"Next." Ashton sighed and the blond girl, who'd just finished a guitar riff from Out of my limit, awkwardly made a bow and staggered out.
It was about 5 pm. We've been sitting in Ashton's garage for hours, trying to find someone who could fill in for Michael on their tour on such short notice. Most of the people that signed up were actually pretty good, but we couldn't just pick anyone to replace him. And, of course, there was always someone who wasn't impressed with the act. The most critical were by far Luke and Jenna, who, it seemed, had sky high expectations. Michael, on the other hand, was very open to everyone that came in and liked most of them. He didn't seem to mind much that he was being replaced, even for only one tour, as he thought it was what's best for the band. He was such a nice person, putting the band and his friends before himself. I, however, didn't know what to make of the situation. Like most of us, for that matter. The information was still fresh and, with college and exams on my mind, it was hard to keep focus on the auditions.
The door opened and a tall boy with colored hair and piercing blue eyes walked confidently into the room. He reminded tauntingly of Michael, with a couple of visible tattoos and an eyebrow piercing. I looked over to Luke on my left to find he seemed pretty tense. Michael, on the other hand, was wearing a wide grin and was the first to speak.
"Hello, what's your name?" he asked the tall boy.
"Joey. And I'm positive you'll like my audition. I've been practising very hard lately and I've been playing guitar ever since first grade."
"Impresive." Ashton said flatly, not, in fact, at all impressed "You must know that we need someone who can learn Michael's sheet music very quickly, in less than two weeks."
"Oh, I've already mastered most of his parts. I expect I'll follow up on the rest just as easily." Joey beamed enthusiastically "I'm a fast learner."
"Very well, the stage is all yours." Ashton said, eager to get on with things. At first, no one was too keen on Joey, exept for Michael, who seemed dazed. But as the audition dragged along, his guitar skills were not to be questioned. Joey finished and a short applause broke from Michael, Calum and Sam. Again glancing at Luke, I noticed that he was anxiously klicking with his pen and playing with the hem of his shirt. He was, along with Jenna, most against this. I fully understood him and didn't blame him the slightest bit for hoping we couldn't find a replacement. He didn't exactly tell me, but I knew him and, somtimes, I also knew what he was thinking.
"That was good, Joey, thanks." Michael grinned "We'll call you if you're picked. Next!"
And so the day scraped by, with the biggest event being discussing who'd get Michael's place on the tour. He was still going, though. He wouldn't miss it for the world. And he could still sing, so he wasn't about to be completely stopped by an unfortunate accident. Plus, the fans would love to sign his cast. The discussion, however, turned into more of an argument, with us siding with eachother against certain candidates. Joey was the unquestionable favourite, with only Luke directly standing against him. Even Ashton shrugged "Well, he's not all bad."
Around 7 pm, we'd reached our decision and, no surpsise, Joey Parks was going to get a call very soon.
---
That evening, after a rushed dinner with the others, Luke and I got home without saying a word to eachother. The atmoshpere was so tense, someone would think we were in a fight. We hung out coats on the rack and, with no words, Luke just turned on the TV and I headed for the bathroom. While washing my face, rubbing off the small amount of makeup that I'd had on all day and was already smudged, I thought about Luke. He was still very upset. His mood had nothing to do with me, true, but I didn't want to make it any worse for him. So I wondered if there was anything I could do to lift his spirits. Although, we just had pizza for dinner and, if that didn't cheer him up, I didn't know what would!
"Hey." I said in the softest tone possible, exiting the bathroom to find him on the couch "You okay?"
Luke sighed. I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind, something I liked to do and conjured up the most cheerful voice I could "I think I did great on my exam this morning. Thanks for helping me last night."
I heard him drop a faint chuckle. Moments later, he turned to face me and, after having spent all day in a bad mood, smiled "You wanna watch a movie?"
Instead of answering, I flashed a toothy grin "I picked what we watch last time, so it's your turn. Anything but horror movies." I added, thinking of how easily scared I am.
"Well now that's too bad. Because I know this great horror and you're gonna love it. If you can survive 'till the end." he smirked smugly.
"Is that a challenge?"
With that, he grinned and started searching some DVDs, while I picked up a blanket, some pillows and snacks, ready for a nice, long movie marathon.
~~~~~~~
hey guys
sorry it was short, I have a huge headache :(
love you xx
