Chapter 29 [Kris]

I’m sitting on my bed, sick, watching Ana. She’s sitting on a couch, wrapping her hand around some jackass’s hand. The worst part is, he doesn’t even look like a bad guy. She seems almost happy, and I hate it.

         After puking at Charlotte and Kale’s place, I returned home. I’ve puked 3 more times since then. So I’ve decided that I will NEVER eat anther meal cooked by Charlotte. My phone starts to ring. I quickly walk up to answer it.

         “Hello?” I say.

         “Kristopherson!” I hear Kale say on the other line. “We’re all going to a karaoke bar tonight, Charlotte and Aimee insisted you came. That is, if you’re feeling up to it.”

         The chance to prove myself to Charlotte that I’m not a d****e! I’ll woo her by singing! I’ll be fine, I’m feeling better now anyways…

         “I would love to. Ya’ll should walk over and pick me up and we can walk over together.” I say, confident.

         “Will do, mate. See you soon.” He says, and hangs up.

        

 

         We walk up to the bar. It’s called “Satan’s Song.” Again with the clever names.

         “I’m so excited!” Charlotte says, and Kale wraps his arms around her. We walk into the place, and see only two non-working folk inside. Both of which seem very intoxicated. I do my best to ignore them. We all sit down at a circular table.

         “Sing a song with me, love?” Kale asks Charlotte, extending a hand to her. She grabs hold of it.

         “I would be honored.” She says, sweetly. They stand up, walking to the stage, and picking out their song.

         “What song are you going to do?” I yell at them.

         “Surprise, baby.” Kale says, winking at me. We wait for the music to start.

         “It’s only a surprise to you, actually Kris. They sing this song every month for some reason. I never found out why though.” Aimee says, her voice on edge. A sheer sign of her envy of their romance.

         “What song is it-?”

         Kales deep British voice cuts me off, singing.

         “Listen baby! Ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough baby!” He sings. His voice is hauntingly beautiful. It’s my turn to envy.

         “If you need me call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far-” Charlotte returns. At the sound of her voice, my heart melts. It’s stunning. It blinds me. It’s so natural, so controlled. Not like her normal voice, that gets louder when gets excited, that cracks and breaks when she cries. It’s a pulchritude of it’s own. She seems like a different girl up there, singing with Kale. And Kale seems like a different man. They seem… in love.

         “They really are amazing up there, aren’t they?” I say to Aimee. She laughs at my state of being.

         “Spoken like a first time listener of the Kale and Charlotte experience.” She says.

         I watch, bewildered until they finish. I stand up clapping, complimenting them.

         “Why do you guys sing that every month?” Aimee asks. They look at each other, smiling.

         “Well,” Kale says, in a rather goofy tone. “I think it was our… third date. Our third date, right babe? Yeah. So it was our third date, and I confessed to Charlotte my love for Marvin Gaye. I was embarrassed of course, because well, it wasn’t the usual type of music I listen to. So I told her, and she told me she loved him too. We sang that song to each other, all the way through. Dancing on my fathers couch, swinging each other around, kissing, hugging. We were in love, and I knew it right then. I remember lifting her up into the air, swinging her. I felt like a kid again. And now… every month I get to feel like that. I don’t know, you bozos probably wouldn’t understand.”

         Charlotte giggles. “I love you so much baby.” She says, and wraps her dainty hands around his jaw, kissing him. Aimee and I watch, with stupid grins on our faces.

         “Yeah. No clue what you’re talking about, man.” I say. But I do know. I know exactly what he’s talking about it. It happens every time I hear a little song called “Psycho Killer” by The Talking Heads.