Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
There was this incredible give and take, and the energy in that room was intoxicating. We moved like we were all connected somehow, swaying, nodding, singing—all of us brought together by the music. It was beautiful, and powerful, and unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
When I finished and stepped back from the mic, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Their reaction was so big that it was startling. I gave a little wave of acknowledgment and started to leave the stage, but then someone yelled, “Encore,” and the audience turned it into a chant.
I wasn’t sure if doing more than one song was allowed, but when I glanced at the emcee she nodded enthusiastically and gave me a double thumbs up like Kit had.
I hadn’t anticipated that and didn’t know what to do. Should I follow it up with another Pearl Jam song? With something else in the same genre? Or should I do something entirely different?
A bunch of songs came to mind. Too many. My thoughts were scrambled, until I focused on Kit. He was watching me with a hopeful expression. When our eyes met, every other person in that club disappeared, and I had a rare moment of perfect clarity.
He was what truly mattered here. When I asked myself what I wanted to say to him in this moment, one song immediately jumped out at me.
I decided to skip the guitar, because I didn’t want to get distracted by working out the notes on the fly. To get it out of the way, I rotated it on its strap so it hung across my back. A hush fell over the crowd as I stepped back up to the microphone and grasped it with both hands.
I took a breath and began to sing an a cappella version of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” while keeping my focus on Kit. The lyrics let me tell him how special and beautiful he was. They were also a way of telling him I loved him, without having to worry that it was too much, or too soon, and without putting pressure on him to respond in some way.
The song stirred up a lot of emotions in Kit. They were written all over his face. As soon as I was done, I jumped off the front of the stage, went straight to him, and kissed him. It occurred to me after the fact that this could have gone one of two ways, since this wasn’t a gay bar. But the applause and cheers around us got louder and more enthusiastic as we kissed.
As soon as we broke apart, he looked around shyly. A blush rose in his cheeks when he realized we were the center of attention. I grabbed his hand, and we hurried to the exit. The applause followed us all the way out the door.
Once we were outside, both of us burst out laughing. It was probably from sheer relief. We’d both done what we’d set out to do tonight—we’d gotten up on a stage and performed our hearts out, and it had gone as well as it possibly could.
He grabbed me in a hug and exclaimed, “That was incredible! I was totally blown away.”
Hal and Ryder caught up to us a moment later. “You can sing your ass off, man,” Ryder said, as he slapped my back.
“You really can,” Hal agreed. “I felt like I was at a mega rock star’s concert. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’ve been performing for years.
“You know what, though? I just realized I totally forgot to address the audience,” I said. “The emcee introduced me so I left it at that, but I should have said something, too. At the very least, I should have told them the name of the song.”
Ryder shrugged. “I didn’t even notice.”
“Me, neither.” Hal tapped his phone a few times and stuck it in the pocket of his black cardigan. “By the way, I recorded all of that, and I just sent the video to Kit.”
I thanked him for doing that, and Kit told me, “I want to use it to start an Instagram page for you, so everyone can see what an incredible singer you are. Is that okay?”
I almost told him not to bother, but then again, why not? It’d be kind of cool to have that part of me live on. I kissed his forehead and told him that’d be great, which made him happy. Then I asked our companions, “What’s next?”
Ryder led the way to something I’d never experienced before, a gay country-western bar. The dance floor was filled with people in cowboy hats, enthusiastically line dancing. There was also a section for axe throwing, which seemed like a terrible thing to combine with alcohol, and last but not least, a mechanical bull.
“This is it,” I said, as I stepped up and bought a ticket. “I finally get to cross off one of the most ridiculous things on my bucket list.”