Lounsbury Prep

Zayn had never before sung seriously in his life. Sure, he’d hummed a tune in the shower here and there and blared music in his car as he drove down the street late at night, screaming the words at the top of his lungs. But Glee Club was a real thing, a competition group, and they needed good singers. Which Zayn was not, as far as he knew.

“Oh, wait, do we have to make him audition?” Niall mused, narrowing his eyes at the boy. “Isn’t that the official thing?”

“Right then,” Liam nodded. “Sing something for us.”

Zayn’s amber eyes peeked over at the boy called Louis, who was watching him with a sort of curiosity, just as if he were a man rambling on in public and making a right fool of himself. He tore his eyes away, hoping Louis hadn’t noticed his wandering gaze, before clearing his throat. “But I have no idea what to sing.”

“Just sing anything. What kind of music do you like?”

“Um, mostly R&B,” he answered self-consciously. He knew most guys liked rap or rock or something like that, but he just loved the way R&B artists had smooth tones to their voices, and their lyrics were catchy and, at times, romantic. And since Zayn’s love life had always been a bit of a disaster, due to his somewhat secret sexual orientation, he loved to live his life through the songs, pretending those beautiful things were happening to him.

“Sick,” Harry commented with a nod of approval. “So sing some Ne-Yo or Robin Thicke or something.”

Zayn bit his bottom lip, a nervous habit that he’d never been able to quit, running through a list of songs in his head. He knew he was decent enough at matching notes, but would he be able to do it without any kind of music in the background?

He guessed he would find out.

Taking a deep breath and scrambling to remember the words, he started to sing Let Me Love You, an old Mario song that he’d always held near and dear to his heart, mostly for the sentimental value. The entire time, his eyes were locked on the wooden planks of the stage underneath him, not having the confidence level to look up at the other boys that were staring at him.

Once he got through the first chorus, Zayn flicked his eyes up toward the group, trying to read their faces. All of their expressions showed shock, but he had no idea whether it was positive or negative.

“Holy fuck,” Louis exclaimed, his blue eyes wide as he stared at the newcomer from Bradford. “Your voice is, like…”

“It’s incredible,” Harry finished. “Have you seriously never had any voice lessons?”

“No,” Zayn replied, fighting to keep from biting his lip. He kept telling himself that he had to look calm and collected. There was no reason a small group of boys his age should make him uncomfortable or anxious. “I just, um, sing to my iPod and stuff.”

“That’s bloody incredible,” Liam mused, shaking his head. “I don’t even think we have to take a vote. He’s in, right?”

“Right,” the other boys chorused.

“And I think we’ve found a new soloist,” Niall chimed in. “His voice is way better than mine or Louis’.”

“Hey,” Louis defended with a laugh. “Speak for yourself, Nialler.”

Zayn watched the two of them bicker back and forth and swallowed in order to keep himself from arguing. Based on looks alone, since he’d never heard Louis sing, he figured that the boy would be an excellent vocalist. He could just imagine how smooth his tone would sound, slightly higher in pitch, melodic like his voice.

While the other boys started to brainstorm song choices, Zayn bit the inside of his lip as a form of demented, hidden punishment. He hated his ability to become smitten so easily. It had led to heartbreak before, when he’d kept his eyes on guys who ended up being straight and were just getting close to him to get to his older sister. And he had promised his parents that he wouldn’t even so much as glance at the other boys in the school. There was no official supervision, nobody to keep tabs on what he was doing with his time.

“Zayn!” Harry snapped, clapping in front of the Pakistani boy’s face. “Anyone home?”

Zayn blinked back to life, ignoring the flush that started to invade his face. “Sorry?”

“Do you have any ideas for the set list?” He turned and pointed to the whiteboard harshly, sending little thumping sounds across the stage. “You’ve been sitting there, quiet as a…rock.”

“A rock?” Liam snorted, shaking his head. “Nice analogy.”

“Shut up.” An eraser was sent flying through the air, and Liam narrowly dodged the thing before it clapped against his head and got marker dust all over his face. “So, Zayn, ideas?”

The other four boys watched him expectantly, clearly waiting for some brilliant suggestion to come from his full lips. But instead, all they got was a, “No, not really.”

Harry groaned loudly while Liam turned around and said, “C’mon, Zayn. Anything. Pull something out of that R&B love, if you want.”

“I don’t know!” Zayn laughed, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was staring at him, and it was making him nervous. “I don’t even know what songs you guys know.”

“I don’t like him anymore,” Niall joked, shaking his head slowly.

Zayn, unable to tell whether the blonde was kidding or not, felt his face start to fill with a blush.

“So far,” Harry voiced, ignoring Niall’s comment, “we have Come Together by The Beatles, How to Save a Life by The Fray, 99 Problems by Jay-Z, and Home by Michael Bublé.”

“Which basically means we have the shittiest, weirdest set-list in the history of glee club,” Louis laughed. “We’re going to have to pick a genre of music and stick with it.”

“Good point,” Harry mused, tapping the marker against his mouth as he assessed the options. “Okay, so 99 Problems is out, since we’re clearly not rappers.”

“I think we should focus in on the soft rock thing,” Zayn voiced abruptly. “Like The Fray. I just think it’ll agree with us more, and we’ll be able to sing it better.” And that really was what Zayn thought. He wasn’t just saying it because Louis had been the one to suggest the popular hit.

“Zayn’s right. I agree with him completely.” Right when the word’s left Louis’ thin lips, he turned to smile at the new boy, who reciprocated with a grin that was a little too goofy to avoid attracting attention.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Niall agreed, though slightly begrudgingly. His tone confused Zayn, since he figured Niall would have to know deep down that none of their voices were deep enough to pull off a Michael Bublé number.

“Okay, great.” Harry turned around and erased every little bit of the board besides How to Save a Life. “So what else could expand on this?”

Zayn started to nibble on his lip anxiously, his eyes locked on the floor of the stage. He’d given his two-bits, and he had no desire to say anything else. Plus, he wasn’t even sure what went with The Fray.

“Maybe we should do research tonight,” Louis suggested. “And we should definitely try to find songs that have a faster beat. We don’t want the audience falling asleep.”

“Sounds good,” Harry confirmed. “So this meeting of Glee Club has been adjourned. See you guys tomorrow.”

As Zayn got to his feet, he could feel his stomach sinking. Although he’d been hesitant to go to Glee Club, he realized that it was much better than doing homework. But since it was over, he had no choice but to do the work he’d been forced to put aside.