I giggled as I took the mike at the karaoke bar.
I love doing this! I thought. I stared out at the audience and saw the rest of the band watching me intently. Tomika gave me a thumbs up. I grinned at her and starting singing along to the music of "What I Like About You". That has been my favorite song for years, no matter what Dewey says about me betraying the gods of classic rock!
"What I like about you, you hold me tight, tell me I'm the only one wanna come over tonight, yeah, keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things that I wanna hear, 'cause it's true, that's what I like about you..." I belted out the entire song, enjoying every minute of it. When everyone clapped, I soaked up the attention like a sponge.
I walked back to our table and Freddy pushed over a bit to make room for me between him and Alicia. Before sitting down, I gave everyone a high five
"Awesome, Blondie," Eleni praised.
"Actually, I thought you missed a few notes there, Marta," Dewey said as he rubbed his chin.
"Dewey!" we all said at the same time.
"What?" he asked. We all rolled our eyes. Everybody in the band is used to Dewey's "constructive criticism", as he calls it.
"Who's next?" Zach asked.
"Why doesn't Dewey go?" I suggested. My idea was followed with many of us saying "Yeah!"
"Wait up!" Dewey cried, "Why me?"
"'Cause you never go," Summer said as she flicked a long dark strand of her dark hair.
"Yeah, and then you tell us we fucked up!" Freddy added.
"Language!" Dewey told him.
"Sorry, messed up," Freddy corrected himself.
"Much better," Dewey said.
"Stop trying to change the subject! You get your ass on that stage and belt it!" Alicia pointed to the stage.
"Yeah!" we all agreed in unison.
"Fine, just don't blame me when I blow your minds away with my pipes!" Dewey said while he got up and walked to the stage.
"When he's done," Frankie said, "Let's all tell him he was bad!" We all grinned. Dewey ran up and sang the band's theme song..."School of Rock", our first song ever! We should've known he would do that! He wasn't that bad, but when he came back, we were all like, "Hmm, a tree has more talent!" or "If I had wanted to hear a cat screeching, I'd have stayed home!" or even "Dude, what was that?"
"Ok guys, whose idea was this?" Dewey asked. All of us pointed to Frankie. Frankie turned red.
"Frankie, what have I told you about being mean?" Dewey asked. Then he went into a long speech about how it doesn't pay to be mean. Look at No Vacancy; they had kicked Dewey out of the band. Dewey formed a new band...with us! Look at who is better off! No Vacancy is still a garage band; we have records! Blah, blah, blah...
Meanwhile, Freddy had started playing with my hair. I felt him braiding it, twisting it, and doing many unidentifiable things with it. Then, he started to undo whatever mess he had made with my long blond hair and ran his fingers through it to take out the tangles. By the time Dewey finished with his 10-minute long speech, so was Freddy.
"Got it, Frankie?" Dewey asked, just as Freddy had run his fingers through the last of the tangles.
"Got it," Frankie nodded.
"Good," Dewey said, "Now who wants to go next?"
The night went on and we all got a chance to sing. It was fun watching some of us totally rock and others ahem Freddy ahem bomb.
Once we had all finished, Dewey piled us into the band van and drove us home. As always, Katie and I were last. Dewey always drops us off together since we're next-door neighbors. We always have about 5-10 minutes to talk together.
"How are you and Zach doing?" I asked her as Freddy, Eleni and Zach got out of the van. They're the last stop before us.
"Pretty good," she smiled as she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Katie used to have long, fine hair. She'd worn it just past her shoulders since 4th grade. Then, last summer, she cut it up to her jawbone. She'd also gotten rid of the bangs recently. It looked good on her like this.
"Oh really," I said.
"Yeah," she nodded, "We actually have a date for tomorrow night. We're going to a dinner and dance place."
"Good luck," I grinned.
"Thanks," she laughed, "You know I'll need it trying to convince Zach, of all people, to come onto the dance floor. You remember the carnival dance last year!" I giggled at the memory. Everybody had danced with their date at least three or four times, everybody, that is, except Zach and Katie. There was a half hour left to the dance and Katie had been begging Zach to dance for at least one number all night long. Finally, Katie literally dragged him onto the floor, with Freddy's help. The funniest part was Zach wouldn't get off the dance floor after he got on. It wasn't because he decided he liked dancing, no way! It was because he decided that since Katie wanted him on there so badly, he would stay there. He proceeded to sit down on the wood floor and didn't stand up until everyone except the band was gone. Eventually, we called Dewey to try to bring him home. We didn't call his parents because we figured Dewey would work better. Dewey actually had to pick him up and carry him to the van because Zach just wouldn't leave of his own free will!
"So Blondie, who do you have your eye on? You know, since you broke up with Frankie," she asked.
"Nobody," I answered.
"I know you better than that," Katie arched her eyebrows at me; "You've always got a crush on somebody! Spill the beans! Who is it?"
"I do not always have a crush on someone!" I said indignantly.
"Come on Marta, who's the lucky guy?" she asked. I shook my head.
"Do I have to tickle you?" she asked.
My eyes grew wide, "NO, you wouldn't!"
"Wanna bet?" she asked mischievously.
"Katie, don't!" I cried as she tackled me and tickled me with all her might. Everyone in the band knows very well that I'm the most ticklish and that I shriek with laughter every time someone tickles me.
As I felt her wiggling fingers, I burst into laughter.
"Stop it Katie!" I squealed.
"Only if you tell me who the Mystery Man is!" she answered.
"Fine, fine, fine," I relented, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even Zach!"
"That's what I'm talking about," she smirked and backed away, "Now then, who is it?"
"Freddy," I mumbled.
"Spazzy Mc Gee?" she cried, "You have to be kidding!" I felt my skin getting warmer and I knew I was blushing to an alarming shade of red.
"You aren't joking! Oh my God, wait 'til I tell him!" Katie laughed.
"NO!" I yelled, "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!"
"But that was before I knew it was Freddy, of all people!" she protested. I shook my head.
"Fine, but Spazzy?" she asked, "I mean, I thought that only fans, desperate cheerleaders and rocker chicks liked him! Hey, do you remember that group of Swedish girls that wrote him a letter?"
"Yes," I continued, "They said that they used to be lesbians but he converted them. They all fell in love with him from the moment they saw him on tape!"
"Then, it turned out it was just a joke from Zach!" Katie finished. We burst into laughter. Just then, Katie's cell phone rang.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hey Billy, what's up?" she asked.
"Not again!" Katie groaned.
"What is it?" I whispered.
"More costumes," Katie hissed. I laughed. Billy had been using Freddy and Katie as his models for School of Rock since 5th grade, even though they hated it. Last time Billy had to make costumes, Katie and Freddy hid in a tree. They climbed up to the highest branches of the old oak in the park that we used to use for "Hide and Seek" when we were little. They sat up there knowing that Billy couldn't climb trees. They stayed up there for 2 hours, which was when we finally convinced them to come down. Billy promised he wouldn't bombard them with costumes...for the rest of the afternoon! The next day, he snuck up on them and forced them into it. Billy punished them for their behavior by making the costumes even stranger than usual. He gave Katie a black and neon green pleather micro mini, a skintight black belly t-shirt with tons of pale green iridescent sequins sewn onto it, a black pleather jacket with a few horizontal neon green stripes, sparkly black tights and knee high neon green boots with 4" heels. He gave Freddy a purple bell-sleeved shirt that had buttons that started 3" above the belly button, other than that, it was open to reveal most of poor Freddy's chest, skintight black pleather pants, a chunky purple belt and pointy-toed purple ankle boots. Billy's theme for the costumes was pleather. Luckily, Summer managed to change his mind in time to make new costumes for the show. It was hilarious when we saw them model the first set of clothes for Billy though, well, at least until Billy threatened that next time he had to make outfits, he would randomly pick two of us and give Freddy and Katie a rest. Then, we shut up. We were all terrified of being chosen as Billy's model. He treats Freddy and Katie like giant dolls! Fortunately, for us, Billy hasn't fired them.
"Billy, why don't you try using someone else as your model? I mean, everyone else might think you're playing favorites," Katie whined.
"Oh, so you are playing favorites," she said.
"Fine, but I don't like it!" she snapped angrily and closed her cell phone.
"He wants us to try on the clothes tomorrow!" she sighed.
"Good luck!" I laughed.
"Not funny Marta," Katie told me, "If you don't quit laughing, I might just forget I promised not to tell Freddy about your little crush on him."
"Fine," I grumbled.
"Girls," Dewey turned around, "I parked the van in front of your houses 10 minutes ago! Go home!"
"Oops," we said in unison.
"Thanks Dewey," Katie said as she opened the van door and hopped out.
"Yeah, thanks," I got out after grabbing my bag.
7 minutes after I got home, the phone rang. I answered. It was Katie.
"What's new?" I asked.
"Freddy and Marta sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes the love."
"Shut up, Katie!" I cried.
"You know you want him, you know you want him," she sang.
"I do not!" I snapped.
"Yes you do! You're blushing. I can so tell!"
"I am not!"
"Marta, I know you better than that. You're using your embarrassed lying voice."
"So what if I like Freddy? You like Zach!" I asked.
"Ah hah! You do like him then! Freddy and Marta sitting,"
"Bye Katie," I hung up.
I put on my new baby blue and white nightgown, brushed my teeth and kissed my parents good night. I sat down on my couch facing the window and looked up at the sky. It was a full moon. The moon was a pale yellow against the dark blue sky. It looked beautiful. My thoughts slowly drifted to Freddy. I thought about what it would be like to kiss him. When I got under my lilac sheets of my four-poster bead and put my head on my soft pillow, I started singing the whole "Freddy and Marta, sitting in a tree," song. Ok, ok, ok, so I have a major huge crush on Freddy! Is that such a crime?