Falling [cake 5SOS] ✔

Nineteen: Obstacles

Chapter 19 Obstacles

Luke

"Luke, your attendance record hasn't been perfect as of late and I understand you have other things to do but your education is just as important, if not more." Mr Maynard span around his chair once before facing me again. "What do your parents think about it?"

I shrugged, unsure of what to say. My mum cared a lot about my education but my dad, not so much. "I don't know."

"Well," he sighed, "I think you need to have a word with them. You've got HSC assessments this term and to be brutally honest, I'm not sure if you can pass them all if you don't go to lessons. The only way you can pick it back up is to make the most of the lessons you can go to, and spend more time at home revising and doing self-study."

I still had no idea what to say. The band was going to visit London in late September but it would only be for a few days; though Adam had mentioned something about potentially moving there. I shifted about in the uncomfortable wooden seat, chewing on the inside of my lower lip. "I-I guess I'll ask my parents. Uh, they'll get in contact with you..." I replied awkwardly; I wanted to slap myself for constantly being so awkward around people but dropped it and shook his hand before leaving. It was now almost lunchtime and people were milling out of classrooms with their books, heading to the canteen.

Rushing back to my classroom, I picked up my school bag from my locker and checked my phone. Ashton had texted, saying that we'd actually appeared in 'The Herald' magazine, with a picture of the article attached. It was pretty darn exciting, and I thought about it whilst trying to catch Calum's attention. He was engrossed in some intense conversation with fellow football enthusiasts, his neat fingers fiddling about with the notebook we wrote lyrics in. I smiled to myself as Aleisha walked up to me.

"Hey Lukey," she said, smiling widely. "Lunch?"

I didn't exactly plan this but I had to remember that I was still technically dating her. Deciding that Calum would be able to eat with his other friends (Michael had dropped out by this point), I put an unwilling arm around Aleisha's shoulder and we walked to lunch.

Once we'd settled down at a table inside, where it was relatively warm, she began to eat. "Hey do you wanna go to the practice rooms after?" she asked between munches. I smiled at her beautiful face, the face I would be leaving for Calum. I couldn't stand the thought of her crying, but maybe she'd stay strong and not show tears in front of me.

"Sure. I could show you a couple songs we've written recently," I replied, knowing that if Calum and Michael were there, they'd give me death glares and kick me under the table. School kind of felt empty now that Michael wasn't around, as there wasn't someone to sing with in the music rooms, or fanboy over bands with; and Calum had sort of been keeping a distance since my birthday two weeks ago, probably due to my 'punishment' that meant staying Aleisha's boyfriend for a bit longer. To be honest, I just needed the time to think about how I was gonna break up with her. I'd hate to hurt her. Having dated her for the past year, we'd gotten to know each other pretty well even though I was quite frankly, using her.

"Great! Say, how is the band going?"

"Pretty good, I mean things are looking pretty fricking awesome. You know how we're going to tour with One Direction next year right?"

She opened her mouth widely. "No! Oh my god, are you serious? That's so crazy!! How did I not know?" I chuckled at how excited she was, knowing she was a pretty big fan of theirs. "You need to get a picture of Harry for me, I will literally pay you for a candid shot or something."

"Don't worry. Hey, have you heard from Katie recently?"

"You mean Katie Turner?" I nodded. "Wasn't Calum going out with her? Shouldn't he know?" Her expression fell slightly, her eyebrows forming a straight line.