Welcome to the Club - King's #1

♪ 3 - Red ♪

"Please stop humming, I'm on the phone." Dad hissed at me across the breakfast table, one hand over the receiver and the other hovering between a muffin and a piece of fruit. "Can't help it, it's stuck in my head."

Midway through curling her hair, mum sighed. "What song is it this time?"

"Not sure yet, don't recognise it. Can't get it out of my head all the same." I grabbed an apple held it in my mouth at the same time as lacing up my boots. "Has anyone seen my phone? And yes— I've tried calling it, it's on silent."

At that very moment, my younger brother Milo walked into the room without looking up from my phone, tapping the screen furiously to switch the candies and make pairs. I snatched it back from him, groaning and checking the battery. 30% and we were leaving for school in less than ten minutes. Deep breath. It was going to be a long day.

Despite the slowly decreasing battery, I plugged my headphones back in and stuck my phone in the pocket of my jeans— not before clicking on the first song I saw, Beyoncé's "Halo". I can charge my phone in the car. I can charge my phone in the car. The comforting thought disappeared as I realised the car charger was broken. I sat down on the back seat, narrowly avoiding banging my elbow on Milo's car seat, and my Mum tossed something in my direction. Managing to catch it before it flew out the opposite open door, I turned the small box thing over in my hands. 

"What the hell is this?"

"Language. It's an MP3 player, I've had it for seven years."

"Wait," I saw the hole in the side and plugged in my headphones. "This thing plays music?"

"It has one album, the NOW 75 one."

"Old school, nice. It'll do. Thanks." 

And the reassuring sound of "Meet Me Halfway" by the Black Eyed Peas filled my ears for the first time in a while.

###

As I walked into school, I tried to spot Lyra in the hallways with no such luck. I did manage to catch a glimpse of the girl from yesterday, Hadley, but not for very long. With a sigh, I made my way into English and collapsed into my chair.

"Today, you will be planning your prologue and first few chapters. You can do mind-maps, bullet points, whatever you want. Go nuts. Make sure the plan is finished by tomorrow— I'll be checking them over the weekend." Mr Johnson wrote the word "PLAN" on the board before announcing "I don't mind if you listen to music— quietly, that is" and putting his own headphones in.

I slid mine on, plugged them into the MP3 and "Bad Romance" started up as I got to work. The planning wasn't as hard as the writing, but something was distracting me no matter how hard I tried to drown it out with the music. My pencil tapped against the desk as I paused the track, going unnoticed by the rest of the room. The melody was stuck in my head again and it refused to leave. Sighing, I turned over my piece of paper and scrawled on the back a staff, the treble clef coming out almost like a dollar sign with my rushed handwriting. 

The eight notes looked out of place somehow, but it satisfied my brain for a while and allowed me to focus on my work, and the music coming through my earphones.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop me from humming it as I left the English classroom. Lyra hadn't made an appearance yet so I made my way out to the sports field. Where the music block was at one end of the school, the field and its neighbouring trees were at the other. After ditching the heaviest of my books in my locker, I skipped to the next song and set off down the path.

The piano hadn't even reached the second bar before I recognised "Don't Stop Believing". I barely noticed I had been humming it under my breath until the third verse.

A singer in a smoky room

A smell of wine and cheap perfume

For a smile, they can share the night

It goes on and on and on and on...

By the time it got to the chorus, I was belting it out with no one to hear me. None of the sports started until the second week back, and the field was virtually empty. Plus, it was the exact kind of song you can't help but sing along to. I let my eyes shut for a second and just listen to the music as I walked, the guitar solo the only thing I could hear.

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to that feeling

Street lights...

I was aware of the fact that if there had been someone watching they probably would have thought me an absolute weirdo. But there was no one there, so I collapsed at the base of a tree laughing at myself. It was no difference since I'd acknowledged my weirdness a long time ago.

"That's some solo you've got there."

Crap.

Holy crap.

I take back my entire previous statement. 

"Well, this is awkward." Nice save, Alex. It's like you thought 'act natural' and did the complete frickin' polar opposite. Just by my luck, I had somehow managed to run into the guy from outside the auditorium. He stood there with a smirk on his face, unable to hide the fact that he was trying not to laugh.

The guy raised an eyebrow before responding. "I'm guessing you're auditioning for that glee thing then? Or was that why you were there the other night?"

"Bingo. Not that there wasn't any coercion involved." He laughed, leaning against the tree. "What about you? Is that why you were there the other night?"

"Sorry, I have a reputation to uphold. Singing and dancing ain't really my thing." He shrugged, looking at his watch at the same time.

Oh, wow. "Reputation, you say?" Don't form an opinion. Don't form an opinion. And... opinion formed. "Good to know... wait, then why were you at the auditorium?"

"Other reasons. Don't give me that look." He raised an eyebrow in response to the condescending face I had been pulling. "Anyways. About that club? Don't hold your breath." For the hundredth time since his arrival, guy-who's-name-I-still-didn't-know checked his watch again, before putting his hood up and beginning to walk away. "Later, Red."

I rolled my eyes, despite the fact that he obviously wouldn't see, as I mentally added the new nickname to the ever-growing list. This kid was weird. Interesting, but weird.

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Songs featured in this chapter:

Halo - Beyoncé

Meet Me Halfway - Black Eyed Peas

Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

Don't Stop Believing - Journey