Imperfect Harmony: JATP ~Charlie Gillespie~

~Eleven~

"Are you going to that thing at Owen and Charlie's place?" Sav asks me as I sit in the makeup trailer with her. 

I shrug, "I don't know yet. Are you?"

Sav nods, "Yes, and I think I am going to force you to come."

I kick her chair, "Like you could force me to do anything."

She laughs, "You obviously don't remember that I have that picture of you from when we went bike riding."

My eyes go wide, "You wouldn't dare."

Sav nods, "I would dare."

I glare at her, "Fine. I'll go out of spite." 

She gives me a look of satisfaction just as Charlie walks in with a smile on his face. I exchange a look with Sav and then duck my head down, scrolling through my phone. 

"Sav, do you mind if I talk with Kaya for a minute?" Charlie asks. My friend nods and leaves me. I glare at her as she goes. 

"Kaya, we really need to talk." Charlie starts as he takes Sav's seat.

I shrug, "There isn't anything to talk about. You and I both know that what happened on the hike was just a mistake, nothing more."

Charlie's face falls, "That's what you think?"

I nod quickly, "Yeah, don't worry about it. We both know that it didn't mean anything."

"Well this seems private!" Madison yells as she comes into the studio and sits down next to me. 

I nervously smile at her, "I got to go, see you guys later."

The rest of the day goes by pretty fast considering that I am just working in the studio with some of the other choreographers. Sav and I head straight over to Owen and Charlie's apartment. 

I can hear the music as soon as the elevator doors open. Owen opens the door and smiles at us, "KAYA! SAVANANANANANAH!" 

Sav laughs as she hugs Owen in the doorway. I walk inside to see the cast singing along to karaoke. I hug Mads as she sings along to the song playing on the speakers. I read the words on the tv and sing with her, laughing as I mess up the words. 

We spend the night, singing around the living room. My favorite karaoke song comes on the speaker and I grab the remote to pretend like it is my microphone. "Smooth talkin', so rockin'" 

"He's got everything that a girl's wantin'" Charlie starts from across the room. 

I stand on the couch and move my pointed finger down to him like those famous singers do. "He's a cutie, he plays it groovy. And I can't keep myself from doin' somethin' stupid"

Charlie taps his foot in the cute little way that he does, "Think I'm really fallin' for his smile. Yeah, butterflies when he says my name. Hey!"

I flip my hair up and we sing together, "He's got somethin' special. He's got somethin' special. And when he's lookin' at me. I wanna get all sentimental."

Charlie takes my hand and helps me step off the couch, "He's got somethin' special. He's got somethin' special. I can hardly breathe somethin's tellin' me. Tellin' me maybe he could be the one."

I spin in a circle, singing along to the song and ignoring Charlie's eyes on me the whole time. The song ends and Madison claps, "What a queen! I didn't know you could sing!"

I laugh and dramatically bow, "Why thank you. I owe it all to my duet partner, Charles Gillypie." 

Charlie scoops me up and spins me in a circle, making me laugh. "What did I just walk in on?" I hear a voice ask from the doorway. 

He sets me down and I look over to see Tori standing in the doorway. I smile at her and Charlie leaves me to go greet her. Suddenly, the real world hits me and I feel embarrassed at everything that just happened. 

"I should really get going. Thanks for having me." I tell Owen before sneaking out the door. 

That night I lie awake, trying to understand the up and down logic that is boys. He sings and dances with me like nothing matters and then leaves to go greet his girlfriend. How does that make sense?"

When I show up at work the next day, I find everyone watching the boys rehearse the Sunset Curve song. I sit next to Madison and Sav, watching the phantoms perform. Charlie winks at me and I roll my eyes. 

The boys finish and we give them a standing ovation. Charlie and Owen whisper to each other and then jump off the stage. Charlie picks me up over his shoulder and carries me up the stairs to the stage. "What are you doing?" I ask, looking at Owen. 

He smiles, "Your turn!" 

I give him a scared look, "What do you mean, my turn?"

Charlie sets me down and hands me a white guitar. "Sing, please."

I shake my head, "Um, I can't sing. Thanks though."

Owen lowers the mic, "You totally can sing. Just one song. Please?"

The two boys stare at me with puppy dog eyes. I shake my head again and then everyone in the room starts chanting for me to sing. I sigh and give my signature eye roll, "Fine. One song." Charlie and Owen exchange high fives. 

I take a deep breath and start, 

"Hope I never see you in the right light (right light)

Hope I always catch you at the wrong time
If you let me take a picture of your bad side (bad side)
And you like it, well that's a good sign, hey (yep)
I know you're not a fan of double textin' (textin')
But you don't always gotta leave me guessin' (guessin')
I know you wanna leave a good impression
But you did it, you did without trying, oh yeah" 

Owen, Jeremy, and Charlie start playing their instruments as I play my guitar. I can't believe I am doing this. I sing through part of the song and right before I am about to stop, I realize that everyone is really enjoying it so I continue. 

"We could even kick it in the driveway (kick it)

'Cause you know I'm not tryna over-complicate
If showing all your colors led to heartbreak (heartbreak)
Then let it break on me, yeah, yeah" 

I finish off the song, feeling amazing.

"when you take it off

(Cool) when you take it off
Baby, I'll take it off mine too (cool)
When you take off all your cool
(Cool) when you take it all off
(Cool) when you take it all off
Baby, I'll take it off mine too" 

I step away from the mic and try to steady my breathing. Owen comes over to me, drumsticks still in hand. "Kaya, that was amazing!"

I smile, "Thanks. I was just messing around."

"What song was that?" Jeremy asks. 

I mess with my guitar, "It's an original. Just something I was messing around with."

Mads gives me a hug, "YOU ARE AMAZING!" 

I laugh, feeling for the first time like I can really be myself. I've been writing music for years, but I haven't ever shared it. 

Author's Note: Yay! They are talking again (but for how long), and we got to here Kaya sing! This is a song Sabrina Carpenter made called "take off all your cool." Please continue to comment and vote!!