LA to The Bay

Chapter 42: Bass Lake (2)

Bass Lake, California

'So what are you going to do, just stay here on your own, whilst the rest of us enjoy ourselves at Karaoke?' Ana sneers at me disapprovingly.

'But I can't go.' I stammer.

'Oh please.' She is growing tired of my dark and mysterious loner act, 'it's not like they'll force you to sing.'

'It's not that.' I've been bracing myself to tell her about last night since I got back from swimming in the lake.

'Then it better not be some poor excuse about avoiding Lottie and Harry, you need to just forget about it already.'

'Harry kissed me.' I finally blurt it out, not sure if I am relieved or horrified at the confession.

'He did what?' Her mouth falls open and her eyes are forced ridiculously wide.

'You heard me. I'm not repeating it.' I scowl.

'I knew it! I knew it from the very beginning and the way he is always looking over at you, like he's praying that you might finally realise; and now you have!' She squeals, drawing her hands together in an overly dramatic slow motioned clap.

'Don't be so ridiculous, I certainly didn't realise anything.' I scoff at her assumption that I would ever have such a foolish epiphany.

'Then why did you follow him straight to the lake as soon as we got here?'

'I was going for a swim, I can't help it that the lot of them chose to do the same thing as me, now can I?' I can't believe that I am having to justify something as innocent as going for a swim, especially when it was Harry who followed me in there anyway.

'Well this is it.' Ana is ignoring my defense, 'you definitely are not hiding in here all night. Now brush your hair and get your shoes on because you're coming with me.'

I'm still complaining, kicking up the gravel path like a tantruming toddler, as we approach the cabin where the karaoke is being held. Great, so it looks almost exactly like the party cabin at the Grand Canyon, the place where I had found Lottie and Harry together. I better prepare myself in advance for round two; they're not catching me out this time.

'Niamh you came!' Duncan beams from where he is sitting in the corner, just like last time. I don't know why people always say this like they're really surprised to see me, since haven't I been to pretty much all the social events since I got here?

As I walk in to the room I notice Harry immediately shifts to sit up straight in his chair, like I'm the teacher that just caught him messing about in the classroom and now he's pretending to give his upmost concentration. Of course he's sat with the three girls who are typically nonchalant and seem oblivious of my arrival.

'Would you like a beer Niamh?' I freeze as I enter the kitchen. Louis is here looking all kinds of cute with the collar of his blue t-shirt turned up, his hair swept to the side, and he's holding out a bottle for me.

'Sure, thanks.' I gulp, taking the bottle from him, unsure of what to say now. 'So I'll see you back in the room I guess?' He looks at me wide eyed and expectant, but seriously, what else does he really expect me to say.

Back in the room I sit down on the floor with my back to the wall next to Duncan and Ana. This is all too eerily familiar, but the question is just who will I catch snogging in a darkened room this time? I shudder at the thought.

As Leah howls her way through "Like a Prayer", in one moment destroying the only Madonna song I ever really liked, I realise that both Louis and Harry are staring at me from separate corners of the room, each apparently unaware of the other. Geez, since when did I become so popular all of a sudden, or have I merely got some toilet roll hanging out of the back of my jeans? Unsure of where to look I start to pick at the label of the beer bottle, focusing on it and willing it to provide me with a worthy distraction.

As Leah finally finishes signing Lottie jumps out of her chair, running to grab the microphone. Oh great, she's going to sing next, of course she is, when would she ever pass up an opportunity to show off? I despair considering what song she is about to pick; "The Boy is Mine" by Brandy and Monica would seem like a good choice to me.

'Come on Louis, it's our favourite!' She waves her hand to summon him. 'You two Niamh!' I look around the room trying to establish who she might be talking to, my brain not accepting that she just called my name.

'Go on then.' Ana pushes me forward and I stand up, my eyes wide with terror. Are we really going to sing it, and have Louis in the middle with us fighting over him.

'It's "Summer Nights" of course.' She is grinning, answering my unspoken question.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Of course we're singing "Summer Nights", it's what we always used to sing together back in school and Sixth Form, I'm just surprised that she wants to rekindle the era.

As the familiar tune commences we huddle together, Louis, Lottie and I, the currently strained dynamic between us momentarily put to the side whilst we sing our favourite song.

'I met a girl crazy for me.' Louis grins wide at me as he sings the line.

'Met a boy cute as can be,' Lottie and I both chant back in unison.

Okay, so the lyrics might be a bit too telling of what went on between us all in the past, but for now at least I am genuinely loving the moment. I would never have dreamed that they'd want me to sing with them or that they even remembered the memory, so I can't help but beam as we hurtle through the song.

'It turned colder, that's where it ends.' My voice trails as the song nears its end, my eyes suddenly distracted by Harry who is standing up from his chair, his eyes and mouth drooped down wards, as her walks towards the door.

'So I told her, we'd still be friends...' I've stopped singing now as I hand the microphone to Lottie, no longer able to continue because I'm instead following Harry out of the door.

Authors note: I uploaded the video to Summer Nights of course. Go on, sing a long, you know you want to 😃