Music Camp { A Short Luke Hemmings Novel }

E i g h t

When you asked Bethany if they kissed she said no, and you believed her. But you definitely knew something was going on between the two of them, but who were you to sneak into their privacy just to know every little detail about it.

Today was Saturday, tonight you had to perform your song on the stage with your band. You were honestly thrilled but nervous at the same time, such an unfortunate feeling. You were proud of your song, but what if the others don't like it? With others you mainly mean the judges and the other people in the camp. You've already heard Calum and Michael's song with their band and it was really good, you're quite anxious.

''Tonight's the night guys,'' Ashton says when you're all chilling a bit on your usual spot at the small beach. ''Tonight we're going to rock that stage,'' although your song had some meaningful lyrics, the sound and beat were still a bit rock-ish, something you really liked about to song. Luke and you had been awkward around each other the whole time, but his whole ''I'm not ignoring this'' thing didn't really work out so far. He ignored it frankly, which maybe is for the best.

You feel sad about rejecting him, but you have to care about your own sanity as well. Just starting a relationship with someone isn't an easily made decision, and you don't want to fall head over heels over a boy who might forget you after tomorrow, the last official day of camp.

''I'm excited,'' Luke says while smiling at the guitar in his hands. ''We have to practice a lot though,'' you nod in agreement. ''Yeah, luckily we've repeated everything so much while writing the song... There isn't anything new to learn. The only thing we really have to work on is playing it together and making it work,'' you say.

''I agree, luckily that's it,'' Bethany says as she stretches her legs. ''I'm quite nervous for tonight though, what is they don't like it at all? Or if we mess up?'' She asks. You softly pat her back. ''I'm sure we'll be all right Beth. We can do this shit,'' you say. ''We can actually win this competition because we became a band,'' you add.

''Yeah, becoming friends was the best thing we did so far on this camp,'' Ashton nods. ''I'm glad we did,'' he and Bethany exchange a quick look and her cheeks heat up. You seriously need to ask her about what's going on, forget about respecting the privacy.

''How was your date Thursday?'' You ask them both, since they're both here now. Bethany looks at you in utter shock and throws you a glare, Ashton only smirks with a slight blush on his cheeks. ''It was fun, we didn't do that much, but it was really nice,'' Bethany says with a small smile. ''I cannot agree more,'' Ashton says with that same old smirk. ''It was really nice,''

''So... Anything happened?'' Luke asks, emphasizing the word happened. Both Ashton and Bethany heavily shake their heads. ''No, no, no,'' Bethany says. ''We just hung out,'' you nod understandingly before grabbing your guitar. ''Shall we go practicing now?'' You ask. The others nod and you walk to the special music studios to take one.

When you've found one you enter one and plug your electric guitar into the speakers, Luke and Bethany doing the same with theirs. ''Well, start on the count of four?'' Ashton asks as he settles down behind the drums. You nod and he starts counting by colliding his sticks together.

As soon as he's reached the four you all start playing what you're supposed to play. It goes surprisingly good for the first time, but of course there are some points of improvement. Bethany sings the song very well and Luke harmonizes with her on some parts, just like you've decided. You smile at her when she turns around once, and she returns it.

When you've ended the song you all look satisfied. ''That went really well,'' Ashton comments and you nod in agreement. ''Yeah, extremely well for our first time,'' you add. ''All we can do before tonight is practice and practice until we can play it flawlessly,'' Ashton starts counting again with his sticks and soon you start playing the song again, after which a few more times and a break follow.