Rule number seven

Chapter nineteen

Thursday comes along, our last full day. Yesterday was very uneventful due to amount of work and limited time we had so everyone spent that time working. I only have a few hours left to complete this piece and I have quite a bit of shading to do and small touch ups. Another reason why I want to get this done is so I could watch the performances this evening. I wasn't going to go at first but everyone convinced me otherwise and that it's for the best. So now I'm going to be watching him perform, letting those memories flood back. I do wonder what song they chose to perform, I guess I'll find out in a couple of hours.

It's about four in the afternoon and the show starts at about six. A lot of the contestants are piling in and out of the room while I'm still painting. I only have a few touch ups to finish and then I need to start heading back and getting ready. The music teacher suddenly crashes in through the door with panic written all over her face. She runs over to the front of the classroom and grabs everyone's attention.
"Luke just called in sick and we need a bassist desperately. If anyone knows how to play bass please raise your hand." I look at her and she makes eye contact with me. I just suddenly look down. I don't want to be the centre of attention in some random band with people that I will literally meet soon. "Don't you know bass?" Emma whispers. I just nod to her as a yes and she immediately raises her hand. "Liv knows bass!" She yells at the teacher. I punch her in the arm and ask her why she did that. "You only live once Liv." What the fuck does that mean. It's not like I'm not living right now, I'm in this unfamiliar school with a boy that broke my heart. How could I not be alive. Now I'm under the spotlight in front of strangers and him. I just don't know if I can do this.
"Olivia will you replace Luke for us?" The teacher asks me directly. I feel the room getting smaller and everyone's eyes on me. My chest tightens as she stares at me waiting for an answer. I try to speak but I can't, my tongue is tied.
"I uh- I don't-"
"She'll do it." A male voice appears and speaks up from the other side of the room. Everyone including me turns around and look in the doorway. There he was, standing there, leaning against the door so effortlessly. He looks over to me and we look eyes. I don't know what emotion he's feeling, his eyes are emotionless and a hazel brown. But why did he want me to do this, why is he signing me up for something without my input. He just threw me under the bus for nothing. He doesn't have the right to do that.
"Great! Everyone get ready we have sound check in an hour! Joel get back to your room."
I watch him leave and slip away. I want to ask him so many questions, why he did what he did and why he wants me to play with him. My heart wants to run after him but my body isn't moving. My heart loves him but my body wants to cry over him. My heart is screaming out loud but no one can hear it but me.
Emma takes my hand and leads me out of the room. "Let's get you rockstar ready because that outfit right now is definitely not it."

I look at myself in the mirror, I definitely fit into the part of being a rockstar. I'm wearing a black lace dress, black very opaque tights, my black knee high boots and my iconic cheetah print coat. My makeup is simple but bold with a dark red lipstick and black Smokey eyes. Emma places her hands on my shoulders and looks in the mirror with me. "You look breathtaking." She says. And maybe for once I can actually agree with her. I felt powerful and confident with this look. Maybe not confident enough to perform in front of a shit tone of people but still confident enough. I take my bag and tell Emma that I'll meet her after the show and I walk out of the room. I walk down the hallway and to the room where the rest of the band was.
I walk into the room and see Joel and another guy sitting around. As I walk in they both turn around and look over to me. "Damn you're Luke's replacement?" The other guy says and walks over to me. He takes my hand and kisses it. "Hands off Colten." Joel hisses at him. Colten lets go of my hand and turns to face Joel. "Something wrong buddy?" He asks and Joel gets up in his face. "She's not yours and she never will be." He says. I'm taken back by what he said. He's acting so protective over me but does he not remember what he did to me. He should be protecting me from himself and not from anyone else. Who does he think he is. I can't take it anymore, he can't just crawl back into my life after that. I walk away from both of them and take a seat on one of the desks. "Are we doing the sound check or what?"