Chapter 4
Alara
" O h my god, give me the guitar." I giggle, reaching over Rayne's lap to grab it from her.
She's been here for about two hours, and we've polished off nearly two bottles of wine. It's exactly what I needed after what seems like such a hard week, no month. She is the joyous escape to my otherwise stressful world.
"You're not getting sappy in that head of yours, are you?" She grins, knowing all too well that when I drink, the emotions come pouring out.
"Me? Never."
"You're a terrible liar." She slides off the couch, striding toward the kitchen.
"I am not," I protest.
"You are." She doubles down as she polishes off the bottle, filling her glass again. "You have a tell."
"Now, I think you're lying.”
"Aren't you curious what it is?" She leans on the counter, crossing her feet while giving me a smug look.
"Fine. What is it? "
"Play me another song, and I'll tell you." Her grin gets covered by the top of her glass.
"Just tell me."
"I will, when you sing me another song."
I rack my brain, trying to find something easy to sing, and decide on You Lie by The Band Perry.
My eyes fall closed, and my fingers glide along the strings, because apparently I know how to play the guitar.
I don’t know how I know, but I know. Amnesia problems, don’t ask me to explain.
I only sing the first chorus before deciding I’ve appeased her enough and call it quits.
"What a fitting song," she says, and I shrug.
"It was the first thing to pop into my head. Are you going to enlighten me on this tell I apparently have?"
"Nope, I lied."
"Rayne!"
"Sorry about your luck." She downs the rest of her glass, setting it on the counter before flopping her ass down on the couch again.
"Just tell me!"
"Nah. Anyway, we should go to the open mic night at the bar down the street tomorrow! You could bring the guitar and sing!"
"Seriously, you're not going to tell me?" I protest.
"Alara, focus. Open mic night. You wrote a song whether you meant to or not. Why not sing it in front of everyone?"
"I barely know what I'm doing." I huff .
"You know enough. Besides, nobody’s going to care. It’s a bar, they’ll all be drinking anyway."
"I don't think it's a good idea, and I don't exactly have the extra money to be going to the bar on a Saturday night."
"What if I funded it? Your birthday is coming up soon, right? Consider it a pre-birthday gift. The only stipulation would be that you have to sing."
I eye her wearily. “My birthday isn’t for another six months.”
“Semantics.” She shrugs.
This is crazy, right? There's no way this is a good idea. What if I mess up?
"Just try it. You never know, it could be a fun way to make money on the side. You're looking for a job, right?"
"Rayne, I don't think playing the guitar at open mic night is a paying sort of gig. Besides, musicians don't make shit for money. I'm fairly sure that's common knowledge. The only ones that make money are the headliners selling out arenas."
"Like, Nowhere Forever!" she yells, excitedly.
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter. Please just try. You have too good of a voice to let it go to waste. Just let me watch my best friend have the time of her life on stage one time. Please. Pretty please." She pushes out her bottom lip.
"Fine, but you're buying me a drink before I perform for anyone."
"YESSS!" She squeals .
"If I embarrass myself, I'm never letting you hear the end of it."
"A risk I'm willing to take." She leans over, resting her head on my shoulder as she clicks on the television and scrolls through the screen to pick a movie.
It's fine. If I don't like it, I'll never have to do it again.