REJECTS\\M.C.

-11-

-hannah-

I twist my knuckles nervously as I ride in the passenger seat of Mikey's mum's car to Ashton's house. Mikey bops along to Green Day as I stare out the front window unfocused, pondering if I should have said no. I become more and more anxious the closer and closer we get to Ashton's house; hoping we won't be there too long.

I decide I will stay wherever Mikey is, even if its awkward and annoying. Although I'm still staying cautious, I know he won't let anything bad happen to me. At least I hope he would stand up to his friends to defend me. He would, right?

Mikey slows and parks outside a small two story home with a quaint front yard. I feel my stomach churn and cramp, threatening a stomach ache. My underarms sweat with my jumper and still Mikey's shirt on, too many layers feeding my anxiety. I begin to chew my lip when Mikey places his hand on mine, startling me.

"You have social anxiety don't you?" he asks, pursing his lips at his assumption.

He isn't completely wrong, so I say, "Kinda."

"Is meeting new people daunting to you?"

"Kinda," I nod.

"They're all great. I promise," he rubs my hand with his thumb and I look up at him. I don't know if I believe him, but I do trust him and as long as he is around, I will be okay, so I nod again. "Cool, lets go."

We get out of the car and head around back, making my stomach twist uncomfortably as we approach the garage on the edge of the property. Mikey opens the door and I blink repeatedly as we step in; the room much darker than outside and I can't see anything. My breath increases as I will my eyes to see before I notice Mikey step away from me and head further in. I panic and follow him while my eyes make out a dirty sofa, computer desk, folding table and folding chairs. Further back is a lifted stage with the full get up of mic stands, guitar stands, speakers, and even a drum kit where I find that Ashton guy is sitting in front of.

In the back corner I spot a barricade of upright mattresses; finding the spectacle strange but too afraid to ask about it right now. I survey around the rest of room before we stop at the sofa, the material old and worn; probably from the 70s.

Mikey clears his throat and Ashton turns around, a dimpled smile spreading across his face which gets wider when he sees me. He stands up, coming out of hiding from the array of equipment and waves softly.

"Hi, Hannah," he says sweetly and I swallow, his eyes on me making me nervous as he jumps off the stage to come over to us.

"Hi," I sound weakly.

"Mike convinced you to watch our horrible band huh?" He giggles, the sound making him seem so innocent and childlike while he gets closer and I can see he has interesting hazel eyes; a perfect mixture of a caramel brown and olive green.

"I guess so," I shrug and look away, his gaze making me feel self conscious.

"Well we're glad you're here," he says and I look back up, his voice and face appearing truly genuine so I smile gently. But still alert of him and those charming dimples. "Just waiting on Luke and Cal," he says to Mikey.

"As usual," Mikey rolls his eyes and sits down on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm actually kinda pissed. I told them not to be late again after yesterday," Ashton gripes and sits down at the folding table.

"Well Luke did have an excuse, to be fair," Mikey counters.

"Yeah, but I also asked him to get Calum to avoid this."

"As long as we're not late to the show," Mikey shrugs.

"We need to practice before," Ashton bops his head to his words and taps the back of his hand into the other. "We need to stop winging it. We need to get better."