It had been a week since the mall outing. Andrea was out doing groceries and Alicia had just finished up one of her own songs. She wasn't the best singer, but it sounded good and she was proud of the work she had done. Just as she stood from her desk for the first time in hours, her phone rang with a text from Ian.
"karaoke tonight, be there or be straight"
"downnn wtf y'all are fun huh"
"the funnest bottoms around"
"LOL ok see you tonight"
Andrea walked through the front door, plopping down the grocery bags onto the kitchen counter. Alicia exited her room to help her unpack the groceries and put them in their place.
"So, we're going to karaoke tonight with Ian and everyone." Alicia smiled excitedly.
"Are you joking?" Andrea asked nervously.
"No, why would I be joking? What's the big deal?"
"Joba! We've seen each other way too much."
"Alright, then don't go." Alicia said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed a kombucha from the fridge and began retreating to her room.
"No, I'll go." Andrea said, making Alicia smile widely before closing the door behind her.
-
Alicia and Andrea walked into the karaoke room which was already pretty full with all the guys.
"Finally! Y'all took forever!" Ian yelled, hugging them both. There were a few bottles on the table, and Alicia poured her and Andrea a few shots. They said hi to everyone before Andrea walked over to Joba and Alicia took a seat in the only free seat in the back, next to Matt and Rob. Ameer was drunkenly singing a Michael Jackson song at the top of his lungs, everyone in the room laughing.
"Hey, I know I've been a little quiet with you guys, I'm sorry about that." Matt said, turning to face Alicia. She was taken back by this. He had never really directly said anything to her.
"It's cool, don't worry about it." Alicia shrugged with a small smile.
"I was going through some shit with my girl, well I've been going through it. That's over now, though. It wasn't fair to like take that out on you two."
"Dude, it's really fine. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, though."
"It sucked, but it's in the past now. I'm trying to focus on the present." Matt said with a shrug. Alicia didn't know why he was suddenly opening up to her, maybe it was the alcohol. He was majorly oversharing but she really didn't mind. She liked listening to him.
"Your present only happens once, make the most of it so your past can be the best it can. Wait, did that make sense? I'm definitely too drunk to be this deep right now." Matt laughed loudly in response, and she was glad the room was dark because she blushed.
Meanwhile, Andrea and Joba were all laughs on the other side of the room. They watched as Romil and Ian yelled along to One Direction.
"Let's do a song." Joba said, grabbing Andrea's hand and pulling her towards the front of the room. They grabbed the mics from Ian and Romil and looked through the different song options. They settled on I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys and began loudly singing out the words, dancing around and having the time of their lives.
"Oh my god, I have to record this." Alicia laughed, pulling out her phone and recording the performance in front of her.
Once they were finished, Merlyn and Ameer screamed over each other to an old Madonna song.
Romil, Alicia, Matt, and Ashlan did a drinking game to see who could down the most shots the quickest. Alicia won by a landslide, surprising them all.
"I ain't no bitch." Alicia smirked, laughing as Romil carried her and screamed loudly.
"We're gonna get kicked out of here." Rob said, laughing as Romil almost dropped Alicia. He put her down, Matt giving her a high five while laughing.
An attendant knocked at the door and told them their time was almost up, so everyone gathered themselves before heading out.
Joba and Andrea walked out, the last ones as everyone was calling for an Uber home. The rest of the group was by the sidewalk as the two leaned against the wall.
"Tonight was really fun." Andrea said, breaking the silence between them. She looked up at Joba, meeting his gaze.
"Yeah well, you're super fun so it adds up." Joba replied with a smile, making Andrea blush under the red light of the karaoke building.
"Is it weird that I wanna kiss you even though we just met?" Joba asked nervously. Andrea had the biggest grin.
She leaned forward enough so that their faces were only an inch apart.
"Not weird at all." She mumbled, breaking the tension by pressing their lips together gracefully.
Joba grabbed her waist to pull her closer, Andrea wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Oh fuck! Look how skinny!" Ian yelled, glancing at them from a distance.
Alicia was talking to Matt until she noticed what Ian was talking about and was happily surprised. She expected something but Andrea wasn't someone to immediately make a move so soon. Alicia suspected that the alcohol had something to do with the situation.
"That's my girl." Alicia laughed, stumbling slightly. Matt put his arm around her, steadying her frame to the best of his ability. He was also pretty drunk himself.
"Everyone's out here making moves. I'm bringing Jaden next time." Ian slurred, leaning against Alicia. She giggled, wrapping her arms around Ian from behind to stop them both from falling over.
"I'm gonna be so fucking hungover." Matt groaned, resting his head on top of Alicia's. The three drunkenly stood and watched as Joba and Andrea finally pulled apart. Andrea held onto his open jacket, looking up at him. He towered over her small frame.
"Wow." They both said at the same time as they chuckled.
"Guys, the Ubers are here!" Romil announced to everyone.
"I guess we have to go." Andrea shrugged, not wanting this moment to end.
"Yeah, but I'll definitely see you again, maybe even kiss you again too." Joba said, smiling down at her as she gave him a quick kiss goodbye. She couldn't stop smiling and blushing all night, partly because that was all she was thinking about all night. Andrea and Alicia climbed into their Uber home, the car ride filled with silence as Alicia struggled to stay awake and Andrea thought about what had just happened. They arrived at their apartment and stumbled out of the car, slowly walking up their stairs. Alicia kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the couch, passing out immediately.
"Alcoholism really is an epidemic." Andrea joked to herself, shaking her head and throwing a blanket over Alicia's frame and heading off to her room to sleep.
