Set Fire to the Rain

"So, are you excited about the party?" Jack asked me as he drove us towards the karaoke bar. 

We were only a few minutes away, and for some reason I was feeling nervous. Alright, I knew exactly why I was nervous. First, I wanted this night to be nothing but perfect for Jake and his friends, second I wanted my friends to have a great time, third, I wanted no interference from the devil and lastly, I was secretly hoping that Shannon would show up. After I had a couple days to think about it, and had talked with both Zoe and Liz, I decided that I needed to invite Shannon to the party. I would put the invitation out there and leave the choice up to him. At least my heart and head could rest easy knowing that I had put it out there. Now I just had to wait and see where the night would lead. 

"Earth to Eliza." Jack said from the drivers seat.

"What, I'm sorry." I had completely zoned out without meaning too.

"Where is your head right now? You definitely aren't in the car with me."

"I'm sorry. I can't believe JT is 18 already. It just doesn't seem possible. I mean, he was a baby like 3 years ago Jack." I told him. Time had flown by so quickly where it concerned my children. It always felt like it had only been yesterday, that I had brought each of them home from the hospital. The days that they were born were the most amazing days of my life. No matter what happened with David in the past or in the future, I will always be thankful for these two blessings in my life.

"No shit. Makes me feel like an old man."

"Well, that's because you are an old man." I said, trying very hard to be completely serious, and failing miserably. 

"Ouch, El. That hurt."

"Mmhmm. Yes, well I believe your man enough to handle it Jacky. You know I love you." Poking him gently in his right arm, so as not to disturb him as he drove. 

Without realizing it, we had arrived at the party, and Jack pulled his Cherokee into the parking lot, looking for a handicapped spot to make it easier for me to get into the building. "Looks like everyone's here for the most part. Jon's and Errik's cars are missing it looks like. Anyone else missing that you can see from out here?" i shook my head in response. He was surveying the area and was on high alert as he slid out from the drivers seat and walked over to my side as I opened my door and moved the crutches into position so that I could stand up and we could make our way inside. My heart lurched at the one thing I did notice, and that was the fact that Shannon's car was nowhere to be seen. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at Jack, who held onto my small purse, he shut and locked the car doors behind me, and we made our way inside.

The building itself was nothing too exciting from the outside, but inside the set up was really nice. There was a decent sized stage, including a small runway, with a screen behind it and a fairly high-tech lighting system to go with it. There was a small TelePrompTer at either end of the stage and they would also display the words to the music on the side screens by the stage.  Different sized tables were scattered around the room and at the bar there were approximately 20 stools. It's a nice sized place, but I wouldn't say large. Perfect for what we wanted, and walking in tonight, I noticed it was filled with the people I loved most. Jack gave our names to the bouncer at the door and he checked our id's. I happened to be very happy with that. 

With that taken care of, we made our way to a couple of tables that were in front of the stage with a small 'RESERVED' sign on it. Along the way we stopped and said hello to all of Jakes friends, Jake, MJ, Julie, Ryan, Evan, Jon, Scott, Ari, there were so many people, I was starting to feel overwhelmed. 

I felt a a presence behind me, and an arm wrapped over my shoulders. "Feel like having a seat my lady?" Jared's smooth voice said softly into my ear.

"Yes, please."

"Right this way, ma'am." We were walking a very short distance to the table I was supposed to be seated at. Well, Jared walked and I hobbled. Being the gentleman he is, he pulled the chair out for me and helped me sit down and raise my foot onto an opposite chair. He and Zoe were going to be sitting at the table next to mine. Jared had asked Zoe out, and this was their first official date. She was ecstatic and Jared was just as happy as she is. They were so adorable together. 

"Thank you Jared."

"You are very welcome." 

"How is....he?" I whispered, not being able to look at Jared in the eyes.

"Eliza. Hey. Look at me. It's going to be ok. He is, surviving. You two will figure this out. But right now he has something that he has to do. So please be patient. Shannon just needs a little time, that's all."

"I miss him so much Jay. Shit. I can't do this right now. I'm sorry. I thought I wanted to know, but maybe that wasn't such a great idea. Ok, subject change. How are things with you and Zoe?" My eyes had begun to well up with unshed tears, and I needed off the subject of him, immediately.

"Well, so far so good! She's around here somewhere, but yeah, she is brilliant, funny, beautiful, and has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met. I really like her. I am actually really excited about dating someone for the first time, in a long time. Who would have thought it. Me dating a medic? Cool huh!" He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "I want to take things slow and steady with Zo. No rushing into anything. I don't want to fuck this up, you know?" Jared said with the biggest smile I have seen on his handsome face since we met.

 Just as Jared finished talking, Zoe made her way back over with Kym and they were talking to the gentleman who would be acting as MC for the night. I looked at Jared and winked in response and he winked back, and patted me on my leg. Zoe walked over, and  wrapped me in a huge hug followed then by Kym. The MC, Chris, talked to me very briefly about how the evening would go. People could voluntarily get up and pick the songs that they would like to sing from their enormous list that was held on the laptop onstage. Of course we could always get people to go up to perform by other means, like pushing them literally onto the stage, or basically goading them into doing it. I will definitely not be on that stage at any point tonight, and made that point perfectly clear to everyone that would be there. If they knew what was best for them, my family and friends will let me sit peacefully and quietly by strictly as a spectator this evening. 

Chris made his way onto the stage and stood behind the podium that stood off to the left side of the stage, that held the laptop. He put his headset on, and called for everyone's attention, asking that everyone find their way to their seats or get comfortable, because it was going to be a night to remember. 

What he did next surprised me slightly when he called Jake onstage, and said, "Alright JT, since it it is your party after all; I would like to give you first choice. You can either chose to sing the first song of the evening, or you can chose our first victim of the evening. Like I said its your choice."

All of Jakes friends were hooting and hollering, making all sorts of suggestions. Then an evil glint came over Jakes eyes as he slowly turned and looked in my direction. Then he smirked, and I knew I was totally and royally screwed.