Greenwich - Blue Flame

Jake picked up Evelyn's card, and put his down in its place, "And a medium black coffee for me, and a brownie." Jacob smirked handing the barista his card. "Put them both on mine, thanks."
"I doubt she'll sing Luke. Seriously I don't feel like it." James groaned, why was it he was always put up to things like this!

"What?!" Antonio said, shrugging. All he did was solve a problem.

"Nah, I've never heard her sing, but she suggested she might, actually," Luke replied smugly. He kicked James form hsi stool and hefted his guitar onto his lap. "So if she sings, will you? I mean, I think Ev has a similar fear of public singing. And you sang at Rockefeller, dude!"

***

Ashton turned around and flipped off his brother, before clearing his throat behind Jake. "If you're done bickering," he said loudly, to get their attention.

Evelyn looked over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes, annoyance in her expression. "Seriously," she stated, taking her credit card from Jake's hand and slapping it on the counter. "I'm capable of paying my own bills, Jacob."

"Good grief," Ashton mumbled.

"I was kinda forced into it there, and I don't know maybe. I doubt she'll sing with me." James said shrugging.

"I say you do." Ashlee stated, turning back to go sit with Jesse.

"I know you are! I'm just being nice." Jake said, swatting at Evelyn. He took her card from the counter, shoving his card forward.

"I didn't say with you!" Luke exclaimed, amused. "Just sing on her own, I doubt she wants to sing with you." He tutted. "Well, I guess she might if you asked. Have either of you ever heard her?"

The owner was now giving him a look that told him to get back to work ASAP.

***

Ashton leaned around Jake and Evelyn, holding out five bucks. "Can I get a slice of cheesecake? Make that two. Thanks."

The cashier threw Jake and Evelyn annoyed looks and took Ashton's order instead. Evelyn growled under her breath, stomping on Jake's foot.

"I have." James confessed, "Back in Ash Creek, she has a good voice."

Jake stifled a yelp and decided to end this before it went on much longer. "Okay, okay fine!" Jake surrendered.

Somehow Luke wasn't entirely shocked to hear this. He blinked and then siad, "Well, I gotta get through two more songs, and then we can start open mic. Why don't you guys grab some food?" He stifled a yawn and pulled his guitar up on his lap, starting to strum the opening to a song he'd written himself.

With the other hand, he reached up to adjust the mic, tipping it down to his lips as his gaze traveled around the cafe He stifled an amused grin at Jake and Evelyn's bickering at the cash register.

Ashton was stifling a grin as the girl behind the counter handed him a tray with two plates on it.

Evelyn looked appeased when he passed her to go back to the table. "Thanks," she said to Jake, "for not demeaning a girl's independence!" She stifled a grin and slipped an arm around his waist in a half-hug, with her free hand placing her credit card down on the counter again. "Charge the green tea and a cheese croissant to my card, the coffee and anything else can go to his," she clarified for the cashier, who was clearly aggravated.

The girl typed up the order and Evelyn took her card back, pulling away from Jake to put her card back into her wallet and glancing over at the stage as Luke began strumming again. She waved at him and he flashed a smile back.

"Yeah, yeah. Whoo feminists." Jake said sarcastically handing his card to the annoyed barista and waited for his brownie and coffee.

Lola saw Ashton approach with the cheesecake and she smiled up at him. "Thank you, you really didn't have to. I was just pulling your leg earlier."

James hadn't been to hungry, so he went to go sit down again, hoping Luke would drop the notion of him singing altogether.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I always end up paying for Tony's meals, anyways," Ashton said, kicking his brother under the table. He glanced up as James sat down by Antonio. "Wait, are you singing tonight?"

Evelyn moved away from the cashier when she received her croissant, down the counter and leaned back against it, frowning slightly. She opted not to say anything in reply to Jake though, drumming her fingers on the counter behind her and looking toward the stage. The cashier placed her coffee in front of her and Evelyn picked it up, placing it on a tray along with her croissant, waiting for Jake's coffee to be done before they both returned to their seats.

"Me? No I don't want to, but knowing Luke he'll force me to." James said leaning back in his chair a bit.

"You sing James?" Lola asked, taking a bite of her cheesecake.

"Uh yeah, I do but not publicly." James told her.


Jake grabbed his coffee and brownie, and met up with Evelyn. "I'm ready, you alright?" He asked her noting her frown.

"Yeah, you do," Seth said - he had stolen James' earlier seat and the cafe tables only seated four apiece. "Didn't you have that gig at Rockefeller's?"

"Yeah," Evelyn said curtly to Jake, and marched ahead of him to their table, taking her seat and starting on her croissant.

Luke finished his song and then just got fed up and got off hte stage. His fingers were bleeding a little.

"I'm done for the night," he informed the owner of hte cafe, meeting her at the counter. He stuffed his guitar back into its case while she grumbled and counted out bills, handing them to him. He stuffed them into his wallet and headed back to everyone, wiping his forehead wearily as he grabbed a chair and shoved it next to James', sitting down and massaging his forehead. "Open mic's gonna start."

Seth got up and returned to his seat on Jake's other side. "Yo, we should totally go up there!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Lucas, bro, if you have the energy to beatbox?"

Luke looked down at his bleeding hands and grabbed a tissue. "Uh, not really."

"Aw, fo real?"

"Fo real," Luke said sleepily, scrubbing his fingers clean. "Make James sing. And then I'll consider it." Evelyn stifled a slight smile.

Jake raised an eyebrow and followed after her. Taking the seat next to her, he glanced up at Luke. "Hey dude good job up there."

"I don't really feel like it though." James glared at Luke, he did not understand Luke's always wanting him to go up and sing. James wasn't as comfortable singing in front of people like Luke was.

Seth was looking over at the stage, where a sign was being hung by the pretty waitress, behind the mic, reading OPEN MIC.

An energetic looking young guy leapt to the mic and started talking. "All right, guys and gals, our open-mic has officially begun! Now which of you has the nerve to get up here and kick it off?"

There was a shuffling and murmuring in the fairly crowded cafe. People looked at each other, muttering, but nobody made a move.

"Oh, this is exciting," Seth muttered to Ashlee and Jesse. Evelyn stifled another smile and glanced over at Luke and James at te next table. Luke shrugged at her and shook his head.

Evelyn shifted her chair over to his. "Can you give me some background tunes?" He shrugged and she pulled her iPhone out of her purse, flicking through it and showing him the song. He placed one of her earphones into his ears and listened as she hit Play.

Some tattooed dude was going up onstage. He had a skinny electric bass guitar in hand.

"Oh fuck," Seth muttered -

Heavy electric bass music thumped from the amp the guy had plugged his guitar intp. Half hte girls screamed and covered their ears. Seth and Ashton had their fingers stuffed in their ears. Evelyn and Luke had an earphone in one ear, so were spared.

The guy began screaming what sounded like every obscenity in the book into the mic. From the little Seht could grasp, the dude was yelling as his whore of a girlfriend passionately.

"Yes," the emcee guy began, trying to take the mic from him. "Thank you, sir -"

he guy continued. "I WILL NOT FORGIVE AND FORGET! I WILL CURSE YOUR MOTHAFUCKIN' ASS TILL YOU - !"

"REALLY!" the emcee dude, snapped, shoving the guy off the mic. "Much appreciated - NEXT!"

The dude looked offended and stormed out of the cafe.

Jake had covered his ears, and shuddered after the metal guy had gotten off stage. "Okay seriously, haven't heard that much swearing... well never."

"There's a sound I'll never be able to get out of my head." Lola said rubbing her temples.

After that horrid performance, James felt like he owed it to these poor people to have someone sing with a good voice, "Alright that's it, I'm going up there." He said getting up before he changed his mind and backed out, he nudged Luke. "Play background for me?"

Him and Luke got up on stage and he said to him, "Umm play the song Collide, by Howie Day? I know its a slow song but um after what everyone heard, I think their ears deserve the break." James chuckled.

James grabbed the mic, and waited for Luke to start playing the first few cords before he began singing softly.

"The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah..."

Seth, who had been grumbling under his breath and massaging his ears, now decided to shut up and listen alongside everyone else.

Luke bit his lip as he strummed. His eyes flicked from James over to where theri friends sat. Evelyn was stuffing her iPhone back into her bag, clearly not listening all that well. She looked up after setting her bag down by her feet and took a sip of her tea.

"...Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide..."

Evelyn had heard this song, albeit a while back. Her hand stilled momentarily on the handle of her cup and her eyes flicked up to watch James sing. He wasn't looking at her and she was really, really glad.

She'd be lying if she said she kind of wished he'd chosen any other song that wasn't about something romantic. After her conversation with Jake, she didn't think this was appropriate, but how would James know he was making her uncomfortable?

He wouldn't. They both knew they were over and done with. So he wasn't doing this intentionally. Evelyn shrugged off the odd clenching in her stomach and placed her elbow on the table, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, the other hand stirring some more sugar into her tea as she watched him. The teenage girls near the stage were now ogling James with indiscreet lust.

Typical. Evelyn stifled a grin and returned her eyes to James' blue ones. On Jake's other side, she heard Seth mutter, "Damn, he's good," and her smile faded.

Jake nodded silently, James did have a good voice. Better than his by a long shot. Lola had been listening and she leaned over to Ashton and whispered, "He so works for the musical."

James looked up from singing when he saw Evelyn looking at him, he flashed a smile to her as he finished the song. Once the song ended softly, all of Luke's fan girls seemed to have forgotten he had existed and were now clapping for James.

"Thank you." He smiled at everyone, and went back to sit down.

"Whoo good job James!" Ashlee cheered for him as he sat down.

"Yeah James, you have a great voice." Lola complimented him.

"Thanks guys, really it was nothing." James said as Luke came to sit back down in his spot.

"Aren't you modest," Evelyn commented with a grin as James passed her to take his seat. Luke snickered.

"Who's gonna be up next?" the emcee asked into the mic. Luke hesitated before taking his seat.

Evelyn rolled her eyes at him and didn't move, not really wanting to go after James. She hadn't sung in public since middle school voice lessons. She'd sung in front of James, and he'd told her she had a beautiful voice, but that had been nearly two years ago.

She hesitated and Luke frowned at her. Evelyn exhaled and stood up uncertainly, striding past him and he followed her to the stage.

"Take it away, pretty lady," the emcee said, winking flirtatiously at her as she approached. Up close, he looked like a second or third-year college kid, presumably from NYU. Evelyn flashed him a hesitant smile and sat down on the stool, tugging her jacket's hem down and flipping her hair over her shoulders as she crossed her legs. A few of the college boys across the room hooted appreciatively and Seth snickered.

"She's trouble," he informed Jake wisely.

Evelyn simply kept a faint smile on her lips, trying not to look like she felt inside: she really wanted to flee. Because she freaking hated taking a spotlight. Her hands quivered and she swallowed as she clenched them together. Pull through, Lyn. C'mon, you can do this. Her eyes flicked past the leering gazes boys were throwing her around the room and over to where Ashlee and the rest were seated. She gave Ashlee a faint smile, trying not to puke.

Luke situated himself on the same stool he'd sat in for James' performance and took a moment to go over what notes would work in his mind. This was always fun for him, playing a song that he'd never heard an acoustic cover for.

He began strumming the opening notes to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Evelyn started off so softly the mic didn't really catch her voice. Luke reached out a leg and kicked her and she blushed bright red. She kicked it up a notch, closing her eyes and pretending she was in an empty room as she hmmm'd the opening notes.

And then she finally started singing in an innocently sweet voice, at long last. Because for a second, looking at her, Luke had thought she was about to throw up.

Ev has stage fright? he wondered, shocked. He'd never have believed it. What was it about Evelyn and James that made them hate singing in public when they had some of the best voices he'd ever heard?

"Break it down let it all out.
I'll give you my opinion.
Walking around running my mouth,
Cause I'm not about pretending.
I talk tough, calling your bluff,
Don't tell me what I can't do.
Don't ask me to ignore what in my heart I know is
True...."

After the first icebreaker, (and no shoes were thrown at her) she found it easier to go on, and even managed to open her eyes. She leaned forwards, keeping her eyes on the table where she'd sat, because she wasn't quite at the stage of meeting anyone's eyes yet. She kept one hand on the mic, leanign forwards, and the other clenched in her lap to stop it shaking.

"...I never want to be predictable
I'm never gonna take the easy road
I never wanna’ follow where the
Ordinary ones have gone before
And that's why everyday I say it to myseeeeeelf."

Evelyn paused for breath and forced herself to look around the room. She wasn't a wimp. Or, well, she kind of was, but whatever. She hopped off her stool as she sang on, holding onto the mic with both hands now, not drawing out any notes, keeping it fast-paced like the original song had been.

"...Bring on fame,
I got game.
See I was born for this part.
Just have to start by,
Following the voice inside my heart..."

The whole cafe had cheered after Evelyn had went up and performed. Jake had no idea that Evelyn could sing, or that her voice was so nice.

After awhile though, Seth and Jake sort of got restless sitting in the quiet cafe. Quiet, cultured scenes were not their things.

Jake turned to Evelyn and nudged her, "You wanna leave? Its kind of boring here." He asked.

Evelyn jerked awake and blinked guiltily at the guy wailing onstage about his lost love. "Leave? Oh."

"Please, let's leave," Seth muttered, leg wiggling impatiently. He'd lost all motivation to rap. Probably as a result of no alcohol.

"Sure," Evelyn said, rubbing her eyes and grabbing her bag.

"I think I've had as much culture as I can take," Ashton muttered to his brother.

Antonio nodded getting up and stretching his limbs. "Yeah I know our people invented opera and stuff. But I'm about as cultured as um... well nothing."

The rest got up putting on their jackets and grabbing their belongings so they could all get going.

"Night, Trace," Luke said to the cute waitress as they all filed out.

"It's only eight," Seth exclaimed as soon as the cafe door swung shut behind them. He turned to the other boys. "I don't want to go home just yet!"

"I'm shocked the tequila's not flowing tonight," Evelyn commented quietly to Ashlee, leaning back against the cafe wall.

"Well, we can drive around if you want," Ashton suggested. "I'm sure there's an insecure bank for you to rob somewhere."

Seth snickered. "Robin Hood later. Hm....the piers?" They all started walking along the pavement toward their cars. Evelyn pushed herself off the wall and trailed behind them reluctantly, remembering Nova was home alone with Lucifer.

Jake noticed Evelyn lagging behind, so he dropped back and followed with her. "You okay, you seem upset?" He asked her.

"Won't it be kind of cold by the water?" Ashlee asked, thinking about the wind coming off the water. They'd all be icicles.

"I'm good," Evelyn answered shortly, speeding up a little so she was walking just behind Ashlee. Ashton, who was on Ashlee's other side, nodded.

"I say we grab dinner and well, there's always Rockefeller," he suggested.

Seth's smile slipped off his face like water. "I'd rather not," he said, almost icily.

Oops, Ashton thought. "Um, then there's that sports village."

"Central Park?" Luke suggested. "I mean, I think the carousel and stuff are still on?"

"Times Square?" Lola suggested.

"Um dinner sounds good, but where else can we go after that?" Antonio asked, because knowing Seth and Jake, and well everyone else. They really wouldn't want to end their nights too early.

Jacob, not really paying attention to their ideas walked up to Evelyn again, "Are you mad at me?" He wondered why she was being kind of weird. Everything had seemed fine earlier.

Ashlee leaned over and said to Ashton, "Trouble in paradise..." She muttered.

Ashton was somehow not shocked. He stifled a smile and said, "Snowball fight in Central Park! Or at the quad because the park's kind of a distance from here."

"No," Evelyn replied quietly. She wasn't mad. Annoyed, maybe. Aggravated, yes. Somewhat upset, possibly.

Luke laughed, adjusting his guitar case's strap on his shoulder. "I'm in."

Seth brightened. "Yeah! Jake, you in?" He spun and walked backwards and then stopped because he and Jesse had to go a different direction from Jake and the rest.

"Yeah you are, why are you all avoiding me then?" Jake asked her, getting a bit annoyed himself.


"Oh man. Can I ride with you guys?" Antonio asked Ashton. He did not want to be in the car listening to them fight.