*ON HOLD* It All Started With A Dream- A Ross Shor Lynch Fanfic

Chapter Four

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me when I looked out at the crowd. This time, indeed, way more people had come. There were at least 50 people here now and legally, this shop could only hold 45.

I looked around in attempt to find Dan, but to no avail. A clump had gathered in the back of the show, though, forcing some customers to stand uncomfortably.

The line at the counter was at least twenty people deep and it looked like Dan called in two other kids to help work tonight and let me tell you, they did not look happy.

Looking out at the crowd, my little dancing crew had returned and was sat in the front row awaiting what songs were coming next.

"Wow," I laughed nervously. "I've never had a crowd like this before!" I got no response.

I felt like no one seemed to notice I was back on stage. Laughter and conversation filled the store while people were lost in their own conversations. Most of the customers attention looking towards the back. The clump in the back of the house had grown in size. Who the hell did Dan invite to come tonight?

Jesus Christ, Avery. Focus.

"Um, to start off Act Two, I'll be playing a fairly news one  by one of my favorite bands. It's called 'It's Time' by Imagine Dragons."

It wasn't until I actually started playing that people quieted down. Voices from around the table areas were mere whispers if even talking at all.

This song itself had taken about five hours of sitting down at my piano in the family room, trying to figure out what's chords were in this song. The rhythms changed so quickly and there's absolutely no piano in the studio recording, so the fact that people were listening made me feel happy. Hard work does pay off.

I smiled as I looked out at the audience to see almost all eyes on me. The clump in the back had broken up over the span of these three minutes and I could see that mostly parents and young kids made up the audience. The older man on his smart phone had left and his table was now occupied by two mothers and their daughters holding napkins with black ink marked over it.

An autograph? Dan's friend's autograph? Someone important must be here. I felt my heart race and I looked back down at the keys, closing my eyes to finish out the song strong.

I attempted to block out everything as I tried to calm my nerves, but to no avail as orders were being shouted left and right.

"Chai tea latte!"

"Raspberry iced tea, light ice!"

"Chicken panini!"

"I'm never changing who I am," I sang as I played the last chord. The house boomed with applause and cheers. I felt my cheeks start to hurt from smiling so wide. I let out a big breath and spoke into the mic.

"Thank you so much," I smiled. "For the many few of you who've just joined, my name's Avery Tyler and my band and I play here every Tuesday and Thursday from six thirty to eight," I spoke as I slipped my guitar strap over my head. "Unfortunately, my entire band couldn't be here tonight and I keep wondering if the fact that the new Star Wars movie comes out has anything to do with it," I joked.

I got laughs from the audience which made my stomach do flips. It felt so good to be up there in front of a crowd this big and to actually be entertaining them.

"I'm kidding about my band, though. They're all incredibly talented people and we're all students at the local high school here in Santa Monica," I told.

"Go, Bulldogs!" Someone shouted

I couldn't help but let out a throaty laugh and I felt my eyes crinkle as my smile forced my cheeks up. I hated my face when I laughed, but my insecurities were the last thing on my mind right now.