under his control

Crushes, Cards, and Bad Decisions

Kale POV

I was sitting in class, but honestly my body was the only part of me that was there, because my brain was still stuck backstage from yesterday, replaying the way Jace Monroe had looked at me.

God. I dropped my pen for the third time in five minutes, and the sound it made when it hit the floor felt way too loud in the quiet classroom.

“Boy.” The word came with a hard smack to my shoulder that made me jump in my seat.

“Ow, what the hell?” I said, turning to look at who hit me.

Molly was leaning into my space with her eyes wide open and a huge grin on her face like she had just won the lottery.

“You were fire yesterday,” she whispered, but her whisper was so loud that half the class could probably hear her.

“Like actual fire. I saw everything on TV. Those riffs and runs? Those high notes? You killed it.”

“Yeah,” I muttered while rubbing my shoulder where she hit me. “Thanks.”

“Don’t you ‘yeah’ me,” she snapped back at me right away. “You’re famous now. You need to act like it.”

I snorted because she was being dramatic. “Relax, Molly. It was just one audition, not like I won a Grammy or something.”

“FYI,” she said, completely ignoring what I just said like she always does, “the entire music class is talking about you right now.”

I groaned and put my head in my hands. “Please don’t tell me that.”

“Oh, I definitely will,” she said in this sweet voice. “Even Noah is talking about you.”

I froze in my seat. “…Noah?” I repeated slowly.

Molly’s grin turned evil. “The Noah,” she said.

Oh God... My face got hot really fast. Because yeah, Noah was the hottest straight guy in our whole level, and I had been crushing on him in complete silence since the first day of college.

Molly stopped talking and narrowed her eyes at me. “…What’s that in your hand?” she asked.

I blinked at her. “What?”

“That,” she said, pointing at my hand. “That black thing. You’ve been holding it like it’s your life savings or something.”

I looked down at my hand. Oh, s**t, it was the card. s**t! s**t! s**t! “It’s nothing,” I said really quickly, trying to hide it. “It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re lying,” she said. “Your cheeks are red,” she pointed out.

“They are not.”

“You’re blushing like a virgin in a romance movie. Give it to me.”

“Molly...”

Before I could hide it, she grabbed it right out of my hand. “Molly, I swear to God."

Her eyes dropped to the card in her hand, and then everything went quiet. One second. Two seconds.

Three... “OH. MY. GOD.”

I lunged across the desk. “Shut up!”

“This is... THIS IS...” she squealed, and she grabbed my arm so hard. “This is Jace Monroe’s card?!”

I winced. “Keep your voice down! People are watching us.”

“Jace Monroe?!” She whispered. “The Jace? Like, hot, untouchable, and music industry menace Jace?!”

“You’re being dramatic,” I told her, trying to stay calm.

More people were looking now. “Molly,” I hissed at her, “sit down before I disown you as my friend.”

She dropped into her seat and leaned so close to me that our heads almost knocked together. “How did you get this?"

I hesitated for a second, and that was my first mistake. Her eyes got really wide. “Wait,” she gasped. “Did you steal it?”

“Hell no!” I said.

“Then how?"

“He gave it to me,” I snapped.

There was silence again. Then... “Ohhhhhh,” she dragged out the word, and her voice was getting louder again, “he gave it to you."

I slapped my hand over her mouth so fast. “Shut... Up." I slowly took my hand away from her mouth.

“He gave it to you?” she whispered.

“…Yeah,” I admitted.

Molly’s whole face tightened like she was trying really hard not to scream. “Oh my God,” she breathed out. “Do you know what this means?”

“That you’re about to embarrass me in front of everyone?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What?”

“I’m following you. I need to see this man in real life.”

“No Molly...”

“I’m going to admire him,” she kept going, completely ignoring me like usual. “Maybe touch his arms, kiss him... or suck his dick.”

“EW—MOLLY!”

She laughed really loud. “You’re going, right?” she asked with a serious face.

“Of course I am,” I muttered.

Her grin came back instantly. “TGIF, baby!” she said, and she slapped my hand for a high five. “We’re about to make terrible decisions.”

“You’re about to make terrible decisions,” I corrected her. Before I could say anything else, someone else spoke from behind me.

“You sang yesterday, right?”

My whole body went stiff. I knew that voice. I turned around too fast and almost tripped over my feet. Noah was standing there looking all sexy.

“Yeah,” I said, and my voice immediately betrayed me by sounding nervous. “I mean, yes. That was me.”

He nodded once. “It was good,” he said. “I recognized your voice.”

Ooouu, he recognized my voice. “Th—thank you,” I stammered.

He gave a small nod, then he just… walked past me. I stood there blinking like I had just been hit by a truck.

“You’re going to make him uncomfortable if you keep blushing like that,” Molly whispered to me.

“Shut up,” I muttered, but my voice was weak.

I dropped back in my chair. This day was already too much for me, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I frowned. Unknown number, probably just spam. I almost ignored it, but then I opened the message.

"Hey. You have a great voice. I’d like to meet you tonight at the studio. You have my card. Jace."

I stared at the screen. “…How the f**k did he get my number?”