Cadences [cake au] ✔

// four //

Chapter 4

Luke's POV

"We got in!" Michael squealed, pouncing on my back and jiggling about, making me lose my balance and topple over onto the grass. Some fellow students glanced our way and laughed, whilst Ashton made his way over. "Ashton, dude, thank you for drumming for us! We got accepted!"

He laughed, "Yeah, I can tell... well done guys, there was no doubt you'd make it anyway!"

They shared a brief hug and we sat down on the lawn. I got a cigarette out, jotting down some lyrics I'd just thought of in my little black notebook. "Hey, doesn't this mean we can go and record whenever we want now?" I checked, and Ashton nodded.

"Yep. You can also come chill at the radio station with me if you want. You still need to perform, by the way."

"Oh yeah... I can come tonight. Michael, you wanna join?"

He shook his head. "There's this party and I need to be there. Two different girls invited me, so it has to be good!" I elbowed him with a frown. "What?"

"We said no parties, Michael."

"Come on Luke, we're at university. Everyone parties!"

I exchanged a glance with Ashton and we chuckled, as I lit my cigarette and inhaled its smoke.

~

That evening, whilst everyone else was heading to this party, I went to the radio station and met up with Ashton. "Hey dude, glad you could make it." The songs of Sia were being played in the background. "I'm just ending the six o'clock show, after this it's the live hour. No one else has signed up, so if you want you can stay in for the whole hour."

"Sounds awesome!" I smiled, unbuckling the guitar case and taking out my most prized possession. "Should I get set up?" He said yes and unlocked the door to the mini studio, and I took a seat, hoisting the guitar up on my thigh and tuning it. I mentally went through a list of songs I was going to play – the first had to be Out Of My Limit.

It reminded me of Calum, in a way. I mean, we hadn't known each other since high school, but he certainly was out of my limit. It drove me to make the decision that the next time I saw him, I'd make sure to get his number and take him out.

"Good evening, students of Macquarie University. Tonight we have a special guest, named Luke Hemmings, who will be singing a few songs for us," Ashton announced into the mic, in a hushed tone that was sort of relaxing since this was the late, acoustic show. He mouthed, 'are you ready?' and I nodded, giving him the thumbs up.

"Hi guys, as Ashton said, I'm Luke and this first song is Out Of My Limit. I hope you like it."

Calum's POV

I was walking down the music corridors after a practice session when I heard a somewhat familiar voice coming from the speakers that lined each hallway. I checked my watch and saw that it was seven – the radio show, as I remember, held a 'live acoustic' hour every evening. I guess this guy was tonight's performer then.

"Cause I never wanna be that guy, who doesn't even get a taste... no more having to chase, to win that prize... you're just a little bit out of my limit... it's been two weeks now, haven't even seen the best of me... and in my mind now, I've been over this a thousand times... But it's almost over, let's start over..."

Then he began playing a guitar solo that started off easy but got crazy fast. It wasn't even on an electric guitar and yet it sounded so clean and pristine; I stopped in my tracks, gazing up at the speaker in awe.

Without a second thought, I hurried out of the music building and towards the radio station. I just wanted a peek at who it was, and where I recognised the voice from – I didn't need to actually meet them or anything. When I got there, I looked through the window but I couldn't quite see who was actually in the studio, only Ashton looking down at his phone.

I made my way over to the door and took a deep breath, before opening it slightly and stepping inside. Ashton noticed me and waved, and I facepalmed since the whole point of me sneaking in was that I didn't want to be caught...

"Oh Calum, did you want to perform?"

I shook my head quickly, making sure I was standing out of sight of the performer. "No, I think I, er, left something here earlier."

"Right, well you can perform if you want. Luke's got the whole slot to himself so far."

"S-sure." I pretended to search around, simultaneously trying to catch sight of this Luke person. Speaking of Luke, that name rang a bell...

When my eyes finally latched onto him, I really didn't expect him to be that Luke; the tattooed guy that had asked if I wanted to hang out.

The face and voice didn't match up at all! He had such a sweet, clean voice and yet his appearance was that of some kind of screaming punk rock emo.

Hastily I turned around and rushed out, not wanting to be in his presence any longer. I crossed my fingers, hoping he hadn't seen me, and hurried back to my dorm, Luke crossing my mind more than I wanted him to.

I mean, he was good looking, and had a good voice. What wasn't there to like?

Well for starters, he was in a phony rock band and had tattoos and piercings. I didn't hang out with intimidating people like him; I was calm, serene and someone who found joy in pianos rather than electric guitars.

Sure, I could play the guitar, but it wasn't my passion. I didn't love it as much as I loved the piano, despite my parents basically having forced me to learn it from a young age. At some point in my life I began to find joy in the sounds my fingers made when they pressed down the black and white keys, and instead of resenting it I began to love it.

I was broken out of my daydream when someone called my name.

"Calum!"

I turned my head, and saw Luke standing behind me, out of breath and panting, his beanie half off his head. "Um, hi?"

"Calum, I saw you walk in just now... what did you... what did you think?" he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

I shuffled in my spot on the grass, the faint sound of loud party music playing in the background. "You were good," I began. I opened my mouth to continue but didn't know what to say so I shut it again.

"Will you go on a date with me?"

My eyes widened as I took in this information. Why would he want to go out with me? "Er, what?" My tone then changed. "Okay – it seems you've misunderstood somehow. I didn't go there to listen to you. I forgot something there earlier, and went back to retrieve it. For your information, I'm not into guys nor am I attracted to you, so please don't ask me again."

Whilst he stood there looking fazed, I swivelled on my heel and continued walking back to my dorm.

***

:/ sorry but not really sorry because bad stuff needs to happen before the good stuff ;))

I thought up a great question today and it is... do you blow dry your hair or leave it in a towel? I blow dry because I tend to shower in the morning and obviously I can't have wet hair for school XD

Vote+comment for virtual 5sos 2016 acoustic ooml performance

Kimmy xx