The Ugly Truth

I couldn’t believe my luck. Technically, it was kind of lucky that I would be able to spend some time with Riley and do the Caroline thing at the same time, except the solution was also the problem. It would be embarrassing enough to do it alone. And with Riley there, the mortification would be too great to bear.

“Here we are,” Riley said, parking the car across the street from the café.

“Great,” I replied, getting out of the car and trying my very hardest to make the most out of the situation.

The café was very minimalist and looked like something out of an interior decorating magazine. We sat on a white sofa with a coffee table in front.

The mere thought of getting up on the stage at the front of the café scared me so much I was almost shaking.

“Are you okay?” Riley asked, scooting a little closer to me on the couch.

“I- I’m fine.”

“If you say so…”

He knew I wasn’t telling him the truth and I also knew it hurt him, which only made me feel worse than I already did.

After we ordered our drinks, a chocolate milkshake and an iced coffee for him, we found ourselves caught in an awkward silence.

“I don’t want it to be like this,” I said, surprising myself.

“Like what?”

“Awkward.”

“Me neither.”

“So what are we doing? We’ve been friends for a long time and even though we haven’t seen each other in a lot of that time, I still consider you a close friend. We should be laughing till we’re crying right now.”

Or holding hands and smiling for no reason.

“You’re absolutely right. The awkwardness ends now. So what have you been up to lately?”

“Well…”

As I thought my answer and sipped from my milkshake, I spotted Caroline sitting at a table almost right behind Riley. I choked a little on the drink and coughed most ungracefully.

“You ok there?” Riley asked, patting my back gently.

His touch sent tingles down my spine and his fingers left a burning feeling where they had touched my skin through the fabric. I felt my cheeks growing hot, but, luckily, I could blame it on my choking incident.

“I’m fine,” I finally replied, tears in my eyes.

“Please don’t die on me.”

I laughed as normally as I could. Caroline was there and she was staring straight at me. When I looked at her, she pretended she hadn’t been looking and talked to someone in the group she had gone with.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed down and a man appeared on the stage, a spotlight making him stand out drastically from the rest of the room.

“Hello, ladies and gentleman. It’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for! Let the karaoke begin!”

Someone volunteered quickly and began singing Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles. The girl who was singing had long brown hair and was wearing a pink tank with The Beatles logo. She danced crazily as her group of friends cheered loudly from their table.

“I love this song,” I said, clapping along to the beat.

“The Beatles are the best,” Riley agreed, joining into my clapping.

As she finished the song, the crowd cheered and she returned to her smiling friends.

“Who’s next?” the man asked in a cheesy tone.

Nobody replied. The singers had exhausted quickly.

Somebody cleared their throat and I found myself turning to Caroline. She shot me a death stare and pointed her index finger across her throat, signaling I was dead meat if I didn’t sing.
I gulped. I had no choice, did I?

“C’mon, I know you’re all dying to sing!” the man on the stage urged.

Before I could think it over too much, I stood up.

“We have a volunteer! Come on up!” the man bellowed.

Now my hands were literally shaking and a had a huge knot in my stomach. Just as I was about to leave, Riley grabbed my hand. I looked down at him, on the verge of tears.

“Lindsay…” he said, concerned.

I forced a smile and let go of his comforting hand. The walk to the stage was agonizing. Everyone was staring at me, wondering what was taking me so long.

As I found myself on the stage, the man handed me the mic and told me if I was okay with singing Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. I nodded nervously and grabbed the mic between my sweaty palms.

The music began and I stared out at the crowd nervously. Nobody did anything except gaze blankly at me.

I began to sing softly and I knew I sounded horrible. But my nerves were eating up my voice completely. By the time I was at the first chorus, I was just about to cry. I felt a hand at my shoulder and saw Riley smiling at me, holding a mic and singing along too.

“She’s so beautiful, and I tell her everyday,” he sang smiling at me.

I continued singing, not looking at the crowd, but gazed into Riley’s eyes instead.

Cause girl you’re amazing just the way you are.

Singing the chorus made me reach such an euphoric love stricken moment I might have kissed him if so many people weren’t looking.

As the song ended, the crowd clapped and cheered loudly. There were even a few wolf whistles and kiss her comments. Luckily, they weren’t loud enough for it to become embarrassing.

When we were safely back at our sofa, neither of us said anything. I took a sip from my forgotten shake and breathed out.

“Thanks,” I said, turning to face him.

“No problem. It was fun,” Riley shrugged, “I’m sorry to leave you here alone, but I’ve gotta take a visit to the restroom.”

“No worries,” I replied, sitting back and waiting for the next karaoke singer to get on stage.

Suddenly, I found Caroline at my side. She had on her best defeated expression, mixed with her usual smugness.

“I don’t believe you were allowed to sing with a partner…”

“And I don’t believe you said anything about singing alone,” I replied sharply. All my fear was gone, replaced by anger.

“Fine. I’ll get back to you soon.”

She stalked off, walking back to her table in a perfectly elegant stride. How could she look so graceful when inside she was so horrible? All of that malevolence should show somehow in her face or somewhere.

Even though I had broken down on stage, I was proud of myself. I had done something I would never had expected myself to accomplish. I had sang on a stage in front of actual, living people! If I could do this, I could take any of Caroline’s evil deeds.

I wasn’t going to let her win.