Page 62 of Love Rewritten

He shrugs. “There’s a first time for everything. Besides, I’m smitten with you, too.” He kisses my cheek.

I roll my eyes as Meredith says, “What are you two whispering about over there?”

Dallas and I chuckle, and I say, “Nothing.” I take a sip of my almost-empty glass. That went fast.

I order another one when the waitress walks by. We all chat and listen while people sing. Some are excellent, others not so much, but they put their heart and soul into it and that’s almost more entertaining to watch than the good singers.

“Next up,” the karaoke announcer starts, “Meredith and friends with ‘Wannabe’ by The Spice Girls.”

“Oh. My. God,” I say as Meredith stands, dragging Rose by her hand toward the stage. I drop my head back and groan. “I haven’t drunk nearly enough for this yet.”

“Oh, I know this one. But it’s not going to be good,” Logan says with a low laugh, pushing his chair out behind him.

“Come on,” Dallas says, offering his hand.

“There’s no way you’re excited about this.”

“I’m not, but it could be fun once we’re up there.” He wiggles his fingers until I take them, and we meet the other three on stage. I shift to the back of the group as much as I can, but Meredith has already formed a semicircle for us. She leaves the mic in the stand and moves it to the middle of our group. At least I won’t have to sing directly into it. I could get away with barely singing.

Sometimes I think Meredith can read minds because she looks over at me and wags her finger like she knows I was going to fake it.

These stage lights are hot. At least because of how bright they are, I can’t see the audience very well, and there’s a small screen in front of us to read the words just in case I forget them. I’ve sung this song on this stage with Meredith before. It was the second song we sang together when we became friends, the first being “Love Song” by Taylor Swift. Apparently, this one stuck more in her memory.

Meredith readies her stance like it’s the start of a football game, one hand braced in the air on some invisible ball, the other clutching Rose’s hand. Footsteps from the beginning of the song sound over the speakers, followed by the familiar laugh of one of the Spice Girls. Our group immediately starts singing.

I force myself to sing louder than I want, and as much as I told myself I wouldn’t enjoy being up here, I slowly start to feel the happiness wash over me. Dallas sings, too. I can barely hear him over Meredith. To my surprise, Logan is singing his heart out. Dallas carries a tune just about as well as I do. Glad to know we’re in the same boat on that one. It makes me laugh just how badly the five of us sing together. Meredith clearly carries the group. I think Dallas notices, too, because he can’t hold back his laughter as he seems to purposely make his singing sound worse as the song progresses. Even though it’s a classic, I’m impressed. Dallas knows the words better than I do.

As we finish the song, our group looks to be in a better mood. Leave it to Meredith to know exactly how to cheer everyone up. We return to our seats, and Rose orders another round of drinks for everyone.

“No one can tell me they’re mad they went up there. I saw every one of you smiling.” She points a finger at each of us. “Now, cheers to the fun night.” She holds up her glass and we all do the same, clinking them together.

She’s right. I’m not at all upset that I went up there. It’s exactly what I needed to get myself out of the house after a week of being cooped up. That’s no one’s fault but my own, maybe a bit of Sam’s, or a lot of Sam’s, but still. I needed someone else to pull me from the confines of those four walls. Someone other than Dallas. He’s been so patient through all this, but I think I needed someone on the outside of the situation to remind me that it isn’t the end of the world, even when it feels like it is.

We’ve been here for a little over two hours when a lady gets called up to sing a ballad that I’ve never heard before. Her voice is beautiful. She’s a strawberry blonde who looks to be in her mid to late forties. She’s dressed more formally than most people here though she pulls it off well. When she finishes her song, letting the final note drift through the air with ease, she smiles as people clap for her. Someone whistles at her as she makes her way down the stage and back to her spot.

My heart almost stops when I see who she sits down with. Dallas’s attention shifts, too, while he watches the woman take a seat next to his father. His hold on my hand tightens before he lets go and grips both of his knees instead.

Chapter 24

Dallas

It’salmostcomicalasI watch this woman with such a beautiful voice walk back and sit down with my father of all people. A once-perfect night, soiled by his presence, yet again. As much as I’d like to go over there and tell him off, I don’t know what I would say. Surely it would come out like word vomit, I’d say something I regret, or maybe not with how upset I still am with him, and then it would bemyfault for ruining the night. Instead, I force myself to bite my tongue, turn back toward the stage, and watch the next performance.

I see Abby peering at me out of the corner of my eye, but I ignore her, not wanting my frustration to come out on her. She places a hand on my arm and softly strokes a thumb back and forth, soothing some of the anger. If there’s one thing she and I both understand, or maybe we’ve learned from each other, it’s that words don’t always help. Sometimes, silence and proximity to someone we care about are exactly what we need.

She rests her head on my shoulder, another offer of support that I’ll gladly take. As each song ends, she doesn’t bother lifting her head when she claps. Before long, my fiery nerves have mostly settled enough for me to almost forget that my dad and the lady he’s with, hisdate,are back there. Almost. The word date feels foul in my head, and I’m sure it would taste sour on my tongue if I were to say it out loud.

I don’t think Rose realizes he’s here. If she has, she’s not showing any anger or sadness. I’ll let her have that for as long as possible. If we’re lucky, we may leave here without being seen. Although, with how skinny this building is, unless he leaves first, Rose will surely see him when we pass.

As hard as I try to forget he’s back there, it’s impossible to completely ignore. His mere presence puts me on edge. After a few songs, I peek back to see if they’ve left.

I should have kept my head forward.

My dad and I lock eyes, and his once smiling face falls flat. He’s not upset. Embarrassed maybe? Or ashamed? That’s probably wishful thinking. He’s likely more upset thatthisis how I’m finding out he’s still dating. Sitting and thinking about why he does what he does is only going to piss me off more. So, I turn my head back and pretend to listen to whatever pop song a group of college girls are singing. Abby squeezes my arm before continuing to rub numbing circles on my hand.

When the song comes to an end and a hand touches my shoulder, I don’t have to turn around to know who it is. My body tenses. I’d hoped he’d get the hint that I didn’t want to talk to him. Or maybe he did but didn’t care.

“Dal?” he says from behind me.

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