18

3

Two weeks went by. Harry had announced the school musical and was about to start with auditions. He was happy to see that so many students had signed the list but he knew that he would be heartbroken when he had to make his choice, disappointing a lot of students in the process who wanted a specific plan. He aired his concerns in the teacher's lounge on one of his lunch breaks.
"You're too kind Harry." Niall pointed out.

"Because I don't want to take away someone's dream?" Harry sighed.

"I know how you feel. I have the same problem when I'm coaching the football team. A lot of kids want to play but not everyone is cut out for it." Louis said.

"How do you deal with it?" Harry asked.

"I haven't really figured that part out yet. I've only been here for two weeks." Louis smiled.

"Maybe you should do a panel. Gather some of the teachers at school that will help you choose." Liam suggested.

"Great idea! You three are hired as my expert panel." Harry grinned.

"I'm a math teacher! I wasn't talking about myself." Liam chuckled.

"But you can sing Liam. So can you Zayn and you too Niall. Our many rounds at a karaoke bar have taught me that." Harry smiled.

"I'm feeling left out! I can fucking sing too!" Louis muttered.

Harry's green eyes met his.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Wanna be on my panel as well?"

"Yes." Louis smiled.

"Great! When you have Louis you don't need us." Zayn said, trying to get out. Spend his afternoons listening to kids butchering songs wasn't exactly something he looked forward to.

Harry pouted his lower lip, looking like a kicked puppy.
"But I need all of you. We can make it fun, pretend like we're X-factor judges or something. The kids will love it."

"As long as I don't have to personate Simon. He creeps me out." Niall huffed.

"You can be Niall Horan, the Irish English teacher." Harry winked.

"Fine, I'm in. Guys?" Niall asked and looked between Liam and Zayn.

"Sure. Harry will torment us day and night until we agree otherwise." Zayn smirked.

"I totally would. Thanks, guys! I really appreciate it. It's gonna be so much fun!" Harry said excitedly.

"We'll see about that." Liam chuckled.

Louis returned to the gym wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. He had volunteered for a chance to get to know Harry. For some reason he was shy around him. He didn't get the opportunity to talk to him that often just the two of them. The rest of the guys were always around. When they were, Harry was confident but that changed as soon as he had him by himself. He was intrigued. He wanted to get to know him.

Auditions began two days later. Harry had made sure that it wouldn't collide with Louis football practices. After their workday was over they gathered in the auditorium and took a seat on the front row. Louis made sure to sit next to Harry and was rewarded with a smile.
"So how do we do this?" He asked.

"First we just listen." Harry smiled before he looked at his paper.
"Joline, your first up." He announced and a blonde girl took the stage.

Niall had brought popcorn and passed it around, earning himself a disapproval glare from Harry. Niall just shrugged his shoulders and stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, which he almost choked on when Joline started to sing Hopelessly devoted off-key.

They weren't completely heartless. They all kept a straight face and clapped their hands when she was done, knowing how much courage it took to get up on that stage.

Two hours later and many predictions of the same song they were ready to throw in the towel. That was when one of Louis's football players got on stage. Louis sat up straight with a surprised look on his face.
"Aaron? What are you gonna sing for us?" Harry asked.

Aaron looked a little uncomfortable and looked at Louis who immediately smiled encouragingly. Aaron seemed to relax a bit.
"If it's okay I'm gonna sing something outside the musical. I don't really know any of those songs to be honest."

"Of course. Sing whatever you feel like." Harry smiled.

Aaron took a deep breath and then he began to sing.
"Birds flying high, you know how I feel."

Their mouths fell open and they stared at him as he belted out Nina Simone's Feeling Good. He was amazing!

When he sang the last tune they all got up and clapped their hands.
"That was great Aaron!" Harry said excitedly.

Aaron looked happy.
"Thank you."

"We'll post the list of who got the parts on Friday." Harry informed him.

"Okay, I hope it won't interfere with football practice if I would even be considered for one of the parts. I don't want to let you down coach." Aaron said, looking at Louis.

Louis exchanged a look with Harry.
"We'll make sure to find a way to work around that."

Aaron left the stage and as soon as he was out of the auditorium Niall turned to the others.
"He was awesome! He got my vote to play Danny."

"Mine too." Liam agreed and Zayn nodded his head.

Harry looked at Louis.
"Did you really mean that? Can he play football and be in the musical as well?"

"The kid is talented. Of course, but it would mean that you would have to work around our training schedule. I can't do much about that, unfortunately. Football practice is Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I can't really control when we have games either, that's already planned. What I can do is change the time when we have practice if needed and give him a free pass to skip practice once in a while if he has to."

"I can work with that. Thanks, Louis." Harry beamed.