Our Symphony

10 || tear

TEN || TEAR

My head throbs the next morning. The moment I stand from my bed, blood rushes to my head and I wobble. I hear a loud scoff and whip my head to glare at Lin. "What?"

She makes no effort to hide her smug. "You look positively horrible."

I roll my eyes, trying to remember the events from last night. I was drunk - that is for sure. I did some things that I cannot clearly recall, though I know that it somehow involved Beckett and Karen. Did I do anything stupid? I knock my frustratedly head a few times, but no memory from last night returns. I'd always had a low tolerance for alcohol, and last night was the perfect example of that. All I can remember is feeling depressed from the whole audition-day thing and going to Kieran's party.

I rummage through my head all the way through breakfast and getting ready for school, but no matter how hard I try, my memories are hazy. My mother served me some hangover soup – how she found out about last night, I don't know.

I pull Karen aside the moment I reach school. Once I determine that we are out of earshot from anyone nearby, I ask, "What happened yesterday?"

Karen raises her eyebrows. "A lot of things. Do you remember any of it?"

I shake my head, her answer making me feel even more perplexed. "All I remember is drinking more than five shots of alcohol and then getting really, really drunk."

"Yeah, well, you're right about that," she nods. I expect her to elaborate, but she does not, and my head is still throbbing too much for me to push for more details. I just pray that I did not do anything that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

We take our usual place in the lecture hall and Beckett sits behind us a few minutes before Mr Jensen walks in to address our year. At the end of his usual announcements, he adds that we will all be going on a hiking trip in two weeks, which stirs up an immediate reaction from the students. I groan at the same time that Karen punches the air in excitement. I am not the outdoor-type of person; I prefer lying in my bed, under my duvet, reading a book, or baking, or watching DIY videos, or just sitting at my bay window watching the droplets of water fall on a rainy day... or, you know, practising.

"Why that long face, Min? I love hiking." Beckett leans forward, ruffling mine and Karen's hair.

"Kimberly hates the outdoors," Karen answers for me, giving me a disapproving look. "She never goes for these stuff unless she's forced to."

"Why?"

"It's just..." I shudder as the images of walking through trees and bushes fill my head. "Bugs, and, like, I don't know. Other stuff. I'd rather stay at home."

"Well, you're going to change your mind after this. The three of us are going to have so much fun!" Beckett says enthusiastically, while Karen nods along. For what feels like the millionth time this month, I roll my eyes.

We make our way to their cafeteria, Karen and Beckett exchanging their memories of their outdoor experiences. Karen brings up the memory of the one time that our families went trekking.

"So halfway up the mountain we had to stop because Kimberly needed to pee, and because there were no toilets around she had to squat underneath the bushes to do it. But as she was doing it, an ant appeared in her line of vision and she screamed so loud everyone got a shock, then she burst out crying, and after that she never once peed again for the rest of the journey up and down." Karen finishes. I throw her a glare and look up to see Beckett's reaction to that, expecting him to laugh at how silly it sounds. It happened years ago, after all, and even though I still hate the outdoors, I admit that I might have overreacted a little. However, even though Beckett doesn't try to hide his smile, he makes an effort to keep in his laughter, which surprises me.