He began playing his guitar, singing an acoustic version of “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers by himself until Hazel came in. A sudden awe came over us as we listened to her ethereal voice mixed with Leo’s dulcet tones, which created a perfect harmony, overshadowing the crackling of the campfire.
Their heartfelt rendition had me wishing for things I couldn’t have. I searched for Autumn in the crowd and found her looking at me. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
I turned back to watch the couple who wasn’t a couple and wondered if there was something I was missing. Leo watched Hazel with apt eyes as she wrapped herself in song, too focused to notice his attention.
When they were done, people remained silent for longer than made sense, before Lamar gave the couple a “Woo!” which reminded us to clap. We did, loudly. Cheers and whistles emitted from campers, and Hazel and Leo humbly smiled before leaving the stage.
“Okay, next up is…” Sawyer shouted as they looked at the paper. “Jamie.”
“Fuck no,” I blurted loudly without thinking.
The laughter that followed made my cheeks burn hot. I reluctantly rushed through the stands to avoid anyone seeing me, especially the gorgeous blonde, whose tear tracks were replaced with laugh lines.
“This goes out to my mom.”
Scattered “Woo!”s came from the crowd, and I smiled as the karaoke machine started playing a very dramatic piano melody.
I sang the first line of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Three lines in, people started to laugh. I’d expected as much.That was what happened when your go-to karaoke song was an extraordinary ballad from a Canadian female pop sensation.
Then people started singing along, which was the goal. People were drunkenly raising glasses and shouting the lyrics when it was time, which was great because it covered up my voice cracking into the microphone. What can I say? The woman had range, and I did not.
The fire made it difficult to spot people from the crowd, and after a moment of searching for Autumn, I quickly gave up, gazing at the small prompter even though it was completely unnecessary.
When I finished, I received almost as many cheers as Hazel and Leo, which was unexpected.
Ren rushed me from the stage, throwing his arms around me and laughing as he almost took me down. “What the hell was that?” he slurred. He had definitely had too many s’more-tinis “Patricia would be proud.”
“She loves Celine Dion,” I admitted. I remembered nights when me and Marley would go to bed and she’d play the music in the dark living room, prepared to come upstairs if we were too giggly and not going to sleep.
“Everyone’s mom loved Celine Dion,” Ren asserted, as though this were a fact, before he went to get another drink.
I looked around for Autumn and found her staring, her lip between her teeth. She sat down next to me.
“That’s what does it for you, huh?”
“That’s nothing. Imagine how hot I get over “My Heart Will Go On.”” She waggled both eyebrows at me.
“Has anyone seen the Fritos?” Nat asked. She seemed fine, but I had no idea what the fallout was from last night’s indiscretion.
“They’re behind the bar,” Autumn told her, seemingly oblivious to her connection to Jack. Nat left, thankfully, and I almost said something to my blonde counterpart before thinkingbetter of it. That was up to Jack to divulge. “She melts chocolate and dips Fritos into it. Doesn’t that sound so weird? It’s a high snack if I’ve ever heard of one.”
