Social Casualties - 1 [ 5SOS ]

35. Social Things I Didn't Say

° Jessa °

My fidgeting fingers shakily placed the last of my books into my locker, my breathing becoming heavily repeated as I attempted to calm my nerves in every way I could manage.

"Quit stressing" someone whispered behind me as their palm was placed on my lower back, "You'll do great, you are great" Luke said to me.

I nodded, breathing in slowly to rid of the nervousness inside me.

"Have you spoken to Calum?" he asked, moving his hands to my shoulders while he spoke.

I shook my head, "I haven't had a chance to" I explained to him, turning my head at the slightest to look at him, and closing my locker door.

"Well, I promise you everything will be fine" he assured me, moving my hair away from my face as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Are we ready?" a loud clapping noise was followed by the shutting of the building's doors, and Luke and I quickly shot away from each other before noticing who it was, "Dad's already seated in the auditorium, some dude's already auditioning" Eliot told us, "Oh, did I interrupt a moment?"

Luke and I stayed silent as we made way to the exit Eliot stood in front of, sliding passed him as he made small remarks about the two of us in muttered tones.

We made way to the auditorium's backstage, and I peered passed the curtain to see a decent amount of faculty and students seated in the audience, and in the second row was my father, brother, and friends.

"Okay, pre-performance pep talk starts now" Luke said as he grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, "The song you chose is amazing, and you'll do absolutely great" he told me, "You remember all the notes?" he asked, and I nodded, "Do you remember all the words?" I nodded yet again, and Luke smiled to me, "I'll take you out when you make it into the program"

"When?" I asked in nervousness.

"When" Luke repeated in confident assurance, pecking my lips before leaving the backstage, and heading toward his own seat in the audience.

I exhaled deeply, rubbing my hands together to create any type of heat within my fingers since the coldness of my angst had overtaken them.

"Thinking about it will only make it worse" a figure who stood himself in next to me stated.

I looked over, smiling at the slightest to see Calum stood next to me behind the curtain, "Are you going to tell me something deep and inspiring about your first solo performance?" I asked.

"No" he simply said, looking down at the scribbled sheet music in his hands.

I looked at him with slight confusion, remembering our small conversion the night prior to today, "Cal, about last night—"

"What about last night?" he asked, refusing to look up at me.

I pursed my lips, "Luke and I, no one really knows about us" I began to say, "Do you mind not telling anyone what happened?" I asked him in sincerity.

Calum eventually met my gaze, "Sure, I'll keep your secret" he said, quickly looking back at the notes in his hands.

"Thank you" I said to him, licking at my lips as I spoke.

"It's him, isn't it?" he asked from nowhere, making me look at him with knit eyebrows, "He's the one who doesn't want anyone to know about the two of you"

I said nothing, having the silence answer Calum's question as he nodded in response, "You do realize that's a clear sign that he's using you, right?"