Beautiful Chaos (jake x johnnie)

seven

"Have you been going to the therapy appointments I booked for you?" Johnnie's mom asked him on the morning of the auditions.

Johnnie sat in the washroom on the edge of the bathtub, cradling his phone against his ear. "Yeah...I have." He lied to her. He hadn't had much time to do anything because of his classes and preparing for Battle of the Bands with Jake. But he didn't want her to worry about him.

"That's good, have you been enjoying yourself at college? Made any new friends?"

Johnnie glanced at Jake who was standing at the vanity, brushing his teeth. "Yeah, I have...my roommate, his name is Jake."

Jake looked over at him. "Who are you talking to?" He mouthed.

"My mom." Johnnie mouthed back.

Jake spit out his toothpaste. "Hi Johnnie's mom!" He shouted.

Johnnie smirked.

"He sounds lively," his mom laughed.

"Yeah, he is," he said, "actually, um, he and I have auditions for a competition we're doing today. It's called Battle of the Bands. If we pass the auditions, we'll make it to the next round so maybe you can come watch us next time—"

The phone beeped loudly then. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm getting a call from work. I have to go hon, I'll talk to you later okay?"

The line went dead before Johnnie could reply. He pulled the phone slowly away from his ear.

"You okay?" Jake asked as he wiped his mouth.

"Yeah," Johnnie sighed, "she's just always so...busy."

"Hey, at least she wants to talk to you. My mom won't even look at me after everything that happened," Jake stared at his reflection blankly, "she thinks I'm an embarrassment."

"I'm really sorry to hear that."

Jake turned to face him and grinned. "It's okay, I'm not going to let it ruin my mood. We're going to pass those fucking auditions with flying colours. Are you ready?"

Johnnie hesitated to reply. He never thought that day would come, that he would actually be able to get on stage and perform without Ian. He didn't know how it would go, but for once in his life he had hope. He was confident.

Johnnie looked at Jake and smiled. "Yeah, I am."

**

An hour later, Johnnie and Jake lugged their equipment into the entertainment wing of their college where the theater was located. Johnnie noticed a swarm of people filing into the theater and his stomach turned slightly. He glanced towards a few tables by the entrance where other bands were registering to go in.

Johnnie followed Jake who led them to a table with a girl filling out some sheets of paper. She lifted her head and smiled at them when they approached her. Johnnie noticed her immediately, realizing it was the girl who handed him the poster on that day.

Her eyes widened when she saw him. "Hey, I remember you! Oh my god, are you auditioning today?"

"Yeah, we are," Johnnie smiled, "thanks for um, telling me about the competition. But I wanted to apologize for how I acted—"

"Hey, it's no problem at all, don't worry. But I was right, I knew you looked like a singer," she laughed and extended her hand, "I'm Rosalia by the way, but you can just call me Rose."

Johnnie shook her hand and glanced at Jake who was watching them in amusement. "I'm Johnnie and this is my bandmate, Jake."

Rose stared at him. "Oh, I definitely know him."