No Payne, No Gain

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

It was the day of the end of term performance, and I was nervous. Actually, that was the understatement of the century; I was terrified.

I had awoken at the break of dawn, when the sunlight spilled into my dorm, through the thin curtains. And, of course, being back in my dorm also meant Beatrice. I had hoped that over the time I was away she might have gotten nice, but obviously, that was wishful thinking. Plus, I automatically disliked because she was going out with my Liam, but I supposed that was a given.

Sitting up on the soft covers of my bed, I grabbed my guitar from its case, where it was standing next to my bedside table. Strumming softly, I went over the song. I focused on my singing, as that was all I would be doing in the performance, because Ellie would be on piano.

As I finished the song, I felt proud; I had managed to play the whole song with no faults. I smiled down at my trusty guitar, caressing it slightly.

“Why the hell are you stroking your guitar?!”

My head snapped up to see Barbie sitting up in her bed; from the messiness of her hair, I guessed she had just woken up.

“Hey, Bea,” I said, smiling politely.

She yawned, stretching her arms. “Hi,” she replied, accepting that I had called her by the nickname I wasn’t aloud to use.

I hoped she wasn’t going soft. I didn’t think I could take it if she was sweet, as well as pretty, because then there would be no reason for me to dislike. Well, apart from the beautiful guy she could call hers. I sighed, and got up.

This was gonna be a long day.

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

The day had gone in a blur, and the time for the show came up way too quickly.

I was wearing a tight, long-sleeved, sky blue dress, decorated with dark blue glitter on the shoulders. Putting the finishing touches of make-up, I heard Ellie knock on the door. As Beatrice had gone early for some reason or another, I went to open the door, pulling at the hem of my dress.

I opened the door with a grin on my face. “Hey!”

“Hello, babe.” She grinned, before noticing my outfit. “Damn, girl, you look fine!”

I blushed, trying again to pull my dress down further. “Is it too short?”

“Nope, it’s perfect” she replied happily. “Liam’s not gonna be able to control himself…”

“What?” I asked, suddenly alert at his name.

“Don’t worry.” She said with a smile. “We better go.”

I nodded, following her out of the door.

Once we arrived, we were shown backstage. The space was in semi-darkness, filled with students cluttered around the room. Suddenly, a familiar blonde head of hair ran past – Beatrice?

Before I could think further about it, Ellie waved at someone, before turning back and grabbing my arm and dragging me forwards. Looking down to make sure I didn’t trip, I followed after her.

“Hey Liam!” she chirped, as I stopped dead in my tracks.

Looking up, I came face-to-face with, not only Liam, his four other gorgeous band mates.

Oh fuck.

---------

After I had stormed off, being to confused to function, Ellie had found me sobbing in the bathroom.