Heart Shaped Mess // lrh au

17

//17

I am startled out of my slumber by the sound of my alarm. God that sound haunts me.

I lean over my bedside table to shut off the damn thing, and then check the time.

6:33am

Mmm five more minutes...

7:21am

Shit.

//

'Muuummm?' I query, dragging my voice as I take a seat at the kitchen counter.

'Mhm?' She replies, not taking her eyes off of the stove.

'Um, I was wondering whether I could go to a party tonight.' I wince hopefully.

A gruelling silence follows.

'Whose party?' She inquires sternly.

'Um, just a friend from school.'

I actually have no idea whose party it is. Probably one of Luke's friends.

'Right.'

'So can I g-'

'You know how I feel about parties, Leyla.' My mum sighs, turning away from the cooktop to face me.

'But Mum,' I huff, 'you are the one who wants me to be social and all, and I think it will be a really great opportunity for me to make some new friends and get to know the people in my year.' I paint a hopeful smile on my face. As cheesy and desperate as it sounded, it isn't a complete lie.

'Fine.' She sighs again, and I squeal in excitement. I run around the counter and give her a quick hug while she attempts to flip the pancakes.

'Thank you thank you thank you.' I breathe into her cardigan.

'Back by twelve, okay?' She says, raising her eyebrows at me as I pull away from her.

'Twelve-thirty.'

'Twelve-fifteen.' She chuckles.

I dramatically sigh before collecting my bag, folders and a pancake, and head out the door.

//

'Alright, ALRIGHT!' Ms. Hawthorn claps her hands and the chatter in the classroom dampens.

'Ah, that's better.' She huffs, acknowledging the silence. The squat women now begins to pace back and forth.

'Welcome to choir tryouts! This year we have had an extraordinary amount of applicants, and I am glad to see that the gender ratio is generally equal across the room.'

I have a look for myself across the room, and sure enough there are a lot of guys here. Including one with a blonde quiff. Luke raises his eyebrows at me, and I return the expression. I didn't know he could sing. And I guess by the quick encounter we just shared, he didn't know that I could, either.

'So I expect that you're all warmed up,' Ms. Hawthorn continues, 'because we really need to get started! So you will only have to perform in front of me today, and I will call you into this room one by one for individual evaluations.' She points to a small conference room behind her.

'I hope you have all come prepared with a practised section of a song of your choice, as you were asked.' A chorus of yeses echoes throughout the room and the teacher nods.

'And in the meantime you must stay here to wait your turn. After I have been through everyone, I will announce the choir back in this room.' Mutters break throughout the crowd. Wow, no call backs or anything, straight to the chase. Shouldn't be too hard.