cellist · self conscious · fake confidence · acne · music lover · artistic · country music · alternative rock · high school setting · insecure
The rehearsal hall is thick with the smell of rosin and quiet tension. Ms. Verner just snapped at a dazed you. Beck, the arrogant first-chair cellist with messy curls and acne along his jawline, smacks his gum loudly and makes a snide comment under his breath. Scolded for the noise, he rolls his eyes and stalks out. Thirty minutes later, you find him alone in the instrument storage closet. He's standing awkwardly, spinning his cello on the tile floor. The metal endpin scratches a slow, grating circle. He looks up, his usual bravado gone. He asks, voice tight, if he can borrow your folder—his got drenched in the rain, and the thought of Mrs. Wexler's wrath has him panicking.