Replaced

Ch. 8 - friends

The competition was in one day. Zander's friends were stressing like crazy over it. Meanwhile he was about to have surgery the next day.

Just thinking of himself laying on the table, dead asleep, having knifes in his skin and holes in his body while they poked at his nerves and bones and muscles made him uneasy.

He felt awful for Luke, who was not only worried about the band competition but also the surgery his boyfriend was going in to.

"Ugh. Rehearsal is so boring without zandy poo" Milly complained, leaning against the wall.

"Well, you're in luck. He said he's coming to watch us perform today since he can't watch tomorrow" Hailey replied to the guitarist, watching her eyes light up in excitement.

Zander was truthfully one of Milly's favorite band mates. Ever since she joined, her Luke and Zander had almost been a trio within the club.

"Hell yeah" she mumbled.

"He said he was just grabbing something from his locker, so he should be here in a sec. Probably before Jake." Hailey said, rolling her eyes at the last part. Milly chuckled.

As if on cue, Jake opened the door, holding it for Zander. "Ladies first" he teased, laughing as Zander rolled his eyes and flipped him off.

"Did you two walk together?" Luke questioned, his eyes on Zander as he walked closer to the drum set.

Zander nodded. "Yup. Great to know he's still annoying"

Luke giggled at his boyfriends remark ( Tehe🥺)

"Okay, Zander is our judge for today. Everyone ready?" Hailey said, looking around at all her band mates.

Sean started the track, and soon enough they were all singing and playing according to the song.

Zander was honestly astonished at how great they were. All their hard work had definitely payed off. He just wished he could play with them.

He had been so excited to play at the competition. It crushed him when Hailey told him he wouldn't be playing. He wanted to so bad.

But alas, he couldn't. And they sounded great without him anyway. And they looked so happy.

As the music dimmed and they came to a stop, he clapped for them. "You sound great!"

Hailey smiled. "Thanks Zander! I think we sound pretty good too."

"Well, I'm gonna head to the library" he said, wrapping his arm gently around Luke in a rushed sort of hug. He needed to get out of there.

There was a huge knot in his throat, and he couldn't bring himself to reply to when Hailey said bye. He just shot up a small wave.

As soon as the icy hall way air hit his face, he knew he was going to cry. he felt a tear roll down his cheek. He wanted to be part of the band again so bad. He missed bickering with Milly, flirting with Luke, and most of all, he missed laughing. He didn't realize how much he loved to hear them laugh until he stopped hanging out with them. Hell, he hadn't heard Milly laugh since he can remember. 

He wiped away the tear, but they just kept coming. There was no helping.

He missed his friends.

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This chapter is super short! It's mostly just a filler chapter 😊 sorry for taking so long to upload this