hey all! here's chapter 13. it's quite long, so go to the bathroom before you start. review for us, ok?
-Kristine and Cimmy
disclaimer: The Ducks, as well as Disney world and everything in it, belong to Disney. Fred and Catalina are Cimmy's. Lex, Jeff, Matt, Anthony, Anna, Sammie, and Chris are NYgoldfish54's.
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Chapter 13: Nasty Looks and Poor Performances
By Cimmy
Charlie's POV
It's actually quite nice to be back from Disney World. No more lines or hectic people, besides from Connie who is still bouncing off the walls.
We all agreed to stay together tonight, to avoid losing people like, hmm, last night. I'll kill myself if anyone else gets drunk or disappears. I promised my Mommy for God's sake!
There are other things to do at this place other than going to the club or play arcade games. At least I think so. Since everyone already ate at Disney World, we decided to skip the dinner and just meet at the dance floor. Well, not exactly on the dance floor, put in the same area.
Portman is already there when I arrive. He's occupying a whole couch, plus several chairs, by lying straight across them. It looks pretty funny.
"Hey, Bash Bro," I say. "Where are the others?"
"Bitching and moaning somewhere," Portman answers with a grin. "Actually, everyone's really upbeat since we got back. It's not as much fun when we get along."
Portman refused to tell me what happened after they disappeared from the Tower of Terror except that they took Catalina to see the park doctor. But when they got back, both Luis and Catalina were surprisingly cheerful. Portman on the other hand looked like he'd swallowed a bowling ball.
"No more terrorizing?" I ask.
"Nah, I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow," he grins wider. Not the same Portman who almost drowned himself when we went on Splash Mountain one more time. His depressions always pass just as fast as they come.
"I knew you'd be here," Fred says and sits down in the couch. Portman moves while giving Fred a cold stare. "Averman told me that you were going to be here. Hey, where did you guys go?"
"The question must be where you two went," I mutter. "I distinctively remember you promising to meet up with Catalina later. You know, that crazy Latina you sometimes refer to as your girlfriend. Or did you forget?"
Fred just shrugs and grabs Lex's arm to pull her down on the couch. "I called her."
I decide to stay out of it, the same goes for the annoying bickering between Fred and Lex. I definitely stop listening when they begin throwing candy at each other. Although when Lex reaches for my glass of Coke, I have to put my foot down.
"No throwing," I warn her. "We're in a room with furniture. Not in a barn."
The bickering continues, so I get up to look for the others. "We should order drinks," Connie suggests. She's right behind me, talking to no one in particular.
"Why?" I ask.
"We'll feel older than we really are! Cool, huh?"
"No drinks," I tell her. "Unless you want your parents to find out."
"Spoil-sport," she mutters, but then she smiles again. "How ‘bout non-alcoholic?"
"What's the fun in that?" Fulton interrupts. He looks like he hasn't slept in three days.
Connie grabs his arm and leads him to 'our' couch. I hear her shriek when she sees Fred and Lex. "Oh my God! I have so much to tell you guys!"
More people come stumbling in through the doors, and soon we’re all gathered around the couch. Just like those guys in Friends! Don’t know why that thought popped into my mind all of a sudden...
"So, when is this concert supposed to take place anyway?" Julie asks. I think the question is directed at Jeff, but everyone else answers.
"This Saturday," Sammie explains, louder than the rest. "We have rehearsal tomorrow morning..."
"You do?" Julie interrupts, looking upset that she has to be apart from Jeff for a minute or longer.
"Yeah, but only between eight and ten. You will be asleep!" Jeff points out. "If you want to, you can come along."
"That would be cool," Julie says. "Can I?"
"I thought we were going to the beach tomorrow," Connie reminds her. "You know, sun and water and all that!"
Julie shrugs. "We can go later, after ten, right?"
"I guess..." Connie looks at Guy, and he shrugs too.
The big deal about this is lost on me. What’s so special about the beach? We’ve only been here two days, there’s still time to go to the beach! "We can all go when you have finished up at your rehearsal," I offer. "We’re not in a rush to get anywhere."
"Damn right about that," Fulton mutters and gives Portman an evil look. What...? Oh, I’m not even going to ask about this one.
"That sounds great!" Sammie exclaims. Thank you, at least someone appreciate my efforts!
Connie jumps up. "We could go water skiing; I’ve always wanted to do that!"
Her energy is finally rubbing off on some people. Ken jumps up too. "Yeah, me too!"
"Sing one line about a bus, and I’ll punch you out," Russ smiles. "But the beach sounds like a great idea."
While we keep talking about the beach, Connie leans over the armrest and takes something from the table next to us. "Look!" she shouts, scaring us all. "They have karaoke! We have to sign up for this!"
"No way in stinkin’ hell we are," Guy howls. "No way!"
"Just because you can’t sing," Connie pouts. "Come on, it’ll be fun!"
"No one here can sing," I say. "We’re hockey players, not singers."
"I thought you were the choir," Jeff smiles.
"I think it’s a splendid idea!" Sammie says. "I’ll sign us up."
"No!" most of us Ducks yell.
Connie gets up to help Sammie, and I don’t have time to grab her and put a leech on her. Damn.
"I’ve never sung before in my entire life!" Fulton whines. "I refuse to do it."
"Yeah, me too!" Russ says.
I’m not a big fan of this idea either. I know for a fact that I can’t sing, and Connie is pretty much the only one of us who can sing a note. Except for Portman, for some reason he knows how to sing too, but the rest of us sucks. Really, truly stink.
The girls leave to see where Sammie and Connie went, and hopefully to talk them out of it. The rest of us try to come up with diseases we can claim to suffer from, to get out of the karaoke thing.
"So, who wants to go first?" Portman asks. He’s really enjoying himself now, when he knows how much agony we’re in. "Fred?"
"Why me?"
"Oh, I don’t know," Portman begins and holds up the folder where the songs are listed. "I read that they have K.C. & The Sunshine Band. You know that song, right? Get Down Tonight?"
"I thought you were too tired to terrorize," I point out, knowing what to come.
"Nah, I changed my mind," Portman grins, still looking at Fred. "You probably know the lyrics too, I assume."
Fred looks both suicidal and vicious. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"I can sing it to you," Portman offers. "But you probably know what I mean anyway. You’ve been all over Lex since we got here, it’s pretty obvious that it is what you want..."
"No..." Fred mutters.
"Do a little dance," Portman starts to sing. Now he’s being very cruel. "Make a little love..."
"It’s not like that! You don’t know what you’re talking about!" Fred growls.
"...get down tonight, ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo. And do the things that we like to do." The singing doesn’t stop until Connie shows up.
"What are you singing? Have you begun without us?" she asks and leaps over my legs and falls on Portman. That shuts him up.
"I was just warming up," Portman explains and smiles at Fred. Fred on the other hand is clearly plotting on how to kill Portman.
The rest of the girls show up a minute later. "We’re all signed up now!" Julie cheers.
"I didn’t know you could sing," Adam laughs.
"I don’t!" she exclaims and takes her place next to Jeff.
"I’ll help you," Jeff offers with a smile, and the rest of us snicker.
"Aww," Portman goes on. "Maybe we should sing you the song?"
Jeff gives him a nasty stare. I decide to kick Portman on the leg, but he kicks back.
"Okay, that’s enough, guys," Connie gives us a serious look. "No fighting. Now, I hope you know some of these songs, because it’s almost time to start!"
I look at my watch. The karaoke starts at ten, and it’s only half past nine. "Connie, it’s thirty minutes to go, calm down."
The band performing on stage change song and Lex takes a leap. "I know how to dance to this song," she says.
"Congratulations," we all say at the same time.
"No, seriously, I know how to dance to this song!" she repeats. Then she looks at me. "Wanna dance?"
"No," I whimper. "I don’t know how to dance."
"Jeff, come on!" Lex continues.
"Ask Fred," Catalina says, surprising us all. "He knows how to dance."
"You do?" Lex sounds genuinely surprised about that. "Come on then."
Fred looks at Catalina. "Do you wanna dance?"
"No, not really," she answers.
"Okay then."
Lex drags Fred off to the dance floor, and I worry about how the hell I’m going to manage to sing anything without breaking both windows and glasses.
Since I refuse to sing, no matter how much Connie entices me with candy and food, I have to listen to the others crow their poor little hearts out. Before the Ducks are up, there’s this lady who’s practically butchering the song ‘I Will Always Love You’ and we all suffer.
"You have to sing!" Connie goes on, pulling my arm so hard I think she’s going to dislocate it.
"He doesn’t want to," Charlie saves me. "You shouldn’t force him."
"He wants to!" Connie explains. "He’s just shy."
I laugh. "No, Connie, I actually do not want to." She pouts a little. That only works on Guy, girl. I don’t fall for tricks like that.
"Wanna bet?" she asks.
"Yes, let’s bet," I say. "I could use some money for the slot-machine outside."
"You’re not twenty-one!"
"And you are a very annoying creature," I sigh.
Portman jumps up on the table, getting angry glimpses from the waitresses. "We should make it a contest!"
"Why?" Jeff asks.
Portman shakes his head. "To make things more interesting, of course! Aren’t you competitive?"
The band people all shake their heads. Well, they certainly haven’t met us before, that’s for sure. Everything is a contest to us, which is probably why we fight so much.
"Let’s say that the person singing have to decide who is going to sing next, and what song," Portman says. "And if a person refuses for any sort of reason, he or she has to pay twenty dollars."
"Five!" Charlie objects. "We’re not millionaires!" He looks at Fred, Adam and Lex. "Well, not most of us."
"That sounds fair," Connie says thoughtfully. "Who wants to go first?"
We all look around. Of course no one wants to go first. "I think Charlie should!" I blurt out. "He’s the captain!"
"No way," he groans. "I’m not..."
"Five bucks," Portman reminds him.
"That’s not fair!" Charlie gasps. He searches his pockets. "I don’t have that kind of money."
"So, you’re next then," Connie giggles. "Who gets the money in the end?"
"Let’s buy food for it!" Ken yells. Everyone looks at him. "What, I happen to be hungry!"
"We can all vote on what we thought was the best performance," Julie suggests. "And the winner buys everyone candy!"
"Yeah!" Kenny shouts. No more sugar there, please.
The hostess comes up to us. "Do we have singer among you?"
"Yep, his name is Charlie Conway, he’s a Leo, and born in Minneapolis..."
"It’s not a personal ad," Charlie hisses at Connie. Then he looks at the microphone. "You wouldn’t by any change have five dollars I could borrow?" he asks the woman in front of him. She just smiles and shakes her head.
"What song will you be singing, sir?"
Charlie just shrugs, but Connie already knows, of course. "This one!" she holds out the paper with the selected songs. "It will suit perfectly!"
Charlie looks like a frightened squirrel, while waiting for the lyrics to show on the big screen by the scene. Then he shakes his head. "No way, I’m not doing it!"
We all start to cheer and clap our hands, while trying not to laugh ourselves to death. "What song did you pick?" Adam asks Connie.
"Oh, it was the one called Centerfold. You know, since he’s a center."
Charlie doesn’t even try to sing the right words. I don’t think he knows the song, and if he does, he’s hiding it pretty well.
"Start singing!" Adam yells at him, and we begin chanting the same words. Poor Charlie.
"Does she walk? Does she talk? Does she come complete?" Charlie mumbles in the microphone.
"That’s not singing, that’s talking really low," Portman points out.
"My homeroom homeroom angel, always pulled me from my seat," Charlie continues, just as low. We can’t shout at him anymore, because we’re laughing too much.
Charlie keeps singing/talking with a painful expression on his face. Oh, we’re all so dead at the next practice.
"She was pure like snowflakes
No one could ever stain
The memory of my angel
Could never cause me pain
Years go by I'm lookin' through a girly magazine
And there's my homeroom angel on the pages in-between
My blood runs cold
My memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold
Angel is the centerfold
Slipped me notes under the desk
While I was thinkin' about her dress
I was shy I turned away
Before she caught my eye
I was shakin' in my shoes
Whenever she flashed those baby-blues
Something had a hold on me
When angel passed close by
Those soft and fuzzy sweaters
Too magical to touch
Too see her in that negligee
Is really just too much"
Charlie gives up after that, and refuses to sing the last verse. He even stomps when he goes back to the table. "I’m going to kill you all!" he announces and sits down with his arms crossed. "I say that Banksie sings the next song!" he yells.
Well, I guess Adam pretty much saw that one coming. We try to be nicer to him, but it’s almost impossible to not laugh when he’s being forced to sing Basket Case by Green Day. He blushes every time he has to say words like ‘sex’ or ‘stoned’. He even stops singing at one point and shouts "I’m not singing that!"
Pure entertainment.
When Adam finally comes back, he throws the mic at Connie. "You do it, Miss Perky. And you can bring Mr. Perky along too!" he says fiercely.
"Why me?" Guy sobs. "What did I do?"
"You’re just breathing too loud," Adam mutters and sits down. Wow, he’s really not in a good mood. I better keep him and Charlie apart so there won’t be any blood on this nice couch.
"What should we sing?" Connie asks and grabs Guy by the hand to drag him up to the dance floor.
"Oh, I got the perfect song for you, Bouncy McBounce," Adam smirks. "Oh, and enjoy, Guy."
"I still don’t know what I did!" Guy howls to Connie when he’s being dragged away.
Connie jumps excitedly. "Oh, I love this song!"
"Well, I bloody hate it," Guy snorts. "I want to break up!"
"Later, honey," Connie smiles. "We have to sing first!"
Guy looks so tortured that we all laugh just because of that. He refuses to accept the extra mic he’s being given by the hostess. Connie just rolls her eyes and starts to sing.
"I've got my finger on the phone
I never thought it’d take me so long
Girl, don’t ever let them put you down
Don’t ever let them push you around
Crush, and all the things I’ve left behind
And when I started think of to be another time
I'll never mind
And I am
I'm Electric
I just want to dance
I'm Electric
I just want to dance
I wanna be loved by you
And when the night is closing in
Can you hear me calling within
Crush, and all the things I've left behind
And when we take the stage tonight you'll be on my mind
Yes, you'll be the one
And I am
Electric
I just want to dance
Electric
I just want to dance
I wanna be loved by you
And when we take the stage tonight you'll be on my mind
Yes, you'll be the one
I'm Electric
I just want to dance
I'm Electric
I just want to dance
I wanna be loved by you"
Guy throws his mic at the table when he’s finally left off the stage. Connie is still bouncing, trying to be electric, I think. Guy’s more of a lightning right now.
The mic change hands a couple of more times. I refuse and have to pay up. Dwayne does too. Connie forces Ken to sing I Want Candy. I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous in my entire life. I’m still laughing.
When Adam is forced to sing one more time, he’s not happy when he’s done. He looks around in search for his next victim, and he spots poor Catalina. I think it’s some sort of payback. I don’t know what it’s about. Catalina refuses too.
"Well, pay up!" Portman bellows. "You have to!"
"I don’t have that on me," she explains. "Can I borrow?"
"That’s cheating! Cheater!" Portman shrieks, but chokes on a peanut. When he’s done coughing, he jumps down from the couch. "I’ll sing with you!"
"Oh, joy," Catalina mutters. "I’d rather be a cheater."
Luis suddenly stands up and leans in to whisper something in her ear. She grins widely and grabs the mic. "You’re on."
"What song?" Portman asks Adam.
"Let me entertain you," he says.
"Yeah, you already did that," Portman points out. "What song should we sing?"
"The song that’s called Let Me Entertain You," Adam hisses, still not back from his trip to mopy-land.
Catalina objects, but Portman seems happy. "I know that one! Grab your mic, Psycho."
"Idiot," she mutters back.
Portman shoves her up on stage and waves at her to start sing. She doesn’t move, so he begins.
"Hell is gone and heaven's here
There's nothing left for you to fear
Shake your ass come over here
Now scream
I'm a burning effigy
Of everything I used to be
You're my rock of empathy, my dear"
"You know this song, we sang it at Christmas!" Portman yells at Catalina while the chorus is heard. "Sing!"
Catalina puts the mic to her face and sighs. She is the master of speed-talking, so this shouldn’t be a problem for her.
"Life's too short for you to die
So grab yourself an alibi
Heaven knows your mother lied
Mon cher
Separate your right from wrongs
Come and sing a different song
The kettle's on so don't be long
Mon cher"
"Yeah, now you’re getting somewhere," Portman cheers and jump down from stage. Then he grabs her leg and yanks her down too. She’s both laughing and screaming at the same time.
"Look me up in the yellow pages
I will be your rock of ages
Your see through fads and your crazy phases yeah
Little Bo Peep has lost his sheep
He popped a pill and fell asleep
The dew is wet but the grass is sweet my dear"
Portman takes a leap up on stage again and then down. He’s like a kangaroo. Catalina is just laughing. He somehow manages to get her to sing with him for the rest of the song.
"Your mind gets burned
With the habits you've learned
But we're the generation that's got to be heard
You're tired of your teachers and your school's a drag
You're not going to end up like your mum and dad
So come on let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
He may be good he may be outta sight
But he can't be here so come around tonight
Here is the place where the feeling grows
You gotta get high before you taste the lows
So come on
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
So come on let me entertain you
Let me entertain you"
Portman dumps her down in the couch when they’re finished. We’re trying to stop laughing, but it’s really hard!
"So, who’s going to sing now?" Charlie smiles, wiping away a tear from his cheek. "Not like that wasn’t priceless enough."
"Oh, I can already taste the candy," Portman snickers. Then he sits down.
"Why are you resting, you’re up next!" Catalina throws her mic at him.
"I just sang!" he objects.
"Five bucks," she tells him. "But you’re no coward, are you?"
"Of course not, I’ll do it just to prove to you all that I rule," he grins and gets up again. "Gimme my song."
Catalina is looking quite devilish when she points in the folder. "That one is yours. All yours."
Portman shakes his head. "No way. Anything but that one, I won’t do it."
"Uh-oh, the pool just went up," Luis interrupts. "Now the fee is twenty dollars."
"But I don’t have twenty dollars!" Portman looks pale and worried. "You can’t do this!"
"What’s the big deal, don’t you know the song?" Catalina asks sweetly.
Portman whimpers and sobs violently. "But..."
"Next time, maybe you won’t push people to their breaking point, right?"
Portman sighs and walk backwards to the stage. "You won’t be alive for that," he yells. Then he puts his nose into the paper and won’t look up.
We all begin to laugh the minute he opens his mouth. Oh, this one is definitely going to be a classic tale to tell your grandchildren about!
"I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show
There's a new me coming out
And I just had to live
And I wanna give
I'm completely positive
I think this time around
I am gonna do it
Like you never do it
Like you never knew it
Ooh, I'll make it through
The time has come for me
To break out of the shell
I have to shout
That I'm coming out
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show
I've got to show the world
All that I wanna be
And all my abilities
There's so much more to me
Somehow, I have to make them
Just understand
I got it well in hand
And, oh, how I've planned
I'm spreadin' love
There's no need to fear
And I just feel so glad
Everytime I hear:
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show"
Portman is a raging rhino when he’s done. I’m not the only one crying with laughter. What was all that about?
Portman looks like he’s considering throwing the mic at Fulton, but changes his mind and turns to Fred instead. "You sing," he says. "No fee, you have to sing, or I’ll kick your ass."
"Wouldn’t be the first time this week," Lex adds. She probably should’ve shut up.
"You can sing too," Portman winks at her. "Now."
"Hello, Portman, do you remember why you're here in Florida? You want me to sing? No problem," she says.
Fred trips over the table and almost falls over Catalina. "Sorry," he mumbles. Then he takes the microphone and grabs Lex’s hand to keep her from sneaking away.
Portman throws the song lyrics at them. At first I think he’s done something as evil as giving them that Get Down Tonight song, but he hasn’t. Fred looks surprised too. After a second I think something dawns on him and he looks really tired when he begins singing.
"I tried to discover a little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason, you know you're making me work so hard
That you give me no . . . Soul
I hear you calling
Oh baby please give a little respect to me
And if I should falter, would you open your arms out to me?
We can make love not war, and live in peace with our hearts
I'm so in love with you, I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason could drive a man to forsake his lover?
Don't you tell me no. . . Soul
I hear you calling
Oh baby please, give a little respect to me
I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
You know you're making me work so hard
That you give me no – soul
I hear you calling
Oh baby, please give a little respect to me
Oh baby, please give a little respect to me"
"Was that about him, or her?" Charlie whispers to me. I shrug. Like I ever know what those people mean.
Lex comes rushing back. She doesn’t seem affected by the song; she’s just as happy as before. Fred looks like a rain-cloud. He hits Portman over the head with the folder.
The ‘game’ goes on, Averman and Goldberg can’t bail themselves out because they bought too many Coke’s, so they have to sing Mambo No. 5. I notice that I’ve paid twenty-five dollar to stay away from the stage.
Then we force Charlie and Adam to sing Bohemian Like You, and we actually get them to laugh at the insanity. Charlie is being very excited when he comes back. Connie and Sammie lean towards him to whisper something in his ear, and he just shrugs.
"Fine. Hey, Julie, it’s your turn now!"
"Me?"
"Yep. And you have to sing with your buddy Jeff," Charlie smiles.
"Why?" she winces.
"Jeez, thanks," Jeff says.
"Just do it," Charlie gives her the mic. "And smile!"
Julie looks at the lyrics. "No, please, Charlie!"
"Sorry, there’s no choosing," we all tell her.
Julie looks both embarrassed and mopy. "Fine, I’ll sing the dumbass song."
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone blush her way through an entire song. I’m so sad we didn’t have a video camera with us here tonight. But I have to admit that it doesn’t sound so bad when they sing together. Better than Charlie, anyway.
We knew Jeff knows how to sing, but we didn’t know about Julie. Julie does know how to sing.
"I know I stand in line
Until you think
You have the time
To spend an evening with me
And if we go
Someplace to dance
I know that
There's a chance
You won't be
Leaving with me
Then afterwards
We drop into
A quiet little place
And have a drink or two
And then I go
And spoil it all
By saying something stupid
Like "I love you"
I can see it in your eyes
That you despise
The same old lines
You heard the night before
And though it's
Just a line to you
For me it's true
And never seemed
So right before
I practice every day
To find some
Clever lines to say
To make the meaning
Come through
But then I think
I'll wait until the
Evening gets late
And I'm alone with you
The time is right
Your perfume
Fills my head
The stars get red
And oh the night's so blue
And then I go
And spoil it all
By saying something stupid
Like 'I love you'
I love you"
Julie seems utterly ashamed when she returns to the table. Jeff doesn’t seem to be bothered at all. There is no time for teasing, sadly, because it’s almost time to pack our things together and leave.
"Are we done?" Charlie asks.
"Definitely!" Portman shouts. "Who gets the money?"
Adam looks around. "Where’s Catalina?"
Well, she was here a minute ago. I think. Actually, I haven’t really seen her since Fred and Lex went up on stage. That was almost forty-five minutes ago. That’s a long time to spend in the bathroom. Unless she ate the paté, because that was a disgusting dish.
"She’s probably up in her room," Charlie answers without paying attention. "Anyway, should we just divide the money between us all?"
"There she is," Lex suddenly says. "Oh no."
Charlie looks up. "What do you mean, ‘oh no’, she’s fine!" he exclaims. "Oh, no!"
I watch as Catalina stumbles up to Adam and whispers something to him. He grabs her arm. "Have you been drinking?"
"Sort of," she murmurs. "But I have a valid reason."
"Oh yeah?" Charlie gives her a terrifying stare. "I told you to not touch any alcohol!"
"Technically, that was me," Connie points out.
It’s clearly not time for talking against him, because Charlie seems pretty mad. "You’re impossible."
"Oh, so now I’m the impossible one?" Catalina mutters. "That reminds me, I haven’t really sung yet, have I?"
She pushes Charlie away and climbs up on the stage. I’m not sure this is such a great idea. Catalina grabs the mic and almost falls down, but manages to stay where she is. Then she sings, looking both hurt and angry. And she cannot sing… her voice is terrible.
"What's the sense in sharing this one and only life
Ending up, just another lost and lonely wife
You count up the years, and they will be filled with tears
Love only breaks up, to start over again
You'll get the babies, but you won't have your man
While he is busy loving every woman that he can
Say I wanna leave a thousand times a day
It's easier said that done, when I just can't break away
Just can't break away
Young hearts, run free
Never be hung up, hung up like my man and me
My man and me
Young hearts, to yourself be true
Don't be no fool when loving is all there is
I said I don't love you
It's high time, just one crack at life
Who we want to live in, trouble and strife
My mind must be free, to learn all I can about me
I'm gonna love me for the rest of my days
Caress the babies every time they say
Self reservation is what's really going on today
Say I wanna leave a thousand times a day
How can I turn loose
When you just can't break away
Young hearts, run free
Never be hung up, hung up like my man and me
My man and me
Young hearts, to yourself be true
Don't be no fool when loving is all there is
I said I don't love you"
She’s still on the stage when Charlie decides to take her out of her misery. "I think that’s enough, Catalina. Get down from stage," he says patiently.
"I’m actually feeling more than enough. I feel really, really bad."
"I didn’t know that you could drink, walk, and sing at the same time," Portman announces.
Catalina looks at him. "I didn’t know that either! What a coincident, huh?"
"Get down from stage now!" Charlie growls, but he doesn’t have to raise his voice, because Catalina loses her balance and falls down on her own. There’s a loud crash and some moaning.
It’s actually hilarious. Beats everything else I’ve seen or heard tonight. I’m so going to vote for her to get the money.
I guess too much to drink isn’t as good as it might sound.
While the rest of that crazy bunch of teenagers is downstairs, I walk towards our hallway. I somehow have the feeling that the person I’m looking for is there.
I still feel sorry for punching that guy Fred. Well, I felt more sorry before I noticed how weird he treats his girlfriend. I’ve tried to be nice to her and apologize for punching her boyfriend, but they are both hard as stone!
I walk around the corner and find Catalina on the floor, leaning up against the door to her room. "There you are," I say. "Everyone’s looking for you."
"No, they’re not," she slurs sadly. "They’re having fun."
Yeah, they are, actually, but why tell her that? "So, now when I know you’re not going anywhere, can we talk?" I ask her.
"I guess," she says. She looks sort of spaced out. How can someone that small drink so much so fast?
I sit down next to her and she moves away. I realize that she doesn’t know me well enough to trust me when we’re all alone in an empty hallway. I did punch her boyfriend for no apparent reason. I had a reason, but she might not know about it, right?
"I won’t do anything," I say, feeling both stupid and worried that she might consider me as violent or scary. Although I find her intimidating, so we’re even. Plus, she’s drunk and might attack me or yell at me. Hell, I don’t know her; she might be a murderer or something.
Once again I try to talk to her. "You know, about last night," I begin.
"Please shut up," she begs. "I hate last night. I wish it could die and never come back," she rants. I don’t understand half of it. Does anyone ever?
"Okay, I just want you to know that I’m sorry..."
"For punching my boyfriend so he ended up in bed with the leading lady? Why should you be?"
"Lex? You got that all wrong, Lex would never do that!" I tell her.
Catalina shakes her head. "Maybe not, but Fred sure looks like he wants to nail her," she mutters.
"Hey, she’s my friend," I warn her. "She would never be with Fred when he’s with you."
She looks at me. "Hello, did you hear me? Fred’s the problem, not Lex!"
"Dump him, then," I growl. "He’s no good if he keeps this up. How long have you known him? Three weeks?"
"Since first grade," she snorts. "But I didn’t talk to him until fifth grade. And I’ve been with him since... For almost two years."
Okay, I sort of assumed they’d been seeing each other not more than a couple of months. Three at the most. How do I make this better? "Tic-tac?" I offer. She almost smiles.
"Not if you want me to throw up."
"Nice diving earlier," I tease her.
"Thank you, I did my best. At least I won the pool. It was almost fifty bucks. I can by lots of sunglasses for that," she points out.
"You mean for the beach?"
"Well, I’m not a beach-person, but I’ll probably tag along. As long as there’s a shadow, the batteries for my CD-player won’t run out and I don’t get sand in my shoes."
Wow, sounds really fun. Is she that unable to enjoy herself? "Don’t you know how to swim?"
"Of course I do. I just don’t like to."
"How about surfing? I can teach you."
"I would only fall and break my legs," she sighs. "And I don’t have the patience or the balance."
"No, I could definitely teach you," I say. "No problem at all. I’ll teach you tomorrow at the beach. That way you won’t feel left out if Fred leaves you."
"Why would he leave me?"
"I mean, hangs out with Lex again," I quickly change my words.
Catalina gets up and pulls the handle. "Fred has the key-card. Ironic, huh?" she snorts. Then she leans toward the door and almost doubles over. I grab her by the waist to keep her up.
"I can get him," I offer.
"He’d only hit you," Catalina mumbles. "He gets like that when he drinks."
"He’s sober," I say.
"He is? Who’s drunk then?"
"You are," I laugh. "Stay in our room until he shows up, then."
"If he ever will show up," she whispers.
I pick her up in my arms – my, this girl is a tiny one – and carry her to the room I share with Chris. She objects, but I’m trying to patch things over, so I refuse to put her down until she’s tucked into bed. That is sort of a hard task, because she keeps moving and spinning around.
Suddenly she gets up and starts to go through my things. Now she’s getting me nervous. But I brought it on myself; I just had to take her to my room. My guilty conscious always gets me into trouble! I just wonder what Chris will say when he finds Catalina in our room tomorrow morning.
Ah, man, she just found my CD-player!
We would just like to point out that we borrowed the songs, lyrics, and titles in this chapter from the following bands:
K.C. & The Sunshine Band-Get Down Tonight
Whitney Houston-I Will Always Love You
J. Geils Band-Centerfold
Green Day-Basket Case
Melody Club-Electric
Bow Wow Wow-I Want Candy
Robbie Williams-Let Me Entertain You
Diana Ross-I'm Coming Out
Erasure-A Little Respect
Lou Bega-Mambo No. 5
Frank Sinatra-Something Stupid
Candi Station-Young Hearts Run Free
The Dandy Warhols-Bohemian Like You