Raise Your Voice [lrh] (EDITING)

thirteen

When I arrived home from school that day, Tina was sitting on the couch, her hair wrapped in a scarf and eating chocolate while watching old Marilyn Monroe movies. I sighed and made my way to the kitchen in attempt to start dinner but Tina called after me.

"Eleanor, hon. This came in the mail for you. It's from that music school you applied for. You didn't make it honey..." Tina said, giving me a sympathetic pout.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

"I-it's okay." I respond, my voice cracking as I try to hide my anger.

How could this happen? I was more than eligible to attend, and I wanted this more than anything. But, I swallowed the air I was holding and proceeded towards the kitchen to start cooking dinner for Tina and the twins.

Three hours and one whole honey brown ham later, I serve dinner and then take mine to my room to eat alone and sulk in my sadness. I take my time eating, watching old music videos of my mom, then some One Direction videos, and of course, I give into watching cat videos. There is a knock on the door and Fabian rushes in, Luke and the boys trailing behind. All of them pile on my bed and I shut my laptop furiously.

"Can I help you?" I ask, not in the mood to talk.

They all look at me with a saddened expression, Luke and Fabian both pouting their lips.

"Bean, don't act like that."

I groan and stretch my body out along the mattress, all five boys staring at me as I do so.

"I'm not doing the show case," I state, followed by gasps from everyone in the room. "there's no point."

"Ellie, you're being irrational. Why isn't there a point?" Fabian asks, the other four boys curious to know as well.

"I didn't score an audition date. I sent in the application and all that good stuff, but I guess they didn't want me. It's honestly okay, though. I can go to a community school, get my degree in music education, whatever."

The five boys look at me with a sad expression.

"Plus, I already told Serena I'd sing for her." I mentioned and Ashton, Michael and Calum's jaw dropped.

"Wait, Serena Briggs' voice is yours?" Michael asked.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" I grumbled.

We sat there in silence, well not complete silence, since I started my playlist on my computer. Fabian got up and reached for one of the two acoustic guitars in my room and then sat back down at the edge of my bed and started to pick scales.

We all sat there like that for a while; Fabian and Luke sat next to me, playing my guitars. Ashton was on his phone texting, Calum passed out on the chaise lounge across from my bed, and Michael was scribbling into my notepad. It was nice, and even though I wasn't quite fond of Luke's friends, it was nice to see them be nice for once.

Luke suddenly stopped playing and looked at me like he just had the best idea.

"GUYS." He screamed, waking Calum up.

We all focused our attention to Luke, who sat there smiling. Everyone came and sat on the edge of my bed, waiting for Luke to get on with his thought.

"Have Serena sing the song I wrote for you. I'll duet with her, you. It will be awesome, but don't worry, I've got a plan for the rest."

I chuckled, "I wasn't worrying until now."

"If you'll excuse me, I've got to use the bathroom." Fabian mumbled as he left the band and I alone.