Grace's song

Grace got so caught up in clapping and cheering for Aaron, she didn’t realize just how the attention in the room had shifted.

“Uhh, huh?”

“Your turn.”

Aaron extended the microphone to her, while Jenny beamed an encouraging smile.

“Ahhh, ehmmm, guys, I’m really not sure…”

“What do you mean? You put on a crazy show earlier!”

“Mhmmm, ehmmm… yeah… I wasn’t really feeling myself then…”

Grace was laughing nervously, her shy shell beginning to close up around her again. There was no way she could get up there and sing! She always got so nervous, so anxious, even about talking to employees in a shop, or asking for directions. Wasn’t this just way too much? Asking her to not even just talk, but sing in front of people?

“Alex really set me up!! Such a cunning ****… I wouldn’t do my presentation, so he sets me up to sing, ughhhhhhh… why is the world so twisted…”

“Hey…”

Jenny slid closer to Grace, her comforting smile seeming to grow even more caring as one of her small hands intertwined with Grace’s.

“… I know you don’t know us that well yet, but I promise we don’t bite. If you could sing earlier, you can sing now. No matter who you’re feeling like inside.”

“J-Jenny…”

Grace’s heart began to beat faster, Jenny’s warm hands and warmer words feeling almost like a cozy protective blanket. She squeezed, and laughed, a cute and affectionate sound.

“You’ve seen us embarrass ourselves, me and Aaron aren’t popstars or opera singers either. I know if you sing, you’ll feel so much better.”

The words of the confident blonde settled on Grace as she bit her lip. It was as though there was an internal war going on inside her, battling for supremacy. That shy shell, so hardened and fortified, protecting a sensitive heart, but now like a prison stopping her from connecting with others. Grace looked at Jenny, the tender gaze from the smaller girl melting the ice that kept her locked up.

“A-Ah… I’ll do it!”

“Yes, that’s the spirit!”

Grace shook just a little as she stood and walked to the front of the room.

“I… I can do this. I just have to pick a song, something I can sing.”

Grace flicked through the track listing, seeming like she didn’t know what to choose, before she finally alighted on one that she seemed to appreciate. Her finger hovered over the selection button, as though she were too nervous, or too embarrassed, before she finally gathered the courage and pressed the button.

The warm guitar sounds of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer rang out, as Grace turned and shakily began to sing. Her voice cracked a little with nerves, and her face was bright red with embarrassment. But far from laughing, Aaron nodded appreciatively while Jenny seemed to groove to the beat.

She flashed a big smile, like Grace’s singing was a gift, even shaky and unsure, that was worth the world to her. Grace’s heart felt a strange, familiar twinge for just a moment; like hearing your favorite song, covered in a way that made it just as good, in a totally different way. Jenny's smile was so encouraging and kind, it helped Grace’s singing seem to coalesce as she started losing herself to the music.

“Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight. Lead me out on the moonlight floor…”

The song was so romantic and sweet, and with Grace’s voice so full of genuine emotion it sounded captivating. Aaron was taken aback at the contrast between this version of Grace and the one that he’d seen earlier, the shy girl turned rockstar seeming a world away from the intimate look into a true sweetheart on show now.

Jenny seemed even more taken by Grace, unable to resist anymore she sprung up and ran to Grace, bowing as though she was inviting her to dance. So caught up in the music and the moment, Grace didn’t hesitate to accept, singing along still even as Jenny twirled her around. For just a second, a spark seemed to pass between the two, and it was as though Grace was singing directly to her.

And then, the song was over. Grace took a step back, a deep breath, endorphins bursting through her system as the immense realization that she’d done it came to her.

“I… I did it. I really sang… I sang in front of people.”

“Well, yeah, I mean you did earlier-”

Aaron was cut off by Jenny as she wrapped her arms around Grace and pulled her into a warm hug, her small body having surprising strength as she cuddled the more voluptuous girl.

“Grace… I’m so proud of you!”

“J-Jenny… thank you. I’m really happy too…”

Grace hugged back, a stunned smile on her face. Her body may have been on the earth, but it was like her spirit was flying high above. Grace had finally overcome one of her fears.

The bus wobbled just a little as it went over a pothole, winding through the streets before it pulled to a stop.

“Hey Jenny! Text me about what we’re doing for Halloween later!”

“Sure thing Aaron! Get a slutty costume, okay!”

Aaron just gave her the finger jokingly as she replied by sticking her tongue out, before the doors closed and the bus set off again.

“Hey…”

Sitting at the back of a nearly empty bus, was Grace and Jenny.

“… you were amazing today Grace. I really mean it.”

Jenny scooted over, Grace turning with a shy smile. She may have been acting demure, but really she was still head over heels excited after singing. At first, she’d been freaking out, nerves and anxiety almost threatening to overwhelm her after Alex had let her wake up on the karaoke toilets. Now though, after today she couldn’t wait to tell Alex the good news of everything that had happened.

“Thank you Jenny… and thanks for your encouragement too! You… you seem like a really great friend.”

“Alex really found some lovely people for me to hang out with… he’s so thoughtful, I wish I could thank him now…”

“What made you choose that song?”

“Hmm, what?”

“Kiss Me. By Sixpence None The Richer. It sounded so cute with your voice, but I’m curious what made you pick it.”

“Ohh, well, uhmm…”

Grace started blushing, but she didn’t stop talking.

“It used to be on the radio a lot when I was young, and my parents used to act kinda mushy and romantic sometimes when it would be on… I guess I just started thinking, maybe someday I would like to find romance while it plays. It’s stupid really, but it’s a song that makes me happy, so if I had to choose just one song to sing, I thought it would be perfect.”

“That’s… that’s a really sweet story Grace.”

Jenny was biting her lip, a blush on her cheeks. She turned her head at the same time as Grace, and their faces were close. Inside the blonde girl’s skin, I could feel my attraction to my girlfriend getting higher and higher, hearing her cute voice singing such a romantic song, the small touches and intimate moments I’d shared with her while in the guise of her friend Jenny. Now that we were close like this, I didn’t know if I could resist…!