Above: Madison Beer as Shelby Burns. I honestly knew from the start that she was going to be Shelby. When I first created this character, I wanted someone who didn't have blonde hair, or blue eyes, and follow the typical stereotype. And I love her music as well, so I wanted to include her!
Also Above: A song that will be played sometime in the chapter. Trust me, you will know when :)
________________________________
Lia James
"Would you stop throwing things at me?!"
"Only if you stop chewing so loud!"
"Why are you always criticizing me?"
The gang and I all stared back at the bickering between Cole and Lina. It was like they were an old married couple.
It was lunchtime and we all sat at our usual seats. The sun was beating on us a little too hard today, making it almost 89 degrees out. Today, I decided to wear my Levi distressed shorts, and a sunflower yellow V-neck T-shirt.
My face was a bright pink as I was the only one not wearing sunglasses, nor in the shade.
I turned my attention back to the two wonderful friends ruining lunch today. Jace, Ryan, and Ollie all gave Cole the side eye, politely telling him to shut up, while Mason just stared at Lina. Twin telepathy or something.
"Just fucking get married already." Ollie shouted a little too loud for the lunch space, and got a couple stares from adjacent tables.
"What?" The both said in unison.
"You heard me." He got up with his tray, and left, probably to throw out his food.
"Well, that shut them up." Mason chuckled, and Jace nodded in agreement.
"Guys, what is up with you two?" I asked them. "You guys never fight."
"Yeah, that was until he embarrassed me in front of Dante!" Lina pouted, crossing her arms.
"What the hell did he do?" Mason asked the both of them, who were glaring at each other.
"Well, yesterday, when everyone was over, Dante and I were watching a movie in the living room. Cole comes over and he sits on Dante, farting in his face! I was so embarrassed, I don't want him thinking I have friends that are freaks." She explained.
"I'm cool with Dante, Lina. We're on the football team together. I was just fooling around." He reasoned, and Lina just rolled her eyes.
"I don't care! It's not cool to have friends farting in your boyfriend's face."
"Okay, first, Lina, we do that all the time. We're football players, you should expect stupid behavior from us. Plus, it's Cole. He's almost guaranteed to embarrass you, anytime and anywhere. And second, Cole, sometimes being an asshole isn't that funny." Mason spoke to both of them, and they stared blankly back at him.
"Jace? What about you? What do you think of this?" Cole asks.
"I honestly don't give a fuck." He says nonchalantly.
"Well said." Cole claps.
"I'm not on the football team, so I don't have a say in what goes on with football players, so." Ryan says. "But if someone asks about math or science, then I'm your guy."
"Why don't you guys just shut the fuck up?" Ollie sits back down, from throwing his tray away.
"I just want him to like me, okay? I haven't had a boyfriend in a while and I want to make this right." Lina replies, and everyone goes silent.
Soon enough, we see Dante come over to sit right next to Lina. I can tell how happy she is with him. Her face turns a light pink, and her eyes twinkle like you've never seen before, and you can see a hint of her smile. It makes me happy that she has someone.
"Hey, babe." He leans in to kiss her on the lips. It wasn't long though, just a quick peck.
"Hi." She grinned. "What took so long?"
"I was making up a quiz in Chem. I couldn't make it up after school since we have practice every day in the week." He tells Lina, and she nods her head in understanding.
"Well, I hope you did good with all the studying we did-"
"It wasn't just studying." He teases, and her face turns a shade darker.
"We're eating!" Cole blurted out.
"Right, sorry. At least it's not as bad as having a butt to the face." He turns his attention to Cole, who was whistling and completely avoiding eye contact with Dante.
"What?" Cole asks innocently.
"We all know what you did, crop duster." Mason teases, and I shake my head.
Shut up." He says with a quiet voice.
"Hey, you guys don't mind if I take her away from you? I got her something in my car and I wanted to show it to her." Dante asks, and we all nod our heads.
"Go ahead." I smiled.
They both got up, hand in hand and walked towards the parking lot.
"Finally some peace and quiet without relationships being shoved in my face." Mason said to no one.
But that wasn't until I noticed a familiar group of people, wearing their iconic black leather jackets. It was Andrew, Eli, Julian, Shelby, and Nick. They sat at their usual table, which was just a few down from ours. Andrew didn't bother to make eye contact with me, but Eli seemed to notice me staring.
I turned my head back to my food, which was just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I always hating taking elaborate lunches to school. Simple and easy was always the way to go.
I was about to take another but into my sandwich when I felt a weird aura behind me. It felt like heat radiating onto my back. Not like the sun, but like from another person. I also seemed to have a blockage from the sun that was beating on me all lunch period. I simply just turned my body to see who it was, but I instantly regretted it.
Andrew stood there with his infamous grin, and I couldn't help but feel slightly calm by his presence. Initially, I used to dread seeing his everyday and the way he would try and get under my skin, but recently, I'm starting to feel more grateful. He has a hard exterior, but I'm slowly trying to see if I can break it.
"What the fuck?" Mason turned around, taken aback by Andrew.
Andrew sat right beside me, and stared at me, like he was trying to put this all in my face. He knew what he was doing and I wasn't happy with it.
"Do you need something?" I asked in a snarky tone. He grinned, as usual.
"Nope. Just watching you squirm is satisfying enough." He narrowed his eyes at me.
"What the hell are you doing here, Price?" Mason shouted at Andrew, who just casually looked up.
"What's the problem with a guy coming over here and sitting down?" He asked, trying to act all innocent. We all know what he's doing is wrong.
"Everything." Mason fires back, and Andrew remains unfazed.
"Leave." Jace chimes in while Andrew stands here, lonely. I'm sure he doesn't need anything though.
"I'm not going anywhere." He doesn't move a muscle, and a chill runs through my body. I have a bad feeling about this.
"Yes, you are." Cole stands up from his seat. "You don't belong here."
"I have every right to be here. Right, Lia?" He teases, and I grit my teeth. He's having a field day with this.
"What's he talking about?" Mason questions me.
I rose from my seat, not wanting to be questioned any longer. "Andrew, we all know you being here is wrong. And so do you. So just do us all a favor, and leave." I gestured to his usual table.
"Fine." He backed up in surrender, still having his devilish smirk. He turned away to return to his table.
I sat back down in the lunch seat, and slumped. I hate dealing with feuds. It's exhausting, and quite frankly, it's unnecessary. I told myself I wouldn't get involved in drama, and here I am.
"I'm telling you, Lia, those guys are trouble. They think they fucking own the entire school. Don't talk to them. I don't want them influencing you." Mason warns, and I just nod my head.
"Got it." I agreed, feeling slightly guilty for not listening to him. But I know what I have to do. These feuds have to stop and the only way for that to happen is for Mason to see that Andrew isn't all that bad.
Or is he?
***
The last stop of the day that I took before I went home was my locker. I was completely drained from the day of school. Beginning with Andrew, harassing me and my lunch table. And ending with me getting a 93 on my math quiz that I took a couple days ago.
Mason got an 100, which I wasn't surprised about, but I honestly thought I failed that. My teacher is insane in the membrane, and her teaching skills had my head spinning. Mason didn't even need school, he must've gotten his smarts from his mother, or even his MIA father. Wherever he was.
I put away all my textbooks, and materials that I didn't need, and grabbed all my notebooks and folders that I did need to do homework. I closed my locker, quickly glancing at the picture of me and my mother, before closing it.
I jumped back, seeing Andrew's face that was hidden behind my locker door. Was he standing there the entire time?
"Geez!" I put my hand on my heart.
"Whoops, sorry, Lee. I didn't mean to startle you." He spoke. "Actually, I did."
"You know, you're starting to become a real pain in the ass lately." I crossed my arms.
"How so?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"First of all, what the hell were you doing coming over to my table? Do you not realize how risky that is? Mason was right there, and we just started to become friends again." I was frustrated, and I wanted to know that what he was doing was wrong.
"Look, I know that was...pretty fucking stupid." He laughed. "I'm sorry."
I froze. "You're what?"
"I'm sorry."
"Woah, woah, woah. You're apologizing? The Andrew Price is apologizing to me?" I laughed loudly. "Is this a joke?"
"No, I was being sincere. And apparently, you don't see it that way."
"I just thought, you being you, you're not exactly the 'King of Apologies'." I made air quotes.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He inched closer. "I'm not."
"So, what are you doing here?" I asked him, starting to walk.
"I'm inviting you out somewhere." He followed suit, and soon we were standing side by side.
"Like where?"
"Like a really cool place." He told me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Can you stop being so vague? Just tell me."
"Eli, Julian, Nick, and I are going to a karaoke bar. Apparently it's an all ages night, and hundreds of people are going to be there. Want to come?"
A karaoke bar?
I laughed. "No thanks."
"Wait," He stopped me, putting his hands on my waist. "Why not?"
"Because I'd rather not have someone force me to sing." I shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"What makes you think I would force you to sing?" He asked.
"I know you, Andrew. You and Eli with you're dumb looks. Believe me, if looks could kill, I'd be dead on the ground." He scoffed, and I nodded.
"Just come along. Or else I'm inviting Shelby."
I groaned, throwing my head back dramatically. "Fine."
"Okay, cool. I'll give you the address, we're all meeting there. Or someone could give you a ride." He offered.
"I'll probably just get a ride from Eli." I agreed, and he gave me a thumbs up.
"Look, I gotta go, but I'll text Eli to come pick you up." He patted me on the back before running down the hallway. I huffed out a big breath, thinking about all my life decisions.
Why the hell would I agree to that? What have I gotten myself into?
Lia, it's your fault for saying yes. You know what these guys do, you know what they're capable of.
I know it's my fault! Just shut up, stupid voice in my head!
After internally disputing with my conscience, I walked outside to my car. I had absolutely no clue what I was going to be wearing.
Well, at least I still have time to look in my closet.
***
After I got home from school, I nearly raced upstairs and went straight to my closet.
Purple shirt? No! Green pants? Ew no. Brown shoes? Heck to the no!
What the hell am I supposed to wear to these things??
"Looking for something?" Lina barged into my room, giving me a heart attack. I stumbled back on my feet, putting my hand over my heart.
"Seriously, Lina?" I breathed out. "What's your problem?"
"It looked like you needed some help. Plus, you're in your closet looking for clothes. That's the second best place in the world, other than the mall." She explained, and I grinned. "So, tell me, why?"
"Megan insists the team goes for team bonding tonight, since me going on the team without an actual tryout made them all hate me." I put it lightly, and she rolled her lips in her mouth.
"So, this is supposed to make everything all goody-goody?"
"Apparently. I'm not sure how this is going to work." I shook my head, and turned around to my closet, continuing to look for something to wear.
"Okay, first of all. Where are you going?" She asked, appearing beside me.
"Karaoke bar. I'm not sure which one though."
"A bar?" She blew a raspberry with her lips. "Okay, first off, if you're going to a bar, absolutely no pants."
"Why not?" I asked defensively, like it was my only option.
"Because you could meet guys there. No. Pants." She insists, chucking the pants I found back into my closet.
"Fine." I huffed.
It took her a few minutes to finally pick out something for me to wear. It made me feel a little uneasy, not being able to tell her the truth, and I hate it.
But I'm so close to actually finding out the kind of person Andrew is. Honestly, it's my fault for being curious, but I can't help it. I want the feuds to stop.
It's been years since this has been going on, and I want to put an end to it...once and for all. These boys need to be friends no matter how hard I try.
"Here." She shoves a pile of clothes in my face. "Try these on."
It took me about 5 minutes to put the clothes I had on my body, and adjust them to wear I wanted them. I looked in the mirror, and saw that she gave me a ripped jean skirt that rested on my upper thigh, and a distressed Rolling Stones T-shirt. It wasn't bad. She definitely has good taste with clothes.
To top it all off, I put on my black low top converse sneakers. And a little bit of some accessories like a necklace, a few bracelets, and earrings.
"You're ready. My work is done." She looks at me with awe.
"She's picking me up around 6:30 and I won't be back until maybe 9 or later." I confirmed.
"Okay. Well, I'm spending my night with Dante, so go have fun. Oh! And meet cute guys." She blew me a kiss.
"No promises." I giggled, and she rushed out the door.
When it was time for Eli to pick me up, I reminded him to park a few houses up, so that no one would recognize his car. It was successful because I told Alex that Megan had trouble finding our house. So, I walked outside so that she could see me.
Lina was on her way out to go to Dante's house, and Mason was in the basement playing Madden with some of his football friends. They were all occupied by the time it was for me to leave.
The Karaoke Bar, known as 'Okie Dokie Karaoke' (i know, how clever) was located somewhere downtown. I wasn't familiar with this part of town, but at least I had a ride and didn't drive myself. I would've been lost.
I noticed tons of people outside waiting to be allowed in by the bouncer. It was going to take us forever to get in.
"Wait. There's tons of people waiting in line! How are we going to get in?" I gestured to the people. The numbers were increasing by the minute.
"Andrew knows the bouncer. Andrew comes here from time to time, and he knows people." Eli replied. Go figure.
"There's no shock there." I rolled my eyes to myself.
We got out of the car, and minutes after Andrew pulled in right next to us. Julian and some girl, and also Andrew, were the only ones who got out of the car. No Nick.
It made sense, though. Nick is only fifteen years old. I mean, I'm sure he wanted to come, but I have a feeling Andrew encouraged him to stay home.
The skinny girl, that was attached to Andrew by the hip, I identified as Shelby. And I was not happy.
"What the hell is Shelby doing here?" I whispered to Eli.
"No fucking clue." Was all he said, and I breathed out harshly.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Andrew looked at the both of us.
"You." Eli answered. "You're the only one who could get us in."
"What is she doing here?" Shelby asks.
"I invited her." Eli butted in. She stayed quiet after that.
Andrew, of course, working his magic and got us inside the karaoke bar for the night. The bouncer greeted him in a friendly manner, and politely invited us in, and we were stared down at by the people waiting in line.
Andrew got us a booth right up front by the stage, where some guy was rapping to a Pit Bull song. I sat down in the middle, between Julian and Eli, while Andrew and Shelby were on the other side.
I couldn't help but noticed Shelby's appearance. She was wearing a black skin-tight mini dress, with a white fur coat, and thigh-high boots. She definitely seemed like the star of the show tonight.
And then there was me, actually dressing my age.
"Thank you all! Thank you! Who's up next?" The guy who had previously sang asked.
"Go up there Lia." Andrew told me, and I instinctively shook my head.
"I knew you were going to make me!" I pointed at him furiously.
"So what? I know you have voice. Use it."
"No way! I can't-"
"I'll do it!" Shelby interrupted, shoving Andrew to move out of the seat.
I never even imagined that Shelby could sing. She's ever talked about it. She would either be talking about herself, or talking about someone who was talking about her. It's all Shelby down in Shelby-land.
She grabs the microphone, scrolling through the song list. Cat whistles and loud yells echo the room as Shelby stands on the stage. I honestly didn't expect anything less.
The music starts playing, and Shelby sits on the lonely wooden stool in the middle of the stage.
I ain't got no time for no games.
Tell me what you like but it's never gonna change.
So you do what you wanna, wanna do.
And I'm not coming home with you, home with you.
I slump into my seat, listening to the crowd cheer her on and say how amazing she is. To be honest, she is pretty good. Maybe even better than me.
I look over at Andrew, who had his body turned to see Shelby on the stage. I'm sure he thinks she's great too. Maybe he'll even say the same things he told me when I sang for him.
You're word are dead.
Cheap blondes are boring.
So I do my thing.
And keep on ignoring.
I'm taken aback when Shelby said 'cheap blondes are boring' while staring at me in front of everyone. I knew those words were directed to me. I knew she hated my guts.
She's infatuated with Andrew, and she thinks I'm in the way.
"You're better than her." I heard a voice say.
Was it Eli? Probably. He's the only nice one around here.
I looked up from lap and saw Andrew staring at me. He was the only one looking at me, and so I figured that maybe he was the one who said it.
"What?" I questioned him, and he grinned.
"You're better than her. So much better." He said again, and my heart grew warm. He's never said anything nice to me before.
"I don't know. She's pretty good."
"But you're better." He said once more. "So, why don't we show her that?"
"We?" I asked.
"I'll go up there with you." He said. "I'll sing with you."
"You sing?" I was shocked.
"I don't just play the guitar, Lia."
"I mean, are you sure? I don't know, I've never sang in front of anyone before. What if I throw up?" I shook my head nervously.
"You won't. I'll be up there." He paused. "Look, everyone is praising Shelby and telling her how great she is. It's fueling her ego. Doesn't that make you a little bit mad? Don't you want to prove the crowd wrong?"
"Not really." I said bluntly, and he chuckled.
"Come on, Lia. Just do it. You'll be fine." He reassured me, and I still was unsteady about it.
"I don't know-"
"Come on. Please?"
I moaned quietly, throwing my head back. "Fine!"
Andrew claps in victory, and I just slump in my seat. I've never sang in front of my family, let alone a whole crowd.
Being with Andrew doesn't make it any less scary. But I'm slightly curious because I've never heard him sing before. This will be interesting.
Once Shelby finishes her song, Andrew and I stand up and walk over to the stage. Andrew slides one of the stools over so that we would be sitting side to side. He scrolls through the song list, and tap his hand when I saw one that I liked.
"That one? Okay." He shrugged.
The familiar music began to play, and I couldn't help but smile. I used to love this song in middle school and I always used to sing it in my room while my parents weren't home.
It was a slow song, and as a kid, I used to hope that one day someone would be singing this beside me. And now there is.
While I was mentally preparing myself to start singing, I noticed Eli and Julian. They had faces of encouragement, which made me less nervous. Shelby was glaring at me, probably wishing that it was her instead of me singing with Andrew.
All I knew, this morning when I woke,
Was I know something now, know something now, I didn't before.
And all I've seen, since eighteen hours ago, is green eyes, and freckles, and your smile, in the back of my mind making me feel like.
The words came so naturally to me. Initially, I shocked myself, thinking that I was going to butcher everything and be booed off the stage, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it.
I even saw some people singing along. I grinned widely, and I could feel Andrew's stare bore through my skull. He was looking at me with pure kindness and warmness. It was like he knew that I could do it.
And something inside me tells me that I could do it too.
And all my walls stood tall, painted blue.
And I'll take 'em down, take 'em down, and open up the door for you.
As soon as the first words of his verse came, and he started singing, I almost couldn't believe it. He actually sounded like Ed Sheeran, it was insane.
I'm pretty sure during that whole entire time I just stood there in awe, watching him sing. He was so musically gifted, it wasn't even funny.
I felt my heart sink in my chest a little bit.
To be fair, his mother is a music producer for a very famous company. He's probably spent his whole life in a studio, and that's most likely where he learned to sing. If only it were like that for me.
Cause all I know is we said hello.
And your eyes look like coming home.
All I know is a simple name, and everything has changed.
All I know is you held the door.
You'll be mine and I'll be yours.
All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed.
We sang the last few lyrics to the song, just sitting there, feeling the music. We knew the words, all we had to do was wait.
As we finished, we did nothing but look into each other eyes, like we had a feeling that this song was meant for us.
All I know is you held the door. You'll be mine and I'll be yours.
It reminded me of the time when Andrew had almost hit me with his car before walking into school. The first time I found out he had a guitar, and the first time he was ever nice to me.
He held the door open for me that day. And it didn't mean much significance...until now.
The audience roared, and it took us away from the little world that we were in. The feeling that it was just the two of us, no one else.
We got up, nothing but smiles on our faces. We bowed quickly before descending off the stage and back into our booth. We were greeted by high fives and claps of praise.
"Andrew, what the fuck? I had no clue you could sing that well." Julian has expressed.
"I guess you don't know me that well then." He shrugged.
"Lia, you did fucking amazing!" Eli gave me an enthusiastic high five. And then proceeded to give me a tight hug.
"She did." Andrew said, after Eli and I drew apart. "She really did."
I looked at him with warmness, silently telling him that I couldn't do it without him. And he knew it.
And he reciprocated that same expression right back.
~*~
Don't forget to click the star at the bottom to vote for this chapter!
This one was INSANELY long! Haha, sorry for making it that way. It might have dragged out a bit, and I apologize.
Also, I apologize for making these few chapters about singing, it wasn't my intention to make that part what the chapter was mainly about. But it does play a key part in the story in the future, so keep reading. ;)
A VERY important chapter is coming soon, so stay tuned for an update...
Much love
XOXO