Hailey is confused, regretful, and hurt. Jake is furious at his gang, the Jomies, but also... at himself. He's worried that Hailey won't be able to sing in front of everyone, and he misses the group. Will she be able to sing? Or will her stage frigh...
Why do I feel this way around her? I asked myself while simultaneously scribbling math problems in my journal, zoning out from what my teacher was saying. Why do I get... I don't know what to call them. Are they butterflies? I can't lie to myself, do I really- well, 'you know what' her?
"Jake Sterling!" A deep voice boomed, snapping me out of my trance. "What do you think you're doing, dozing off in my class?!" My eyes snapped back into focus, and looked up with wide eyes, blinking.
"W-what?" I stuttered, relaxing a little.
"I said, what is the answer to question number 3?" My teacher responded, glaring at me with his beady, green eyes. He pointed to his handwriting scribbled on the whiteboard, depicting a math problem and a drawing of what seemed to be a pig holding a machine gun.
"Um- wait, one sec..." I flipped through the pages of my notebook, searching for my notes on this specific problem. "Um... aha! Ok, so-" I was cut off by a loud sigh from the teacher.
"You know what? Hailey, you answer." He sighed, pointing to the blue-haired girl, sitting in a seat in the corner. I quickly glanced over my shoulder to Hailey, remembering that she was in my class.
Oh, shoot. How did I forget that she was in freaking class?! I kicked myself, well, mentally. I continued scribbling random messages on my paper, completely ignoring my teacher, and found myself scribbling a very specific drawing:
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My eyes widened in surprise and I quickly erased it, gaining the attention of Drew, who was sitting right next to me.
"What are you doing?" He hissed, whispering.
I froze for a moment, then snapped back to reality. "Um- n- nothing-" I stuttered, quickly covering the faint outline of drawing that hadn't been erased. Drew suspiciously narrowed his eyes to the area I had covered, then looked back to me.
"Just- pay attention." He sighed, surprising me by letting it go. I turned back to the teacher, grateful that he hadn't insisted on an answer. I aggressively erased what was left of the drawing and flipped to another page, burying my thoughts deep into my heart.
"So, do solve this problem, you must-" My teacher started, only to be cut off by the ringing of the bell, followed by every student immediately packing their things and getting the heck out of there. I quickly stuffed my books into my bag and began speed walking to the door. I had just gotten out of there and was heading to my locker when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I whirled around to find a beautiful blues haired girl behind me- no, no, that wasn't right. A familiar blue-haired girl behind me.
"H-Hailey. I- hello?" I stammered, pushing down the familiar butterflies I felt. She smiled and then it faded from her face. She lowered her eyes and began speaking.
"Jake... the club is deciding whether or not to quit the competition." She whispered. I froze for a moment, then exploded.
"What?!" I gasped. "But you can't quit! You sound amazing! I mean- you all sound amazing!" She sadly nodded, apparently not hearing the embarrassing remark I had made.
"I know." She paused, then continued. "That's why we need you. We were sure to win then, but now... everyone's just lost motivation. You're the one who fueled it." I paused.
"Do you think they'll accept me?" I asked. Hailey hesitated and then responded.
"Only time will tell. But I know you deserve it." Pink rose to her cheeks, and I could tell that she was kicking herself on the inside.
"At least you're on my side, Princess." I smiled, letting the butterflies free. I bet I was red as a tomato, but she was redder if that was even possible.
"W-well, bye, Jake." She said, flustered. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, the same, cute thing she always did when she was nervous.
"B-bye, Princess." I said, earning a stink eye from Hailey. We both turned around and walked to our classes. As I walked towards my next class, I tried to push down my butterflies again.
