Tyler and the Valaholics: The Beginning

Chapter 26

Song of the chapter- 'Galway Girl' by Ed Sheeran

'She played the fiddle in an Irish band,
But she fell in love with an English man,
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand,
Said, "Baby, I just want to dance with my pretty little Galway girl"'

"You have got to be kidding me!" Josh's wrath is now focused at me as he shoots me a look of utter disbelief.

"Oh, shut up, dude! Thank you so much, Valerie!" she shrugs him off with a dismal wave of her hand.

"Unbelievable!" he's fuming now.

"You know, maybe the judges will go a little easy on you when I tell them of how you heroically gave up your song for me. Whatever will you do now, oh tiny overachiever?" her voice takes on a mocking tone as she makes fun of me, unaware of what she's about to fall for.

"Well, it'd be a travesty not to give up my song for you but I did have a plan B so I guess I'll go with that," I tell her in a voice so humble and modest that she doesn't even seem to realize I'm mocking her.

The green-eyed monster seems to be her best buddy by the look on her face as she demands of me to tell her what song I have in mind. I meet Josh's eyes as I say that I intend to sing 'Everything is Not What It Seems' or 'So Far, So Great', his face donning a look that is a mixture of disbelief, anger and pity. Turning back to her, I see that she doesn't want me to perform well by the way she tries to convince me to pick some other song.

"You got your song, why don't you take it and leave? Let her do whatever she wants to," Josh blurts out.

"Say, why don't you take one of those songs? I have a feeling you'll sound better singing them than me," I tell her, being careful enough to fill my voice with admiration and sincerity.

It's only natural that she falls for it and speaks, "Well, that's obvious. Okay, I'll pick between them, so don't you dare pick either one of those. You can do that one that you wrote, bye!"

She seems to have bitten the bait and she gushes as she walks out. The second she's out of earshot, I mumble about people being idiots.

"Idiots? What did you do that for?" he asks me, still disbelieving.

"Well, I have the song I initially wanted now so I don't see why that was a stupid move," I tell him, a little astounded that he didn't get the strategy I used to turn her against herself and leave so I have what I wanted anyway.

My thought process seems to click into place seconds later as he speaks, "Oh! That was clever, sorry for doubting you, Erie! But now you don't have a second choice because she took your second choice?"

"It isn't always wise to have only one plan B. I have a second plan B, well, technically, a plan C and a plan D, so I guess I'm good. Ever watched this show called 'Psych'? My mom always used to, so I heard its theme song quite frequently, so that's my plan B now. I won't tell you what my plan D was because it's top secret and, if I did tell you, I'd have to kill you," my voice drops to a low whisper at the end of my dialogue, causing him to roll his eyes at me.

"You're a genius, Erie!"

"Well, not meaning to blow my own horn or anything but that is ingenious," I tell him as I pick up my violin and practise for about an hour or so before we're called back to the stage for some instructions from the judges.

Packing up behind us, we reach the spot to see a lot of sleepy faces around us. My eyes trail to the large clock on the wall and I realize, with some amount of alarm, that it's almost 11 PM. Whoa, how'd it get so late? Josh seems to know my thought process as he reassures me that he'll drop me home if I'm worried about being out alone so late. I open my mouth to thank him when the girl's voice rings out loudly, drawing the attention of all the people in the room to her, Josh and me.

"Aww, that's so sickeningly sweet, Jackson! However, you do know that niceness doesn't guarantee she'll go out with you, you lovesick but hopeless walrus, don't you? After all, it's the story of your life!"

Before Josh can react, I pull him behind me and let out all of my anger at the girl, "Shut that rather large mouth of yours and listen! First off, his name is Jansen, not Jackson. Secondly, you haven't got any right to judge him upon what you assume is his life. For all you know, he could be super popular or a social outcast, but he's still the same fellow he is. Lastly, why in the universe do you think life revolves entirely around dating and romance? There are other relationships than that!"

When I pause for a breath, she manages to get in, "So that still means you'd never go out with him, which is exactly what I said. Niceness certainly does finish last!"

"You're teetering on the edge, whatever the heck your name is! I guarantee you I cannot hold myself back from attacking someone when they attack someone I care about to the point where they plead for mercy!"

It is true- I've been known for not caring that much when I'm being insulted unless it's too much but being ready to do anything if someone attacks anyone I care about, even at the slightest abrasion. Poor little Generic female name McGeneric surname somehow managed to find herself in the midst of this pit that she dug herself.

"My name's Jessica Smith, and you ain't going to be getting McHottie over here to lie with you by 'defending' him!" she yells, quickly changing gears.

I'm almost blinded by my rage as I begin to distract myself so I don't wind up doing something I'll regret later. Why does everything have to revolve around love and schlop like that? I'm only twelve for Thor's sake even though I don't behave like it at tines!

"Oh yeah? Why don't you watch this then?" Josh exclaims and leans in so his face is inches from mine.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispers.

Still seething with anger at Generica's imbecile audacity, I nod and he brushes my lips with his.

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Whoa, whoa, that went from zero to hundred real quick! Isn't Jessica a total *beep*? Anyways, lemme know what you think!

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