Exchange

Chapter 23

And with the chaos that was my life atthe moment, having someone I could just be normal and neutral with was refreshing.

"So...was there a reason for you interrupting me, or are you just making a habit of it?"

Connor gave me a dry look before making his away over to the piano and leaning an elbow on it, facing me straight up. "So..." he started, his voice sounding faintly suspicious.His 'innocent' smile wasn't helping either. "I've got a proposal."

I give him a look of shock. "Um...Connor I like you a lot, but I mean, I haven't even known you a month yet. I think that maybe you're kind of rushing into—"

"Oh shut up you smart ass, not that kind of proposal." He then gave me a grin."But I mean if you are willing to consider—"

I hit him over the shoulder and he chuckled.

"Okay seriously though, what would you say to possibly partaking in the school's talent show in a couple weeks'time?"

I looked at him for a couple of seconds."You're kidding right?"

"On the contrary. I'm being one-hundred per cent legitimate."

I let out a short bark of laughter. "Thanks, but hell to the no thanks."

He had expected this and shot me a levelled look. "Why not?"

I scoffed. "Because I don't... do that. That's not me. I'm not your average 'post a daily video on YouTube' kind of girl. But where I come from we've got heaps of them. If you want one I can—"

"But you're good,"Connor insisted. "Honestly what's the worst that could happen?"

I 'honestly' contemplated that for a second. "I could forget my lyrics, I could mess up the notes, I could sound shit, I could fall on stage, I could fall off  stage,I could throw up— I could quite literally die."

Connor gave me an unimpressed look, though he was the one who had asked. "Who gives a crap if any of that happens?"

"Well, my mom maybe. She's expecting me to walk off of the plane, not get wheeled out in a coffin."

Connor groaned. "I didn't mean the... the dying shit. I— I meant what have you got to lose? You don't know the majority of the people here. If you mess up, who cares? You'll be leaving anyway. Stage fright is a thing you can overcome."

"Why do you want me to do this so badly?" I questioned.

Connor sighed and ran a hand through his light brown hair. "I don't know. I honestly don't. But I do know you're good. And you deserve to be heard. And you deserve to know that you're more talented that you perceive yourself to be. People should hear you."

I was oddly touched by his words, never having received such genuine and flattering compliments in my life, excluding Kate and Mom who were both family. But despite that, I still knew there was no-way I could get up in front a crowd of strangers and expose my most personal side to them.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I was a pathetic coward and I felt bad that I would disappoint Connor.

I gave him a sad smile. "Connor, I honestly can't. I just– thinking about it makes me sick. I'm sorry, I really am. Thank you though, for what you said, it means a lot."

He gave me a sympathetic smile back, his eyes slightly disappointed. "Just think about it okay? Promise you'll think about it?"

I sighed. I knew very well that there wasn't even the smallest chance that I would do it, but I couldn't completely flatten his hopes.