Chapter 6 – Gay Karaoke
"Theresa, go to your room for a little while and bring your food with you. Nicholas and I need to have a serious talk." Christopher growls at his daughter in an irritated tone.
After barking his order, and his daughter obeying, Christopher gets up from his seat and walks toward Nicholas. I continue eating as if nothing's going on. I don't want my presence to be noticed and, to top it off, I am scared as all hell. This guy was already intimidating before, but now I'm literally petrified!
As soon as Theresa's door shuts, Christopher begins to speak. "Where did your sister hear that word?" Christopher asks. I begin to shake in my seat. This all my fault.
Nicholas continues eating and stares at his plate. "WHERE DID YOUR SISTER HEAR THAT WORD?" the old man repeats as he slams the table.
Nicholas proceeds to ignore his father. I squeeze my eyes shut. I can't take it anymore. This is just going to get worse the longer I let it go on. I'll just have to turn myself in. What's the worst that could happen?
I swallow as I look up. "Sir, please don't yell at Nicholas. The person who said that word in front of your daughter was…" I take a deep breath before continuing.
"Me." Nicholas states as he stares at his plate. Did he just… take the blame? Why would he do that?
"Zack, would you go check on Theresa for me please? I need to talk to Nicholas alone." He tells me.
I stand up and begin to walk toward the staircase, but my mind begins to flutter with thoughts. 'Be humble!' 'Don't let Nicholas take the blame!' 'This is your fault!' My mind begins to scream at me. I turn back toward Nicholas who seems to have not the slightest bit of emotion on his face. As soon as I notice Christopher's infuriated expression, however, fear begins to overtake me. Instead of taking the blame, I proceed up the stairs into Theresa's room. I just hope Nicholas understands.
Upon arrival into Theresa's room, I find her watching television. She's acting as if nothing is wrong at all.
"Hey Zack, what's up?" She smiles at me.
"Why did you get us in trouble?" I say, upset with her.
She stares at me in confusion for a few seconds and then shuts the television off. "What did I do?" Theresa asks.
"You said that word! You weren't supposed to say it!" I begin to shout a bit.
"You mean gay?" She repeats the word.
"Stop using that word! You'll get us into even more trouble!" I shout at her. Then again, I'm not even in trouble although I'm the one who deserves it. So why am I saying she's getting both of us into trouble?
Theresa looks at me in shock. "Relax yourself... What's so bad about that word?" She raises her right eyebrow.
"It's just that the word has two meanings." I inform her.
"And what's the other meaning?"
I take a few seconds to contemplate if I should tell her or not. I come to the conclusion that if I don't tell her it could lead to worsening the situation. "It means that two boys are in love with one another. Or two girls."
Her eyes widen. "That's possible? I never knew that." She places her hand on her chin. "Does that mean that I heard you saying that because you're in love with Nicholas?" She gasps.
"NO WAY!" I scream in disgust. "That's gross!"
"What's so bad about that?" She asks me.
"Just think about it: me and Nicholas kissing? Me and Nicholas touching each other and saying romantic things?" I reply. How could she even consider this?
"Yeah, you're right. That is kind of disgusting. Then again, my brother dating anyone would be nasty in my opinion." Theresa laughs.
"Nah, your brother's an awesome guy." I smile at her.
"Awww, I'm so happy you two are friends!" She dives onto me, taking me in for a hug. I really don't get this girl. First she rats me out for reading the Bible in her brother's room and now she's hugging me. What's next? A slap across the face followed by an 'I love you'?
Theresa looks up at me with her arms still around me. "You know Zack, even though my daddy said if I were a little older you'd make the perfect boyfriend for me doesn't mean I would necessarily pick you to go out with." She tells me. "I'd pick you as my boyfriend because you're a really nice guy." Theresa winks at me.
"Thanks…" I say, unsure how to react. I guess that was a complement.
After I thank her, she begins to walk toward the door. "Oh…" She turns back around. "And you're one of the cutest boys I've ever seen!" She adds as she shuts the door, leaving me in her room alone.
I remain silent in confusion. One second this girl is happily escorting me through the forest, then she just tells on me for no reason at all, and now she tells me that I'm hot and datable. Girls are so unpredictable sometimes.
I walk out of Theresa's room to find Nicholas walking up the stairs. I freeze up and stare at him for a bit, as does he back to me. I finally muster up the courage to say what I must, despite the rarity of these words coming out of my mouth. "I… I'm really sorry for leaving you like that." I sigh.
"No problem. I'm used to dealing with my dad. He's a bit obsessive when it comes to standing up for what he believes in." Nicholas smiles.
"You're not mad at me?" I gasp. I'm the one who got us… I mean him… into trouble in the first place.
"No way. It's not your fault my father overreacted." Nicholas takes me by the arm. "Anyway, karaoke night is going to start soon. Let's head down there now!"
Nicholas begins to pull me, but I don't move. "Somebody is urgent to follow through with our deal." I smirk. "You know, the one where if I sing then you have to sing?"
"Yeah, I remember our deal. How could I forget?" Nicholas replies. "That isn't the only reason we're going though. Karaoke night is a lot of fun. Besides, if you don't come with me you'll be stuck here with my dad. Would you rather have him question you to death?" Nicholas rhetorically asks.
"Good point. I have to head back to the ship though after karaoke night is done." I state.
"Awesome! Let's go then!" He charges down the stairs.
"Don't forget about our deal! I'm not singing unless you choose to sing too!" I shout as I follow his lead down the stairs. I'm not sure why, but I have the feeling that, even though a karaoke night doesn't sound all that fun, I will be in for a huge surprise.
After informing his parents of our departure and his sister giving me a big goodbye hug, Nicholas and I head to the auditorium. The entire way there, I make it clear that Nicholas had better sing after I do and not cheat his way out of our deal. After about five minutes of discussion, however, we both agree that a duet would be an even better idea. That way, we both get to sing simultaneously.
After more discussion, we draw a conclusion that the only duet song that we both know is "Broken by Seether & Amy Lee". However, I claim the male part of the song immediately. It's embarrassing enough to have to sing on a stage, but singing a female part would be even worse.
Once we enter the auditorium, I notice how different it looks from earlier today. The stage has a banner across it that reads "Spring Karaoke Night" and there seems to be quite the crowd. I didn't even know there were this many people in the whole area, let alone attending this event. There is also some nice upbeat music playing in the background. Not sure of the song, but it's definitely the kind of music that gets you pumped up.
"Come on. We need to register!" Nicholas runs ahead of me to the sign up desk. He can be so eager at times.
After signing up, we take our seats in the front row. "You ready?" I nudge Nicholas.
"Ready to make you look bad on stage? Of course I am!" He replies.
"Pfft you wish!" I roll my eyes. Suddenly, the lights begin to dim. Here we go!
First to sing is a group of elderly men and women. They sing some religious song in which everyone aside from me begins to sing along to. I pretend to be singing, but Nicholas notices that I don't know the lyrics and begins to laugh at me. "What so funny? You aren't even trying to sing." I point out to him.
"I'm saving my voice for our duet." He shouts over the crowd.
"Fine, then I'll do the same." I sit back down and remain silent.
The next singer, which is one of Theresa's friends that I recognize from before, sings solo. She sings a country song which I am also unfamiliar with and does a phenomenal job with it.
Although that last act is a tough one to follow, Nicholas and I are next.
"Okay," Nicholas turns toward me. "Whatever happens we're in this together. Let's go have some fun up there!" He smiles at me.
"You got it buddy." I say as we fist bump.
"Our next performance will be, for the first time ever, our very own Nicholas and his friend Zack!" The woman announcing each performance exclaims. The crowd begins to cheer as we make our way to the stage. This is it. Although I'm not much of a singer, I have to at least give Nicholas a run for his money.
"Hey guys! Let's give it up for my new friend Zack!" Nicholas extends his arm out toward me. The crowd begins to cheer. I try not to get embarrassed, but he made it too difficult not to.
As they cheer, the music begins to play. My verse is up first, so I take a deep breath and ready myself.
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
As I sing the lyrics, something hits me. I hadn't noticed before that these lyrics are about two people who were in a relationship! And I'm singing this with Nicholas… talk about awkward.
I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
I turn toward Nicholas to find him smiling at me. I guess he's absolutely oblivious to the meaning behind this song.
I turn back toward the audience and continue to sing, despite how humiliating this all is.
Because I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
I lower my microphone and turn toward Nicholas who holds up his thumb. He seems impressed by me. Now it's his turn though.
The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
Upon hearing his voice, I nearly gasp into my microphone. I turn toward him to verify that it is his voice I am listening to. He sounds absolutely amazing…
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
Nicholas turns toward me and sings the lyrics with a ton of emotion. It's an absolutely amazing performance.
Because I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
Nicholas gets on his knees and plays the characters of his lyrics. I can't believe this. Who knew he was such a performer.
Because I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
After finishing his lyrics, he stands back up and begins to do a little dance. For some reason, his confidence begins to rub off on me. It's as if the awkwardness I'd once felt completely disappears. I start to dance as well, creating a smile across Nicholas' face. I no longer am even thinking about the audience watching or anything at all. Instead I am just having fun with my friend.
Because I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough Because I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
We both sing simultaneously, this time both of us filling our lyrics with emotion as we reach our hands out to one another.
After singing our joint part, my final solo arrives. Nicholas leaves the stage, giving me the full attention of the audience.
You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore
Finally, I find my eyes begin to tear up. How could this be happening over some song? I guess I got a bit too much into it.
After the song ends, the crowd goes absolutely wild over us. Nicholas runs back onto the stage and playfully messes up my hair. We high five and leave the stage. "I need to get back to the ship now." I tell him.
"No problem, let's talk once we get out of here." Nicholas whispers to me as we exit the auditorium.
"Dude, you were absolutely amazing out there!" I shout as we walk into the darkened forest.
"So were you." He smiles through the moonlight.
"Seriously though, you seemed like a natural performer." I pat him on the back. "Besides, you're an amazing singer!"
"Thanks! Anyway, I was wondering if maybe tomorrow we could spend the day on that boat of yours?" Nicholas asks as if he's been thinking about this for quite a while.
"That sounds great. I can introduce you to my friends and my brother!" I exclaim.
""You have a brother?" Nicholas gasps at me.
"Yup. A twin." I inform him.
His walking ceases. "A TWIN?" He yelps. "How could you not tell me that?"
"It slipped my mind." I confess as I begin to walk again. Now that I'm thinking about it, Cody has barely crossed my mind at all today. Last I remember he was going to ask Bailey out. I wonder what happened between those two.
We continue walking in silence for a bit until Nicholas begins to speak again. "I meant to ask you sooner, but why were you reading my Bible earlier today?" He asks me.
Oh, right. That…
"I don't know. It just caught my eye." I shrug. "You left it out, so I just picked it up and skimmed through it."
"Oh…" He sighs.
"Well, we're here! I'd better get back on the ship before my teacher kills me." I laugh.
Nicholas changes his expression back to a happy one. "Okay. I'll be here tomorrow at around noon. Sound good?"
"Yup. Later!" I wave as I run up the railing of the boat. I then notice my entire body seems to be shaking. I guess the thrill of today has given me chills. I really did have a fun day. Sure, it wasn't necessarily easy to deal with Nicholas' family. However, meeting someone who I can consider a closer friend after one day than practically everyone else I know made it all worth the while.
After checking back onto the boat, I immediately run to Cody's room. I am absolutely dying to find out if he got Bailey or not. Besides, I want to let him know about what I was doing today. It's funny how one little trip could change so much in my life. Between the drama with Cody and Nicholas taking his place as an amazing friend, I have went from living each day with the boring thrill of dating random girls to actually having a life to look forward to.
I reach Cody's bedroom door within a few minutes. This is it. I'm not sure why I care so much, but whatever the reason Cody is my brother and I have to find out either way. Time to find out if my advice helped my brother or if I raised his hopes only to have them crushed.
What happened between Cody and Bailey after Zack left the scene? What fun times will come about during Nicholas and Zack's get together on the boat? Find out next time!
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