Texas to Tennessee

“What?!” I must’ve heard Jackson wrong. There was no way he’d have me sing at Dixie’s Tavern. No way in hell. “No. No. No. No. No!” I started to freak out. My chest felt small and my stomach had dropped to the trucks floor.
Jackson glanced at me, an amused smile on his face. “You have this amazing voice, and tonight is karaoke night, so I signed you up.”
“Why?!?” My head was spinning and I started breathing really hard.
Jackson pulled the truck over to the road side when he realized I was basically hyperventilating. “Texas, Texas, Texas” He looked at me with those eyes and moved some of my hair out of my face. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re going to do great.”
I looked back at him. “No I’m not. I’m going to choke.” Tears were sitting on the rims of my eyes.
“Stop. You’re this beautiful girl, and I love you and I believe you can do this.” He held my hand up to his lips and kissed it ever so gently. “Can you do this for me?”
As much as I wanted to say no, there was something inside me screaming yes. Slowly, I nodded.
“Good. Now we can’t be late so let’s get going.” He pulled the truck back onto the road.
I flipped the mirror on my visor down and checked out my makeup. The small tears had vanished, without leaving a trace. I pursed my lips at my reflection and then looked back out the window. I could feel my heart beating painfully in my chest. This, was one of the scariest moments in my life.
Jackson parked the truck in the best space he could find and then he ushered me in through the back door. As I stood backstage I payed no attention to the people hustling and bustling around me, but instead I listened to those on the other side of the curtain. The crowd. Someone roughly handed me a booklet and told me to find a song. I flipped through the pages skimming over artist and names, recognizing every single one of them but none of them called out to me. Finally, I found one. The perfect song. It was a great honky tonk song and I knew the words like the back of my hand. I got a kiss from Jackson before they announced my name and I walked out onto the stage.
The lights were bright. Too bright. I squinted into the crowd. I’d seen most of the people around town. I swallowed and held the microphone up to my mouth as the song began.
First line of the song was over with. My heart was still pounding but I was starting to get into it. “Here for the Party” was definitely the right choice. The more I sang the more the townspeople started dancing and the more they danced the more they drank. I started moving around the stage, coming up with little “dance” moves to keep the crowd rowdy. I glanced over to the right at Jackson, who was just off the stage. He was smiling wide and cheering me on along with everyone else. The feeling of being able to control the crowd was unbelievable. When the song came to an end everyone clapped, whistled and cheered. I was surprised they’d all loved me so much, or maybe it was just the beer. Well whatever it was I was being asked to sing another song.
“Y’all want another song?” I asked the crowd. They stamped their feet in response. I laughed. “Okay then. I turned to the band, “Y’all know ‘Sin Wagon’?” I named off my favorite Dixie Chicks song. The band started playing and I turned back to the crowd, falling in love with them.
The night rolled on and the crowd eventually got smaller and smaller until it was just a few people left. I had taken a little break from singing to get to know their names. Maggie Carter, Dave Thomas, Victoria Payton, and someone who just went by Bo. Sadie was among them. She’d been giving me the evil eye all night, probably jealous of how I had taken over her little restaurant for an evening. The bartender, Zach Waller, had sent cokes all around for us as we all sat down at a table. Jackson held my hand and kissed my cheek.
“You did better than I could ever imagine.” He whispered softly in my ear before pulling my chair out so I could sit down.
I beamed. “Thanks” I said. I peered around the table. “Did y’all have a good night?”
Maggie replied first. “A good time? Girl it’s the best night we’ve had in a long while!”
“You’re a star on that stage!” Victoria added. Dave nodded along with her, and Bo took a swing of his coke. Sadie said nothing.
“Thank you!” I couldn’t believe the praise I was getting. I mean, I’d barely expected to get even a few claps. I was just hoping not to get booed off the stage, but here I was being called a star! “I had a great time up there. I hope I can do it again.”
Now Sadie spoke up. “We don’t normally let newcomers be apart of a bunch of karaoke nights. You were only on tonight because someone canceled last minute.”
No one else but Jackson and I seemed to notice the coldness in her voice. Jackson gave her a look and I was about to comment back but Bo beat me to it.
“What are you talkin’ about Sadie? She ain’t a newcomer anymore. She’s part of this town now.” Bo emptied his coke bottle and looked longily at my untouched bottle. I passed it over to him, giving him a thankful smile.
Maggie spoke up. “He’s right, Ali. You’re not considered new to this town anymore. Everyone knows you!” She smiled over at Jackson, “Besides, you’re dating him. How could anyone not know you?”
Jackson chuckled. “I’m flattered Maggie, really.”

We all sat around for another twenty minutes chatting about new events around town and other things. The entire time Jackson was holding my hand and he’d look at me every now and then out of the corner of his eye. What a sweet boy. The Tavern was beginning to close so Jackson and I said our goodbyes to everyone and walked back to his truck.
“Oh my gosh that was awesome!” I started swooning over how being on that stage and singing my heart out made me feel.
Jackson laughed, “I told you!” He opened the passenger door for me and then shut it once I got in.
I laid my head back on the head rest and closed my eyes, stifling a yawn. I heard Jackson get in on the other side.
“You tired?” he asked.
I nodded, “very.”
“Relax. I’ll drive slow, you can sleep.” he told me in a soft voice, it almost sounded like a lullaby.
Slowly, I could feel myself slipping into dream land, and then there was darkness.