Chapter 25

"A karaoke bar? Are you serious?" I laughed as soon as I stepped into the dimly lit restaurant. Drew and Wes just grinned back at me. I shook my head at them, but followed them inside anyway. I walked in step with Adrianna over to the hostess stand. The place was actually pretty cool. The walls were made of stainless steel with glass accents and neon lights pulsing through them. Black linoleum covered the floor paired with matching stainless steel bar tables. 

A high-pitched nasal voice was blaring from the stage. I looked over at Keaton and he had his hands cupped over his ears like I did. We both erupted with laughter. Wes pulled the chair out for me after the hostess showed us to our table and I blushed. He was so polite.

We all picked up our menus, looking over the choices for dinner. Drew raised his hand and called the waiter over. He came up to our table smiling. "So what will you guys be having tonight?" He asked us.

"Uh can we get two orders of cheese fries, two orders of buffalo wings, and some quesadillas please?" Drew asked folding up the menu. "Is that okay with you guys?" He turned to us.

I looked around the table and we were all nodding our heads in agreement. I just really wanted some cheese fries. I glanced around the circle at all my friends. Adrianna was on my left, and Keaton was to the right. Next to Adrianna was Drew, followed by Wesley and then Owen. Wes was being a lot nicer to Owen lately. Something tells me that he must have talked to Keaton after we got lunch.

It was nice to see them getting along. Since they weren't fighting, you could tell they both had a lot in common. I really hope that they can be friends now. That would honestly be amazing. When the waiter came back, Drew tried to order drinks, but was shut down.

"Can I see your ID?" The waiter asked with a smirk. Drew felt his pockets, pretending to be looking for his fake drivers license. 

"You know, I must have left it at home." Drew said, "Any way you can just hook us up any way?" He asked. The waiter scoffed and took out his note pad and scribbled something down. 

"Okay, so six Cokes it is." He smiled at us and retreated into the kitchen. Everyone burst out laughing. Drew looked a little mad.

"Damn it, I usually don't even need to show my ID they just assume I'm old enough." Drew said. He glanced over at Keaton. "Dude, that's why he didn't believe us, just your presence makes us seem four years younger." We all laughed and Keaton looked down sadly.

"Awwww, Keaton!" I wrapped him into a side hug. "Drew! You made him sad!" I said pouting. 

"Woah there Keats, again with you scamming on my girl!" Keaton lifted his head up and smiled, enjoying teasing his brother. We all laughed until our waiter came back carrying a tray of Cokes and our food. 

We were all munching along on our food when I heard another voice start up on the karaoke machine. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" We all looked up to the stage. A man in a shiny silver suit was at the microphone. "It's Sunday night and you know what that means! It's time for the weekly karaoke battle!" He paused and the crowd started whooping. "Find a partner, and come on up to the stage!" I watched as people around the room paired up and ran up to the stage.

"You guys should go!" Adrianna said motioning to the boys.

"Yeah, but it's a pair competition." Wesley said grabbing another French fry.

"I call Keaton!" Drew said springing up from his seat.

"Dude! He's my brother!" Wes said back. Keaton just shrugged his shoulders and looked apologetically at his brother.

"Sorry bro, Drew called me first." Keaton said. 

"With my rapping skills and your range, we've got this in the bag." Drew said to Keaton as they turned to run up to the stage.

"We'll see about that." Wes said sticking out his hand. "Come on Aves, we got this." My eyes almost fell out of my head.

"Are you kidding? No way." I said shaking my head violently.

"You've got an amazing voice! You have to do this with me!" Wes said making a pouty face. I looked away from him. One look into those beautiful brown eyes and I would be a goner.

"It's true, your voice is pretty hot." Owen said taking a sip of his Coke. Wes nodded in agreement. I shot Owen a confused look. How did he know what I sounded like? He must have been reading my mind because he looked down at the floor. "Uh, you sing in the shower. And my room is kind of right next to the bathroom so... yeah." He said.

"That's the point. I don't exactly sing in front of other people." I said, growing terrified.

"I promise you'll be fine. You're going to be amazing, I know it." Wes said stretching his hand out to me again. I looked at it for a few seconds, but took it nevertheless. The song we had to sing was completely chosen at random for us when we got onstage. Drew and Keaton were up now. They were singing "Sunday Morning" by Maroon5. They sounded pretty amazing, they had harmonies and everything.

Keaton sang the higher notes and Drew harmonized with the lower ones. Drew even through in a freestyle rap in the middle. They were congratulated by a thunderous applause at the end. They were smiling like a couple of little kids by the time they got offstage. Wesley and I were the last ones to go. Drew and Keaton patted us on the shoulders.

"Good luck trying to follow that." Drew said and I smiled. "Naw, I'm just kidding, I know you guys are going to do great." Drew grinned at me and I felt like I was going to throw up. Why did I ever agree to do this? Oh my god. Oh my god-

"Avery. Calm down, you can do this." I curled into him. He whispered into my ear. "I know you can do this." His words gave me confidence. I broke away from him and nodded boldly. I breathed in deeply and then exhaled.

"Okay. I got this." He took my hand and we walked onto the stage together. I heard a couple of 'awww's from the crowd as Wesley and I walked out holding hands. The man in the silver suit was standing on the corner of the stage smiling.

"And this will be our last team of the night!" He said grinning at us, "And what are your names?" He handed us both microphones.

Wes smiled out at the crowd, "I'm Wes." He said, waving to the room. 

"And I'm Avery." I said trying to smile.

"You a little nervous Avery?" silver suit asked me.

"More like extremely nervous." I said. The crowd chuckled. But I wasn't trying to be funny. I might actually shit my pants right now.

"Nah, she's gonna do fine." Wes said putting his arm around me. I heard more 'awww's from the crowd and I smiled slightly. It was good to know that Wesley wasn't going anywhere. Silver suit smiled and walked off the stage.

"All right! Let's see what you got!" As soon as the song started, I grinned. At least I knew it. From the looks of it, Wes knew it too. This might not actually be too bad. I just can't look out at the audience. Just forget that they're here Avery. You can do it. The introduction came to an end and Wes started the song off.

You were workin' as a waitress in a cocktail bar When I met you I picked you out, I shook you up and turned you around Turned you into someone new
Now five years later on you've got the world at your feet Success has been so easy for you But don't forget, it's me who put you where you are now And I can put you back down too. 


I couldn't help smiling at him like an idiot. The entire time I had my eyes locked on his. Before I knew it, the chorus was coming up. It was my turn to join in.

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me, ohh?

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me, ohh?


I was actually amazed at how well we sounded together. I was getting pretty into it, so I decided to take the next verse. At the end of the song Wes belted out the high note and I'm pretty sure half of the women in the audience fainted.

During the last few notes of the song we were breathing hard and grinning at each other. I couldn't see anyone in the audience because the lights were so bright, but I could hear them. They were screaming and whooping. The man in the silver suit walked down from his private box above the stage and came over to us. He put his hand up in the air and nodded his head.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" He clapped his hands and grinned at the audience. "How bout another round of applause for this lovely couple, the winners of tonight's competition!" The crowd cheered. I jumped up and down excitedly and into Wesley's arms. He spun me around excitedly and placed me back on the ground.

"I knew you could do it." He whispered to me smiling. I couldn't help it; I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to me, pressing his lips to mine. The cheering of the crowd only got louder, but it eventually faded into a whisper as I continued to lose myself in Wesley Stromberg.