AN: I do not own August Rush, Beautiful, Low, or I Hope You Dance or x-men. Kevin, Bethany, Ali, and Serena, so far as I know, are my original characters.
Serena
Serena was smiling as she hear her phone chime, letting her know she'd just received a text. She glanced down to her right.
Tonight is going to be awesome! Almost ready? I can be there in 10.
There was a party tonight at Kevin's, the first of the year. She and her friends were all sixteen; Kevin was eighteen, but responsible. His place was where all the kids who wanted to have a life, but not get suspended or arrested went for a good time. He would have a dance floor, snacks, punch, and a pool like always, but never any alcohol. He was big enough and respected enough that anyone who looked like they were starting to be trouble-like the kid who once tried to spike the punch- got kicked out.
She looked up in the mirror quickly before grabbing her phone.
good.
Her reflection showed a girl with wavy blonde hair to her waist in black dance pants and a sparkling green halter top that brought out her eyes-today green, but more the color of an ever changing sea. She didn't need or want to do much with her hair or makeup, just a light touch of mascara and light pink gloss. She slipped on black gladiator sandals, grabbed her blue purse and headed out to meet her friends, calling out simply "See ya!" for her parents. It was nine o'clock and her parents were already settling down for the night, but they trusted her to be safe and still have a good time.
"That's just not fair," Bethany smiled as Serena got in the car, "You do nothing to your hair and barely touch with makeup, but you have a perfect summer tan and look like a god."
Serena laughed, "Please, you're exaggerating, but thank you. Really, it's just something I threw together. You guys look great too. Hey, Ali."
Bethany was driving, her brown hair clipped back in a barrette and wearing dark, skinny jeans and a red tank top. Ali's full name was Allison, but no one except teachers and her parents called her that. She had short blonde hair that she curled so that it formed ringlets and was sporting a white skirt and blue off-the-shoulder top.
"Hey," Ali greeted, "Did you guys bring swimsuits? I did."
The girls smiled, as always, Bethany answered, "No. You know I never do. I'll probably hang by the pool, but I don't know. I just have this thing, I guess, about swimming at house parties. I know. I'm a weirdo."
Serena had almost forgotten, but she had stashed a blue tankini and skirt in her bag, just in case, "I did, but I don't know. We'll see."
Ali nodded. When they got to Kevin's house, of course, there were already people there. Kevin's house was no major mansion, but it was definitely one of the nicer ones in the neighborhood. It had a Southern style, with white pillars at the front and yard lined with lit trees hosting a pool to the side, wrapping around the back of the house.
It was around the back they went, walking onto the brown stone patio inside to the where the few kids there were hanging out. Most of them were close friends of Kevin's, gathered by him at the snack table. A few of them were already goofing off on the dance floor. Kevin had short brown hair and was comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt. He waved at the girls as they came in, smiling at Serena. It didn't say anything except that he knew Serena a little better than the others.
They headed over to then snacks, "Hey, Kevin," Serena smiled.
"Hey."
A little while later more people had come and the dance floor was packed and the pool was starting to become populated. Kevin hopped on one of the black, wire chairs on the patio, holding a microphone, "Everyone having a good time?"
There was a collective cheer and he continued, "Good! But…I think we could use a little more entertainment so," he paused a second, then gestured to the smaller gray system next to him and a table lined with binders, "Anyone who wants to do karaoke, come pick out a song and either come get me, or leave your name and song on a piece of paper and I'll call it when I see it. Knock yourselves out…not literally," He ended, hopping down.
There were mixed sounds of laughter, excitement, and groans as he did so, and one group of guys and girls, some in bikinis, who were already rushing up to be the first performance.
After a while, Bethany and Ali shared a glance and went to find Serena. She was on guard as soon as she saw them, their faces, "Oh no."
"Come on," Ali insisted, "You know you have a great voice."
"Forget it."
"Why do you even come?" Bethany teased, "You don't swim; you don't want to have any fun."
"Hey! I dance."
"She dances," Bethany explained with a smile to Ali.
"Then you go. You don't swim, either." Serena argued, smiling.
"Except I think Kevin would have me kicked out for disturbing the peace."
Ali and Serena laughed, Ali assuring, "You're not that bad."
"Yeah, ok."
They had headed off in different directions, but five minutes later were chilling by the pool when they heard Kevin call, "Next up, let's hear it for Serena Mallory with Beautiful by One Direction."
Serena was letting her feet hang in the pool, when Ali had splashed under the water and Bethany just took another sip of punch as she stood by the side. She acknowledged Ali ducking out, then turned to Bethany, wide eyed, "I'm going to kill you."
Bethany was placating, who put her drink down and offered up a hand that she took, "No you're not. You're going to be stunning, and show people how the song doesn't completely suck."
Ali dared to pop her head back up, "She's right, you know."
Kevin called, "Serena?"
There was a mix of groans, but mostly screams, encouraging, not wanting to be let off of entertainment of one form or another.
Serena shot her friends one last look before relenting and heading up to the mike, blushing a bit as Kevin started up the song, the first few beats giving her only a few seconds to get ready. Then she began, keeping her head down, "You're insecure…" as they chorus came up she raised her head, "Baby you light up my world like nobody else," she flipped her blonde hair, "The way you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed…" She really did have a good voice. Everyone had pretty much stopped to stare at her by now. Whether or not they liked the song, she put energy into it and she sang it well.
It had been a while since Serena had done any performance and she had forgotten had good it could feel; she soaked in the attention, no longer mad, but grateful to her crazy friends for encouraging this, letting it feed her performance. Even as the last repeated lines came in, she didn't falter and ended strong. Almost immediately, when she had finished everyone started clapping. Since it was a party, most everyone was standing anyway, which only added to it. She was beaming in spite of herself, as were her friends.
Kevin was staring at her like she was the goddess of song, "Serena, that was awesome! Why aren't you in choir or touring or… I don't know. Can I get you anything?"
Serena let out a little laugh, not unkindly, "Thanks, but I'm good. It's actually been a while since I've performed. I guess I kind of forgot about it."
Kevin just shook his head, "Well, please tell me you're at least entering the school talent competition."
Ali came up, still dripping from the pool, "You know, Serena, it really isn't a bad idea. You obviously had fun up there."
Serena glanced at her, slightly scorning, "Yea, thanks for that."
"Not to mention there's a nice cash prize if you win," Bethany put in.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure she'd win," one of the guys passing by commented with a smile.
"Yeah, awesome job, and I don't even like the song that much," his friend complimented.
"Thanks," she turned back to them, "But it's televised."
"So? Not that many people watch it and you know that's the last reason you'd do it. Just let yourself have fun," Bethany pleaded.
She didn't answer, but just looked at them.
As the night grew on, and the karaoke started getting sillier and worse-though many people lightly blamed Serena for that, saying no one could beat her Serena had her share of the dance floor; she finally decided to go ahead and like several others cool off in the pool, then she thought they'd call it a night.
She was glad she had decided to get in the pool anyway, because one of the guys, one of Kevin's friends ended up sending her into the pool. She came up, sputtering, but before she could say anything or Kevin could start to wonder if something was wrong, he immediately turned around, "Serena! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention! Are you alright? He offered her a hand."
She relented with a smile, the patio was crowded, "It's alright, John. I was getting in anyway."
"Oh, alright. Still."
"I know. Thanks."
He nodded, when Ali swam up, "You are rocking it tonight, you know that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're naturally gorgeous, you rock at karaoke, and he was totally flirting."
Serena snorted and dove underwater. She did like to swim, and she loved how the pool looked here at night, glowing an eerie green-blue from the underwater light and reflecting the lights in the trees. After awhile though, she found Ali and asked, "Hey, what you think about twenty more minutes? It is a school night, and it's getting late."
Ali nodded and Serena hopped out of the pool to get her other clothes back on and find Bethany.
