Voices • Jack Avery

13 • Recording

Third Person Point of View

Alex ran inside the recording studio, slightly out of breath. She had woken up late and was now running behind. "I am so sorry, it's been a really crazy morning" she breathed out as she arrived next to Jack. 

Sam, the producer, simply nodded in understanding, but Jack didn't stop staring at her, not able to say anything. Apparently London's plan had worked, but Alex didn't even seem to realise. She never noticed the boy's stares. Instead, she smiled and greeted him.

The sound of Alex's voice seemed to snap Jack out of his transe. "Uh, hey" he said, shaking his head. He began to blush and averted his gaze to the floor, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Alright you two, let's get this started. Who wants to go first?" Sam said through the speaker, bringing both of their attentions to the glass separating them. Alex looked to Jack, not knowing if he wanted to go first or not.

"I will" he said, running a hand through his curls. Alex nodded and walked out to join Sam, taking a seat on the couch opposite the window so she could watch. "Okay, we'll start off recording each of your sections. Then we'll work on the choruses you guys sing together and the bridge. When that's done, we'll do the backing vocals and harmonies" Sam explained.

Alex and Jack both nodded in understanding, preparing themselves for the long day ahead. Before long, Jack had begun recording the second verse. Alex watched in admiration. She had seen how much Jack loved to sing, but something was different this time.

It was as if recording a song was more special for him. There was a constant smile on his face, one unlike any she had seen from him before. His eyes were closed the entire time out of concentration, but on the very last line, he opened them. His eyes instantly met with Alex's, drawing her in. She couldn't help but smile brightly at him.

Soon enough, it was Alex's turn. As she positioned herself in front of the microphone - with Jack now sitting in her former place. She took in a deep breath to psych herself up before sending a thumbs up to Sam.

The second the music started, Alex was transported to her own world. She smiled as her eyes automatically fluttered closed as they always did when she recorded.

Recording a new song was always much more intimate than performing live for Alex; she was vulnerable. This was when her vocals were most raw since she had nothing to support them.

Alex's eyes were shut tight as she hit a high note perfectly with ease. Because of this, she never even noticed Jack staring at her in complete awe. He had never seen someone hit a note that high so perfectly in one take.

Alex smiled shyly when her eyes finally opened again, slowly returning to reality. "That was perfect. I don't think we even need to do a retake. Jack, get in there" Sam said, looking to Jack.

Alex smiled awkwardly as Jack stood at the microphone opposite her. Both of them began to blush at each other, but they each began to relax as the music filled their ears.

For some reason, neither of them closed their eyes like they usually did when singing. Something about the song - whether it was the lyrics or how passionately they were singing it - made it impossible for them take their eyes off of each other.

As the song ended, they both smiled at each other. They didn't say anything to each other, but they didn't need to. It was only when Sam called through the speaker, giving them instructions on what to do next, that they tore their gaze away from each other.

Many recording sessions later, they had finally finished as Sam thought he had gotten what he needed. Alex sighed in relief as she collapsed onto the couch next to Jack. As she rested her head on his shoulder, he tensed slightly but quickly relaxed before she would notice.

"Okay, we still have about an hour left so I think we should brainstorm a few ideas" Sam said, dragging a chair over to sit across from them. Alex and Jack both frowned slightly in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Ideas for what?" Jack eventually asked. Sam looked at him like he was crazy for not knowing. "The music video" he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Alex's eyes widened slightly in shock, not realising they were actually going to make a music vudeo.

"Wait, John was serious about that?" she said in disbelief. Sam nodded, taking out a pen and paper. "Okay, I have a few ideas I wanna run by both of you guys, but feel free to stop me at any point or throw in suggestions" he continued.

Alex nodded hesitantly, knowing there was no way she'd ever come up with an original idea. She may be able to write endless amounts of song lyrics, but music videos were too far out of her comfort zone to ever attempt.

"Okay, well obviously you guys have to be in love for this" Sam stated bluntly. Jack instantly started choking on air as he heard this and Alex looked at him with concern, patting him on the back to help him recover.

"Anyway, I think we should keep it simplistic since the song is so powerful" Sam continued. Alex nodded her head, completely agreeing with what Sam was saying. The reason she always sang that song at the piano was because of how beautiful it was when it was raw.

"So, at the beginning I'm thinking you guys are back-to-back signing but I want to somehow transtion that into an almost contemporary dance. It'd be very basic, obviously since you guys aren't dancers" Sam explained, getting more and more excited by the encouragement Alex was giving him.

After about an hour of discussing, Sam finally decided to let them go, figuring they needed the rest after the long day. Alex took in a deep breath of fresh air the second they were outside, allowing it to fill her lungs and wake her up more.

"Hey Alex" Jack called after her as she began to walk to London's car since she had come to pick her up. Alex turned around to face Jack, smiling at him slightly. She couldn't help but notice how the wind blew his curls back out of his face so they were no longer hiding him from her.

"I just wanted to say you were really good today" he stated. Alex smiled even brighter at this, both of them unable to break eye contact once again. "So were you" she replied honestly.

The two of them stood there a little longer, staring into each other's eyes. Alex didn't understand the urge she had to never look away and to just get lost in the endless sea of dark brown.

After about a minute or so, they seemed to notice they had been staring at each other. Jack instantly turned his gaze to the floor in an attempt to hide his blush while Alex turned to look back at London who was smirking from the driver's seat.

"I should, uh, get going" Alex stated, gesturing to London's car. Jack nodded, grateful for a way out of the awkward situation. Alex walked backwards slowly, still watching Jack, before turning around and walking to the car.

When she got in, she instantly released a breath she didn't know she was holding while she questioned what had just happened. Of course, London started questioning her immediately, but Alex ignored it. Instead, she sat in silence and smiled, remembering everything that had happened that day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N Completely irrelevant but I was ice skating today (fell on my ass twice lmao) and one of the supervisors looked exactly like Jonah it was so weird

Ily all <3