| THE LAST MEMBER |

❝hate me as much as you can
but don't leave me alone.❞

word count:: 2011 words

Blue eyes were all he could see in the nerve-wracking darkness as he slowly approached those familiar sea-blue irises. She stood there right in front of him. His name was all she chanted like a mantra as he raised a hand to remove the dark mask which covered her face; the one which always seemed to have hidden her face halfway till her nose from her forehead, bearing just her pale lips.

As his fingers grazed the rough and glossy material of the mask, her cold and pale hand engulfed his, stopping him from removing the mask off her face.

"Are you sure about this Julian?"

"I've never been this sure," he replied mechanically as his fingers slid past her ears, ready to pull of the strings that tied her mask to her face.

But, from the darkness erupted a voice, so loud and clear that it interrupted Julian's focus, making him mess up the strings and she faded from his view.

He stood there flabbergasted, dismayed and heartbroken until a gruff voice called out his name.

"Julian Hayden."

It was distant at first but then it became louder.

"Julian!"

And finally, the darkness faded as a flash of bright light pierced through his closed eyes, shattering the mouth of darkness.

"Julian fucking Hayden, you better have a good reason to put on that shitty alarm clock so early in the morning!" came a shout from the opposite side of the room which had shattered his previous dream and jerked him up to be awake. It was a dream he had been having on repeat; each time him making a failed attempt of getting a glance at her face, without the mask. However, the task would always remain unfulfilled.

Destiny indeed had conspired against him.

He yawned loudly for his mind was still asleep, dwelling on the dream that he had seen moments ago before the reason why the dream broke came back to him like tidal waves. He quickly shuffled to grasp the alarm clock from off the side table and turned it off.

"Sorry dude, I had things to handle in the morning and that's why I had it up so early," he tried to reason with Shane but in vain for it was clear that he had sunk back to his slumber, inaudibly muttering something under his breath.

Shane Willows was Julian's good for nothing moody roommate for the past three years. His messy blonde hair and sharp green eyes would make him a real-life Draco Malfoy. Even his father would meet the standards of Lucius Malfoy.

He quickly got out of the bed and walked towards his closet and picked a random shirt and some pants.

He tiptoed towards the attached washroom, his mind still fuzzy from the dream and the reason why he had woken up early that morning. He was careful to cover the short distance between him and the washroom to not disturb the half-asleep Shane.

He silently closed the door behind himself, careful about his motions the whole time.

I swear this guy has some major mood swing issues, Julian begrudgingly thought to himself, his mind suddenly focused on their high school.

Winston Elite High School was truly the home for all the spoilt brats that seem to have been given birth in the states. Closely related to the elite schools in NYC, all the students with loaded parents would gather around and study along with flaunting their parent's money.

Barely, students were accepted based on their merit and talent; on a full scholarship. Like his best friend Alex. He was the star soccer player in their school and he was supposed to be the captain of the team. He was also an absolute mechanic guy. There would be no car in the whole city of Claremont which he was unable to repair.

He quickly took a shower for he was tired even before the day started. He sighed as jets of cold water hit his bareback, releasing the tension in his muscles. Tired he was; no matter the circumstance. It wasn't hard for him to channelise his thoughts but early morning on Monday's had never done any justice to him. His mind was blank even after he was done taking a shower and carelessly rubbed his body with a warm towel.

Rubbing his eyes, he stood in front of the mirror meeting his reflection at the mirror. He looked around and grasped the clothes which he had brought with him.

After buttoning the last of his shirt buttons, he gazed back at his reflection. Emerald green eyes looked back at him with untamed brown chocolate hair. The sleep-deprived guy in the mirror had faint dark circles and wore a blue shirt with black pants. Also, he looked in need of immediate caffeine in his blood system to survive in this world.

He exited the room after quickly picking up his bag after brushing his teeth. He has achieved his goal of being completely groomed for attending to the issue which needs immediate attention.

Auditions.

Auditions for the last member of their band "Seventh Harmony", which just had six members, contradicting the name since Jeremy had left.

After the fiasco with Jeremy's girlfriend, Sabrina, the whole band broke up as nobody had believed him. That was the worst phase of his life; his entire Junior year went downhill with the guilt of the event which he had never committed.

He hadn't remembered anything about it after he had got drunk and made out with Jeremy girlfriend, Sabrina Everly. It all started when they were celebrating their feat with others about how they were selected after the struggle of filling up the forms for the music festival.

But all efforts were in vain when it was disclosed how Julian and Sabrina were making out furiously. It was Julian who claimed to have remembered nothing of that sort. However, Sabrina, having taken that opportunity to turn the tables, claimed that it was Julian who had forced himself on her. After that, Jeremy and Julian had fought extensively as a result of which Jeremy had left the band and soon, everything came crashing down for Hayden.

After seven torturous months, everyone except Jerry had come to him and apologised about how they hadn't trusted him then. They even confessed to having known that it was Sabrina's fault all along. Even after so many months, he was unaware of what had made them change their minds and despite his continuous efforts of asking them, none of them would speak of it. So he stopped nagging them for good after a while.

For the first day in his senior year, Julian had a meeting scheduled with the principal, Mr Macmillan Foster, who had called him to discuss the issue of the shortage of the last band member. They had even hoped that the principal would acknowledge his plea of hosting an audition for it.

He was well aware that many would not be interested, considering his fragile reputation and the rumours which would always be on rounds regarding him. Rumour as absurd as how he would be a regular in bars and drinking his ass off; all enough to give him the ridiculous 'bad-boy' reputation. He didn't have a stable reputation then which he didn't want to mend anymore.

Some things are better off shattered.

What's gone downhill has already gone, focus on the future Julian, he scolded himself and looked around the humongous campus around me as he walked towards the principal's room.

The campus has a total of six buildings, the biggest one in the centre for the high school, two buildings each for boys and girls hostel and one last behind the main one for the auditorium, where all the assemblies and important events are conducted. Near the auditorium, they used to have an unused storage room which they had converted into the harbour, the Seventh Harmony harbour, where they all would practise each day.

His phone suddenly vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it swiftly before talking to the old principal.

Ethan the Egg:
We all are in the harbour, have the talk with Mac and let us know HERE.

He shook his head, mildly amused with Ethan's way of capitalizing words so that he would focus on the words instinctively and wouldn't forget them. He answered in affirmative as he walked faster, anticipating the near future of his band which he had been leading for two years. His pace quickened as he trotted towards the principal's cabin, ignoring the mindless chatter and gossips around him. They would always be the fakest ones with new rumours being born and buried each living day.

Walking through the familiar corridors always reminded him of the number of times he had spent here before things worsened with Jerry and his best friend, Ben. But, as things were now different and later graduating from high school, it felt weird to him. Even after the fight, he had cared about them and I still do. His weakness was how he'd care a lot even if they were now arch enemies.

Soon enough, he stood in front of the huge doors that separated him and his band's fate. Just a knock on the door and a new member would await him in near future. He mentally prayed for his friends to accept the new member which they would soon be having.

Ever so slowly, he knocked on the door as he took a deep breath, calming his hyperactive self to stop overthinking about almost everything at once.

"Come in!" came a muffled voice from within as he pushed open the large doors and swiftly entered, bowing towards where the principal would generally be seated.

"Ah, Mr Hayden; we were about to call you. But it's good to see you at the start of the year. Hope this year does justice to you," Julian's eyes landed on the ageing man who stood in front of him in a dark brown tuxedo and his curly black hair gelled perfectly. His tanned hand motioned him to close the doors opened behind him, but his eyes were fixated on something else in the room.

Or rather someone else.

Jeremy Runner. With his strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes, he looked the most casual person in the room. But Julian had had it different. He felt his hard glare and the hatred that gleamed with a passion in them.

"So, Mr Hayden, it's the band that brought you here for you indeed look like you just woke up. Well, seeing your undying enthusiasm, you shall meet the last member of your band, " Mr Foster gave me his best, crisp professional smile.

Last member.

Undoubtedly, his eyes landed on Jerry confusedly. Was he-

"Don't even think about it," Jerry snapped even before he could complete his thought. "Look at the other person, Hayden," He sternly declared, with an edge in his voice.

And that was exactly how Julian met the last member.

FINALLY, THE FIRST CHAPTER IS OUT

(though I have had this chapter in drafts for over a year now smh)

I hope you'll like this chapter.

(it took me a WHOLE week to edit this chapter cuz it had a shitload of errors. Horrific errors, I don't understand why I had put up this unedited kiddo)

So, Julian Hayden starts his day by paying a visit to the principal.

(I swear to god, this boy needs to learn how to sort out his priorities smh)

And, he meets his bestie-turned-enemy there!

(It's not a story where he falls for his enemy *snorts*)

STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES ON HOW STUPID MY GUY CAN BE *points at Ju* AND HOW AMAZINGLY FOOLISH THE WRITER WAS *cuz this story was written when I was 14*

HAPPY READING PEANUTS!

love and coca-cola,
Sasha♡