Which karaoke bar are you at?
And is that the friend you mentioned in the background?
Her name was Nora, right?
“Nothing, huh? Tell that to your face,” Nora said, leaning in a little closer, trying to catch a glimpse of my phone.
“Okay, you got me.” I locked the screen and raised my hands in front of me. “There issomeone. We met yesterday. Just some random guy who helps out my parents around the house. We got talking during the reunion, and we kind of…clicked.”
“As in, he clicked hisyou-know-whatinto you?”
Raul gasped. “Nora!”
I opened my mouth, but the words refused to come out. Denying it wouldn’t change the fact that it happened. Feeling a little light-headed, I rubbed the back of my neck and cleared my throat, which was enough of an answer to make Nora giggle and Raul nudge me.
“It kind of just happened after we talked and listened to his music. He’s writing his own stuff, and believe me, it’s legit—so good, in fact, that I promised to record some vocals for him. And… I might have already done that for a song we improvisedtogether. But it’s not like this could turn into anything more than that.”
Nora’s mouth fell open. “Hegets to hear you sing after only one night, andIhave to beg you for half a year?”
“To be fair, the other guy paid him in ways you can’t,” Raul teased.
Nora jumped up in her seat. “Now you’re siding with him?” Her body twitched forward as if she were about to climb over the table to fight Raul, but she stopped herself and focused on me again. “I want to hear it.”
“Hear what?”
“That song you improvised.”
“I don’t have a recording of it. And I’m also not sure if he’d be comfortable if I?—”
“Then ask.” Nora pointed to my phone. “You can say I threatened you or something… which I guess I’m doing, so actually don’t tell him that.”
Knowing that she would bug me about it for weeks if I didn’t at least ask Alex, I opened the chat with him.
My friends won’t stop pestering me about our song.
Shouldn’t have told them.
Alex sent me a Dropbox link in his reply without even needing to be asked, making it harder for me to back out of this.
I made a new version with proper beats and everything.
The second file is just the track without your vocals.
It’s still rough, though.
Is it okay if I show my friends?
Of course. It’s your song, too.
“He said yes.” I clicked the link, and a new intro with synth sounds started playing from my phone’s shitty speaker. Within half a second, I knew it wouldn’t do him justice, so I turned it off again. “Sorry, but it doesn’t sound good on my phone.”
“Oh no, you’re not getting out of this,” Nora said, leaning over the center console. She pressed the server button in the upper-right corner. “If that’s the problem, I’ll find a solution.”
Our waiter’seyebrows rose above the edge of his round glasses. “That’s not how the machines are intended to be used.”
“But itispossible!” Nora pressed in a stern voice. She took a step toward him, which made him take a step back.
“Well, yes, it ispossibleto play something from a phone.” His eyes darted toward the door as if he feared the other staff might hear him. He lowered his voice. “Please, don’t tell anyone if I show you how. I just got this job, and I don’t want to get in trouble.”
