Being Wrong | ✓

Part 5

Travis shut his eyes and allowed his fingers to move across the guitar strings almost without thought as he sung the words to the song into the microphone. He remembered how hard this had been once, when he was still learning, but now he could pick up new songs quickly and allow them to flow out of him as naturally as speaking.

He opened his eyes and looked out at an audience he'd almost forgotten beneath the sounds of the music he was making. It was a powerful feeling, having the attention of dozens of other students on him at once - to draw people, just for a short time, into his world.

If they had let him, he'd have spent every lunch break on this small stage in the courtyard, but others liked the spotlight too. Bands and dancers, the occasional drama group. Many of those people were his friends, though, so Travis didn't mind taking his turn as an audience member whenever it was time for someone else to perform.

Most of Travis' audience was made up of girls, or at least it was mostly girls who bothered to come up to the stage and give him their full attention. His acoustic guitar and smooth, gentle voice seemed to lure them in. It was a pity for everyone that he was gay, really.

Travis had the full attention of a guy today, though. One he didn't recognise. He was standing in front of the stage and staring up at Travis like Travis was doing something amazing. He looked maybe a little younger than Travis' seventeen years and had a fringe of dark brown hair not quite long enough to obscure his bright blue eyes.

The guy held himself oddly, shoulders too stiff and one hand clutching at the shirt sleeve that covered his opposite arm. He looked anxious, on edge, but in a gentle way. He reminded Travis of a shy animal offering the gift of its delicate trust in exchange for a valued treat.

Travis smiled at him, but the boy was too absorbed in the music to notice. Well, Travis could hardly be upset by that. He took a deep breath in and drove renewed passion into his voice as he sung the lyrics. If the boy noticed that Travis was now directing the sappy love song at him, he showed no signs of it. His eyes followed Travis' fingers on the guitar strings as he swayed gently from side to side.

After the song ended, Travis let out a deep sigh and turned off his microphone. He needed a break. He sat down on the edge of the small stage and set his guitar aside before pulling his blazer off. KC rolled a bottle of water across the stage towards him and he shot her a grateful smile as he grabbed it.

A quiet twang jerked Travis' attention back to his guitar. The boy who'd caught his eye was running his fingers over the strings. "Hey! Who said you could touch that?"

The boy took a quick step back, putting himself out of arm's reach of Travis. His shoulders hunched up and he ducked his head, but his eyes stayed alert on Travis' face. Most people would have just apologised or been a passive aggressive dick about it, but Travis had set off this boy's fight or flight response with nothing more than a gentle scold.

As soon as Travis glanced away, he saw the boy quietly retreat out of the corner of his eye. Well, so much for that miniscule possibility of actually having a shot with a cute guy for once.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him. I think he might be retarded," Eliza said. She'd come up to lean on the stage in front of him as most of the audience began to wander off.

"Liza!" KC took the water bottle back from Travis just so that she could give her younger sister an admonishing bop on the head with it. "Don't call people that."

"But what if he actually is?" Eliza asked. "I think he is, anyway. He's sixteen, but he's in my geography class and he couldn't even find Sydney on a map."