Join the music class...

The next Monday.

Around fifteen to twenty minutes past three.

Inside the reading room of Westride High School, five figures could be seen sitting around a table, with several books placed on it. Silence ruled the air as the figures seemed to be deeply immersed in the books they were reading... Not all of them though.

The figures were two males and three female counterparts — Gary, Henry, Laura and her best friends - Stephanie and Ashley. This arrangement commenced today after receiving an approval from the principal the week before, enabling them to use an extra thirty minutes in the school after school hours. Truthfully, it was to encourage an improvement in Gary's grades as the principal hardly ever approves of such. But, it came with a warning — "Don't cause havoc on any of the school properties!", the principal had told the group of teenagers who had a huge tendency of running wild.

Seated in the middle of Henry and Stephanie, with Laura's sitting position in his line of sight, Gary looked bored as he casually flipped through the History textbook in front of him. His elbow was placed on the table with his hand being used to support his chin, revealing an unenthusiastic expression.

His mind trailed off as he recollected how he got into this 'mess'— Nah, disaster... that sounds more pleasing, he concluded in his mind. If the stupid 'i've-got-a-plan' Henry hadn't pushed him to go apologize to Laura after the incident of that last Thursday, maybe by now he'd be in the comfort of his bed, jamming some Chris Brown tunes... or maybe Drake's.

Henry's plan was to lure Laura into the reading which she had initially suggested. Why? Maybe he could get a great chance with Stephanie, his love stricken crush since freshman year. And that's where Gary comes in. The only thing Gary needed to do was apologize to Laura about the outburst directed at her, and then Laura accepts his apology, making Henry's infatuating vision become a reality.

The plan was a success, 'cause as soon as Gary apologized in between mumbles, Laura immediately accepted his apology as she revealed a bright smile. It wasn't a surprising thing though, to Gary, as he was expecting a quick response. Henry quickly took the initiative to tell her they were in for the after school reading, leading to this... this...

Why do people even read?, Gary wondered as he put his left hand on his hair and immediately turned his gaze to the jerk of a friend called Henry.

But that timing was simply bad... real bad timing. He caught Henry staring at Stephanie who was deeply engrossed in whatever book she was reading. Well, they were both sitting opposite each other. Henry had been quick to take his gaze off her but it was too late as Gary had already seen him. If only he was a second earlier...

'He made me do this and he isn't even doing it. What else should I be expecting?' Gary thought and snorted silently. He had the urge to stand up and leave the library, but he composed himself and sat still. The last thing he needed now was to explain himself for attempting to leave.

He glanced at the wristwatch bounded on his left wrist. He had deliberately chosen to strap it on today so he could keep track of time. It was three-twenty already and that meant ten more minutes was left to round-off. He heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to get out of here. This torturous site...

Ten minutes eventually passed. Without wasting time, he got up and began to put the book into his bag which was resting on the leg of the chair he was sitting on. Indirectly, he was passing a message to the others — It's time to leave, you bookworms!

Noticing Gary's movement, the others seemed to get the message as they immediately initiated a dispersal from the reading room. From Gary's side, Henry sneered at him as he thought: 'Lazy As*,'

They all got ready to leave. 'A wasted day,' Gary mentally said as he strapped his bag to his back. Now, he truly wished he was home already to jam some tunes.

Suddenly, a small elegant handed landed on his back as he felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned to see Laura standing in front of him.

"Gary," she said in a solemn voice, "I noticed you weren't really concentrating in the reading. Is something bothering you?"

'Why does she even have to care?' he wondered. 'See why I didn't want to join this arrangement... Urrgh!'

He quickly replied by shaking his head and she continued. "I know you aren't used to this but it's best if you could clear your mind off anything disturbing you. We're doing this for you and I hope you get the best from it."

'Hell yeah it's for me. Just confess you want to get closer to me. And it seems you haven't checked Henry out though,' he laughed inwardly. He smiled and gave her a 'thank you' look before eventually thanking her.

"Thanks Laura," he said while adjusting the strapped bag on his back, "I'll try to work on that."

"Please do," she told him calmly.

Since they were all done packing up, they all went out of the reading room. They all conversed on their way out with Henry and Ashley being the major speakers. Although Ashley wasn't at all that familiar with the boys, she had a carefree character which enabled her to strike a conversation with anybody.

"Have you seen the new intern in the music class? God, I wish I had such blue eyes like hers," Ashley sighed and looked lost in thoughts after commenting. Forgetting she was still with the others, she almost collided with Laura who was beside her.

Stephanie immediately nudged her from behind, "Snap out of it you dreamer,"

"Don't tell me you are attracted to the intern..." Henry spoke.

"Is there a crime if I am?" Ashley nonchalantly questioned.

Henry shook his head. "No, no. Go on,"

Among the rest, one of them wasn't even listening in to the conversation. It was Gary. A statement from Ashley had caught his attention, leaving him in deep thoughts. '... blue eyes...' That sounded familiar. Yes, it's indeed familiar. The lady he bumped into a week ago. But he wasn't going to jump into conclusions yet.

They got to the school parking lot and from there, they departed from each other with the boys heading straight for the school gate. Stephanie had brought her ride as she was obviously legal to, so Laura and Ashley hopped in to join her for a ride home since their residences were a bit far from the school.

Henry and Gary stayed nearly the same street and their houses weren't too far from the school, so they walked home together.

For some minutes, they walked in silence. Different thoughts were running through their minds. Henry was hoping inwardly that Gary wouldn't talk about the issue with Stephanie but Gary's mind wasn't even on that. His mind was fixated on the blue-eyed intern Ashley had talked about. Is she the one I bumped into that day?, he wondered.

Suddenly, he turned his gaze to Henry and let out, "How about we join the music class..."

For some seconds, Henry didn't reply as he tried to reason out what Gary just said. As soon as he got a grip of it, he asked: "What?"

Gary sighed. "How. about. we. join. the. music. class..." He reiterated, this time slowly as he emphasized on each word.

"Music class?" Henry was surprised. "Why do you want to do that?"

"It's a 'we' bro. I want us to both join the music class." He replied as he adjusted his hair. It seems he's obsessed with touching his hair every single time he's opportune to.

"I still don't get why you want 'Us' to join the music class. Is there anything interesting going on in it?" Henry inquired.

"Don't worry about the reason. Or don't you want to get a chance with Stephanie anymore?" Gary chuckled as he used Stephanie as a bait for Henry.

Henry glared at him. "Don't you dare use that to lure me in!"

"Are we joining or not?" Gary nonchalantly asked.

"Fine..." Henry admitted.

Gary shook his head and smirked. "I finally have what to use against you. Don't try to chicken out,"

"You..." Henry scowled in contempt, receiving a chuckle from Gary.