Luke is determined to breeze through his senior year and onto mega stardom (which means avoiding school, and Principal Lessa, as much as possible). That is until he's forced to work side-by-side with quiet good-girl, Julie Molina, on the big end-of...
"You're late." Julie remarked as Luke sauntered into the music room the following Monday.
She didn't even bother looking up from her notebook. After waiting around on him for nearly an hour, she'd just assumed he really wasn't going to show.
"Yeah, sorry about that." He offered not sounding sorry at all.
He flopped himself in the nearest chair and kicked his feet up on the adjoining seat. He wriggled down, snuggling in on himself as if he were going to take a nap.
"Seriously?" Julie asked incredulously.
She wondered what his problem was, and couldn't help thinking that this was exactly why she had told Principal Lessa that Luke couldn't be relied on. Not to mention, she'd had a couple of elective classes with him over the years and knew first hand his attendance was questionable. She turned to eye him angrily. He relaxed, letting his eyes flutter closed.
"I was up late last night with rehearsals." Luke mumbled in his sleepy state.
"That's not my problem. You're supposed to be helping me. You should be more responsible." Julie argued.
"Relax, mom!" Luke replied sarcastically opening his eyes long enough to roll them at her.
Julie sat glaring at him, hoping he could feel her annoyance boring through his thick skull. Luke opened one eye to peek at her, sighing loudly as he begrudgingly sat up.
"I need help figuring out how we're going to run rehearsals, and I need to know if you're available." Julie said ignoring his attitude.
"Sorry, you're not really my type." Luke said with a shrug, trying to hide a smirk as he lounged back in his chair.
Julie scoffed as she felt her temper flair, "First of all, this may come as a surprise since you're used to having girls stupidly throw themselves at you, but I wouldn't be caught dead with a guy like you. Second of all, I'm wondering what days after school you can pry yourself away from your precious band rehearsals to help me."
Luke shrugged again, closing his eyes to rest.
Julie growled, "You are the single most annoying person I've ever met."
"Have you met you?" Luke muttered under his breath.
"Real mature, Luke." Julie chided.
They sat in a quiet stand off; a battle of the wills. Finally, Luke conceded, "Fine. I can do next Tuesday."
"Thank you." Julie said curtly as she began to pack up her belongings. "Next Tuesday, 4:00. Don't forget." She warned as she walked past him on her way out the door.
It came as no surprise that the following Tuesday, Julie sat waiting alone in the auditorium as hopeful participants lined the rows of seats behind her. She glanced impatiently at her watch as she heard the grumblings of several people behind her, noting it was nearly 4:15. She reluctantly stood in front of the crowd and explained the audition process. She knew she was perfectly capable of handling this by herself, but she felt a great deal of irritation stirring inside her when she thought about how she shouldn't have to do any of this alone.
As she stood to leave nearly two hours later after the final act, she was startled to find Luke sitting in the very last row, his legs propped up on the seat back in front of him.
"That was painful." He remarked, a half-lidded expression on his face.
"How long have you been here?" Julie asked as she approached him, feeling a tiny shred of hope at his being there.
"Long enough."
"Did you want to discuss who to include in the show?" Julie asked.
"No." He replied simply as he stood to his feet, grabbing his flannel jacket off the seat.
Julie threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Chill." Luke said holding up a hand to her. "I need to eat. You want to get something to eat with me?"
"No." Julie said stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest.
Luke shrugged, "Suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."
——
Julie sighed impatiently as she sat at the piano in the music room after school the next day. She brushed her fingers over the keys, and hummed a tune as she hit a few notes. Bringing both hands to the piano, she let her hands take over. The feel of the keys was comforting and familiar to her touch. The words of a song she once knew caught in her throat, until a few of the lyrics made their way past her lips.
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It was like a dam breaking and Julie found herself singing the words to the last song she and her mom had ever written together as she played the piano. An unexpected tear fell down her cheek as she reached the end of the song. Someone cleared their throat behind her, causing her to startle. As she whipped around on the bench she found Luke standing in the doorway, a strange expression on his face.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" She admonished, quickly closing the lid on the piano and swiping away the tear.
"You can really wail." Luke replied, fidgeting with the gray stocking knit cap he wore on his head.
"Yeah, us music nerds can muster up some talent occasionally." Julie replied sarcastically. "Why are you here?" She asked glancing at the clock.
Luke walked over to her side, his backpack sliding off his shoulder to the floor.
"Principal Lessa called my parents last night to 'check in.'" He used his fingers to air quote as he rolled his eyes. "So...yeah. After a very very long conversation, I was convinced to be better at helping out." He said as he pulled up a chair beside her, turning it to straddle the seat backward. "What do we need to do?"
"Well, we were supposed to meet an hour ago to discuss who made it from tryouts, but I have French and calc homework to do, so thanks for nothing." Julie replied grabbing her backpack to leave.
"I'm sorry!" Luke offered as he quickly grabbed his things to follow her. "I got caught up with another... thing."
Julie shot him a look out of the corner of her eye, "You can save it. I don't need to hear your excuses."
Her footsteps increased as she tried to evade him. She was annoyed to find him keeping pace.
"Julie, please." He said grabbing her shoulder to stop her. "It won't happen again. Promise." He gave her his best smile, the one that made all the girls cave.
"No thanks, it's easier for me to work alone." She said blowing him off with a shrug and continued walking.
"I'll do your calc homework for you!" He offered hurriedly.
She walked on without a word.
"Je parle Français!" He attempted one last offer at her quickly retreating figure.
Luke stood defeated wondering what he could do now to get in her good graces and redeem himself.
