"Mace, does this look weird, " I said, as I finished the final stroke of my lip liner and turned to my best friend.

She turned to me and shook her head. "No, just add a bit of gloss".

I nodded, took her advice, and then took a moment to look at him, where he was laughing with his friend across the room. God, he was gorgeous. With his sport uniform tight on him, (emphasising his muscles), chestnut wavy hair (every strand adding to his charm) and his easy-going, fun personality - honestly, I felt bipolar. Because- yes, he was hot, but God, I hated him. Why did he have to like her and not me?? I bit my lip and looked away, just as he said my name.

I turned to him.

"Yes?"

He stared at me blankly, then gave me a cheeky grin and waved. A mere wave.

Like what was he trying to do- lead me on?? He was... confuzzling and aggravating.

Then Macy asked me a question, and I forgot about him for a bit. For context, tonight was my schools first 'Performance Night' of the year (out of 2). Macy and I were there for choir, and he was there for his guitar ensemble.

Later on, after completing some maths homework, I was bored. So, I decided to talk to him. "Hi guys", I said, as I made my way to him and his (our) friends Sunny and Leroy.

They looked at me, said hi and I started talking to Leroy. Leroy was nice and loved musical theatre, but it was always about himself and the roles he had, so I got tired of his boasting quickly and asked my crush a question. "Hey Will," I said, as I brushed a piece of dark brown hair behind my ears.

"Do you know the band Sovereign Silver", I said nervously, but casually.

"Umm, I think I know like 1 or 2 of their songs."

I nodded, then went back to Leroy, but surprisingly saw Will still looking at me from my peripheral. I turned to him. "Wait, how did you know I knew it," he said.

Crap. What was I going to say. With some quick thinking I exclaimed I told him I recognised the band on one of his Tik Toks that landed on my for-you-page. Obviously, I was stalking his Tik Tok on Macy's phone but I wasn't going to admit that. He looked surprised for a second as he processed what I said, and I wasn't sure why- but then he said.

"Wait you have Tik Tok??"

NO, I DIDN'T. I USED MACYS STALKING ACCOUNT. Again- using my fast thinking (God I love my brain), I said I used it but It was... a mess. He didn't question further. Great I just screwed and ended the conversation. If I had Tik Tok I probably could've added and texted him. We both had Insta, but It wasn't the same

Half an hour later, Will had finished performing and it was time for my choir-group to come on. Macy wasn't here to accompany me as this was a more 'elite' choir. As he was walking off the stage, and I came on, we passed each other and he said, "Good luck", with a small smile.

And you'll never believe what I said- although you probably could. "You too!"

YOU TOO. YOU. TOO. ARE YOU SERIOUS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU TOO. I facepalmed and made a pained expression. Ahh I was an idiot. Then me and the other girls started singing, and as I scanned the crowd, I saw Will standing at the back. I felt myself sing a little louder after seeing him. Then the bigger choir + Macy came onto the stage, and he left to grab something. I didn't mind though, as he probably couldn't see me, let alone hear me (there was about 60 others on the stage, compared to the 15 previously). Although, it was sweet that he stayed for the one where I was most evident. Delusional, but at least It kept me sane (Ish).

Then we got off the stage, and we passed each other. At the same time, he said "Nice singing", and I said, "You did so well"

Omg. That was such a cute moment. We then said thank you to each other, and he lightly tapped/held my elbow. It was like the equivalent to patting/touching someone on the back to say hi or commend them. I'm not too sure.

All of a sudden, the lights went out. Someone screamed. And I felt a shiver along my spine.

"Will are you there?", I said, fear etched in my voice (as we were still beside each other.

"Yeah, I got you", he said, gripping a bit harder onto my arm.

I felt behind me for Macy and was reassured when I felt her familiar hands hold mine.

The head music teacher, who had the microphone, Mrs Jones, then told everyone not to panic and said It would be fixed in a 'jiffy'. Meanwhile, we could all gather together, stay close and whip out our flashlights. Simple.

But then we heard it. A real, blood-curdling, desperate shriek erupted from across the room, unlike the dramatic, fake one we heard earlier. My heart pounded hard and nobody dared to speak. Stunned. There as a slight murmur, and the room grew loud.

(sorry if its not good its my first story lol)

I let go of Macy, keeping one hand gripped tightly in her profusely sweating palm. I latched my free hand onto Will's arm, my nails digging deep enough into his warm skin that I heard him hiss quietly. But he didn't move away from me, or ask me to let go. I felt my lungs inflate and deflate more slowly now. I could no longer hear my heart thumping furiously in my ears.

The three of us, entangled in some sort of way, silently shuffled in my forward facing direction, our eyes adjusting to the darkness of the backstage theatre. Someone we passed was whimpering and crying out for their mother. Which was valid, because I was so close to sitting on the floor and weeping until I cried an ocean like Alice when she grew too big to fit through the door. This was not how my night was meant to go. I was going to sing my heart out, and talk to Will and maybe work up the courage to kiss him and tell him how much I hated him...

I was dragged from my thoughts as Macy tripped over her own feet, tumbling into Will and I. Since we were all holding hands, our limbs twisted together oddly and we all let go at the last second, and something snapped horribly. Will shouted tearfully, "My ankle! My ankle! Jessie, Macy, please..." I heard a gasp rush out from between my lips, pushing myself up on my arms and brushing off dust from my elbows.

I sat up on my knees, and turned around, crawling over to Will to assess the damage done. He lay curled in the foetus position, his hands that were just enclosing mine wrapped around his ankle. "Will, please, move your hands. I can't see what happened." I sobbed. He shakily removed his hands from his leg, leaning back so I could see. In the dim light of the exit sign for the door we had fallen in front of, I noticed the white glint of... Oh, God. His bone was poking out of his flesh, the jagged ends sticking straight up and shifting with every movement he made.

I overhead Macy comforting Will, but they sounded so far away all of a sudden. I felt nausea rising in my gut, into my throat, and I turned away just in time to projectile vomit onto the floorboards. My somewhat digested sandwich from before my performance was scattered in front of me, and the sight and smell of it just made me throw up even more.

Macy... I had to check on her. I was so focused on Will I had forgotten to ask her if she was alright. This was no time to be weak.

But before I could even consider going to Macy, I fell forward onto my face, my head spinning frantically and my eyes rolling in my sockets. I saw dark spots crowding my vision, and the last thing I could summon to my mind was that I had passed out in my own vomit.