Where Fires Dare to Burn

Chapter 05 - Six Strings of Therapy

Luke tugged at the collar of his grey t-shirt and frowned at his reflection in the dorm's single standing mirror. His first steps into the campus nightlife lay before him and he couldn't decide if he was excited or terrified at the prospect. Picking out a black shirt, he wriggled into it, leaving the buttons undone to give an illusion of casualness. He fiddled with the two sides, trying to get them to sit evenly on his chest.

"Give yourself a break, man," Kenny said, arriving in the reflection and slinging an arm around Luke's shoulders. "We're not going down a catwalk."

Easy for you to say, Luke thought, turning a baleful eye on his room-mate. Kenny's breezy confidence seemed to spill over into his appearance with effortless ease. His black leather jacket and checked shirt somehow seemed to hang loose, but fit him perfectly all at the same time. Coal-dark jeans fitted his legs above a pair of blazing red Converse, and the glint of a silver chain was just visible around his neck.

"Yeah, yeah," Luke muttered, ducking out of Kenny's grasp. "Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

"I guess."

Kenny clapped him on the back with a grin. "Don't worry. I'm a worse singer than you'll ever be."

"You seem very confident about that," Luke replied as he scooped up his phone and wallet, sliding them into the pockets of his jeans.

"I have it on good authority." Kenny swept fingers through the wave of his fringe, making some minute adjustment before turning to face him. "Now c'mon, everybody's already waiting for us."

"I'm ready, I'm re- HEY!"

He barely got the words out before Kenny took him by the shoulder and propelled him out the door.

It was still light now, but the sun was starting to descend, glowing low and lurid against the horizon. A cold breeze whipped at them as they stepped out of their residence hall, to where a different kind of campus life was getting underway. Older students passed them with packs of beer in hand, laughing and joking as they went. Many others spilled towards the student union building – a crescent-shaped structure with a wall of glass and pale stone.

Luke and Kenny joined that procession, and along the way they found Gabi, Kyan and Aliyah waiting outside their own accommodation at the Thistle Lodge halls.

"Here's the party," Aliyah chirped, sliding her phone into the back pocket of her leather skirt.

"Good evening, good evening," Kenny replied with an exaggerated sense of propriety, even throwing in a bow for good measure.

Gabi gave him a light slap across the back of the head as did so. "Save it for the stage."

"Let's go," Kyan laughed, beckoning them to follow as Kenny straightened up with an affronted expression on his face. "We better get there early if we want to get our names down for some songs."

"You all set for tomorrow?" Luke asked as he walked along with Gabi.

"Ready as I'm going to be," she replied. "You?"

"I can't wait."

"Feeling confident are we?"

He smirked. "Quietly confident, let's say. I didn't fill out all those forms and lug my bow all the way here to screw up at the first hurdle."

"Well, I didn't bring my own special bow," she said, bumping her shoulder against his. "But what do you want to bet I place higher than you?"

"Oh, you're gonna go there?" Luke gave her a look of mock astonishment. "Okay, I'll bite."