Your Addictive Heart || l.s

The Last Straw

Harry worked at his station silently swearing as he pinched his fingers in his sewing machine. He hadn't realized how rusty his sewing skills had gotten, but he was slowly figuring it out as he started doing the casts adjustments. It would all be worth it when his creations came to life.

He could hear the rest of the cast performing in the auditorium next door. They must have been doing a musical number because all that he could make out was stomping and loud protests from Lottie. 

Harry got lost in the sea of fabric that was this black dress. He tried to find his way back to the seam he was working on.

"Are you trying to fit the entire cast in there?" Jordan criticized from behind his work station.

He never took this job seriously, so he had nothing better to do than distract Harry. "It's supposed to like...flow at the bottom." He referred to his sketch again to get to the source of the problem. "So, when she melts she can take the form of a puddle...sort of."  He studied the mess in front of him with doubt starting to cloud his judgment. This went better in his head but now the adjustments that needed to be done at the hips were proving to be impossible.

"Sounds legit." Jordan played with his lips as he watched Harry at work.

"Screw it." Harry flipped the switch on the machine off. "It's a problem for tomorrow." He wiped a bead of sweat from his face and turned around in his chair. "How's the set work coming along?" He checked in.

Jordan spun around to take a look at the students at work. "Good. I think." He grinned back at Harry.

The guy refused to take anything seriously. "Well, you know we could use your help getting the set work done. I've seen your stuff. You're actually really talented."

"So are you." He returned the compliment but Harry couldn't tell if he meant it. He always had furrowed eyebrows and an intense gaze. It was like he was trying to pierce into your soul and expose your darkest secrets. Harry always thought it was just a tactic to scare people off, but he had to wonder why he wanted to be such a recluse.

"Thanks." Harry turned back around to clean up his work station.

"You know I see how hard you've been working. I'd hate for you to be disappointed if this show doesn't do so well." His concern seemed genuine.

"I'm sure the show will do great. We've all been working really hard." He assured the mysterious boy.

"Yeah, well I know you're still on the outs with your friends and they've expressed their disinterest with the production. You know how the kids at this school are. They follow the leader. I doubt we sell half the seats in the auditorium." He inched closer with a pessimistic look that reached his eyes.

"That's not true!" He didn't want Jordan to be dissuaded from helping with the musical because of a few stupid rumors. They needed his talent. "They never said anything about the musical. They would never trash talk the musical. It was just stupid attention-seeking wannabes hating on the musical to impress those guys. Besides, Louis' sister practically put everything together. He would never do anything to mess this up for her."

"I wouldn't put it past him." He shrugged his shoulders as he went through some of the costumes on the table Harry had already finished. "I was his friend once too you know."

"I know." Harry tried not to roll his eyes. Why did everyone insist on turning Harry against him? They were already broken up. Couldn't they leave it at that? "I know he was picked to be captain over you. I know that you feel it was unfair, but he's really talented. And he didn't sleep with Anna's brother. I don't know who told you that he did but he didn't sleep with anyone to get that spot. Maybe you should just try and move on, pursue your other talents."