Page 105 of Off The Rush
I will keep you informed of any updates.
Best,
Professor Martin
“They haven’t realized it was Rachel yet?” I ask, despondent.
“Emma, I’m so sorry about what happened at the recital,” JD says, his warm brown eyes filled with regret. “Rachel had no right to do that. I’m sure they’ll realize it was her soon.”
“None of us saw it coming,” Luka adds quietly, his gray eyes intense as they meet mine. “We’re here for you, Emma.”
“Thanks, guys,” I murmur, my voice barely audible. I can’t help but think that my future in music is over after Rachel’s interruption. My dream feels like it’s slipping through my fingers, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
I have all this love in my world and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but my life won’t be the same without music.
Alec runs a hand through his dark hair, his piercing blue eyes clouded with concern.
“And it’s not just me. You’ve all been suspended from the team because of this mess.” My voice breaks on the last part.
The four of us continue to mope around the house, unsure of how to make things better. We try to comfort each other, but our collective sadness seems to engulf us, making it difficult to feel any relief. We move from room to room, our hushed conversations punctuated by heavy sighs and shared glances.
“Maybe we should order some pizza or something?” Luka suggests half-heatedly, clearly not expecting it to solve anything but perhaps provide a temporary distraction.
“Sure,” JD agrees, forcing a small smile. “Pizza always helps, right?”
“Right,” I echo, but even the thought of my favorite comfort food does little to lift my spirits. We all know that what we’re facing is far more complicated than a bad day.
The pizza comes quickly and we all gobble it down.
I stare at the empty pizza boxes, feeling my stomach churn with a mix of grease and despair.
“Okay, so maybe we should brainstorm some ideas to fix this mess,” I suggest, trying to sound more optimistic than I feel.
“Like what?” Alec asks, his blue eyes reflecting the same worry that I’m sure mine do.
“I don’t know… Maybe I could try talking to Professor Martin again? Explain the situation and see if he can help?”
JD shakes his head, his dark hair falling into his warm brown eyes. “He’s already on your side for your music program but I doubt he’d be able to do anything about our suspensions. Our coach wasn’t completely out of line for Luka and me, we were fighting. Alec already had one strike. We need someone from the athletic program to help us.”
“Maybe we could apologize to Coach?” Luka offers, his gray eyes searching for any sign of hope in our faces.
“Coach hasn’t been treating us right. Coaches are supposed to be a support system. I don’t want to apologize to him,” JD says.
“Or we could confront Rachel and try to get her to admit she was just trying to cause trouble,” Alec adds, clenching his fists.
We sit there, tossing around ideas, but it quickly becomes apparent that none of them will likely work. As much as we want to believe otherwise, it seems like we’re stuck in this situation with no way out.
“We will figure something out. We aren’t giving up. Why don’t we try doing something to give our minds a break? Maybe we will come up with something when we aren’t thinking about it so obsessively?” JD suggests, forcing a bright smile. “Like… playing video games or something?”
“Sounds good to me,” Luka agrees, a hint of genuine enthusiasm in his voice.
“Alright,” I say, feeling a small spark of excitement despite myself. “But prepare to be destroyed by the master.”
“Bring it on, Delaney,” Alec teases, his eyes twinkling with a challenge.
We huddle around the TV, controllers in hand. For a moment, I can almost forget about our problems as we laugh and tease each other.
“Take that, Campbell!” I exclaim triumphantly as my on-screen character scores a point against Alec’s. He groans playfully, pretending to be devastated by his loss.
