Lyrics On A Canvas

CHAPTER 6

A loud honking wakes Laura up. She had fallen asleep again, waiting for Natalie to arrive. She glances at the clock, it was 12:00 PM.

"Wake up, sleepy head. Nat is waiting for you.” her sister, Janet wakes her up.

"How come you're up already?” Laura asks her, as they make their way out of her room. “You don't even show any signs of exhaustion from having travelled for hours.”

"All thanks to caffeine.” Janet shrugs.

They hear the honking again.

"Alright you need to go dear. And take care.” Mrs. Jones kisses her on her forehead.

As Laura approaches Natalie’s car, she is slightly surprised to see Alex there.

Upon looking at her closely, Alex frowns. “You look like a racoon.”

When Natalie starts driving, Laura gives him a fake smile. “Thank you.”

"It wasn't a compliment.” he says flatly. Natalie chuckles.

“What's keeping you up lately?” she asks. “Oh wait, I know. It’s because there is this smoking hot guy who appears in your dreams now.” she teases.

“Not to mention that he appears in yours too.” Alex whispers to Natalie, which makes her slightly blush.

When they reach SpringCoast, they still have thirty minutes to spare before going to class. Just as they get out of Natalie’s car, Laura receives a call from someone, and is soon lost in conversation with the person on the other end.

"You should tell her how you feel about him.” Alex says to Natalie, as the three walk towards a large maple tree.

“Not happening.” Natalie says firmly.

"You can't keep it from her for too long.” Alex tells her.

“I can't break the sis code.”

"The what?” Alex raises his brows.

"The sis code.” Natalie says. “We can't share a crush, and I can't act on my feelings, when I'm aware of how she feels about him." She explains.

"But you already kind of broke the ‘sis code’”

"It’s for real!” Natalie says, when Alex air-quotes ‘sis code’. “Look, Laura can't know about it, alright?”

"Laura can't know what?” Laura questions.

"She's worried that she might fail the Math exam next week.” Alex lies smoothly.

"I would help her.” Laura assures, as she smiles at Natalie. Then she furrows her brows, tilting her head to the side. “So why would you keep it from me?”

As Natalie is about to answer her, they hear familiar voices from somewhere behind the tree.

"Are you sure you wanna do it?” It was Brian.

"Well, I will have to tell them one day. So I-”

"But are you ready to face the consequences?” He interrupts Fred.

"Aren't you supposed to encourage me to talk to them about it?” Fred says, slightly annoyed.

"I'm just scared for you, Fred.” Brian explains. “It was- Oh hey, you guys!” His gaze lands on Alex, Natalie and Laura, as he greets them.

“That’s a pleasant surprise. Nobody usually comes here.” Fred says.

Brian’s phone rings at the same time. He takes the call without seeing the caller ID. “Hello?”