Sebastian stared into the mirror, tugging at the faux-leather shirt Devon had lent him. Tight black jeans. Eyeliner smudged just so. Hair tipped toward wild. He looked like someone who had their shit together.
I just don’t look like me, that’s all.
“Just enough edge,” Devon remarked from behind him.
His reflection disagreed. His mouth was tense, his eyes a little too wide.
Fake it.You’ve survived worse.
“Let’s hope so.”
Devon smiled. “You’ll slay ’em.”
Right then, Sebastian would take surviving the audition as a win.
The studio felt too bright, too polished, as though it might spotlight every fracture in him.
The introductions had taken all of sixty seconds. Theo sat at the table, his posture impeccable, his eyes sharp but calm. The guy exuded professionalism, the epitome of safe.
Max sprawled beside him, his long legs crossed at the ankle, boots scuffed, leather jacket open. He twirled a pen between his fingers, that smirk seemingly permanent.
Theo was gravity.
Max was temptation.
Sebastian’s nerves prickled, so he masked it with sarcasm. “Your flyer said lust and lungs. I’ve got both, just not at the same time.”
Theo didn’t flinch. “We’ll see.”
Max gave a low chuckle, his eyes glinting. “You’re twenty-three?”
Sebastian’s smile tilted. “I know, I look younger. I get that a lot.”
Theo’s voice was all business. “Ready when you are.”
Sebastian drew one deep breath, let the air steady him, and stepped into The Smiths ‘I Know It’s Over’, a fragile falsetto threaded with ache, phrasing sharp as glass, each note edging toward collapse but never quite falling. When the final line hung in the air, silence swallowed the room.
Max’s smirk had vanished. He looked unsettled, as though someone had hit a bruise he hadn’t shown anyone. Theo’s jaw flexed once, his expression tight.
“Do you compose?” Theo asked at last, his voice clipped but steady.
Sebastian nodded.
“Done any arrangements for groups?”
“Some,” Sebastian said, forcing casual to the surface. “I did a version of ‘Creep’ once. Someone cried and left a party.”
Max barked out a laugh. “That’s either terrible or brilliant.”
Sebastian flashed him a grin, sharp and brief. “Both.”
When they offered compliments, he shrugged them off, as if praise stung more than criticism. Theo noticed: the little tightening around his eyes gave it away. Max simply kept staring, his interest dark and obvious, as though he’d caught Sebastian out without even trying.
By the time Sebastian stumbled back outside, he was trembling, adrenaline still spiking through him. He thumbed a text to Devon:
Audition done. Think I overshared with my vocal cords.
Devon: It’s done now. All you can do is wait—and hope. I’m sure it went better than you think it did.
