Harmonies of the Heart | 🧡 Jailey 💙 | The Music Freaks

Chapter 4: Possibly the Right Thing to Do?

The following day, Hailey observed Jake carefully during the music club meeting.
He had been distracted whenever she saw him, and it wasn't clear why. She occasionally caught him stealing glances at her, but it seemed unintentional. His behaviour was like that weekend the music club hung out at the mall, and all that time Jake had been troubled by his thoughts. She hoped it wasn't anything like that - Jake tended to get anxious if he overthought and it wasn't good for him. Still, she couldn't help but speculate the possibilities.
Hailey wanted to be able to know his thoughts from a look, as if they were intertwining souls in the bodies of two high school musicians. Sometimes she imagined them being the closest two friends her classmates had ever met. Soulmates, even.
And despite herself, Hailey wondered if he was thinking of Daisy.

Jake must have seen her face darken, because to her surprise he asked her, "Is something wrong, Hailey?"
Hailey snapped out of her thoughts, not expecting him to have paid her attention. Jake was staring at her with his big brown eyes, and the rest of her friends were beginning to look over too.
Hailey's face flushed in embarrassment and shame. "No, nothing's wrong! I'm fine," she exclaimed hastily, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Jake's eyes lingered on her momentarily before he smiled and looked to the club. "Should we practice then?"

The club members stood in their respective places and readied themselves to run through their latest song, a work in progress developed by Hailey and Jake.
Now, their instruments were set up as if they were performing on stage, only Jake and Hailey's microphone stands were facing the other instruments. Hailey decided a week or two after the music competition that it was best if they simulated a performance scenario in rehearsals. They were (hopefully) expecting gigs now, or at least other chances to perform for people, so it was only fitting. Even Sean's table would be replaced with a real DJ booth in time; every club member was saving up a portion of money for one.

Sean pressed play on the track, and Hailey came in with the first line. Jake watched Hailey through the duration of the first verse into the chorus, and yet he stumbled before remembering his lyric. Zander gave him a disapproving look as Jake laughed nervously and apologised.

Jake's face turned red from embarrassment and he silently cursed himself. Now was not the time to get caught up in his thoughts; he needed to concentrate on the task at hand...
He cast another glance at Hailey.
...No matter how much they distracted him.

After the previous night's revelation, Jake had spent all night in his mind reassessing his relationships with both Daisy and Hailey. He had questioned his four years of knowing and admiring Daisy, completely stumped over his feelings and what they really were. And then he'd thought over the two months he'd spent with Hailey and the way he felt when he was with her. It was just like he thought; he never really felt anything real until that dream he had. But maybe his subconscious was trying to get him to realise something.
Jake guessed he would never really be sure, but he was certain that he had feelings for Hailey now. The more he said it, the more right it felt. He wanted to be with her, and to make her happy. He wanted to make music with her, and also to not make anything at all; to just be in each other's presence.

Jake wasn't sure what to do with this new information. But then he noticed something going on in his first class of the day and it inspired him to do something bigger. He was too excited and nervous to possibly think of how Hailey would react, but he may as well give it a shot... Right?

Jake had class with Hailey after lunch, so they walked together to get their books.
Hailey felt frustration eating away at her - she shouldn't be doing this. If she ever wanted to get over her feelings for Jake then she should be spending less time with him. But she tried to bite the bullet - nor did she want to be caught out for acting different, and walking with Jake between classes was a normal thing for them.
They stepped away from Jake's locker, now with his English books, and continued down the hallway to Hailey's locker.