Love Me (editing)

Karoake Night

Dayna and I walk into a bar. This was our third bar tonight. Two of the other bars kicked us out because we were too drunk and the other one was just plain boring. When we walk in, we go straight for the drinks. I'm not usually a big drinker but I broke up with my boyfriend, Chris, of nine years a month ago and he already has a new girlfriend. Well, he broke up with me but for the sake of dignity, I'm saying it was mutual.
I already went through the "no shower", "crying nonstop" and "eating ice cream" phase. Dayna thought I needed to upgrade to drinking. Of course, she did. She was pretty much an alcoholic.

"Tequila please" I order.

"Vodka," Dayna orders after me.

The bartender nods and starts pouring our drinks. In the far corner, there's a group of guys singing and chanting. There are about five of them, and by the looks of it, they're drunk too. It looks like a bachelor party. A guy walks up on the stage.

"Hey everybody, it is eleven o'clock and you know what that means! It's time to start the next round of karaoke. Are there any contestants?" The room goes quiet.

"How about those singing guys in the corner eh? Any of you guys?"

"YEAAH" one of the guys chants. Half of the group point to one of the guys and volunteers him to go up.

"Come on up! Any more contestants? How about you ladies at the bar?" He points towards me and Dayna.

"YES!" Dayna cries out. "Ava, you should go!"

"Me?" I ask.

"Yes," she says. "You have a great voice."

"Come on up," the guy on the stage says.

Both I and the guy from the corner table approach the stage. I barely make it up the stairs without falling. The guy on the stage looks toward me.

"What's your name?" The MC asks me.

"Ava," I answer.

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady," he says and kisses my hands.

"And what's your name sir?" He asks the guy who came up with me.

"Noah," he replies. His friends chant for him in the back.

"Alright, so this is how it's gonna go. You both are going to take turns singing parts of a song. In the end, whoever gets the loudest reaction wins."

"What's the prize?" One of the guys at the table cries out.

"50 bucks." The crowd starts laughing. Is that it?

"So any song suggestions?" The MC asks us.

"I'll let the lady pick," Noah says to me.
He winks at me. Damn, he is sexy. This is all I can think to myself. He's tall, about 6 foot and he has perfect eyes. Those grey eyes on his toffee-coloured body mix perfectly together. I break out of my trance and a song has yet to come to my head.

"Hello, by Adele," Dayna yells out.

We agree and in a few minutes, we start singing. I don't know who's worst, him or me. When I'm not drunk, I am actually a good singer. Right now, I sound like I'm drunk. Which is fitting I guess.

At the end of the singing, the crowd goes crazy. Not because we were good, but because we were entertaining and the majority of the crowd at this point is drunk.

"Alright, guys! That's had to be the worst singing I've ever heard," the MC comes back on stage, laughing. "Let's see who the winner is."

He puts his hand over my head. The crowd breaks into a loud cheer. Dayna is the loudest one of them all. He then waves his hand over Noah. The crowd goes wild. His guy friends are yelling really loudly.

"I guess the winner is Noah." The MC lifts his hands up. We shake hands and I give him a slight courtesy congratulating him. We both get off the stage. Dayna hugs me.

"I thought you were great," she says. We start laughing because we both know I was not.  Noah approaches me.

"Drinks on me?" He asks. How can I say no to him?

"Sure," I say. I order some more tequila. In a few minutes, Dayna has disappeared over to the bachelor party. Noah and I sit at the bar for Three hours drinking. I talk about my breakup. He listens to me drunkenly complain about love and how modern-day dating is dead. Well, I think he's listening. I don't give him a chance to talk back. I can't stop talking but he doesn't seem bothered at all. At one point he takes my hand which automatically makes me stop talking. He puts it in his.

"It'll get better," he says. I guess he's been listening to me. I smile. "You have a great smile."

"You do too," I say back. He really does. After our tenth shot, he kisses me. That's the last thing I remember before I black out...