“Going twice…”
“In five minutes it’ll all be over.”
He sounded like my sister. Was that what everyone here was thinking? Just get it over with? I wondered if anyone in this room thought this sort of public humiliation was actually fun.
“Yeah, and I might be dead.”
“Unlikely,” Christopher shot back.
“Going…going…”
“Think of the list, Type A!” Christopher urged.
“I’m here!”
I stood up, and my knees almost collapsed underneath me. Also, my voice cracked spectacularly on the word here, which did not bode well. But then the crowd turned to look at me and people started to cheer and, well, there was no going back. I made my way toward the stage, tripping once and catching myself on the back of some poor girl’s chair, before finally making it to the stairs. I’d thought I was doing pretty well in my new heels, but I had to seriously concentrate just to get up the three steps in one piece. Then, the DJ was handing me the microphone, the music was starting, and there were the words, lighting up on the TV in front of me.
I looked out at the audience, trying to spot Christopher, but the brightest light ever constructed by man shone directly in my face, basically blinding me to everyone and everything beyond the first row of tables. I was on my own.
And so, I started to sing.
My voice was…not good. It was quiet. And breathy. And not in the least bit confident. I was tanking. I could feel it. The group of girlfriends at the first table was actually squirming in discomfort. This was a disaster. But I was doing it. And like Christopher had said, in five minutes it would be over.
I looked at the TV, as if I didn’t have this song memorized backwards and forwards, and there I saw it. The chorus. Okay. If I was ever going to save this, the time was now. I closed my eyes and just belted out the chorus. I pretended I was in my shower back home and just sang. As loudly as I could without passing out. And then, the most miraculous thing happened.
Somebody cheered.
Yeah. I’m not kidding. Somebody, not Christopher, actually cheered. And then people began clapping to the beat. And that’s when something dawned on me. It wasn’t just me singing up there alone. We were all in this together. I was just the person who happened to be on the stage at that moment. But a bunch of those people out there had sung before me. And some of them would sing after me. Karaoke wasn’t a single-person event. This was a group thing. A team thing. And I wasn’t about to let my team down.
I kept singing. And I opened my eyes. I’m pretty sure I even smiled.
“Come on, everyone, join in!” I shouted before the chorus began again. “You know the words.”
And the crowd started to sing with me. And I really wasn’t the center of attention anymore. I waved the audience on, encouraging them, and noticed that the guy from the coffee shop—Damon—was sitting at one of the front tables near the door, and he was one of the people clapping and singing enthusiastically along. When our eyes met, he gave me a quick thumbs-up, and a little thrill went through me.
A cute boy was enjoying my song. The song that was almost over. Just one more time through the chorus and this whole nightmare—was it a nightmare?—would be over.
When I finally hit the last note, I was so relieved and giddy, I started laughing and threw one hand in the air. Everyone cheered. Well, I don’t know if it was everyone—I still couldn’t see eighty percent of the room—but it felt like everyone. My first time singing karaoke was a success.
But even more importantly? I’d just crossed two more items off my list. I couldn’t wait to find Christopher again and celebrate.
* * *
• • •
Walking back through the crowd, I felt one hundred percent the opposite of how I’d felt going up to the stage. I weighed zero pounds. My chest was all puffed up and full of helium. There was nothing I couldn’t do. People slapped me on my back and yelled encouraging things like “nice job!” and “get it, girl!” and “that didn’t suck!” I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
“That was amazing!” Christopher shouted.
He pushed himself up from his chair, bracing both hands on the table, and reached in to hug me. I managed to somehow balance his weight without tottering on my high heels and wrapped my arms fully around him. It was, possibly, the most perfect moment of my life. If doing stuff I’d never done before always felt like this, I was going to be doing new things much more often.
“You did it!” he said, pulling back, but keeping one hand on my lower back. His cast leg was crooked beneath him, making him look like a cute flamingo. I could feel the warmth of his palm through my T-shirt. “How does it feel?”
“Oh my God, so good!” I cried, pressing my fingertips to my cheeks. “I can’t stop smiling.”
“Congratulations. That was so great. Everyone was really into it. And getting them to sing along with you was genius.”
“Thank you. I’m just glad I didn’t fall off the stage.” I gestured at my shoes and laughed.
“Unreal,” Christopher said, and lowered himself back into his chair. “You just checked off two more things from your list. Three in one day. We’re on a roll.”
I liked this we thing. It was really kind of amazing how all-in Christopher was on this whole experiment.
“Yeah, we totally are.”
I sat down next to him again and reached for my root beer just as the DJ announced that they were going to be taking a break and he’d be back in ten minutes. The volume of the conversation around us swelled as people pored over the list of songs and decided what to sing next. I sensed someone standing next to my chair and noticed Christopher’s face go stiff. I looked up. It was Damon. His dark hair was pushed back from his face, and he wore a plaid cowboy-style shirt with the little snaps down the front that most people couldn’t have pulled off, but it looked good on him.
“Hey…Tess, right?” he said. “I just wanted to tell you, you did great.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the stage, then shoved both hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’m Damon. From the coffee shop? Remember? I’m Tarek’s cousin. I think he’s been hanging out with your sister, Lauren, right?”
“Yes! Hi! I didn’t know you and Tarek were related.” I think I was still a little high on adrenaline, because I couldn’t exactly think straight. But Damon did look a little bit like Tarek—only Damon hadn’t gotten those bright blue eyes his cousin had been blessed with. His were light brown. And he was thinner and wirier than Tarek, who had more of a football player’s build. “It’s nice to see you again.”