[DISCONTINUED] Feeling Down - The Music Freaks

Breaking Apart

Hailey's POV:
Me and the band were talking after school in the music room. It was about Jake, and it felt as though he didn't give a damn about us.
"I'm just..." I said, my voice breaking. "So confused! Why would he even say that?"
"I don't know." Zander replied, looking pissed. "And to think I had trusted him."
"Um.." Sean muttered. "I think he tried saying why."
"What?" I asked. "No, he didn't. He just made up some bullcrap of his friends."
Zander glared at Sean, who looked anxious to say any more. "It's...believable."
My eyes widened, and Zander looked livid. "Excuse me?" Zander half-whispered, in his threatening tone. "Are you seriously defending Jake?"
Sean's eyes looked soft. "In the mall last week, he had to hide from his friends. I don't think Jake would do that if he hated us."
Luke put a hand on Zander's shoulder and whipsered something to him. I couldn't hear what it was, but I think he was telling Zander to not get mad at Sean. "Guys, think about what Jake's done for us." I was not ready for Sean, one of my favourite members, to defend some jerk.
"He's done nothing for us! He's only done things to us!" Zander yelled. "You might not know all the things that me and Hailey do, but you know what he's said behind our backs! Who knows if he's been saying this ever since he joined the club!"
Sean sighed. "While the first part may be true, it's seriously hard to believe that he's been saying that stuff for the past month." I was surprised at how calm he was, even when he heard the recording. "If he truly hated us, he'd do nothing for us. He wouldn't even try to gain our trust."
Milly's eyes slightly widened, as if she was realising something. "And..." She added. "He wouldn't try to explain himself at all if he hated us. If he was like his other friends, he wouldn't care at all, and he'd admit to doing it - but proudly."
"Are you guys serious?! I don't give a rat's ass if he 'rEgrEtTeD iT', he still said it!" Zander's voice was getting louder.
"Zander." Luke said, in his calming voice. "Please stop yelling."
I closed my eyes tight. "I agree with Zander. It doesn't matter at all if he regretted it, he can't take it back." I kept myself from yelling. "I told him that he'd be out if he stepped out of line once."
"That went for all of us, right?" Milly's voice sounded genuine.
"Yes."
"So, why wasn't I kicked out when I punched Jake the first week he joined?" I didn't know how to answer. Zander and Milly did bad things to Jake, but everyone just turned a blind eye. Zander constantly argued with Jake, but nobody cared.
"Because nobody cared about him then." Zander muttered. Milly looked angry when he said that.
"What the hell, Zander!?" She yelled. "You were the only one who didn't like him when he joined!"
"Guys, can we not turn this into an argument?" Sean stood up from his chair, his face looking slightly annoyed.
"You guys are defending a traitor!" Zander exclaimed.
"I'm not defending Jake, I'm giving reasons to why he said it." Sean informed. "He said his friends egged him on, and he said it himself - He shouldn't have believed him."
Milly agreed. "We should have at least listened. It's up to you guys to forgive him, but I choose to hear his reasoning before I do or don't." Milly picked up her guitar.
"Me too. " Sean said. I was shocked at how quick both of them were to stand up for Jake, when he screwed up in the worst ways possible. "Sorry, Hailey, but I'm going to skip rehearsals today." Sean put a lot of emphasis on 'today', so I hoped that he wouldn't be quitting.
"Same here." Milly walked over to the door, and Sean followed. The both of them left the room, and Sean was the only one out of them who looked guilty. I was heartbroken.
"Oh my God.." Luke whispered. "I hope all of this gets sorted out before Friday..."
"I want to keep my damn distance from Jake." Zander clenched his fists. Luke looked worried, and held Zander's hand.
"All I want is Sean and Milly to stay in the club, and for the arguments to stop." My voice was breaking. I didn't want our whole band to fall apart three days before the competition. It'd be horrible - we wouldn't be able to perform at all. We're just going to have do without doing something that would've been able to change our lives for the better. The competition was really important to me, and I hated the fact I had to lose anyone, including Jake. We'd just have to do what we'd do in the start, no singing. That is, if Sean and Milly stay in the band.
I let tears stream down my face as all the good memories of us and Jake. It made me really wonder if Jake didn't actually mean what he said, but a bigger part of me said he meant it, and that he never liked me in the first place.
"Hailey," Luke said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "We're going home. Are you coming?"
I sniffed. "Maybe in half an hour."
Luke nodded as he and Zander walked out of the music room. I made sure to check that they were gone, and when they were, I walked into my homeroom. I grabbed a sheet of lined paper, and sat down at my desk. I picked up a pencil I saw on Zander's desk, and started to write.
"Jake Sterling,

I know I'm going to regret doing this, but meet me at the park as soon as you see this. I have to know why you've said all of that, because Sean and Milly are saying there 'could've been a reason', but I doubt it. If you don't come, then I will assume you don't care at all about the club.

Sincerely, Hailey Austin."

I put down the pencil back on Zander's desk, and walked over to the paper rack at the front of the room. I pulled out an envelope, and walked back to my seat. I folded up the paper and slipped it in the envelope. I shut the envelope with one of my homemade guitar stickers, and wrote "JAKE S." on the back of it, where there weren't any folds or stickers on it. I left the room, and slipped the envelope in his locker through the vent-like things that were on everyone's locker.
"You better make it." I muttered to myself before walking out of the school and heading back home.