The Academy of the Elite

My alarm wakes me up and I sit up, not feeling tired. I press the snooze button and stretch, and then walk over to the bathroom. I take a quick shower then dry off and brush my teeth. Doing a loose fish braid in my hair for a change, I finish the tip with a white bow. I leave the bathroom and walk over to my closet to choose my uniform outfit. I shrug on a red button down and tuck it into my black high-waisted skirt. Then I pull on a pair of navy blue leggings and my new pair of black oxfords. Naomi had gotten them for me as a little gift. How sweet of her. I slip on a black cardigan, wrap a baby pink scarf around my neck and finally button up a red knee-length pea coat. Wow, everything matches perfectly; except for my scarf...I should change it. I decide to take off my scarf and use a navy blue one instead. I put on a black beanie, grab my bag and I'm out the door.

Coordinating colors takes quite some time. Thank goodness the school had colors we had to go by, if not it would take forever to get ready in the morning. I sprint over to the cafeteria, my shorter pieces of hair whipping my face. It's pretty chilly out today, not too bad though. When I get to the table, I take the corner seat of the table across from Vic and Lizzy. I was also sitting next to a depressed Kellin. I'm surprised that I was not the last to get to breakfast today, score. I greet the table with a "good morning" then proceed to look through the specials list. The home fries catch my eye. I immediately call the waiter over and place my order.

"Woah, someone's in a rush to eat," Vic jokes.

"At least she wants to eat, I'm worried about Kellin, he hasn't even touched today's list," Lizzy says while eyeing him warily.

She didn't care if Kellin heard her; he was obviously in his own world anyway. Man, he must be really bummed. After a minute or two, my order comes over, and boy, am I happy. Vic and Lizzy finally order their breakfast and chat while they wait. After a while, announcements are made from the headmaster. I sip my smoothie and silently rejoice when I hear that I made it in the top five for music. I was number five of course; I'm not that great, yet. Lizzy was excited too; she had also gotten the fifth spot for theater. Classes were also going to be dismissed after our major classes due to celebration time. There was also a winter festival being held today, so I'm looking forward to that. When the first bell rings to remind us of the 10 minute mark before class, we get up and start to leave the cafeteria. As we're leaving, Lizzy pulls me back a bit to tell me something.

"Hey, I know you and Kellin aren't the best of friends-" She says while looking back at him.

"We aren't really friends at all actually," I interrupt.

"Shut up and listen to me. What I'm saying is that I know you guys may not get along, but I need you to keep an eye on him." We simultaneously turn our heads to glance at him. He was lagging behind, something not expected from him.

I groan. "Ugh, can't Vic do that? That's his best friend."

"I'm aware that Vic is his best friend, but I'm asking you to do this as a favor, from your sister, whom you love dearly." She looks back at him. "I really am worried, he's not having the best day as you can see. Please, just for today."

"I still don't get what this has to do with me, but fine." I sigh heavily and pout.

"That means that you can't make fun of him or argue with him either, okay?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"What?” I saw the pleading in her eyes and sighed. “Fine. It doesn't look like he has the energy to have a comeback anyway. Tomorrow it all goes back to normal darn it!"

"Good, now go walk with him, I'm going to catch up with Vic. Bye!" She pecks me on the cheek and runs ahead to Vic.

I stop and turn around to wait for Kellin. I had the urge to rush him, but I kept in mind what Lizzy had asked of me. I can't bother him, for now, which sucks. When he finally reaches me, he gives me a weird look.

"Were you just waiting for me?" He asks me, clearly confused.

"Yeah, I have to babysit you for Lizzy, let’s go." He didn't argue with my statement which made me upset.

I was about to lock arms with him, but I remembered that I don't like him. When we get to the music department, Lizzy kisses Vic then runs off to theater class with Roxy. Those two are inseparable. We walk in and take our seats, Vic sitting to my right and Kellin sitting behind him. I unbutton my coat and stuff my scarf into one of the sleeves, then set it on my chair. After taking out my notebook, I lean back and wait for the teacher to assign us class work. I was surprised when the headmaster came in instead. He gave us an hour long lesson, extra time added due to Jonny’s behavior. I hope Lizzy knew since she was meeting up with us later. Finally Mrs. Jones took over and class commenced as usual.

About half an hour spent on studying time signatures and note duration passes before Mrs. Jones announces that we have an end of the year project with a rough draft due next week. The assignment is to write and compose an original song that we have to perform in front of the class. She divided us into groups of four, mine being me, Jesse, Tony, and Kellin. Joy. I'm stuck with him for more time than I thought I would be. I muffled a deep sigh into my hands and rolled my eyes. I do not love the idea of this at all. Well, in order to get this project done, I guess I can manage to cooperate with him. I went back to the listening about the project.

Mrs. Jones added that out of the five total groups, she will be picking the two best performances and those two groups will perform their original song in the major show at the end of the year. That caught my attention - I love performing. I can definitely work this out with Kellin if that's what will get me on stage. When class ends, our group lingers in the classroom, not sure why since everyone else has been out of class at least twenty minutes before us. I wonder what was taking them so long. So I decided to stay too, to wait for Lizzy and the others. I move to the back row to talk to Jesse and Tony, about the project. In the middle of discussing guitar riffs, Vic abruptly gets up from his chair and turns to face Kellin.

"You kissed my girlfriend?!" He shouts angrily, his eyes glassy.

I couldn't see Kellin's expression because his back was facing me, but I had a feeling that he was upset. I felt panic set into my chest, this cannot not end well.

"No, I did not. What are you talking about?" Kellin looked up at Vic.

"Tally told me that you guys met late last night and she saw you guys kiss. What's that about?! Lizzy is mine, back off." Vic stepped closer to Kellin's desk. I stand up, getting a bad feeling about Vic's next moves.

"I didn't kiss her! I don't know why you would even listen to Tally, she's always hated Lizzy. Liz is my best friend, and my best friend's girlfriend. Do you honestly think I would do that to you?" Kellin's voice was a bit shaky, but he held his ground.

"I honestly don't know anymore, you're always with her. You might have developed feelings. Poor little Kellin needed attention so he decided to take my girlfriend from me." Vic’s hand were balled up into fist.

"Come on Vic; are you that insecure to think Lizzy would leave you for me? You always were overprotective and possessive. Why can't you just trust us?!" Kellin stands up and I take it as my cue to stop what was going on.

I rush over to Vic and try to calm him down. Who knows what these guys are capable of? Tony goes to hold back Kellin while Jack holds Vic back. Thankfully Lizzy comes in to save the day. You can tell her mood was instantly ruined when she walked in. She wore a concerned frown. She had an idea of what was going on, you could tell on her face. She mentioned to me a couple of times that Vic would get jealous if she spent too much time with Kellin instead of him. She said some words that I blocked out trying to get a hold of what just happened. Next thing you know, she gives me a look then drags Vic outside with her. Tony lets go of Kellin and retreats to the back of the room with Jesse. Kellin sits back down and sighs, rubbing his temples. I grab the chair next to him and pull it close to his.

"Are you okay?" I awkwardly lay my hands in my lap.

My initial instinct was to comfort Vic but I had to help out Kellin, I gave my word. What do I do though? Do I grab his hand in comfort? Complement him on his taste in music? I have no idea how to cheer this guy up; I mean, we're not close at all. So I have no idea what to do, man I wish Lizzy was here instead. She always made him smile.

"Yeah, I-" he hesitates. "I'm fine."

"I can't believe Tally told Vic that you kissed Lizzy, that's a total lie. Even I know you wouldn't do something like that. Lizzy likes to talk about what a good friend you are," I say, hoping that the mention of Tally's name wouldn't cause him to flip out.

"Thanks, but you don't know Vic like I do. Even if he has a feeling that it's not true, there's a slight mindset that still goes against his thinking. He will be fixated on this for weeks. It's ridiculous." He gets up from his chair and picking up his backpack, slides one arm into a strap and pushes the chair into the desk.

"Well guys," he says, looking at Jesse and Tony, "let’s go get started on this song."

"Right now?" Tony whines while getting up.

"Yes, right now. The sooner we start, the better," Kellin says, then looks at me. "Are you coming or what?"

I glare at him while getting up and picking up my bag. I push my chair in as he walks ahead and Tony follows. Jesse gets his bag and walks up to me.

"Don’t mind him; he's just snappy about the fight. Plus, the stuff with Tally." Jesse walks ahead of me, leaving me to wonder what kind of girlfriend this chick is.

"Tell me about it," I roll my eyes and walk out behind him as we follow Kellin to the studio.

When we get there, Tony and Jesse go straight to the acoustics room to choose their guitars. I lean against the door frame admiring a beautiful clear-body electric guitar. Just when I’m about to grab it, Kellin calls me from the next room. I grunt and walk over to him. He's sitting at the table that was located at the center of the room. The walls were decorated with posters of artists and records. It was pretty cool; he pats the chair next to him signaling for me to sit. I place my bag on the table and take the seat appointed to me.

"Alright, I've got a song in mind," he says while passing me a folded piece of paper. I start to open it and skim over the lyrics while he continues talking. "It's not finished, I just started last night. I guess you could fill in the spots I left blank, and the second verse, so you could get some credit. Then we just tie it in with some chords from Tony and Jesse. Easy work, right?" He waits for me to give him an answer, but I don't exactly give him the one he's looking for.

"Is this...about Tally?" I expected him at once to snap at me with a comeback like 'mind your business' or something like that. But when I look up at him, he has a downhearted expression on his face.

"Is it that obvious?" He asks, not wanting to look me in the eyes.

"Well, yeah. Vic mentioned that you weren't so happy these days. But don't worry, he didn't give me any details, just said that you and your girlfriend were having issues," I bite my lip and he looks up at me.

"Not my girlfriend anymore," he says, referring to the incomplete song.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't-" I looked down, a bit embarrassed.

"It's fine," he cuts me off. "I'll get over it, soon I hope."

He looks down at his hands, and I instantly feel bad for him. This needs to stop, Kellin and I not taunting and making fun of each other just isn't going to cut it. We need to be at each other’s throats, it’s what we do. Someone needs to find some way to cheer him up, I guess I'll ask Lizzy and Roxy later. But right now, we need to work on this project because I am not failing, and I don't want the other guys to fail either. I sigh loudly to grab his attention.

"Okay, I'll work on the song while you work on the chords for the chorus with Jesse and Tony," I say, noticing them tuning the guitars." He gets up but before he leaves the room I stop him by grabbing his arm. "Don't worry Kellin, we'll make a good song, ace the project, and show Tally what you're made of at the Major show." He tilts his head to the side a bit.

"How do you know we'll make it in the major show?" I let go of his arm.

"With this song, we're bound to be a shoe in for it." For the first time today, he smiles, and then goes into the next room.

I've already got him to lighten up a bit, not bad Aaliyah, not bad. I turn to the table and flatten the paper against the surface.

"If you can't hang...” I read aloud to myself.

I read over the lyrics again, and I can tell he was really upset. This song is practically bashing Tally. But what really confused me is that it has references to her cheating...did she cheat on Kellin? No way. Maybe she did earlier in their relationship, and they just decided to give it another try? I don't know. Well what he has done so far is the first verse and the chorus. I'm responsible for the second verse and the bridge, so literally half the song. Thanks Kellin. The only problem; I don't remember ever being cheated on. And trust me, if some guy was cheating on me, I'd find out. But I honestly don't know the pain he's feeling. I guess I can picture the anger of being cheated. All I have to do is put myself in that position, and I can write this.

I remember this movie I watched over the summer called Temptation. I was so angry when I realized the lead, Judith, was cheating on her husband, they had known each other since they were children for Pete's sake, and she went ahead and slept with someone else! How could she do that? People can be so stupid and inconsiderate! I scribble down whatever comes to mind, putting myself in her husband's place. When I'm done raging on the paper, I go back and look over what I wrote. I make a few adjustments to tidy it up and really make it flow. Looking at the time, i feel accomplished; half a song in under a half song, and not even from my own experience. I'm getting really good at this. maybe writing song with Kellin won't be such a bad job. He led me to this, afterall.

"I finished you guys!" I exclaim happily as I run into the sound room.

"Already? I'm impressed," Kellin says, looking up at me.

"So then we have plenty of time to look it over and put in the chords," Jessie says, getting up and closing the door.

This room is soundproofed, so it has like amazing acoustics, perfect for practicing.

"Yeah, want to see it?" Of course they want to see it.

I hand it to Kellin and drag a seat from the corner of the room to join their huddle. He nods, passing it to Jesse and Tony.

"Alright, let’s just get this chorus down and then we can head out. We can work on it some more tomorrow." We agree with him while Tony strums freely on his guitar.

Jesse joins him and counts Kellin in. I listen to him sing the chorus twice so that I can get the hang of it. I'm sorry but his voice is beautiful whether I like him or not.

"You got that?" He turns and asks me, I nod. "Okay so you take the lower harmony, two keys down, you know about this stuff. You can do it by ear right?" He referred to my knowledge in music.

"Yes sir," I reply, getting on the edge of my seat. Jessie counts us in and we sing in unison like we've been singing together for ages. It sounded absolutely beautiful. When we end the chorus, we high five and I stomp my feet on the ground excitedly.

"We are definitely getting into the major show," Tony pipes up.

"Alright guys, I think we're good for today. Lets head on out," Kellin says getting up from his seat.

We all grab our bags and leave the studio. Jessie walks ahead with Tony as I stay behind with Kellin. I now know why Lizzy told me to watch him. I can’t help but to feel sorry for the guy. We walk in awkward silence so I decided to say something.

"So, are you going to the winter festival?" I give a welcoming smile; I'm in such a great mood.

"No, I think I'm going to head back to my room and-" He was staring at his feet.

"No, you can't!" I cut him off. "Come on Kellin, come have some fun. If you go back to your room, guaranteed you're going to be moping around about the break up." I stop him and grab his shoulders. "How do you expect to get over it if you won't try to get it off your mind?"

He stares at me for a second, making his mind up probably. "I guess I can go for a little bit-"

"Yay!" I hug him, and realizing what I've just done, I let go and back up a bit. I clear my throat and giggle nervously. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me," I push the hair that was in my face behind my ear.

"It's fine," he chuckles. "And you're right; this will help me to loosen up. Besides I am sure Lizzy would be mad if I didn’t go."

"Great, because I wasn't going to let you say no anyway, I would've made Lizzy pry you out of bed and drag you down here, but I guess you just made it easy on yourself," I grin, starting to walk again.

"Well then guess who's going to have to accompany me to the ball?" He asks, catching up to me.

"Who, me? Ha! No." I shake my head laughing.

"Yes, you're making me go, so you have to stick with me. Plus you said that you're babysitting me for Lizzy, so you have to." He smirks, having a look of accomplishment on his face.

"Ugh, you suck. You owe me for this," I say, punching his arm.

He sticks his tongue out at me before the frown settles in again. "I'll pass by your room later."

"I can't just meet you there?" I ask outraged.

"Your sister's rule," he says shrugging. He’s enjoining this way too much.

"Fine," I sigh.

The things I do for my sister. I know she mentioned nothing about having to actually hang out with Kellin, but I'm sure if he asked her, she would make me do it. Besides, I am sure Max won’t mind the extra company. We part ways at the dorm and I enter my room. I flop onto my bed and spill my notebooks out of bag. I should get this homework over with now; I won’t want to do it later. After a couple of hours of homework, I place my books back into the bag and take a shower. When I dry off, I put on my undergarments and wrap myself into my cute lavender penguin robe, walking back to the bed. I turn on the TV and watch Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore. It's a good movie I hear. Movie is over: time to get Naomi to help me get ready Winter Festival. Tonight would be an amazing night.