𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 ~ 𝐛𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐫

34

"Oh my God, I'm so nervous!" El exclaimed, sitting in the front seat of Mike's car. "What if I mess up?"

"You won't, I'm sure of it." Mike responded.

"Okay.." El started, taking a pause for a bit. "But what if I do?"

"You won't." Mike responded, "Just stay calm and you'll be fine." El smiled. Tonight was the night of her and Max's gig at the cafe, and of course she was nervous being that she was the lead singer.

"Okay, I'll try." El said. Mike looked in his rearview mirror at Will in the back, sitting silently and looking down. They hadn't talked since Tuesday night, the night when things became too awkward. And since then, Will's been pretty distant from everyone. Mike couldn't help but feel as if he did something wrong. He frowned a bit as he looked away from the mirror, continuing to drive after the the traffic light turned green. He hoped that maybe he could get a chance to talk to Will tonight, clear up all the awkwardness. He pulled into the cafe parking lot, Dustin, Lucas, and Darren waiting outside for them. They got out of the car, Will trailing behind Mike and El.

"Heyyy!" Darren said, kind of sing-songy, as the three walked towards the group.

"Heyyy!" El responded in a sing-songy tone as well. The two laughed as Dustin and Lucas waved. "Where's Max?" El asked, turning to Lucas.

"She's inside helping the band get stuff ready." Lucas replied.

"Got it." El responded with two thumbs up, "Well then I should probably go help, bye guys!"

"Good luck!" Dustin said as El began to rush inside. The five boys then began to head inside as well.

"So, do you guys know what songs they're doing?" Lucas asked.

"Nope." Darren replied.

"Yeah, me neither." Mike added. He looked at Will, who still had not said a word.

"Guess it's a surprise." Dustin said as they all sat down at an empty table. Mike sat across from Will, still looking at him as the other three boys continued to talk about random things. Will looked up a bit before turning to Darren and tapping him on his shoulder.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something? In private?" Will asked. Darren looked at him in confusion, before realizing what this was probably about.

"Oh, yeah sure." Darren said getting up and Will doing the same. Will grabbed his arm and led him to the bathroom as Mike watched. He sighed before turning to Dustin and Lucas.

"Is Will okay?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, he's been kind of quiet and awkward these past few days." Dustin added. Mike sighed.

"I don't know." Mike replied, looking down a bit. The other two boys sighed before continuing to talk.

"So what's up?" Darren asked, as they entered the bathroom.

"I'm panicking." Will replied, kind of pacing.

"Clearly." Darren started crossing his arms, "Also why haven't you been talking at school lately? You've been like.. avoiding everyone in a way, and you even stopped sitting with us at lunch."

"That's the same reason as why I'm panicking." Will replied.

"Why? What happened?" Darren asked.

"Mike happened." Will replied. Darren smirked a bit.

"I figured." Darren responded. "What happened this time?"

"Well.. things were okay for a while, like I never felt awkward when it was just me and him.. but now he's like.. making things awkward." Will said.