She Looks So Perfect

Chapter Seven

Luke's POV

Michael and I were sitting in class, waiting for the bell to sound the end of class. We were on opposite sides of the room, and I needed to talk to him.

I knew he played guitar, and I knew he had a friend that also played guitar. I'd been making videos and posting them to YouTube, hoping someone with a record label would notice me, and give me a chance. I wouldn't say that I was a good singer, but I could carry a tune. I was a bit awkward behind the camera as well. But with two other guitarists, two other minds that could possibly write music, we could get somewhere.

The bell rang, and I hurried to the door, making sure to beat Michael there, "Hey, you're Michael, right?" I mean, I knew his name, but I didn't want to seem like some psycho creep.

"Yeah?" He said, putting his bag onto his arm. I started walking towards the hall, in hopes that he would follow me; he didn't. I huffed, about to call out to him, as he met some friends on the other side of the walkway; I decided against that. Maybe I'd try again soon.

The next day, I happened to pass him and the other guy in the hall. It was a perfect opportunity, talking to them together. I would ask if they wanted to come to my house, practice a little, and maybe join in on a video or two. They would say yes and we would become famous. The end. But as they passed, Michael acknowledged me, "Hey, man," he said, and I waved.

He was about to pass by, but then he turned back to me, his friend stopping as well, "Don't you play guitar or something?" He asked. I smiled, and nodded, "Are you good?"

"Well I mean, I've been playing for like six years so..."

"You should play for us sometime. This is Calum," he gestured to the mystery friend.

"I'm Luke," I said, not even knowing whether they knew that or not. Calum nodded, as they walked passed. I smiled again, knowing that this could be the start of something great.

As the day went on, I got more and more eccentric. I was going to play guitar for Michael and Calum "sometime" and that could be any day now. I was so excited, I nearly didn't hear the teacher call on me. I blushed and made up an answer, but it, of course, was wrong.

~

Two weeks later and I still hadn't heard anything from Michael. I decided that after that class ended, I would approach him again, and set up a time. I would tell them to come to my house and bring their guitars.

The bell rang and I hopped over to Michael's desk, "Michael," I said, maybe a little too happily. He looked up from his worksheet, his eyes wide as I towered above him, "When am I going to play for you and Calum?"

"Oh yeah, uh, why not tonight? Are you free tonight?" He slid his papers into his bag.

"Yeah, actually, you guys should come to my house and bring your guitars."

He was silent for a moment before saying, "Sure, I think that could be arranged." Once again, I knew this was a good idea.

~

It was time for Michael and Calum to be at my house. It was a bit awkward, sitting in the living room with my mum waiting for them to show up. I didn't bring many friends home, and this embarrassed me, "Are you sure they said tonight?" she asked. I rolled my eyes, "Yes, mum, they said tonight. I talked to him this morning."

She went to the kitchen, and as she did, they arrived. The parade of two marched through the house, and into my room. My laptop was sitting open on my YouTube page and the guitar was in the chair in front of it, "You're on YouTube?" Calum, asked, strumming the strings lightly on my guitar.

"Yeah man, I have like 300 subscribers," Calum and Michael shared a satisfied glance.

I sat in the chair, and told them to sit wherever. Once we were comfortable, we tried to find a song we all knew. Overall, we sounded nice together. We all smiled at the end of the song, never doubting the ability to swoon viewers with our talent.

~

Then came the day we discovered Ash. It was a good day for us because I had just reached 800 subscribers on YouTube. Michael and Calum started to be regulars on my channel and I kind of stopped calling it "mine". We had progressed in popularity at our school, and we started to get attention from girls. I was too awkward though, so Michael and Calum took their share.

We needed a drummer, we knew that very shortly after we started making videos together. We had asked other class mates if they played drums, or knew anyone that did. We had a couple of people in mind that did play, but people kept recruiting a boy called Ashton.

I had never heard of this boy, and I was curious as to who he was. I asked around, wondering who this mysterious drummer was, asking if anyone knew anything about him. Most people turned me away, never hearing of the name "Ashton Irwin". But the people who did know him said he truly was a good drummer.

I conversed with Michael and Calum, and we decided to hunt Ashton down. The next week at school we searched, finally asking a teacher who happened to know what class he was attending. We waited out the door for him, and asked every other boy that came out where Ashton was. Finally, we were directed to a boy with sandy curls and large dimples.

We asked if he was the drummer everyone was talking about, and he smiled. He nodded and we told him who we were, "I know who you are," he pointed to me, "I've watched your covers before. You're sick, man!" We walked him to his next class, informing him of our plans, and asking if he wanted to be apart of them. He agreed to come by and practice with us once to try it out.

~

The first practice with all of us was really strange. Michael and Calum weren't sure if they liked Ashton, and Ashton was reserved. We could all tell he was holding back with his abilities. Then, as if things needed to get worse, the power went out. I huffed, taking them to the living room where we pigged out.

"What should we do to pass time? Do you guys wanna go home and come back tomorrow?" I asked, not really wanting them to leave.

"Nah man we'll stay," Michael said, stretching out on the couch.

"Why don't we do, like, weird confessions or some shit," Calum said, the smirk on his face obvious through his voice.

I sat up and looked at him with what light shone through the windows.

We ended up on worst date confessions, "Well this one time I dated this girl that never supported my singing. She didn't think I could sing at all, and told me that I wouldn't make it anywhere, " I smiled, "But I was looking through videos people had sent me of the three of us when we played outside of the Opera House, and she was in the background, watching us play." it was silent, but I kept going, "She was never good for me, was she?" No one said anything, "Was she?" I repeated myself.

"No, mate, I don't think she was," Calum said.

We sat in silence, myself thinking about how ignorant I was to think I wanted to spend my whole life with her. By the end, I wouldn't have life, because she would have sucked it out of me. I laughed to myself, the others staring at me. Then the lights came back on.

We all got up, but decided against continuing practice.

~

Three years later, and it's heartache on the big screen.