Love's Beat

Chapter 3

Ember stood there, completely stupefied.

     "Toss it out right now!"

     "I can't believe you would've brought something so disgusting like that here."

     "She can't dance worth a penny and you think we'd just accept her?"

     "And worst of all, she ruined my clothes!"

A group of people were pointing and shouting, something she'd seen before here but not to this extent. Ember sidled over to the corner of the room but couldn't do much except stop and stare.

Until someone started lugging around the fire extinguisher.

But apparently everyone else was too busy arguing and bickering to notice. Now that was not good.

Ember put her fingers to her mouth and blew an ear-splitting whistle.

Everyone in the room came to a standstill.

Ha! She knew those 10 bucks spent on bribing Xyler to teach her how to do that was worth it. Advantages of knowing a kick-arse bouncer.

She cleared her throat. Loudly.

     "Now that I have your attention, Bryce, the monkey has to go."

Bryce, one of the guy members from Rush with mesmerizing green eyes, held on to a monkey dressed in a polka-dotted dress. And was that lipstick?

     "C'mon Emmy," Bryce whined. "She can dance so well. Jess and the others just don't want to admit that a monkey actually dances better than them."

     "Stop pouting, Bryce," Jess, one of the more senior members of Rush, snapped.

     "It's dressed like those monkeys you find in a circus. Who puts make-up on a monkey, you dolt?" Devon 'The Wall' Fisher added.

     "Yeah! It's a monkey for pete's sake. It is not getting on that stage. It is getting out of here even if I have to wedgie you to do it," Shay, the redhead with a violent streak, threatened. "You see what I can do with a ballet flat, imagine what I can do with this fire extinguisher here."

Everyone visibly shuddered.

     "Girls, cool your engines. It's just a monkey. Bryce will get it out, won't you now Brycey boy?" Drew, the ever cool as a cucumber, pacifier said while flipping through a magazine.

     "Emmy, come meet Holly!" Bryce said and came over to her. "Doesn't she deserve to be on stage?" Holly, currently munching on a banana, perched on Bryce's shoulder stared at Ember with its beady eyes. Yeah, if that didn't creep her out, she wouldn't be humanely human.

     "Yeah, Bryce, you know I love animals and all but this is a little too far. Get this little sweetheart out of here before Big Boss comes in here and kicks us all out," she said with her most persuasive voice. She might've even blinked a few times to finish up that innocent doe-like look.

     Bryce groaned. "Aw shucks. Don't give me that look. You know I can't resist that look," he mumbled.

     Bingo! "I know, why do you think I use it so often?" Ember said with a wide grin. Then she blinked some more.

Bryce started laughing followed by everyone else in the room. He grabbed her around the neck and kissed the top of her head. Holly the monkey scurried to the other side of his shoulder and she swore it was glaring daggers of jealousy at her.

     She pulled away from Bryce and went over to Shay. "Give me the weapon, Shay. Remember what the anger-management counselor said. It's all about control."