Chapter 5

          As Caryss, Liz, and Stacie walked through the doors to Chubby’s, Caryss heard “Thank you NC, everyone give it up for NC,” booming over speakers from somewhere inside.

          “Did they just say ‘NC’,” Caryss asked hysterically, her words slurring slightly from the numerous drinks she had already ingested.

          “Huh? C’mon, let’s hit the bar,” said Liz, ignoring what Caryss had asked and dragging her friend up to the bar. Within seconds Caryss had another drink in her hand and her mind had floated away from trying to figure out if “NC” was in the building.

          “I think I want to sing,” Caryss shouted energetically as she downed her drink.

          “Phase one complete,” giggled Stacie, speaking in her best Dr. Evil voice.

          “Which one of you biotches is going to come up there with me and sing?” Caryss asked, leaning into Liz and Stacie.

          “How about you do the first one by yourself, and when we finish our drinks, we’ll do one together?” Liz suggested with a devilish grin.

          “Deal!” Caryss shouted, and then she strutted over the table where the karaoke books were and flipped through one until she found the song she wanted. She grabbed a sign-up sheet and filled in the blanks—

          Name: Caryss
            Song Title: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
            Song #: KB-1404
            Reason For Picking This Song (if any): I’m tired of
            dancing with losers; I wanna dance with somebody
            who loves me!

          She walked up to the karaoke DJ and handed him the slip of paper then sauntered back over to the table where Liz and Stacie were sitting, watching her with amusement.

          “So what song did you pick sweetie?” Stacie asked as Caryss tried and failed to hoist her tipsy self up onto the bar stool.

          “You’ll find out,” she threw back as she finally managed to make it up onto the bar stool. “I think I need a glass of water.”

          “I’ll get it babe,” said Stacie with a smile. When Stacie came back to the table with the glass of water, Caryss chugged it down and slammed it on the table as if it had been a shot of tequila.

          “Done!” she squealed. “You know, if you guys don’t keep me under control, I’m going to get crazy-drunk, and that wouldn’t be good.”

          “That’s the whole point honey! We are all going to get crunked up and have ourselves a real fine time!” Liz joked as she slammed down the rest of her rum and coke.

          As they sat there and joked around, a tall, skinny blond with a flat chest, bad nose and stringy hair entered the bar with an entourage following her like little minions. She walked up to the bar and leaned over on it, causing the bottom of her butt cheeks to peek out from under the insanely short shirt she had the nerve to call a dress. She whispered something into the bartender’s ear, giggled a little, and then took on seat in one of the corner booths along with her followers.

          Everyone in the bar was staring at her, something she obviously thrived on. She looked familiar to Caryss but she couldn’t pinpoint why.

          “Dude, that’s Paris Hilton,” Liz hissed to Caryss and Stacie. “What in the hell is she doing in a place like this?”

          “Is that what she really looks like in person? I never thought an airbrush could actually improve the way someone looks in a magazine that much,” said Stacie with a snort. Caryss and Liz let out obnoxious laughs, and quickly turned their focus away from Paris as she looked their way.

          “Jesus, don’t they have a VIP room in this place that she could go hide in or something?” Caryss asked rather loudly.

          “Well, we do, but it’s full right now,” said a deep, sexy voice from behind Caryss. She flipped around on the bar stool so fast she slipped off the side of it and if the man standing behind her hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen flat on her behind.

          “Thank you,” she stammered as she regained her balance and turned around to face the mystery man that came to her assistance.

          “No problem. Can I get you ladies another round of drinks?” he asked seductively as he helped Caryss back up onto the bar stool.

          “Sure,” replied Stacie, almost too quickly. “I’m Stacie, by the way, and you are?” she jumped in, holding out her hand to him.

          “I’m Jim, my brother owns this place. So what are you ladies drinking?”

          “Why don’t I walk you up to the bar and tell you on the way?” Stacie asked, giving Jim a sexy smile. He nodded and she wrapped her arm around his and walked with him up to the bar.

          “Looks like the cards are right for Stacie tonight,” said Liz with a smile as she watched Stacie wiggle and giggle at the bar with the owner’s brother.

          Ten minutes later they came back to the table with the drinks, and Jim pulled up a stool next to Stacie. “Are you ladies going to sing tonight? I noticed you are staying pretty well put here in the karaoke bar.”

          “Caryss is going to be singing in a little while, and I imagine we will all probably be up at least once, especially if the drinks keep coming!” Stacie laughed as she nudged Jim in the chest with her shoulder softly.

          “Okay everyone, up next we have P. Come on up P,” the karaoke DJ announced into the microphone.

As everyone looked around trying to figure out who “P” was, Paris jumped out of the booth, pushing past her “cling-ons” without a second thought and strutted up to the microphone. The music to “Don’t Forget About Us” made famous by Mariah Carey started booming from the speakers and Paris grabbed the microphone dramatically and raised it to her mouth.
         

          “I know you’re here tonight and this song goes out to you,” she breathed into the microphone, trying to sound meaningful but only succeeded in sounding desperate and silly. She sang the entire song erroneously, hitting wrong notes and singing the wrong lyrics even though the words popped up right in front of her on the large television screen. It’s possible that she was trying to improvise and create her own version of the hit song, but if that was her intention, she failed miserably and in a rather embarrassing manner.

          When the song came to an end she struck an awkward pose, and it appeared that she was waiting for wild applause to break out and the person she dedicated the song to to come running up to her and whisk her off into the warm, balmy night. Instead, she was met with a few random claps and some stifled laughter, but most of the people in the room looked down at the drinks in front of them or began talking to someone else, as if trying to pretend they hadn’t been paying attention to the hideous performance they had just been involuntarily purvey to.

          As soon as Paris realized she was not getting the reception she wanted, she looked over at her group of followers sitting in the booth and shot them a glare that read “If you want to ride home in my limo tonight bitches you better start clapping and cheering right now” and the entire corner of the room erupted wildly with applause and screams.

          “Thank you so much,” she said sweetly into the microphone, then replaced it into its stand and walked back to “her corner” of the bar.

          “Too bad the VIP room is full tonight,” said Stacie with another snort. “Cause maybe we wouldn’t have had to witness that shit if she had been up there with her posse!” Jim started laughing and he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Hey, by the way, I didn’t even know this place had a VIP section. Who comes here that needs a private section? This is not a Hollywood hangout; that’s why I like coming here!”

          “Well, we usually don’t get the Paris Hilton type here, but we do get some famous people. This is the best karaoke bar around you know!” Jim replied with a smile. He looked over at the karaoke DJ who was pointing at Caryss as he walked up to the microphone. “I think you’re up kiddo.”

          “Now, we have Caryss singing for us. Come on up Caryss,” the DJ said as Caryss gulped and slowly slid off the bar stool.

          “Why do I have to be the follow-up act to the diva?” she grumbled as she planted her feet on the ground and walked up to the microphone. Liz, Stacie and Jim covered their mouths with their hands so Caryss wouldn’t see them laughing at the comment she made.

          “That’s too funny,” said Liz and she took another sip of her drink. “She’s going to blow this place out of the water though, you just watch.”

          “Caryss is tired of dancing with the losers, she wants to dance with somebody who loves her!” the DJ announced as Caryss approached the “stage”. Liz and Stacie let out loud bursts of encouragement, a few other people in the bar followed suit.

          “I didn’t think you were actually going to tell everyone my reason for picking this song,” she mumbled to the DJ as she grabbed the microphone from his hand. The music started and she positioned herself directly in front of the screen that fed her the lyrics. She clasped the microphone with both hands and swallowed hard as the intro the song came to and end and her part to sing quickly approached her.

          Dammit Caryss, you’ve sang karaoke a million times, snap out of it! Yes, you’re following Paris effing Hilton, but she sucked, and you don’t, so you can do this! She hoped her little internal pep talk worked as she opened her mouth and let the first line of the song flow out.

          “The clock strikes upon the hour and the sun begins to fade,” she sang perfectly on pitch. Yes! Keep going…and liven up a little you old buzzard, she told herself quickly before heading into the second line. “Still enough time to figure out how to chase my blues away.” She started swaying to the music now, her eyes lighting up from the energy and excitement she felt being in front of people and singing again. “I’ve done alright up to now; it’s the light of day that shows me how and when the night falls, loneliness calls.”

          When she went into the chorus she let go of every inhibition she had and from that moment until the last note rang from her lips, she was a star. Halfway into the second verse the crowd was on its feet, dancing and cheering, responding to her every gyration and adding fuel to her diva energy. She was so deep in her own world she didn’t notice all the additional onlookers pouring in from different areas of the club, including from the VIP section.

          As she hit the last note of the song and music faded out, the entire room erupted in screams and cheers, bringing Caryss abruptly out of the musical trance she had been in. Her cheeks turned crimson as she replaced the microphone back on its stand and stepped off the stage. Liz and Stacie rushed up to her, throwing their arms around her.

          “Oh my God girl, that was amazing!” Liz screeched as she dragged Caryss back to the table.

          “Where did all these people come from?” Caryss asked quietly as she hopped up on the bar stool and looked around at everyone staring at her.

          “They gravitated in here as you were singing. It was so fab!” Stacie squealed as she took her seat back next to Jim.

          “Really, that was fantastic Caryss,” said Jim with a smile. “I hope you’re planning on entering the karaoke contest that starts at 11:00. First prize is $500.”

          “Are you serious?” Caryss asked, bewildered. Maybe I will, she thought to herself as a group of people approached the table.

          “We just wanted to say you were awesome. That was really really good,” one of the girls said, motioning with her hands that she was speaking for the entire group.

          “Thanks,” said Caryss shyly, not realizing just how well she had sung. During the next ten minutes, other people approached the table and offered praises and wishes of good luck for the contest, which she had not even entered yet. As the latest “fans” were leaving their table, Liz gasped and poked Caryss in the ribs.

          “Hold on to your shit honey, you’re never going to believe who’s coming over.”