Hailey wasn’t much of a showman, but she channeled every musical she’d ever seen to bring the house down before trying to answer the existential question: “What Does the Fox Say?”
She strutted the stage, gesturing toward people in the crowd and acting like her life depended on this performance. When she got to the chorus, everyone belted “What the fox say?” with her before she jumped into the lines of gibberish that guessed at a fox’s noise.
Hailey kept stealing peeks at Avery and Gage and was surprised to see they were still chatting. Avery had a warm smile on his face while Gage’s was forced. What the hell could they be talking about? After Gage’s performance, it couldn’t be anything good.
Trying to ignore that, she finished her song to cheers and shouts. Mission accomplished.
Instead of heading back to the men currently taking up too much real estate in her head, she made a beeline for Abby and wrapped her in a hug.
“Happy birthday!” she shouted as she squeezed Abby tightly and tried to find a bit of comfort in the hugbefore having to face Gage again.
“Hailey, that performance was epic! I would pay to see that in concert!” Abby stepped back from the hug but kept her hands on Hailey’s shoulders.
“Ha! No, that was just for you, Abby. Are you enjoying your birthday?”
“Of course, I am! You’re here! You always make everything more fun!
Hailey melted inside at Abby’s words. She felt like it was her purpose in life to make others feel good, even if she couldn’t do it for herself. Now, if she could only have that same amount of fun and enjoyment with her boyfriend. Perhaps it was a lost cause after all.
Cherry Stems Group Chat
COLE:Damn. Can’t believe Avery won best voice again. Is there anything he can’t do?
AVERY:Besides get off this group chat?
COLE:Gasp! You’d never
AVERY:No, you’re right. I’d never. And there’s plenty I can’t do!
COLE:I only know of one thing, what else is there? [smirk emoji]
AVERY:[narrowed eyes emoji] I’m awful at art and eating spicy foods
ABBY:Cole, you won best dance moves. That’s something to be proud of!
AVERY:True, I can’t dance like you can.
JOSH:I think I pulled something on stage. How do you get hurt doing karaoke?
RILEY:That’s what you get for trying to do one of those half split things
JOSH:You said you liked it!
RILEY:I didn’t say it wasn’t entertaining, just maybe not worth it. Don’t worry, I have just the thing for it
COLE:Yeah, Riley. Help Josh rub that groin down
JOSH:Jealous. But, it wasn’t my groin! Feels like my hamstring
HAILEY:We’ll have to have an ambulance on standby next year. We keep getting older, we’re bound to have more injuries
ABBY:Knock on wood!!!
COLE:Anyway, I just wanted to point out how perfect Avery is. No reason. Just wanted to remind everyone. No ulterior motives whatsoever
ELENA:Subtle.
COLE:I never claimed to be
