dorm under a loose floorboard. After the second to the last message he'd written for her, Luke knew there was no point in waiting for a reply because she hasn't done so for months. Even if it broke his heart, he thought it was fine this way. At least she tried to get some closure.

And the last message? Well, it was on the back of Attachments - and they were words to a short poem he made before he gave it to a librarian. short poem he made before he gave it to a librarian.