The Love Letter Game || The Music Freaks

Chapter 18 | The First Letter

"Hey, Liam!"

Turning around, the red-eyed boy saw Luke approaching him.

"Oh, hi, Luke!" He spoke, giving him a weak grin.

Once arriving at the student lounge, Luke sat down next to Liam, curling himself up against a pillow.

"How was your trip?" Liam asked, flipping open his notebook.

"Great, actually!" The drummer beamed, "Stacy won gold in the girl's league. I'm very proud of her!" A small smile appeared on his face upon talking about his best friend.

"That's amazing for her," Liam laughed, a small blush crossing his face, "Do you think she'll accept my feelings?"

Luke's smile faded a bit- not completely, but a little bit, and his eyes remained glued to the ground in front of him, "Yeah, definitely."

Liam decided to brush off the rather somber energy Luke suddenly seemed to carry. Instead, he changed the topic, "So, I'm gonna ask her out to prom. Any ideas how?"

"White roses," Luke replied, "She loves them. Get her those."

Liam nodded, quickly jotting down the words in his notebook in his messy handwriting, "Got it, anything else?"

"Like I mentioned before, she loves extravagant romantic gestures." Luke finally turned towards Liam, though he didn't try to make eye contact, "What if you get a big banner and some confetti?"

"Ooh, I like that!" Liam exclaimed, writing it down, "What if I had a bunch of white roses, as well? Do you think she'd like that?"

"She would," Luke agreed, "She really would." His voice didn't sound cheerful like usual, instead, rather uneasy.

Liam got a glimpse of Luke's butterscotch eyes- and he could see something.

A slight bitterness, mixed with sadness and what appeared to be anger. Jealousy?

No- Luke had a boyfriend. Why would he be jealous? And of Liam of all people? Luke had ten times the looks Liam did, as well as girl's attention. If anything, Liam should be the one jealous, considering how close Luke was to his crush.

"Luke!"

Both boys turned to the sound, seeing an ombre-haired boy approaching them.

"Hey, sweetie!" Luke cheerfully spoke, all hints of sadness from his eyes gone, replaced by love and admiration. A giant genuine smile formed on his face, as he opened up his arms.

Zander quickly fell into them, and Luke wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, trapping him in a hug.

"I haven't seen you since you left," Zander giggled, nuzzling his head under Luke's chin.

"I know! I missed you so much," Luke grinned.

"Me too," Zander mumbled back. He moved his head to look at his boyfriend, "Can we go to the music room? I have something I wanna show you."

Turning towards Liam, Luke faltered, "Hey, do you mind if I spend some time with Zander? I haven't seen him in a week. I know we only talked for a bit... Maybe we can meet up again after school?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all, go ahead!" Liam spoke, giving a small smile, "I'll see you later, maybe?"

"Yeah, for sure!"

Luke and Zander stood up, beginning to leave the student lounge. However, Luke stopped, turning back around. "Hey, um, Liam?"

The latter curiously glanced up, "Oh, yeah?"

Luke weakly smiled, looking slightly hesitant, "Nothing, just... Take care of her for me, okay?"

Liam blinked back at him, taking a moment to process. Finally managing to form a proper sentence, he muttered back, "Yeah, of course."

—

"Hey, shortie," A rose-eyed violinist smirked, leaning over his friend's shoulder.

"Oh! Kingsley!" Hailey stammered, slightly startled by his sudden appearance, "Hi!"

Smirking, Kingsley sat down next to her on the couch, "Whatcha thinkin' about?" His eyes admired the pale sky, revealed by the large window at the roof of the school library.

"Thinking, I guess." Hailey shrugged, looking back down at the paper in front of her, "I came here to write our song, but I got nothing."

Kingsley nodded, signaling he acknowledged her statement, though he gave no verbal reply. Letting out a sigh, he explained, "Hailey, I think I'm gonna head home by the end of the week."

Turning her head to him, Hailey questioned, "Wait, why? I mean, I wanna spend more time with you!"

"Believe me, so do I," Kingsley exhaled, "But, you know, your deadline's at the end of the week. After you've decided, I don't really have any reason to be here."

"Oh..." The teal-haired girl murmured, looking back at her paper, "Right..."

It was silent for a little while after that, and Kingsley was the first to break it, "Hailey, I hate to be pushy, I really do, but I have to ask, do you have any idea if you're gonna go to the Academy or not?"

"I don't know, Kingsley," Hailey admitted, reaching to scratch the back of her neck, "As badly as I want to, it's... Complicated... With the band and everything, and there's this boy that I... I think I like him, and I just..." Sighing, Hailey dug her face into her hands, anxiously rubbing her face, "I'm sorry, but I honestly have no clue..."

Another silence overtook the air, this one lasting much longer.

"It's Jake, right?"

Lifting her head, Hailey gazed up at her childhood friend, raising an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"I see the way you look at him..." Kingsley uttered, "You love him, Hailey. I'm not naive, I can see it in your eyes."

Her face flushing, Hailey nervously stuttered, "I-I think *love* is a strong word-"

"You two would be good together," Kingsley cut her off, glancing at the ground as his shaggy scarlet bangs masked his eyes, which were on the brim of tears, "I think you should go for it. You never know, he could be the boy you end up marrying some day."

Hailey's face further darkened, and she put on a goofy smile, "I suppose you're right... But, how should I confess my feelings?"

"That game you mentioned that's going around your school," Kingsley explained, "The one with the letters. Why don't you try writing him a love letter?"

"That's... Actually not a terrible idea..." Hailey softly spoke, her voice quiet and calm. The more she thought about the topic, the more enthusiastic she became at the idea, "Wait, yeah, I'm gonna do that!" Turning to Kingsley, she excitedly blurted, "I'm gonna go do that now! Thank you so much, Kingsley! I'll see you later!"

Kingsley smiled, watching her happily jog out of the library.

A single tear left his eye, and he quickly wiped it, sniffling.

As much as it hurt him, he wanted Hailey Austin to be happy, even if he wasn't the one making her happy.

~~~

I apologize for taking a small break from writing this fic! I've been focusing on LOS, and luckily I finished the LOS chapter, so if you read that fic, a new chapter was posted a couple days ago!

While this chapter was a bit uneventful, I'm really excited to write the next one, because it's one of my favorites. As a small teaser, I'll spoil the title >:) "The Other Side Of Him"

I hope you all enjoyed this rather short chapter! Thank you so much for reading, and for being patient with me! Until next time, bye!!