The club was in full swing, meaning there was a lot of unfamiliar faces in the room. Closest to the door sat Kyoya upon a chair in front of one of the many large tables. Several feet away sat Tamaki, he was lounging on a couch with two girls on either side of him as well as three girls on the couch across from him. I noticed the twins on the other side of the room pretending to be in some kind of forbidden love with each other. At least, I think they were pretending.
I turned to my left and noticed that the path to the door was clear. Nobody has noticed me, so I should get out of here before someone does.
Slowly, I made my ways towards the door. I was about halfway there when I got distracted. There was a piano a few feet to my left. Not like that budget cut piano in the other room, but an actual grand piano.
"Hey, Takashi. Isn't that your sweater?" A cheery voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
Damn, I had forgotten all about him. Stupid piano; I had made a mistake in pausing to admire its beauty. Hastily, I picked up my pace towards the exit. The minute my hand closed around the doorknob, someone had grabbed my wrist. Deflated, I turned to see who prevented me from my escape.
"Come sit with us!" Hani practically ordered me, pulling me over to the table they were sitting at.
Once we reached our destination, I sat on one of the chairs and stared at my lap. That small scene caused almost everyone to focus their attention on me, seeing as I am unfamiliar. People began to whisper in wonder at who I am. I hit the volume button on my iPod until music drowned out the voices around me.
I jumped as someone tapped my shoulder. Bringing my head up, I noticed that Kyoya had walked over with a dye-erase board in hand. Giving it to me, he explained the reason behind it.
"Use this to talk with the guests. If we lose sales because you were being rude, it will be added onto Haruhi's debt," I read his lips as he spoke. He was no doubt talking with a monotone voice, though. This guy was almost as heartless as me.
I was about to show him a rude gesture that involves my middle finger, but he had walked off. With that, I turned to the group at the table and removed the marker's cap. I paused slightly before writing on the board.
"Got any questions?" I wrote on the board in my rushed handwriting. Obviously, they had questions. The girls at this table have not taken their eyes off of me since I appeared. The words upon the board launched them into action.
"How old are you?" The brunette on my right asked.
"Are you here on scholarship, too?" The black haired girl asked.
"Are you mute?" The redhead asked.
I held a hand up to halt their questions. Once they finally did stop, I wrote quickly on the board.
"Stop the interrogation! One question at a time; please and thank you," it read.
They giggled in response. What was funny?
I thought for a moment before writing answers in the order of the questions.
"I'm 16. Yes. Kinda," I wrote. The three seemed satisfied by the first two answers but confused by the last one.
"What do you mean?" Hani questioned. He looked just as confused as the girls.
I quickly jotted down two words,
"Selectively mute."
This seemed to peak their curiosity. Just before one of them could ask the question I dreaded, a voice reached my ears.
"I'm back!" Haruhi called out over all of the noise.
I turned to notice she was carrying three bags full of groceries. Quickly, to avoid any other questions, I walked over to help her. I took two of the bags and set them on the table closest to us.
"Thanks," she breathed. I assume those were the heaviest bags. That's odd, they did not seem heavy to me.
"You're welcome," I spoke, using my hands instead of my voice.
"Here, hold this one too," she ordered, shoving the remaining bag in my arms.
Curious as to what she was doing, I carefully watched her movements. Her hands wrapped around a strap going across her chest. My face broke out into a grin as I realized what it was.
"I stopped by the house to get this. Figured we would be here for a while ,and you need a distraction," she explained, trading me the object for the bag. "Sorry I didn't grab your electric; you left it at Rei's."
"Thanks, you're the best," I signed before putting the strap over my head.
"You play guitar?" A voice wondered, startling me.
I closed my eyes as my reflexes kicked in. Spinning around on the toes of my left foot, I shot my right fist out to punch the mystery person. When my fist hit empty air, I opened my eyes in confusion.
There stood Tamaki, with Haruhi's hand on his shoulder. The spot I went to hit was only a few centimeters from his face. If Haruhi had not been there to pull him out of the way, he would have received a broken nose.
I drew my hand back to my side as I realized what I was close to doing. The groups of girls as the closest table had seen everything and began whispering amongst themselves. I was on edge at the sudden attention. Needing to get out of there before I freaked out, I turned and started to leave, but Haruhi seized my hand and pulled me back.
"Hey, you're not going anywhere," she told me. "Why don't you play a song to calm down. I'm pretty sure everyone would love to hear you sing."
The guests and even the hosts began to nod in agreement. I shook my head; I did not really feel like singing at the moment. At least not in front of these people.
"Plus, depending on the song you choose, I could have enough time to put these things away. If I do, we can leave immediately afterwards," Haruhi informed me. I nodded enthusiastically. She just laughed at my sudden change of thought and walked off with the bags from the table.
I turned to face the crowd that had formed around the two of us. Taking a deep breath, I adjusted the guitar's strap around my body. I already had a song in my mind. Three minutes is enough time. Right?
I strummed the strings on my guitar and began to play the song's opening. After about ten seconds, I started to sing.
"She held the world upon a string
But she didn't ever hold me
Spun the stars on her fingernails
But it never made her happy
Cause she couldn't ever have me
She said she'd won the world at a carnival
But she could never win me
Cause she couldn't ever catch me", I sang, shaking my head as though I was saying no. Gasps could be heard. I guess some of the people did not know I could talk.
"I, I know why
Because when I look in her eyes
I just see the sky
When I look in her eyes
Well I, just see the sky
I don't love you I'm just passing the time
You could love me if I knew how to lie
But who could love me?
I am out of my mind
Throwing a line out to sea
To see if I can catch a dream," I scanned the crowd trying to read their expressions. Some were awe, others were… love? Ah well, it was probably infatuation. I ignored it and carried on with the song.
"The sun was always in her eyes
She didn't even see me
But that girl had so much love
she'd wanna kiss you all the time
Yeah, she'd wanna kiss you all the time
"She said she won the world at a carnival
But I'm sure I didn't ruin her
Just made her more interesting
I'm sure I didn't ruin her
Just made her more interesting," I was positive I had gained everyone's attention by this point. I took a breath as I prepared to sing the last bit of the song.
"I, I know why
Because when I look in her eyes
I just see the sky
When I look in her eyes
Well I, I just see the sky
"I don't love you I'm just passing the time
You could love me if I knew how to lie
But who could love me?
I am out of my mind
Throwing a line out to sea
To see if I can catch a dream," I ended the song after a few more notes.
Footsteps could be heard as Haruhi reappeared. I just ran over, grabbed her hand, and dragged her out of the room.
"I can't believe you made me do that!" I practically shouted at Haruhi as we made our way along the sidewalk.
She held up her hands in defense,
"I merely suggested that you sing."
"Well, you had to have known I would with the way you phrase it," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
I turned left and began to walk down another road. Realizing that we were no longer heading in the direction of home, Haruhi spoke up,
"Where are we going?"
"The café. If you had been paying attention, you would've heard me say that five minutes ago," I replied as we stopped next to a crosswalk where the sign told us to wait.
"I clearly don't remember hearing those words coming from your mouth," Haruhi said. I thought back on it; I could've sworn I said it.
"Oh man, I think I had another moment where I thought I said something out loud, but I only said it in my head," I explained, slapping my hand against the my forehead. "Anyways, we're going to the café."
"But I thought you were off today?" she replied with a confused expression.
We began to cross the street.
"I am. I just need caffeine."
"You need sleep, not caffeine," Haruhi corrected me. I just stuck my tongue out at her in response.
"We're here!" I shouted with glee, causing a few people at the outside tables to look over and smile at me.
The cafe was fairly small. It had a brick exterior with a sign hanging over the door. The sign read "Rei's Café". Creative, I know. The inside was full of white tables and chairs that stood out against the grey walls and black floor. There was a stage in the back of the place for the live performances that made this place popular.
"Alex, you're here! I was just about to call you!" exclaimed the woman from behind the counter.
Her name was Rei. She was about five foot eight and always wore a cheerful smile. Rei had long black hair that was pulled back into a loose bun. Her brown eyes were full of happiness which to this day still baffles me.
"Yeah, I just got out of school. Dragged Haruhi here to get some coffee," I gestured to my sister, who trailed through the crowd behind me. It honestly was not difficult to reach the counter. People moved to the side once they recognized me.
"Hate to say this, but you've gotta work today. This place is too crowded for me to handle," Rei told me whilst taking someone's order.
"Sure, but could you still get Haruhi something?" I questioned. She replied with a nod of her head, and Haruhi sat down at our usual table.
I made my way towards the stage, gaining stares in the process. Once on stage, I replaced my acoustic guitar with the electric one that I had left here the last time I was here. I flicked the switch on all the speakers and amps. As I walked over to the laptop set up at the back of the stage, people began to shout questions to me.
"Why are you here?!"
"I thought you had school!"
"Whose shirt is that?!"
I chose my playlist on the laptop and went up to the mic.
"I'm here because you idiots are not capable of forming simple lines and instead crowd the place up. School is out for today. None of your business," I answered the questions in order. "So, who's ready to hold a concert?!"
Everyone in the building roared with excitement. I made a grab for the mic in order to move it, but the sweater's sleeves got in the way.
"Damn comfy sweater," I muttered under my breath. "Hey, Rei! Swap shirts with me!"
"What the hell?! Why would I do that?!" she shouted back at me.
"Because you love me," I responded. People in the crowd laughed at my request, but Rei traded shirts with me anyways. I was now wearing her white and black plaid shirt that I refused to button up. At least this binder Kyoya gave me had the appearance of a binder.
"Now, shall we get this concert started?" There were various shouts of "Yeah!" that rippled through the room. I rolled up my sleeves and hit play on the playlist. I played the part of guitar that was not on the tracks in my playlist. My voice rang out as the room became silent.
"I fought it for a long time now
While drowning in a river of denial
I washed up, fixed up, picked up all my broken things
'Cause you left me, police tape, chalk line
Tequila shots in the dark scene of the crime
Suburban living with a feeling that I'm giving up
Everything for you," I began to sing the first song on the two hour long playlist.
"Nice performance," Haruhi told me as I joined her at our table. She had begun working on her homework not too long ago.
"Thanks," I replied, sipping on my steaming hot coffee.
The cluttered mess of a crowd had died down immensely, meaning that it was okay for me to take a small break. Once I was ready to play again, I planned on taking requests. It was not required for me to do so, but I feel that the people in here need a chance to choose a song they love and or relate to.
I spent the next five minutes playing different games on my iPod. Standing up, I stretched my back, earning a few pops here and there. Before, I could make it to the stage, though, the door opened, and I glanced at the new faces.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" I questioned quietly. Haruhi looked over to see who I was talking about and dropped her pencil in surprise. They just walked up to the counter, not taking notice of us.
"You sure this is the place, Hani-senpai?" two voices wondered together.
"Positive," a cheery voice replied.
"Welcome to Rei's Café! How may I help you?" Rei asked as she turned around from facing the coffee maker. When she looked at them, recognition flickered across her face. "Hey, Alex! These guys go to the same school as you and Haruhi!"