The Hush Society Presents... by Izzy Matias (best desktop ebook reader .txt) 📕

loft—it's the extended part of the building. You lads can crash there. As for the ladies, there’s space in my room."

"Sleepover!" Amber imitates those high-pitched gals in movies.

After Lily escorts us lads to the loft, the gals head to her room. In an instant, Eric claims one of the couches and jumps on it.

The loft is a massive sitting room with three worn-out leather couches arranged in a U shape. At the centre is a table with an old gramophone. I gravitate towards it and rummage the dusty boxes with vinyl records in them. Even if the room is messy, it doesn’t feel chaotic; the mess is part of the design. At the far right, a black spiral staircase leads upstairs. Beside the see-through curtains on my right there’s a grand piano. I wonder if Lily plans to use this room as our venue tomorrow night. I can already imagine the set-up.

Benji paces around the room. "I can’t get a decent Internet signal here."

Eric, sleeping beauty, snores loud. That was quick.

I sit on the couch beside him and as soon as I do, the exhaustion of traveling hits me: the heaviness of my legs and the fatigue weighting my chest. I pull out my acoustic guitar. This room feels like it’s one with music. To have it quiet seems unnatural, so I play.

Benji huffs about, still irritated about the Internet. "Shoulda brought my portable Wifi unit."

I laugh. He gives me an odd look then laughs, too. He puts his mobile in his back pocket and jumps on the couch next to me.

"This is amazing, innit?" Benji says, grinning. He doesn’t have to say what specifically, but I know what he means.

"Do you think we’re ready?" I ask.

"I hope so."

"Our first gig is tomorrow. Excitement should be at the top of my emotional chart right now, but it isn’t."

"This is our moment, Cameron," Benji says. "I’ll admit that I’m nervous, too. In a big crowd, the stage lights are too bright for you to see anything. But intimate gigs are the scariest."

"If this blows up, it’ll be my fault."

"Nah, mate. We’re in this as a team."

"What if I screw this up?" It’s not that I’m being a downer, but somehow, things with me always find a way of blowing up. I don’t want to disappoint my best mates.

"You don’t sound like you. Where’s the optimism?"

I shrug. I don’t try to hide that I’m terrified of our debut tomorrow night. This is my last shot. I want it to be seamless. I want to prove to Cassie that betting on us was the right thing. I want to prove to myself that I can still do this even if I’ve been kicked out of five bands.

"No matter the outcome," says Benji, "you should be proud you’ve taken a risk as massive as this. You could have quit already, but you didn’t."

"I just…The Hush Society is a privilege. Can’t believe we got in just like that. Makes me question…"

"What?"

"If I’m good enough."

"’Course you are."

"We are," I correct him and continue playing. He’s right, of course. We’ve been doing this together for ages…only now we are officially in a band. We’ve always had each others’ backs.

#

I wake to the sound of hurried footsteps approaching. My eyes flash open and adjust to the eerie glow of the room. Before I can check if Benji and Eric have risen, the door bolts open.

"Oi!" Eric yells, startled at the loud bang. Both he and Benji jump up from their couches—we have one each.

"It’s Lily." Amber’s loud voice cracks as her silhouette dashes in from the doorway. "Cassie’s trying to calm her down, but to no use."

My pulse beats in my ears. What’s happened?

"Is Lily all right?" There’s no trace of weariness in Benji’s voice, even if I saw him yawning seconds ago.

I stand, ready to run back up with Amber, even with my hands shaking.

"What’s going on?" Eric asks.

"Lily’s having a panic attack," Amber says. "Cassie and I don’t know what to do to calm her down. I’ve never seen anyone like this before. Her parents are flying in this morning from the Philippines. The mobile signal is dead, so there’s no one to call."

Why is Lily having a panic attack?

Benji curses as he hits his mobile on the couch’s armrest.

"Eric, get this damn thing to work." Benji tosses his mobile to Eric.

Eric’s stuck in a cloud of sleepiness he’s trying to fight off, so the mobile hits his stomach. "Ouf!" At least that ought to wake him.

"Cameron and I will see what we can do to help Lily." As we exit the loft, Benji flicks the switch and the lights open.

The run to Lily’s room is a blur; I can’t focus on anything but the thought of what a panic attack will look like.

As we come upon a pink door, I expect the worst. In the corner of the room, Lily’s curled up on her bed—a grey mattress on the floor—with her arms around her legs. She’s rocking herself back and forth. Cassie sits beside her, rubs her back whilst murmuring to her with a soft, calm voice.

"What happened?" Benji is the first to speak up. He kneels down beside Lily’s shaking body. I hover from a distance, not wanting to overwhelm Lily with our presence. Amber stays beside me.

Cassie looks at Benji, but doesn’t stop rubbing Lily’s back. "She woke me up, telling me she could feel it coming, that something was about to start. She could feel something brewing in her chest."‘This is how it always begins’ she said before she curled up into a corner. I was still sleepy, so it didn't fully hit me what was going on—what was about to happen."

What was about to start? I wouldn’t know what I’d do if someone woke me up saying that.

"She told me about her anxiety before, but it's not the first thing that came to mind when she spoke those words," Cassie says. "It was when she started rocking herself back and forth