The Middle | ✔️

Chapter 53

Jamie

Classes today weren't great. I walked around campus on eggshells, terrified at the prospect of bumping into Noah. I didn't though, thank god. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he ditched today. He hasn't text me, and I haven't text him. I did enough talking last night. The ball is officially in his court. Well, unless I don't hear from him by next week. We do need to do this fucking assignment before the end of the semester, after all.

The guys agreed to play at the Grill tonight instead of signing up to the Open Mic tomorrow night, and Reggie was more than happy to oblige. However, the minute we walked into the Grill through the back with our instruments, I was faced with another potential problem of mine. One I have firmly put on hold over the past few days.

I was standing backstage, tuning my guitar, when I felt a pair of hands grab me by the waist from behind. I jumped out of my skin and spun around, preparing to shout at whatever creep thought it was okay to put his hands on me. That creep, was Shaun Campbell. He grinned at me, winked at me, then he was gone. And now I'm standing here like an idiot, wondering when the hell my love life (or lack thereof) got so complicated.

"Beer?" Joel asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Fuck yes." He laughs at me, and we make our way off of the stage and on to the main floor of the Grill.

Patrick and Jay are talking to some guys by the bar, so I sit down at a table with Joel. The other two will get the drinks. I look around, and immediately my heart sinks when I spot Noah on the top level of the Grill. Seeing him smiling is a shock to the system, particularly after the way his face was contorted into a look of sheer horror when I saw him last. But, I'm most surprised at who he's talking to. Madison Hudson's quirky minion Zoe, and her semi-secret girlfriend, Zara. Zara Campbell. Shaun's little sister. Fuck my life.

Bryan Dawson, Max Coull and Shaun Campbell have finished setting up on stage, they're about to start playing. I look over at the stage, and Shaun smiles at me knowingly. This is a complete disaster. What did I do to deserve this? The whole reason I wanted to play tonight instead of tomorrow was in the hopes of avoiding Noah. I didn't wanna come here tonight to be faced by Noah and Shaun. Kill me now!

"Joel, is it too late for us to bail?" I ask Joel, and he looks at me with concern. I know the colour has completely left my face.

"Um, I guess not. What's up?"

I nod my head towards the upper level, and he looks over. He notices Noah, and he understands.

"Fuck, I didn't think he'd be here on a Wednesday night." Joel comments. Yeah, neither did I.

"He's talking to Shaun Campbell's sister and her girlfriend." Jay contributes, as he and Patrick join us with a pitcher of beer and four cups. "No sign of Will or any of his friends, I think he's with those girls."

"Jesus Christ, more assholes from High School that Noah has befriended." I drop my head into my hands. I just wanna leave.

"Let's go. We don't need to play. Reggie will be cool." Patrick says evenly.

"No, you guys paid for that beer. Lets just drink it quickly, then we can fuck off." Shaun's band have started playing now. Okay, this is good. Shaun is busy on stage, Noah hasn't noticed me yet. We can slip out the back while Shaun is occupied on stage. Neither of them have to talk to me. This isn't that bad.

"I don't care about the money, lets just leave." Jay says flippantly.

"Hey, we're not all made of money, dude." Patrick downs a cup full of beer in one, and I laugh. "Good to see you laughing, I was starting to think you'd forgotten how." He smiles at me, and I feel better.

"Okay, first one to empty their cup wins." I say, refilling Patrick's cup.

"What do we win?" Joel asks with a smile.

"I don't know, bragging rights? Go!" I pick up my cup quickly and down the contents. But I still lose. The guys have bigger mouths than me, and more practice drinking beer. Unfair.

"Again." I say, pouring out four more half-cups, and finishing the pitcher.

We down our beers again, and we're good to go. Thank god. We get up from the table, and I chance one last look over at Noah. He still looks happy, and I'm confident that he hasn't seen me. Win.

We head backstage via the lobby rather than the stage steps, since Shaun is performing with his band. As we walk back stage, Patrick points out how much better a drummer he is than Shaun, yeah, yeah, we know. And Jay points out that Bryan Dawson would probably be a better guitarist if he weren't so high all the time. No shit, Jay. I barely even register that the music has stopped, because their song is done. They'll play more than one song though, people usually do when it's not an Open Mic night.

I'm wrong, because the moment I pick up my guitar I had left backstage, a familiar voice addresses me.

"Leaving so soon?" I straighten up, guitar in hand, and meet Shaun Campbell's eyes.

"Yeah, we're not feeling it tonight. The music so far has sucked, so..."

He laughs, my rude comment doesn't bother him at all. "I thought maybe you were leaving because of me."

He folds his arms across his chest and eyes me, a cheeky smile spreading across his face.

"Please, don't flatter yourself." I mutter.

"I'm not!" He exclaims. "I thought I creeped you out or something. You know, because I told you I get hard every time I see you playing a guitar."

He says this like it's the most normal thing in the world. His confidence is so fucking off putting. I think? It stirred something in me. What that is, I'm not so sure. I look down at the guitar in my hands, then back up at Shaun. He's grinning at me. So fucking sure of himself. I glance over my shoulder and see that Jay and Joel are talking to Reggie, Patrick is no where to be seen. Fuck it. I position my fingers and play a simple melody on my guitar (I'm not plugged in, only me and Shaun can hear this). I look him in the eye for a few seconds, before pointedly looking down at his crotch. He is not hard. He's so full of shit. Either that, or he has a tiny dick.

"You're so feisty." He says, looking me up and down, his grin widening. "I really think I've met my match with you. Seriously, we would be amazing together. I can just tell."

I stop playing instantly. I was trying to make him falter, not build his ego up even more. I roll my eyes. "Leave me alone, please, Shaun."

"What's holding you back? That Noah guy you were going on about at the beach? Or the other guy, Will?"

I glare at him. It's none of his business. But, I did tell him about it. He didn't pry at all. I wish I could control my motor mouth sometimes.

"You're single. Whatever's going on with you and other guys doesn't matter. We can fuck if you want to. Whenever you feel like it. It's never gonna be off the table with me. Just so you know."

His eyes sweep over me appreciatively one last time, before he turns and walks off without another word. I stare after him for about 5 seconds, before I shake my head and snap myself out of it. I can't deal with Shaun Campbell's mission to sleep with me right now. I have bigger problems.

"Guys, lets go!" I yell at my boys, before heading out the back exit without another look back.