Explosive

07 || Oasis

I rub my sweaty hands across my jeans, willing myself to calm down and check the time. It's about an hour before school starts for the day. Unfortunately, I had to wake up early for my appointment with the guidance counselor. The small space I'm waiting in is splattered with motivational posters. I close my eyes and lean my head against the wall.

So much for a fresh start.

That's when the door leading into the waiting room is pushed open and in walks Blake. The nervousness that I was fighting returns and I let out an internal groan. Of all the people it had to be one of Cynthia's friend to walk in. He squints his eyes at me before taking a seat beside me. "Audrey, right?" I nod and keep my eyes trained on the clock. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just had to wake up earlier than I normally do. To get to this appointment." Crap. I'm rambling.

"I know what you mean." He then pulls out his phone and plugs in his headphones. Okay, so he didn't want to talk to me. Both his and Cynthia's phone numbers are still in my contacts but I didn't text them yet about the stupid project. From the corner of my eyes, I watch Blake. He has his eyes closed and his head pressed against the wall. I wonder what he's doing here.

Wait. Is he listening to what I think he's listening to? Slowly I lean my head to the right to hear the song better. He's listening to Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis, one of my favorite bands. I had grown up listening to the music my mom listened to when she was my age. That had led me to have a slightly different taste in music than my friends. Before I can stop myself, I say, "You like Oasis?"

Blake pulls out one of his headphones and gives me an annoyed look. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Oasis? You like them?" I say, pointing to his headphones. I mentally slap myself. No, Audrey, he listens to that band in order to torture himself.

Blake's face softens and he gives me his crooked grin. "Yeah, they are one of my favorite bands."

"Really? Me too. Well sort of. My mom really loved them and got me to listen to a few of their songs and I think they're pretty good. My all-time favorite...." I go quiet and clamp my mouth shut.

"Your all-time favorite?" Blake asks, arching his eyebrow. "Well, what else do you listen to?"

My mouth feels dry and I can't pull away from his intense gaze. "Mostly stuff from the 90s," I mumble, wanting to elaborate but decide to stay quiet. Great. Someone might actually have the same taste in music as me but he's part of Cynthia's crew. Blake's eyes widen slightly and his guarded look falls away but only for a second. As soon as he opens his mouth to respond, his phone buzzes and he frowns.

"Perfect," he mutters.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"I thought Josh wasn't going to have the party this year," he answers, his eyes still glued to his phone

"What party?" I try to remember if Josh had mentioned anything to me. He didn't. I wonder if Josh's Dad had agreed to have to party at his house. It's highly unlikely.

"You don't know?" I shake my head. "Josh throws this back to school party every year. It's this Friday." He looks up from his phone and gives me a confused look. "Don't you live with them?"

"Yeah, I do." I keep my mouth shut after that and check the time again. A wave of silence falls over us and I feel nervous. Not wanting the silence to swallow me whole I ask, "So what are you doing here?" It's a stupid question, one that I personally wouldn't even answer myself but there is something about Blake that puts me on the edge. A girl pulls open the door to the adjoining office and nods at us before she leaves the tiny space.