Just The Three Of Us | The Music Freaks

Chapter 7

Zander let out a loud shriek as the ice-cold drink fell onto him, drenching his clothing. Most people in the theatre turned towards him, and the action seemed to wake Luke up.

"Stacy?! What the Hell?!" He yelled, turning to look at his navy-haired childhood friend, ignoring the crowd of people staring at him.

Stacy stared back at him, opening her mouth to speak, yet no sound escaped. Her eyes wide, as she glanced down at the empty cup that now sat on the floor, shocked at what she had done. For 16 years, she had never intentionally let anger take control of her, to let her do something so stupid, let alone someone so close to her like Zander.

She gaped at him, glancing between the ombre-haired boy and the empty soda cup on the ground.

When she failed to answer, Zander got more angered, his scowl clear as he continued to scold the speechless girl, "This is a new shirt! Now it's ruined, due to your complete stupidity!"

"Zander!" She heard Luke call from behind him.

The shorter boy ignored him, "Stacy! Answer me!" He snapped, his angered tone startling the sapphire-eyed girl, "Why would you do that?!"

"I-" She cut herself off, her eyes darting around the theatre, desperately locking onto anything that wasn't Zander, "I don't know, I-" She stammered before a thought crossed her mind. A thought, that she immediately wanted to shove back into that dark corner of her brain, the one that had taken over when she pushed that cup onto Zander. But the thought kept returning, whispering to her.

"Do it, Stacy..." It spoke, the voice completely resembled her own, yet a much more unhinged, eerie tone, "You know you want to... This is an opportunity... A chance..."

She gave in, standing up from her seat, so her face was much closer to that of her angry childhood friend's. The fear she had vanished, as she was no longer afraid to look into his venomous, sharp violet eyes.

For a brief moment, the energy she gave off seemed threatening, as if she hadn't regretted what she did. But she did, she regretted it deeply, and she quickly switched her face to look more innocent and worried. She truly didn't want to do this, but Drew left her almost no choice.

"I'm sorry Jake..."

"Jake made me do it," She proclaimed, her eyes lingering towards the hazel-eyed boy she had just accused. He glanced back at her, his eyes widening, "I really didn't want to, Zan, but he made me!"

Zander's gaze  softened, a slightly shocked look overruling his angered one, "He made you?" He asked, slightly confused, "How?"

"Well," She began, trying to come up with the best excuse on the spot, "He knows a secret of mine, and tried to blackmail me! He wants to mess us up right before the competition! He was trying to mess us up all along!"

"What!?" Jake exclaimed, standing up from his seat, "No I didn't! Why are you lying?!"

"Uh, guys," Sean chimed in, getting up as well, "I know this is very serious, but maybe we should take it outside," He murmured, indicating all the others in he theatre staring at them, some annoyed they were interrupting the movie, while others were intrigued on the drama the high schoolers were providing, which was certainly far more interested than whatever was playing on the screen.

Zander glared at him, before glancing back at Stacy, "Fine." He spat.

The club walked out of the theatre, all eyes still on them, as Hailey and Luke repeatedly apologized for disrupting the movie.

They walked out of the building in silence, until they were finally outside, greeted with the gentle autumn breeze, gusting their hair into the draft, along with the fresh scent of pretrichor that followed the heavy rainshower earlier.

Another few moments of quiet, before Hailey broke the tension.

"Jake? Stacy?" Everyone turned towards the mentioned teenagers, who stood next to each other, both looking opposite directions, "Could one of please you explain?"

"I said it all!" Stacy gushed, her tone a frantic plea, silently begging her bandmates to believe her lie.

"Jake? Is it true?" The teal-haired girl asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What?!" Jake blurted, staring at Hailey in shock, "Of course not! Do you seriously not trust me?! I'd never do such a thing!"

"I do trust you..." Hailey murmured, glancing at the ground, "I really do, but..." She paused, briefly looking at Stacy, who held onto her gentle, almost anguished gaze. The ebony-eyed girl let out a soft sigh, her eyes glueing back onto the ground, "But I trust Stacy more..."

Jake stared at Hailey in consternation, small tears glossing over the bottom of his eyes. However, despair quickly shifted into infuriation and enmity, as he turned towards Stacy.

"What's wrong with you?!" He wailed, "Why would you lie?! I trusted you! I thought we were friends! Why would you do this to me?!" He leaned closer to her, loudly sniffling "Why?!" He yelled into her face, causing her to flinch.

"Hey." A sudden deep voice sternly retorted, as Stacy's vision was blocked by the back of Luke's dark scarlet cardigan, "Back off," The auburn-haired boy spat, his eyes narrowing, as he glared daggers at Jake. His expression quickly calmed down, as he stood up straight, towering over the peach-haired boy, who stood in a cowardly position, startled by the sudden change of tone in Luke's voice, "I've known Stacy my entire life," He continued, "She's not a liar."

For a moment, all the guilt the lapis-eyed girl held vanished, butterflies forming in her stomach, as a soft layer of rose settled on her cheeks. Luke defending her made her heart give a flutter.

She quickly cinched out of her small daydream once Milly spoke up.

"Jake... Why would you do that...?" The ruby-eyed girl muttered, her voice soft, as she blinked up at the singer.

"I didn't!" He quicked hissed, "I-"  He cut himself off, as he glanced at the other people around him. Seeing all their hurt, angry, betrayed expression, he realized; there was no changing their minds.

"I think you should go, Jake..." Hailey whispered, nervously crossing her arms, as squinted her eyes just, turning away from him.

The tears he tried to fight back broke free, streaking down his face. He opened his mouth to speak, yet no words came out. He just stood there, silently crying, his mouth half open.

He whipped his head towards the ground, staring at the concrete, "Fine then..." He mumbled, turning around, then slowly walking away from the music club. From his friends.

Time seemed to slow down in that moment for everyone. An eerie, noiseless several seconds passed. Tears were shed, thoughts pouring into everyone's minds, like an endless river, flooding and drowning everything else out.

"So," Luke uttered, breaking the silence, "Are we okay?" He asked, gesturing towards his two childhood friends. They both quickly glanced up at him, before realizing what he meant.

"Oh..." The sangria-haired teen cautioned, before hesitantly looking over to the girl across from him, "I'm sorry, Stacy..." He quickly mumbled, looking back at the concrete ground.

Stacy shot him a soft smile, although she knew he wasn't looking at her, "It's fine, Zander. And I'm really sorry for the soda thing, I feel awful about it..." She meant it, she truly did feel bad for the Pepsi spill.

"It's fine, I overreacted," Zander sighed, looking back up at her. He took a deep breath, holding out his arms, signalling a hug.

The indigo-haired girl's grin widened, as she leaped forward, into her friend's arms, accepting the embrace, "I really didn't mean it!" She exclaimed, remorse flooding her voice.

Zander only chuckled, wrapping his arms around her, "It's fine, I trust you."

Just then, all the guilt immediately returned. The boulder she carried on her shoulders for all those years, that had only temporarily vanished, had returned, the weight pressuring against her back. She hated that gut-wrenching, culpable feeling. But she deserved to feel it.

Because she really did mean to spill the soda.

~~~