The Bad Boy's Singer

08. Him

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

— Dr. Suess

I faced an entire half an hour getting ridiculed by Mr. Atkins when he kept me while the entire team enjoyed their evening.

"I called your mother since you weren't answering my calls," he sounded like I had broken up with him. I was livid at the mention of him ratting me out like I was a small child, "she was quite disappointed when she found out that her son doesn't take piano meetings seriously," he scolded.

I had enough with his disrespect as I neared him, I pretty sure looked like the devil to him with my wide-eyed staredown.

"Listen, I don't care to answer your calls and I could easily replace you with a new teacher but calling my mother," I seethed in fire as he tried to act tough back but I could see the fear in his eyes, "is a big mistake that you'll regret." I emphasized before I stormed out.

I felt like I hated the control they had on me. Exhiliration seeped into me as I took in the cool breeze that soothed my entire body as I walked around to calm myself raging body.

My phone rang and I immediately answered it without looking.

"No, Elodie, I am not going on the f*****g date," I snapped as my jaw clenched in annoyance. The line went silent until she spoke.

"Oh, who are you taking out on a date?" my mother's voice asked in return and I pulled my phone away from my ear to see the caller ID before returning it back to my ear.

I sighed. "Sorry, mom, it's nothing. How are you doing?" I tried to make small conversation but I knew that my mother was a stubborn woman.

"Cut the small talk, Mr. Atkins told me what happened," I took in a breath but she surprised me when she continued, "are you okay, love? did he hurt you?" she asked and I breathed out in relief.

"I am okay mom, he didn't hurt me, he only wasted my time," I clarified and she chuckled on the phone.

"We can replace him, it's fine as long as you are happy Xav," I wanted at that moment to tell her what really made me happy but the doubt crept up on me and I knew that I would fail my mom if I told her, she wouldn't show me but she would feel hurt because I was her only reminder of piano and she loved to hear me play often.

I did this for you, mom.

"I'll talk to you later mom, I have to go." I informed her and she told me bye before she hung up.

The moment I went to my room, I turned around to find Elodie sitting with her arms crossed, a leg over the other one.

"You are a sick-headed asshole," Elodie sneered with her famous glare where her eyebrows connected and her mouth thinned out.

"I don't have time for you, El, can you go away?" I went to the closet to get a fresh pair of clothes, taking a glimpse at my secretly bought guitar before grabbing what I needed for a shower.

"She's going to be here, I gave her your room number." she smirked when she took away my clothes as she stated and truly enough, there was a knock on my door when I glowered at my sister in distaste.

I forgot entirely about Rayna, I was too busy thinking about my contest dilemma and the shy girl was tricked by Elodie, my deceptive sister, to come here.

My mind went back to Rayna's phone that slipped and she had my number which I was sure that my sister put it in, the innocent girl fell for the bait and it made me smile when I remembered how bashful she was.

"Hey, Rayna, I was a good girl and did what you wanted," Elodie cheered as soon as the girl came in with a full-sleeved black shirt and normal dark jeans, her long hair in a ponytail with minimal make up, "Sorry about the lie, this is not my friend's room, this is my brother's room," she held her arms up with a cheerful smile and she gaped at the fact that she has been played with again.

Rayna didn't have time to protest when she met my eyes before she gazed away to Elodie as she bit her lower lip anxiously.

"I told you, I didn't want a dress and a date," Rayna muttered to Elodie and she rolled her eyes.

"You are lucky I didn't force you when you had that hysteria about not wearing the dress," her cheeks were tomato red as she placed a tendril behind her ear and played with the hems of her sleeves, "you said you wanted a peaceful night and here we are, we are going to sit down all together on this fluffy carpet and have fun with spin the bottle." She declared when she grabbed a bottle from my bedside table and sat down.

I joined her passing on my shower for the sake of the self-conscious girl and my hyper sister. The girl sat down in the middle with her white sneakers on and ignored eye contact. I sat on the right and Elodie on her left.

This was the most timid girl I had ever seen and she caught me off guard with how natural she was.

The bottle stopped at Elodie and Rayna. The devious glints in my sister's eyes told me that she was going to blast Rayna out.

"So, Rayna, first kiss?" Elodie asked with no shame. Rayna looked like she wanted to disappear as she pursed her lips. After an awful long time of silence from her, she looked down at the ground shamefully.

"No kiss ever? how could that be possible?" Elodie exclaimed, "girl, you are going to have your first kiss at Juilliard," she stated and I felt uneasy when I thought about someone else kissing her. Not that I felt jealous, I didn't know her enough but she was way too innocent to get her first kiss ruined by some player.

It was my turn to spin the bottle to make it easier for Rayna not to be questioned about the subject any longer.

It landed on me and my sister.

"It's my lucky day today," she hooted and I laughed at my crazy sister before she ordered me around, "Kiss her, Xavier," my laugh turned into a frown at the demand but she made us both stand up and face each other as she sneakily came back to the side.

The moment was in almost like slow motion as we gazed deep into each other's eyes, hers were fluttering and mine were blinking softly, I didn't know what came over me when I neared closer to her and pressed my lips in a small kiss on her forehead.

The girl almost had a heart attack when I heard the hitches of her breath and her body shivered in defense to the uninvited visitor that made contact with her.

She looked up at me as her tears went down her face which made me all the more puzzled.