Living for the Music

When I got to science, my high had been slightly dampened by a long, boring history lecture. But science was one subject I knew I could be happy in. My two best boys were here with me – what could go wrong?

I took a deep breath as Seth walked into the room. I slowly opened my notebook to the page with the lyrics on it. “Here,” I said quietly, pushing it towards him.

Seth glanced between me and the notebook. “You sure?”

I shrugged. “If you want to see the new lyrics. I mean, you don’t have to…”

I reached out to take it back, but Seth grabbed the notebook before I could touch it. “I want to,” he groaned. “God, you always make me regret what I say.”

I shot him a quick smile. “Sorry.”

Aaron had his eyes glued to the notebook. He slowly raised them up to meet my own eyes. “You’re letting him read it?”

I squirmed awkwardly. “Just one thing… the song we’ve been working on.”

“Can I read it?” Aaron asked.

I bit my lip, staring at the lyrics as if they would give me all the answers. “I thought so,” he finished.

I knew that tone of voice. I started mentally preparing myself for what was going to happen later. Seth was watching us with a curious look in his eye and I forced myself to not respond to my boyfriend. Instead, I looked past him to Seth.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Honestly.”

“It’s good,” he agreed. “I want to hear it, obviously, but it’s definitely got potential.”

I nodded happily, trying to ignore Aaron’s dark presence next to me. The rest of the class couldn’t go fast enough. I could tell Aaron was pissed, but I didn’t want Seth to notice anything amiss. He couldn’t be oblivious to the tension between us – after all, he did have a 4.0 GPA – but hopefully he wouldn’t read too much into it.

When the bell rang, Aaron breezed out of the room, not even glancing at me. Seth shot me a confused glance. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, pretending to be oblivious.

“Well, I thought you guys were getting along. I mean, did you… is he mad at you?”

I shrugged. “He has mood swings,” I offered. “He’ll get over it.”

Seth kept the confused look on his face but didn’t say anything else. He followed me down to the second floor, where my locker was. Aaron was already waiting for me, backpack slung over his shoulder.

“I’ll give Sophia a ride,” he told Seth, effectively dismissing him. Seth glanced at me for confirmation and I gave him a quick nod.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I added.

“Well… call me, okay? If you need anything.”

“She has me,” Aaron interrupted. “She doesn’t need anybody else.”

I rolled my eyes at Seth. “I’ll let you know,” I promised.

He nodded before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning around. I watched him walk away from us, feeling my heart break a little for him. This was one part of my life he could never know about.