Recognized Nobody

Prologue

I've been planning to tell the guys that I want to take a break for weeks now, but I'm still scared on how they would react. I've been talking to our manager and he already gave me the okay to take a break. I start approaching the room that the guys are in so that I can tell them the news. I step inside and I hear them singing a new song that we made a while back.

"Hey Zach! Hurry up your part is coming." Jack yells with excitement.

Jonah gets up and pulls my arm, "Come on!" He laughs.

He pulls me over and sits me down on the stool next to Daniel playing guitar. They're all singing in harmony, but something is off. A voice. It's missing. Mine.

Corbyn puts a hand on my shoulder, "Hey why aren't you singing?"

"Yeah, come on Zach!" Daniel screams.

They all start singing again and playfully pushing me around. Jack messes up my hair and pushes my head down. They're only making it harder for me to tell them. Their voices become mumbles and my nerves only got stronger. I cover my ears, but I can still hear them. My heart rate goes up and I can feel my face heating. Everything's going blurry. I can't take it anymore. Not telling them is killing me.

"I'M LEAVING THE BAND!" I blurt out.

Everything went quiet. I can literally hear pin drops fall in that room if it were to happen. Sweat starts dripping down the sides of my face. They all look at me with stunned faces and their jaws dropped. I clear my throat, pull on the neck of my shirt, and then play with the round, silver ring on my index finger.

"You're leaving the BAND?" Daniel questions with anger.

I shake my head and hand, "No, no. I'm not leaving the band. I just want to take a break for a while." I explain.

"Okay, for how long?" Jonah raises an eyebrow.

This is the part that's hard to say. I take a long breath and look at Corbyn for safety. He's the only one who can keep these three from killing me. He nods assuring me that he has my back if things get out of hand. I look at the other three and lick my lips.

"A y-year." I stutter.

Jack's jaw drops along with Jonah's. Daniel takes his guitar off and puts it aside. He gets up and looks at me. Corbyn stands up fast and looks at Daniel. Daniel scoffs, shakes his head while rolling his eyes, and walks out of the room. He slams the door behind him. I feel my face heating up again. I run my right hand through my hair and look back at Jonah and Jack. I knew they would be disappointed, but usually Daniel says something and it's resolved right then and there. He's never walked out before. This problem is probably way too much for him to even try and attack me right now. I was shortly interrupted from my thoughts by Corbyn.

"I'm pretty sure the reason you want a break is for a good reason." Corbyn says as he puts his right hand on my left shoulder.

I nod and look down. I play with my ring once more as I chew on my lip.

"Why?" Jack asks.

I look up at him and see nothing, but concern on his face.

"Are we too much? Are you annoyed of us?" He asks with a sad tone.

I adjust myself in my seat, "No, it's not like that. There's just something I want to do." I reassure them.

"And what is that?" Jonah asks.

I look at Corbyn again, "I want to go back and finish high school."

Corbyn smiles, "See, told you. This break is for something important."

He hugs me and the other two join in on the group hug. They pat my back and mess up my hair. A room that was once filled with tension, was now filled with laughter.

Corbyn gets up, "Don't worry about Daniel. We'll talk to him. You do what you have to do." He winks at me and then looks at the boys. He motions his head over to the door, "Come on. Let's go catch up to Mr. Giraffe."