Cadences [cake au] ✔

// two //

5SOS' debut album in this fic ^

Chapter 2

Author's POV

O-Week ended, and Luke hadn't seen the mysterious piano guy ever since that first day. They were now gradually becoming more used to university life, and were even getting accustomed to going to the library (which was seriously impressive). Luke's first lesson was in song-writing, something he found easy, so he was pretty laid back in the lesson. A few guys and girls approached him, wanting to make friends with the lean tattooed guy who had a lip piercing, and Luke simply thanked God that they weren't hysterical like they had been in high school.

At lunch, Michael went off with some new friends so Luke decided to continue exploring the campus.

First, he went back to the concert hall, but there was no one there. Without the music, it just looked like an ancient, neglected, pitiful building with no life or soul. He definitely preferred it with the piano guy; feeling a bit scared inside the eerie building, he quickly departed in search for something more cheerful.

Then, he saw signs to the campus radio station. He knew Macquarie was famous for its high quality recording and live studios, so he wanted to make the most of their technology since at home all he had was an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a shitty amp he picked up at a second-hand sale, and a recording microphone that he'd bought purely with his own money he'd earned off touring.

Inside, it was full of vinyls and CDs, all stacked neatly on white shelves that gave it a modern, chic look. At the side of the room, there were three stations where you could listen to any CD or vinyl using their headphones, lined up against the windows. The room extended into the recording studio, which was behind a glass wall. Inside it was a drumkit, several guitars, and a stand up microphone; and on the outside was a control panel, where currently a guy was sitting. Luke walked up to him with a smile, introducing himself.

"Hi, I'm Luke."

The golden-locked boy smiled, dimples forming in his cheeks. "Hi! Nice to meet you Luke, I'm Ashton. I'm guessing you're a freshman?" Luke nodded. "Well, welcome to the campus radio station. Feel free to ask me anything you like. Oh, and if you're a singer, you can sign up on that list over there to come play for us," he added, pointing at a clipboard hanging on the wall with a wad of paper clipped in and a pen stuck to the wall.

"Awesome, thanks. Are you the guy in charge here?"

"Yeah, I have been for the past two years." He watched as Luke went over to the clipboard, writing his name. "What are you gonna sing?"

Luke tapped the pen on the paper, trying to think. He knew plenty of songs he could play with the band – but the issue was, the band wasn't there anymore besides Michael, so he guessed he could only do acoustic. "I'll do my own song. It's called 'Try Hard'. I would play with my band, but half the members didn't want to carry on if the other half were in uni, so we're kind of a two-person band at the moment."

"Ah, I see – what's the name?"

"5 Seconds of Summer." Luke cringed a bit, because it was so different to rock bands with awesome names like Blink-182, We Came As Romans, Linkin Park... he could go on for a long time. Michael had chosen the name and had whined all day for them to use that name.

"Oh, we have your album here!" He got up from his seat and walked to one row of shelves, finger trailing on the CDs as he brushed past them. "Here – Somewhere New, right? It's a great album, one of my favourites I'd say. My favourite definitely has to be Beside You. I should've recognised you but you've gotten so many tattoos since this release that I thought you were completely different! Great music, by the way."

Luke grinned at the fact that a guy like Ashton knew who he was. "It's such an honour to hear that, oh my God."

"You guys producing anything new?"

"Well, we were, until the other two members left. In fact, we were halfway through our second album, which would've been our first with a record label – then they left and the record label cancelled our contract."

Ashton shook his head menacingly. "I hate record labels. Best to stay independent, I think. Wait till you're massive before signing. Otherwise, they either use you for visuals and neglect what you actually want to do, or they let you make whatever music you want but give you no publicity." Luke agreed with a hmm. "I play the drums, as well, so if you need me to stand in or anything, I'm more than happy to. Just give me some notice!"

"Thanks dude, I'll think about it! Nice meeting you," Luke responded. He was glad he'd made some friends (well, a friend) and decided to go back to his dorm room and talk to some fans.

~

Meanwhile, Calum was sitting by the massive pond, a can of Coke next to him as he wrote down song lyrics.

So far, no one had really spoken to him – and he preferred it that way. Speaking to people was so difficult, especially for Calum who used to suffer from a stutter and a subtle lisp. He was also naturally shy, a bit socially awkward and got nervous around people.

He took song-writing as an escape. If he couldn't say it out loud, then he could sing it out loud. Though he didn't really sing. Never had the opportunity to. Writing them down was enough, for now.

A girl walked up to him, creating a shadow on his notebook. He looked up and saw a brunette girl wearing a white floaty crop top, grey low-waisted jeans and white and gold Adidas trainers. "Hi, I'm Becca, nice to meet you!" she introduced, holding out a dainty, pink-nailed hand.

"It's Calum," he replied curtly, shaking it before picking up his pen again. She smiled, sitting down next to him.

"What are you writing?"

"Oh, just some songs."

"Sweet! So you're a singer?"

He shook his head slightly, replying, "No, I just like writing them. Gives me a peace of mind."

She fiddled with her ring. "I think that's really cool. You made many friends yet?"

"No, I'm not the type to go around socialising."

"Well, if that's the case, why don't we be friends? All mine wanted to stay closer to home. I'm actually from Melbourne, see, and I'm kinda struggling to make new ones here."

Calum knew she was lying – if she was struggling, she wouldn't be there talking to him. Not just anyone approached the dark-haired mystery, and this was something he knew very well. "Good luck then. I, er, need to go," he excused, standing up and brushing off any dirt or grass from his jeans.

"Wait, can we meet up again, maybe?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in deep though, replying with a curt nod. "Um, if you can ever find me, sure." Then he walked up the small hill back to the main campus, entering the library and finding a quiet spot to continue.

***

You might wanna remember Becca ;) But it's fine for now, you can forget her and shove her to the back of your head until I bring her up in chapter godknowswhat

So, thoughts so far? After seeing your response to who is topping, I've decided that they'll be really competitive about it. This will be interesting. *cackles and creates the evil finger pyramid of contemplation*

1st dedication goes to blackhoneyblossom for pushing for this story and also ALWAYS voting and commenting on literally everything I write! Thank you so much, I really appreciate the support and hope this plays up to your expectations :))

I'll be back soon with chapter 3 💖

Vote+comment for dedication/virtual 5sos acrylic paint 

Kimmy xx