Listen Lucky

51. One

Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande
***

"Santana! I arranged a whole wedding in two weeks and you can't even handle balloons!" I heard Sutton shouting in the distance. She was yet to announce her pregnancy, but I was pretty sure no one would be surprised when they found out.

Her and Riley were the talk of the school, it was the gossip of the year, possibly the century. Apparently Sutton's dad got drunk and tried to fight Riley before passing out on the buffet table. My early departure was hardly noticed.

"Hey you," I heard Isaac say to me, so I finally looked up from my guitar.

"Hey! Thank you so much for the ride on Saturday, I just had to get out of there," I explained.

"No problem. That Toby guy is an asshole," he said.

"I couldn't agree more," I chuckled. I hadn't heard from Toby, fortunately.

"So listen-" he began, but Dex threw an arm over his shoulder.

"Stop trying to hit on Malia, we've got work to do," he ruffled Isaac's hair as I laughed.

"I think you guys are pretty much set," I spoke to the group of boys. Their performance was a sure winner, apart from the stripping, which would undoubtedly get them disqualified.

"How about we watch you perform for once?" Riley suggested, signalling to the guitar in my arms.

"Oh, you'll never get her to play," Will scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. So, he was clearly mad at me. Which made me mad at him. Which made me want to prove him wrong.

"No, no. I'll play for you," I smiled politely at the boys before narrowing my eyes at Will. "But please, no flash photography," I joked as they sat down, watching me intently. I felt nervous with their eyes on me, but I was determined to prove Will wrong.

It took me a minute to decide what to play, there were so many songs to choose from. I wanted something beautiful, but also understated. I began strumming softly to If I Die Young by The Band Perry.

I wasn't sure whether or not to sing, but once I got into playing, the words started falling out of my lips at their own accord. Just a quiet mumble to begin with, before my confidence grew and I was singing along softly.

When I looked up Will's jaw was almost touching the floor and I realised the importance of the song I had chosen. Nobody else would have realised how significant it was, it hadn't even occurred to me when I chose to play it, usually people didn't know how much I related to it.

I carried on playing and singing,barely looking up from the fret board as I got lost in the song until the last chord hung in the air. It was shortly followed by applause and when I looked up half the hall was watching me.

"Why aren't you playing in the show?!" Sutton shouted at me after the applause died down.

I began putting my guitar back in the case as I explained, "because I don't want to."

"Oh come on Lucky, you're just being stubborn now, everyone knows you would win," Will spoke up, walking up to me.

"I don't want to win, Memory," I snapped at him. I heard a few people gasp at my outburst, but I didn't care.

"What do you have to be afraid of? You just performed in front of everyone and you weren't even nervous!" he continued arguing with me.

"Did you seriously just ask me that?!" I glared at him before I stormed out of the room and began rushing to my car.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," he called to me.

"For once will you just think about what you say before you open your mouth?!" I slammed the my car shut and turned on the engine. I knew it was childish, to run away, but its all I knew.