Chapter 8

     "What the hell?" I mumbled to myself as I was half asleep. Why did I feel so heavy? I managed to pry my eyes open that morning to see what the problem was. I almost jumped out of my socks when I found out what it was. Ariana stayed over last night. A girl! Nonetheless it was Ariana!

     We were laying down on the couch and she was on the inside resting her head on my chest and my arm was around her. As much as I wanted to continue to lay there, I got up cautiously and fixed the blanket so it was over her.

     I got up and Bella came out of her room and made her way into the kitchen. "Good morning." She greeted me casually not even looking at me. "Bella!" I yelled in a whisper, "Why didn't you wake us up last night?" I said glancing at Ariana to make sure I didn't wake her up. 

     "Because you guys were cute and you were sleeping. Also, I know how you get when someone wakes you up." She said pouring a bowl of cereal.

     She was right, I did get a little grumpy if I'm woken up before I want to be waken up. I decided to relax as there was nothing to do since she was still sleeping. I joined my sister and had a bowl of cereal too. Bella finished her breakfast and without saying anything she walked back to her room. That's where she usually went when she wasn't working.

     I cleaned my bowl and put it into the dishwasher once I was finished. Glancing at the clock, it was only 9:34. Sighing because it was so early, I went and sat on the other couch where Ariana wasn't laying down.

     After a few minutes, she tossed and turned and finally opened her eyes after rubbing them with her hands. "Where am I?" She asked. I just sat there amused on how she had no clue where she was.

     She sat up and looked around still with the blanket wrapped around her body. "You're at my house, we fell asleep last night." She looked down and smiled with embarrassment. "Oh I'm sorry." I looked at her waiting for her to make eye contact with me but she didn't. "That's okay. I can drive you home now if you'd like?" I suggested and it took her some time to answer.

     "Is it okay if I stay here a little bit longer? It's okay if I can't, I don't want to be a bother." Ariana said looking up at me now and adjusting the blanket so she could sit with her legs crossed on the sofa. I wanted to smile but I hid it, "Yes you can stay. You aren't a bother at all."

     I got up and walked toward the kitchen. Before I got far, Ariana questioned me. "Where are you going?" I stopped in my tracks and turned my head to face her, "Well you just woke up, so I thought I should go make some tea for you." And without giving her time to deny the offer, I left out of her sight.

     A few minutes later I returned with the cup of tea and carefully handed it to her. It was really warm but she showed like it didn't bother her. "Thanks." Then she took a sip of it.

     "I was thinking..." Ariana started to say but trailed off looking through the glass doors to outside. "Do you think maybe we could go and sing somewhere else today?" I had a confused look planted on my face, looking outside to try and see what she was looking at. "What did you have in mind?" Another gulp was swallowed of the tea and then she answered. "How about the beach? We can go and sit on the boardwalk wall and sing to the people."

     I think that would actually be a good idea. After all, she did say I was a good singer and she enjoys doing it. "Yeah, okay sounds good." I told her after thinking about it.

We jumped in the car and headed for the beach and after a few short minutes we arrived at our destination. It was loaded with adults, couples and children everywhere. "Are you nervous?" I asked her as we sat on the wall. "Nope." She responded popping the 'p'. We started singing and a few seconds later we grabbed attention.

     People gathered around quicker and happier than when we were on the steps. This time, parents had out cameras and were taking pictures/recording us. Ariana looked like she was having a blast, and that's all that mattered to me.

     After our little show was over, little kids came up to us and dropped dollars into my guitar case. Then two little kids came up to us, one a boy and the other was a girl. "Hey you guys were really awesome!" The boy said giving us a thumbs up.

     The girl was silent for a moment and then dashed and gave me a hug. I was startled at first but then returned the hug. She was a cutie. "Thanks guys!" Ariana said and the little kids ran back to their parents. The mom and dad waved at us like "thank you for being nice to our children" and a genuine smile. Before we knew it they were on their way and the crowd died.

     It did feel good to make people happy. I have to be honest, I'm glad Ariana brought me into this. "That was awesome!" She squealed and then ran over to give me a hug. When she realized she just did that, she backed off. "Yeah I agree, it was amazing." I said smiling.

     "You're really good." A tall guy with black hair said to Ariana. She smiled and looked at his toned figure. "Thanks."

     He looked at me, "You're also really great. Keep it up guys." And then he shook my hand and Ariana's. But with her, he didn't let go right away. "See you around?" He added gazing into her eyes. What a charmer he was. "Definitely." She said softly and he walked away, but then he looked back once more, then continued to walk forward.

     I watched as she didn't take her eyes off of him. As much as this would hurt for me to do this, I have to. "I think he's into you." I said regretting every word that just flew out of my mouth.

     "Really?!" She asked excitedly. I sighed, she seemed really pleased with her day so far. "Yeah, you should go ask him out." Was I really the one encouraging this, or is it some kind of wicked dream.

     "You think so?" She asked and I nodded my head in approval. In a blink of an eye she rushed after him and the last thing I heard before she was too far was, "Hey, excuse me! I didn't catch your name."

***

     "Okay I have to go now! See you tomorrow in school!" Ariana said before leaving my house. We just finished making two more covers for our CD. It was going along smoothly. Altogether I think we had twelve. Everyday or every other day we would do 2-3 covers. I enjoyed spending that time with her, but I'm not sure she felt the same way since she was going out with "Mikey", the new guy she met.

     Did I mention we got an "A" on our music video for class? That was amazing. When we made covers, we didn't just record our voices, but we recorded ourselves too. Eventually a YouTube account was made and many, many people were enjoying our posts. Ariana and Mikey were going to the beach for their first date while I was stuck home.

     In that time, I thought I should make another copy of the CD. Once I made one copy, I wanted to make more. And after more, I made a lot. When I blinked my eyes, I had dozens of copies made stacked up on the table. I called Tyler and he helped me load them into the car and bring them out into public. Since Ariana was having fun, I thought I should too.

     Instead of selling them, we just gave them out for free. Unless you were one of those people who gave me money for it, in that case we took the money without disagreement. To my surprise it happened more than once.

     "Do you mind if I take one home?" Tyler asked while giving out the last few CD's. "Nah you can take one." He took one and held onto it. "So how do you feel about Ariana going out with that guy Mikey?" Tyler asked me as we were near the beach.

     I looked over in that direction and watched as the two of them were laying side by side on their towels. I couldn't help but have that jealous feeling in my stomach. "Doesn't bother me at all." I lied hoping he didn't catch on. "Oh come on! Even a blind man can see that you're lying. You're even looking over at them." He pointed out and I started to blush. Was it really that obvious?

     I averted my eyes somewhere else in a desperate attempt to prove him wrong. "No I wasn't." Again I lied. I saw as Tyler rolled his eyes. "I'm going home, thanks for letting me keep one." He said and walked off. I continued to stand there looking hopelessly at the two. I guess I was just a hopeless romantic.