Living for the Music

There was a moment of tense silence around the table. This was where I normally gave in, but I needed this. This was what I had been working for - what I had been living for.

“It’s okay,” Aaron sighed. “I know this is important to you. You and I can do something another time.”

I smiled gratefully, giving him a hug and a light kiss. “Thank you,” I murmured. “We’ll do something else. Promise.”

“Aww,” Nicole laughed. “You guys are so cute.”

I smiled, leaning against Aaron. I felt his arm wrap around my waist, holding me close. I had to admit it felt good to be the center of attention for once. I was used to living in the shadows – first Seth’s, then Aaron’s, and now… well, both of theirs.

“So are you going by yourself or can I tag along?” I think Nicole was teasing, but there was a bit of a serious note in her eyes.

“I can bring one person with me,” I replied easily. “Ms. Dunford suggested I bring Seth, and-”

I shut my mouth quickly, eyes widening. I hadn’t meant to say that. I hadn’t decided. I didn’t want…

“What?” Seth looked surprised. He glanced up from his food with a slightly confused look on his face.

“What?” Aaron repeated. His voice had turned cold, almost deadly. His arm tightened around my waist threateningly.

“You know, because he did the guitar on the demo so he knows what to do and that way I don’t have to try and teach someone else so then I was thinking maybe but I mean I don’t have to I was just thinking that, but I don’t-”

I forced myself to stop before I dug my hole any deeper. Nicole was laughing, but she was the only one. Seth wasn’t meeting my eyes as he picked at his food. And Aaron… well, I was afraid to look at Aaron.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Finally, I stood up, forcing Aaron to let go of me, and made my way across the room to the trash cans. I dumped my tray and added it to the huge stack before bracing myself to face the… music. Or something like that.

“Hey.” I turned to see Nicole watching me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble or anything.”

I smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. I need to learn when to stop talking.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t mean to cause tension between you and Seth.”

I shot her a sideways glance as we made our way towards the table. Me and Seth? Did she not care about Aaron? “We’ll be fine,” I shrugged. “We always are.”

She didn’t say anything as we approached our table. As I slid back into my seat, Aaron wrapped his arm around my waist again. To my surprise – and relief – he didn’t comment on the discussion at all. But I knew the conversation was far from over.