Elijah: Hey do you want to meet up at the Karaoke Kafe?

Me: Is your girlfriend gonna be there?

Elijah: No she has cheer practice

I rolled my eyes. So this was how things were going to be. Whenever he isn't with Miss Priss he will wanna hang out.

Granted I didn't want to hangout with Deanna, but it still felt weird that Elijah was with her. They just didnt seem right together.

It had been a week since they made things 'official'. Elijah stopped sitting with Andrea and me at lunch and he even skipped out on a few band practices, where I had to step in for drums and Selena took my place as lead.

And now he all of a sudden wanted to hang out?

I was already in a salty mood today. Jack and Selena decided that the kitchen counter was a great place to stick their tongues down each others throat. 

I did not need to deal with Elijah as well.

Me: I don't know. I am a little busy.

I finally texted him back after a few moments of debating whether or not I should go.

Even though I was irritated that he was with Deanna, I still missed his company.

Elijah: Please! I miss you

I felt my heart skip a beat. He missed me! How could I tell him no when said that?

Me: I suppose I can fit you in my busy schedule somewhere.

Elijah: great how does 10 minutes sound?

Me: Perfect. I will see you in 10

I let out a sigh. I was such a pushover.

Karaoke Kafe was only a seven minute walk from my house, so I threw on a light jacket and headed out, tactically avoiding the kitchen.

Elijah's red truck just pulled in to the KK's parking lot as I crossed the street to the lot.

"Hey Bri!" He yelled out, waving me over.

I waved back at him and then half speedwalked, half ran, over to where he stood and we walked in together.

The Karaoke Kafe was not very large. It was part of a small strip mall that had a Maurices, Family Dollar, Great Clips, and a local boutique connected to it.

The atmosphere was warm and homey  with wooden furniture and green leafy houseplants sitting in empty spots. There were no booths, just tables that seated two and four people decorated around a small circular stage.

There were paintings of natural landscapes on the walls, surrounding the TV' s hanging up on each of the four walls displaying lyrics so that no matter which way the singer turned they wouldn't forget the words.

We took a seat directly next to the karaoke stage.

A middle aged man was in the middle of Queens Bohemian Rhapsody. He wasn't bad, but that song was really only meant to be sung by one person, and I had to to my best to not frown at his attempt.

"He's alright, but far from Freddie Mercury." Elijah commented as if reading my mind.

I only nodded as a server came an took our drink orders.

Elijah and I bother got peanutbutter banana shakes with extra whipped cream and a glass of water.

The guys singing Bohemian Rhapsody finished up, and there was only a small round of applause, mainly from the workers. I felt bad for him, so I clapped too.

"You should sing." Elijah suggested as the waiter came back with our drinks and took our orders.

I suddenly felt embarrassed and a little stage fright.

Being up on the stage with the band felt amazing and powerful, but alone on a stage surrounded by strangers didn't exactly sound appealing.

"I'll have the Chicken Cesar Wrap." I smiled at the waiter, avoiding Elijah's suggestion. "With french fries on the side"

"I'll have the same thing." Elijah ordered, as the waiter walked away.

"Such a copycat. " I teased, using a spoon to eat the whipped cream off the top of my shake.

"No, you just like the same stuff as I do and you always order first." He commented back.

"Mhmm," I replied, skeptically.

"I was serious when I said you should sing."

"I don't feel like it right now." I told him, rather then saying that I was too afraid to be up on the stage alone with no one to back me up if I failed.

He gave me a look that said, 'are you kidding me'.

I crossed my arms and looked at him evenly to prove that I wasn't.

He let out a sigh.

"Well I suppose I will have too." He informed me, standing up.

He walked over to a corner where a computer sat on a podium like table and looked for a song.

It only took Elijah seconds to pick out a song, and he rushed to the stage as all the TV's on the walls counted down from ten.

He moved his shoulders to the beat of an all too familiar boyband song.

"Your insecure
Don't know what for
Your turning heads when you walk through the door"

Elijah sang, looking at me, a small smile on his face.

He had a good singing voice. It was soft, smooth, and light like a tenors. You could sense that his voice was made to sing soft ballads and innocent songs.

I felt myself involuntarily blush, I smile threading to show on my face.

"Dont need make up
To cover up
The way that you are is enough"

He continued to sing, never breaking eye contact, and he slowly danced his way over to me.

"Everyone else in the room can see it"

He gestured around the room in a funky sway. I let out a small giggle. His move were purposely exaggerated and silly.

He leaned down to me and held out his hand.

"Everyone else but you...."

Without thinking I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up on the stage and started to twirl me around in circles.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed

The way you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell
you don't know
You dont know your beautiful

If only you saw what I can see
You'd understandwhy I want you so desperately

Right now I'm looking at you
And I cant believe
You dont know
You dont know your beautiful

That's what makes you beautiful."

Elijah stopped twirling me and held out the mic. I felt a little dizzy from all the spinning but grabbed it and started the next verse.

"So come on
You got it wrong
To prove I'm right
I put it in a song"

I sang smiling close to his face. He was smiling back, looking down on me.

This felt different then performing with the band. Somehow this was more personal more intimate. It was like we were having a moment and nobody else was apart of it.

We sang the rest of the song together, playing tug of war to get the mic, and by the time the song ended our food was served.

As we walked off the stage to our table, the employees and customers gave us a more enthusiastic applause than they did Bohemian Rhapsody guy.

A middle aged woman and her husband walked by commenting to Elijah, "You and your girlfriend are so cute together!"

I almost choked on my wrap, and Elijah snorted a laugh at me.

I could feel the blush come back to my cheeks and I risked a look at Elijah to see that his cheeks were also a rosey color.

I had never really thought about Elijah in that way. I mean he was really really cute and good looking. Not to mention his great, funny, yet sweet and caring personality.

I hated to admit it, but Elijah was perfect boyfriend material, and honestly if I wasn't so hung up on Jack, I might even have a crush on Elijah.

After a few moments of awkwardness, we went back to normal, teasing and talking.

After we finished eating we walked out to Elijah's truck; he had offered to drive me home.

I buckled up and just as he was about to pull away, I say something  so upsetting it made me say, "What the actual fuck."

Elijah looked at me in shock.

Now I'm a good little Christian girl and I normally don't swear, but what I saw just pissed me off.

Deanna was in front of Maurices, a bag in one hand and her tongue jammed down some random guys throat.

"What's the matter...oh I see..." Elijah went from confused to expressionless when his eyes settled on Deanna.

I reached over for the handle to the truck, but Elijah grabbed my arm stopping me.

When I faced him, he had kind and calm eyes. Not what i would expect from someone who just saw his girlfriend making out with another guy.

"It okay." Elijah said, a smile sitting on his face.

"How is this okay? How are you okay? How-"

"We weren't actually dating."

"What?"

"Deanna was helping me." Elijah explained.

"How?"

"You see, there's this girl I really like, and we -I- thought making her jealous might work to, I don't know...grab her attention at least."

I gave him an incredulous look. Elijah, came up with something as ridiculous as this? That poor boy. Who has he been taking dating tips from, my sister? Although a part of me felt relieved. It didn't seem right seeing him with Deanna

"Who's the girl?" I asked, instead of harassing him.

"Oh, uh well, were friends, and actually you know her. You guys are so tight your like the same person!"

Well that meant it was only one person.

He liked Andrea.

Those two are always together, and besides Andrea was really my only girl friend, even though I didn't think we were that close.

And still, Andrea and Elijah? I honestly couldn't see the two of them as more than just friends, but hey, she's better than Deanna.

"Well did it work? Is Andrea jealous?"

"Andrea?"

"Yeah, she's the one you like right?"

"Oh yeah Andrea. Yep. Mhmm." He sounded nervous.

"Well, did your plan work?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe you could adke her for me?"

"Sure, I'll ask her tomorrow at school."

Elijah slumped down in his seat and turned his truck on.

We drove back to my house in silence.