Publicity

2 - Take a Chance on Me

Taking a slow, deep breath, I scan over the documents that I'm supposed to be filling out for the fourth time in five minutes. Paperwork isn't exactly my strong suit, I mainly signed up for the job to play with the cats and teach the dogs how to do tricks.

"Having trouble?"

I glance up at Lucas as he enters the room from the kennel area, leaning on the counter as he looks down at me.

I huff.
"This isn't fair. You get to play with Barnie and Lola and I'm stuck here doing this."

"Being the manager's son does have its benefits." He gives me a smug grin, and I pick up the paper to slap him across the arm with it. "Seriously though, you look pretty annoyed about something. Is it the paperwork or something else?"

I take a deep breath, feeling the air flow smoothly into my lungs before I drop the pen in my hand and sit on the counter.
"There's this thing... at school, and everybody is telling me to do it, but I just keep feeling something pulling me back."

"Give me some more information here," Lucas requests, fully opening himself to the conversation as his gaze strengthens.

A lot of the time, it's much easier to talk to Lucas about the things in my life than anyone else, because I only see him at work. It's the security that I can tell him almost anything, and since he doesn't attend my school or know any of my friends, it won't cause any issues or drama.

"Well, there's this band at my school, and they're really popular for high-schoolers," I inform him.

"How popular are we talking here?" Lucas asks me, suddenly very interested.

"Well, I wouldn't call them famous, but they're well known in the area. Anyway, they're having tryouts and everybody is telling me to try out because I sing, but I'm just not sure."

"What is it that's holding you back?"

His question warps my mind as I sink even further onto the counter, the barking dogs in the distance making it a little more difficult to get my thoughts straight.
"I don't exactly know... it's just like a gut feeling. It's like my body knows something that my mind doesn't... I don't know. It sounds stupid, I guess"

"It doesn't sound stupid," he settles, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I honestly would say that it's best to go with your gut feeling. Fuck what everybody else says, if you're thinking it's a bad idea, then it probably is. Nobody else can tell you how to feel."

I ponder his words for a moment, hoping for some amount of comfort from them, but they seem to have the opposite effect. I just feel even more conflicted now with everybody telling me different things. It's now a two against two.

"I bet it would be a good chance to meet some cute boys, though." He playfully tugs at my arm, giving me a suggestive smirk.

"Ugh, please," I groan, throwing my head back. "I don't want a boyfriend, and even if I did, it wouldn't be any of them. They're your typical high school jocks that everyone drools over - jerks."

I don't exactly know any of the guys in the band - well, not personally, but I've seen them prancing around the corridors before like they own the place. It's disgusting, which is another reason why I would never want to associate with them.

"Why are you so adamant on avoiding getting a boyfriend? I mean, that poor Liam guy. He's been in the friendzone for so long."

I frown at Lucas, kind of offended.
"I'm not avoiding getting one, I just haven't found the right guy yet. Why would I waste my time on that when I could be focusing on my career? That's way more important."