As the spotlight whirled back, Odette gushed, “I practiced this all day! I hope you like it, sugar wuggums!”
Odette opened her mouth and belted out a song. None of the words rhymed. Her voice was flat, and it cracked on every note. The guy running the audio winced and turned the microphone down.
Gods, Odette’s singing sounded like a dying seagull. The lack of any instrumental accompaniment made it worse. Theo was grinning, but the rest of our ears were bleeding from Odette’snot-so-lovelysinging voice.
Ethan, though, smirked. It was the first time he had smiled since Lord Lucien had died. A small light gleamed in my heart. The audience sighed in relief when Odette’s song ended, but still snapped to be polite.
“Wow! I didn’t know you had such a great singing voice!” Theo said as Odette hopped back to the table. He was being totally serious, too. Talk about rose-colored glasses. Smitten didn’t even cover it.
“Really?” Odette brightened. “Oh, good, I always thought I was terrible. I should sing again for you guys next week!”
“Let’s just focus on tonight,” Ethan suggested, while we nodded rapidly. Odette sat in Theo’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around her to watch the rest of the open mic.
As the night continued, I noticed my brother sitting in the crowd, with his mate, Vara, along with Ozzie and Jasper. Finley and Amantha were on the other side of the cafe, at a table by themselves and whispering quietly to one another.
I was glad Finley had found someone. I still felt guilty about breaking his heart last semester.
But… I guess Fin had to be completely over me, because he leaned forward and made out with Amantha for the gods and everyone to witness. Amantha grabbed his hair as they sucked face. Their passion could be felt even from here.
Arthur made a face and tossed an empty paper cup at them. It hit the back of Finlay’s head. He flipped Arthur off before he went back to what he was doing.
Vara and Ozzie approached the stage. Vara sang a lovely acapella song about time, with a crooning voice that made my heart ache. Ozzie tripped on the stairs as he climbed onto the stage. He grabbed onto the microphone, and wiped crumbs off his shirt before he dug in his pocket to take out a piece of notebook paper that was stained with jam and chocolate syrup.
“I wrote this poem for someone special!” Ozzie said. He gave a dramatic wink. “You’ll never guess who!”
Jasper smiled fondly. Ozzie took a deep breath and said, “Your eyes are like two blueberries, round and juicy. Your nose is like the perfect strawberry, on top of a delicious pile of whipped cream. Your skin is like icing on the sweetest birthday cake, soft and melty in my mouth. Your…”
Ozzie looked more closely at the paper, and said, “Oops. I guess I didn’t finish it. Whatever. I hope you liked it anyway!”
A couple of people laughed. Ozzie scuttled off the stage. He popped back into his seat next to Jasper, and beamed.
Jasper’s look was wistful. His hand twitched, like he wanted to grab Ozzie’s, but he shoved it under the table instead.
My heart hurt for them. It wasn’t fair they couldn’t be affectionate in public. That they had to hide their love was wrong. Being gay in Malovia shouldn’t be a crime.
But it was. And if anyone knew what they meant to each other, both of them would be killed. Jasper would have to wait until they were in secret to tell Ozzie how he felt about the poem.
After about an hour, the poetry slam was winding down. The manager was about to call an end to the event, but just before the last person finished their poem, Kiara got up from the table. Alexei’s eyes followed her as she stood at the edge of the stage, then shyly walked before the microphone to take her place.
Kiara cleared her throat. “This, uh… I don’t really do things like this, but I thought I might read something short tonight that I wrote for a friend. I hope you like it.”
Kiara licked her lips and began to read.
I spendmy days pretending you’re beside me
I spend my nights knowing you’re alone
When the morning comes, I wish your arms were around me
I know that I could be your home.
Yet this isa fantasy I’ve created in my mind
A wish upon a star that I know can never be
A feeble attempt at catching starlight
Is me with you, and you with me.
