Chapter 101

"Why is this equation so long?! You picked it on...Shit!" I stopped writing immediately, going through what I'd done and looking up at him with the most dumbfounded look. And when I caught him trying to withhold his laughter I felt somehow betrayed. I had been doing the wrong thing, literally messed everything up from the get go and he had definitely realized and decided to keep quiet about it. 

" Two minutes down, " he informed me, his smile shining through. I groaned out my frustration, tried to start again but ended up not doing it because I was too agitated about the error I had made, plus there was no way I'd be able to finish it in under one minute. I sighed and placed the pen on the book. 

" Giving up?"

" You're evil. Not only did you pick the longest question in existence but you also silently watched as I screwed it up. "

" What? You seemed like you knew what you were doing. "

" What was I even doing? "

" You over thought it, the function you used was wrong for this particular question, but it's still pretty advanced. I'm honestly impressed. "

Feeling flattered, I smiled and looked away, running a hand through my hair before I blew out a breath. Then I read through the question one more time and realized that he was right and it wasn't as complex as I had thought. They had just made it super long so that we would feel threatened I guess. Wicked mind games. 

" Three minutes, " he said, glancing at his phone's screen before he placed it back on the counter. I happened to notice that his screensaver was a picture of his dog. He posted it on his social media quite a lot. Sage was its name. I had always considered myself more of a cat person, but that was definitely a cute dog. 

" Can I ask you something?" I was too curious not to. 

" Sure,go ahead. "

" Where did you learn all of that?"

I meant his knowledge physics wise. He was already attractive, but there was something about his intelligence that just made him seem a whole lot better. He ticked all the boxes, and whoever was going to end up with him one day was surely going to be lucky. That level of talent, charm and intellect wasn't something you came by everyday. 

" I took online classes. I knew they weren't as effective as physically attending school so I tended to study more whenever I got time. I actually still have and read those books whenever I get bored. "

" How did you manage all that? With your music career and everything?" 

" I have an enviable IQ. But don't tell anyone that, "

Seeing as he said the last part r as a whisper, I had thought he was joking, but on looking at him I realized he was very serious. He gently pushed my notebook back to me, smiling warmly. 

" You failed, but I'm a generous soul, "

He once again glanced over at the piano, his lips tilting up in a subtle yet charming smile. 

Sitting up much straighter, I looked at him with a lot of expectation. He had THE voice! It had been the factor that had attracted me to the band in the first place. I liked how he could control it despite the range, how soft and gentle it could be when singing a heartfelt love song and how deep and gut wrenching it was whenever he sang those heavy tunes. There was just a natural appeal to it. And him playing the piano would be an added bonus, he never played instruments on stage, or in any of the music videos. I only ever got to see him play in the very few clips he posted. And even then he seemed to simply be doing it for fun so it was more talking and less playing. But I knew he was well acquainted with most of the things that were music oriented. 

" Really? You'll still sing?"

" Of course. But first..." 

He swiftly took off his cap, combed his fingers through his hair real quick and put it back on, then he crossed his arms and narrowed his gaze, seeming deep in thought. 

" You have to tell me who your favorite BluePrint member is. Total honesty, I swear not to get mad. "

I took it lightly, pretending to be thinking, and the afterwards I wondered how I was going to say it was him without making things awkward. 

" It's CJ, isn't it? I saw that you liked all his posts, you also follow his YouTube channel. "

Okay, that was pretty weird. I didn't get how he had known that unless he has followed up on it and done a bit of stalking himself. I also followed him and liked his pics, so it wasn't that big a deal. I shook my head, intending to just tell him the truth. 

" Don't tell me it's Ricky... Nathan?-"

" It's you. "

He kept quiet for a while, then smile and nodded.

" For real?"

" For real. "

" May I know why?"

" I like your voice. It's really soothing. "

He must have not expected me to reply that quick because he seemed like he had been caught off guard. I wasn't sure whether it was in a good way because he was positively flustered. I suddenly felt weird. Like I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing. He thanked me, then snapped his fingers and stood.

" If you wanna change the song you can, " 

" No. Echo will do. "

" If my voice cracks then it's definitely intentional, " he sarcastically informed me. He had mentioned having woken up early to do some voice practices before he had gone over to the studio. That meant he had already strained his voice a lot that day, but he still insisted in singing and I wasn't going to deny both of us that wonderful opportunity. 

" Come on! You can be my co-singer, just make sure you don't snatch all the attention. "

He said, his hand on my shoulder, his grip quite firm and sure. 

" God no! If you value your hearing even a bit you'll never ask that of me again. "

Laughing, he asked me how bad I could possibly be, so I told him my vocals equaled to screeching metal. It just wasn't pleasant to listen to and the listener would probably end up with some sort of ear disease. Like shuttered eardrums or something along those lines. 

" It can't be that bad!"

" Oh it's worse! My friend Max, from the concert, once heard me sing, he said and I quote " I like you, but your voice just made me question my existence....and not in a good way. "

Reign burst out laughing. The impact making him tighten the grip on my shoulder even more. And when he insisted on listening to me I told him he'd die waiting.  

" I can play the piano though, I'm okay with that. "

" Seriously?" 

" Yeah, I'll need a moment to catch on but I'm sure I can do it. "

" What other skills are you hiding?" 

He playfully ruffled my hair while asking that. When he was that close, I got to see just how mature he actually was. But it was the desirable sort of maturity. He was such a nice person it was almost overwhelming. I went to stand, but then the door was unlocked and I turned to it instead. Only to find Austin striding over to the counter with razor sharp focus, his gaze wasn't dark, it was scary. The same way it was when he was seconds away from getting into a fight. He was holding a shopping bag in his hand but the second he got to the counter he intentionally let it slip off his fingers and shot Reign an extremely feral look. 

" What the fuck's going on here?" He asked. His tone pure bitterness. I glanced at Reign, he seemed to be having a difficult time understanding what was going on.  

"Thought you said you were busy, " I reminded him. It hadn't been that long since he dropped me off and left. But I doubt he heard what I had said, all his focus was still on Reign.

" You're that singer jacket guy, " he said to Reign. The description made me feel even more awkward because why the hell would he call him that. I knew for a fact that Austin knew his name and was just pretending not to. 

" Actually it's Reign,but I suppose that works too. "

" What do you want?!"

" Austin!" 

I tried to intervene but he ignored me completely. He did however stare at me with a look that was very similar to a warning, only more. 

" I'm guessing you're the boyfriend, "

" Let go of him. "

I stared at the hand Reign had slid back to my shoulder, he had probably done it out of instinct and nothing else. But Austin was taking it way too far! And that incident was reminding me of how deeply rooted his jealousy actually was.