Page 48 of Push & Pull
“Knock yourself out. I’m not joining.”
Petra was already gone. Simone hid her exhaustion behind her hands. When Petra told her,“Let’s go out and do something fun,”Simone had anticipated something that focused on the two of them.You know, like a date.Didn’t help that Simone was starting to genuinely like the weirdo who never let her drive.It’s not because she’s good in bed.Or looked good naked, for that matter. Simone still hadn’t recovered from what she saw in the shower the night before.
Would it be too much for them to have a repeat tonight? Or would Simone even dare?
An arcade would have been loud but entertaining. An escape room? Simone had been to some fun ones, and it was plenty doable for two clever people. Hell, dinner in a sit-down restaurant would have been enough for Simone, who had been looking forward to using the jacuzzi in her room.
Tomorrow, they were stopping in New York City for two nights before heading on to New England, where Simone’s phone would hopefully wait for her at her place. She also wasn’t opposed to letting Petra stay with her for a hot minute while they figured out if this was arealrelationship in the making, or a fling to put behind them.
In the meantime… did they have to dothis?
Simone had no idea where Petra disappeared to for the next ten minutes. While cider slowly disappeared and the songs rotated through La Bouche, Wings, and Gloria Estefan, Simone pulled out her temporary phone and wished she had herrealphone. The one logged into her apps.What I’d give to scroll through Instagram right now.Too bad she was too paranoid to log in on a burner phone.
“Next up is Petra and Simone!” shouted the MC into his microphone. Simone immediately jerked up in her seat. Petra was soon behind her, pulling on her arm and encouraging her to go up to the stage. “What have they got for us tonight?”
“No!” Simone protested, already halfway out of her seat.Over my dead body.That would probably be arranged if she and Petra really got into it. “Didn’t you hear me? Idon’tkaraoke.”
“Come on! Nobody cares if you sound like shit! Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most people don’t sound hot up there. That’s not the point! It’s still entertainment!”
“No!”
“I swear you’ll know the words to the song! Everyone knows this song!”
That sweaty hand was quickly slipping from Simone’s. Yet by the time Simone completely detached herself from the woman who would embarrass her in front of a bar full of strangers, everyone in the audience was cheering them on. The woman who had shouted along to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was especially supportive as she pumped both fists into the air before slamming her pinkies into her mouth and whistling.
The bar was so loud that Simone didn’t knowhowanyone would hear her, even on a microphone.
“Here are the lovely ladies, including the return of star-stunning Petra!” The MC’s deep and effective voice was louder when up on stage. The DJ cued the music. Here came another infamous bassline that took Simone more than a second to recognize. “They’re here to sing ‘Edge of Seventeen’ by Steeeeevie Nicks!”
“This goes out to everyone who knew that Prince produced this song in one fucking night!” Petra slammed a mic into Simone’s hands while addressing the crowd, who were completely on board once they recognized that bassline. “White-winged dove, let’s go!”
I thought this was “Bootylicious” by Destiny’s Child.Simone’s head had to completely reorient around that. Did she know “Edge of Seventeen?” Yes. Of course! Except had she heard “Bootylicious,” which sampled the bassline, more?Yes!
At least she wasn’t supposed to sing about people not being ready for her ass. Was this really better, though?
Petra launched into the first chorus by herself. Although the words appeared on the screen above Simone’s head, she completely blanked the composition. It didn’t help that everyone in the crowd was looking up at her.
Or that the man in the Washington National sweatshirt had pushed his way to the front of the crowd and was clapping louder than anyone else. “You’ve got this!” he shouted through cupped hands.
Petra dropped the end of a line of the song to offer her own brand of awkward encouragement to Simone, who couldn’t believe this was happening. “Tap into your inner Stevie, girl.” She patted Simone’s arm. “Remember what it’s like to be coked out of your mind.”
“Hey!” Simone’s arm span doubled in size with indignation. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
None of that was picked up by the mics while Petra launched back into the song. Thank God, too, because Simone rememberedall too wellwhat it was like to be “coked out of her mind.”
What a low blow.Was that Petra’s game, though? To hit Simone below the belt in the hopes that it made her sing out ofspite?
Fuck it. It worked.
“Oooh!” Simone dared to mimic a dove cooing during the chorus. It caught Petra unaware, who turned around with a giant grin on her face as she continued through the lyrics. She was probably the only one who heard Simone, though, because most of the audience was more than happy to lend their own dove cries to the chorus.
While she wasn’t as familiar with the second verse, Simone had enough height on Petra to look over her head and read the lyrics on the screen. While Petra kept the crowd going with her scream-singing that sounded more like Riot Grrl than ‘80s rock, Simone cleared her throat and came in right whennothing else mattered.
Just her luck it was time for the chorus again.
She quickly realized that, unless she went all-out like Petra, nobody would pay attention to her. Her voice was a lovely complement to the woman who would hang off the chandelier, but Simone Evans attracted attention from this crowd like a toy poodle sitting in the corner.
God, she would call me a toy poodle…
