Swell (Complete)

Chapter Ten(Part Two)

Will, Brett and Kurt looked up to the music room door as Adora stepped into the room.
"How did your study go?" Brett asked as she moved over and put her bag on one of the classroom tables.
"It went well." She smiled.
"Safely hidden away?"
She coughed to clear her throat and started to set up the microphone. "Yea."
Will looked from Brett to Adora with a frown. "Hidden away?"
"She got a love card from your brother in her locker." Brett chuckled.
Will raised his eyebrows and then grimaced at Adora. "That would be why he was so excited about coming early this morning."

Adora sat on the table, holding the microphone in her lap and let her shoulders slump. "Will, how long is he likely to keep trying?"
Will shook his head and shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I can try and have a chat to him though. It really makes you uncomfortable doesn't it?"
"So much." Adora's eyes had hints of guilt and sadness in them. Brett tried not to stare at her black lashes framing them.
He looked down to his guitar and started to pluck one of the introduction riffs to a song.
"I'll have a chat to him and see if I can get him to lay off." Will nodded, then joining in with Brett.
"Thanks." Adora switched the microphone on and the hum from the amplifier filled the room.
This was how Brett liked to be; he enjoyed having another male friend to talk to about music. He couldn't always get through Will's distance; the new guy always had some far off look about him, as if he was still lost in his old town.
Kurt's drums kicked the verse into its beginning and the only absence that was noticed was the violinist.

Rae had gone home sick at recess. Adora's voice rose above the guitarists and Brett closed his eyes to let the sound sink into his bones.
Her melodies had always been one of his favourite sounds, and listening to them develop while they wrote songs together had been the highlights of his life.
He hated thinking that Tom was making her so uncomfortable with his affections. If Will's talk didn't turn Tom off, Brett mentally made a resolve to have his own talk with the over-confident young man.
Perhaps if Brett confessed his feelings to Tom it would make his friend realise he needed to stop. It made Brett wonder what it would be like if he told Adora, finally, how he felt.
Would she feel awkward about his feelings ruining their friendship or would she feel happy to know the truth considering how well they got along?
He opened his eyes to watch his lifelong friend begin the bridge lyrics. Her face expressed every word in the lines, her hand lifted and pulled the microphone with her voice's volume and his heart ached knowing that she could go so far in the music world if she dreamt it.
She was beautiful and talented, people and record labels would love her, but she had no idea, and she had other dreams.
Youth working, those ambitions were her driving force, especially once her father passed and she had fallen into the grief trap.
Brett felt the end of the song in his fingertips, but he didn't want it to stop. He looked down on the strings of his electric guitar, watching them shimmer through their vibrations and seeing them slow with his fingers as they wound the song down to its end.
The last vocal note, long and clear always sent a shiver through his spine.
Most of him wished that Adora would realise how amazing she was, but there was a part that hoped she always remained naïve and innocent. There was something so addictive about her sweetness, and he was sure that was why Tom was trying to convince her to go out with him again.
Brett of all people understood how hard it was to want her.
Adora was oblivious.
Brett wasn't even sure if Adora was interested in a relationship.
"So, have we got a time and playlist for the dance yet?" Kurt idly spun a drumstick around in his fingers.
"The dance?" Will frowned.
"Yea, we might be taking the stage for a bit of the entertainment while the DJ has a break. But it's not entirely confirmed yet." Kurt put the drumstick down on one of the skins and stood up to do some arm stretches.
"Oh."
"Isn't Rae the best person to check on that?" Adora asked.
"Well, you're cousin is the principal..." Kurt smirked.
"Yea, but he doesn't have much to do with the actual planning of the dance, he does have an entire high school to run." Adora pointed out with a laugh.
Oh that laugh...
"If it's for a DJ break, maybe we can plan for half an hour of stage time and go from there?" Brett suggested.
"Right, sounds decent enough for now." Kurt sat back down on the drum stool and started to twirl a stick again. "Let's go Linkin!" He started an excited drumbeat and Brett grinned as he started some heavy picking.
Tom sat in the car after school, his eyes watching the bike rack; the light blue bike with its wicker basket.
Adora had managed to hide from him all day and he'd decided not to pester her phone with text messages. He wanted to know how she had taken his card. He wanted to know how she had thought about him, how she had dreamt of him, how she had imagined him.
A smile lifted the corners of his lips and he let go of a deep breath.
Tomorrow would be the true declaration.
Not just another card in her locker, but little gifts, little gestures to show her that he was better than her cousin.