Lonely Together

06

MARIAH

"Having fun?" I heard Valentino's voice say softly from behind me as I watched Ashti belt out a song on the karaoke machine that was in the living room.

"I am. I really like Amber and Ashti," I told him, turning around to face him and seeing a smile on his face. He was so hot. "How was poker?"

"I won, of course. I never told you before, but I'm an amazing at poker."

"Isn't that a game of chance?" I said jokingly to him, making him scoff and shake his head.

We turned back to face Ashti who held yet another drink in her hand as she sang Rihanna's 'Umbrella' completely off-key.

Many of the other people who were here for the party had left, leaving just us and Valentino's core friend group.

In front of us on the couch, Amber and Wesley were seated beside one of another with a bit of space between them, but I couldn't ignore the way they kept sneaking glances at each other. Something was definitely going on between them.

"Mariah...you next!" Ashti slurred, holding out the microphone to me as Elijah moved her towards the couch.

"No, I'm okay," I said softly, shaking my head as Amber protested.

"No! Let's do one together before you guys go."

"Okay...fine."

I stepped away from Valentino who looked quite interested to see what we would do. After flipping through the book and deliberating about what song to choose, Amber and I finally chose 'The Boy is Mine' by Brandy and Monica. We both agreed that we knew all the lyrics and I that I would sing Brandy's parts while she would do Monica's.

We began singing and immediately, Ashti was back on her feet clapping and singing along while Elijah remained completely blank. Valentino and Wesley however, both had bright grins on their faces as they watched us dance and sing. Amber and I even remembered the choreography to one of their performances and did it.

When the song ended, we both burst out in laughter and she pulled me into a hug.
"That was so fun!" I exclaimed as I backed away from her embrace.

"It was nice to watch, too," Wesley added, raising his eyebrows as Amber rolled her eyes.

My gaze landed on Valentino who was already looking at me, his head cocked to the side. What the hell did that mean?

"It's getting late. We're gonna head out," he finally said, standing from the couch and grabbing his jacket from the back of it.

"We are too," Elijah muttered, not an ounce of inflection in his voice. What was up with that guy and how was he with someone as bubbly as Ashti.

Ashti, Amber, and I exchanged numbers and promised to stay in contact with each other, while Elijah and Valentino laughed together at something Wesley had said.

"Nice meeting you all," I said sweetly once Valentino and I had stepped out the front door and over to his car.

"Oh, that was so much fun!" I told him once we were in the car, turned in our seats to face each other.

"I'm glad you liked them."

"What's going on with Amber and Wesley? I'm not the only one who can see that there's something there, right?"

"You're nosy, aren't you Mariah?" He said with a laugh as I protested immediately.

"I am not! I just like to be in the know."