Bound Together Read Online Free PDF Page B

this one!” Amy
shoved a sheet of paper at me that had the music to the song
‘Fading Like A Flower’ by Roxette. I did love the song and I knew
it well, but singing in the shower was one thing; singing it up on
stage, in front of a herd of strangers, was another. But there was
no time to chicken out now. Amy was already playing the intro with
Nick and the blonde stranger not far behind. Giving them a quick
nervous smile I took a deep breath, walked up to the mic, closed my
eyes and sang. It actually sounded good. Really good. I snuck a
peek over my shoulder at Amy and she was beaming at me so brightly
I thought she might explode. This was fun. My lungs were belting out
notes that I never even knew I could reach. I felt amazing. I
grabbed the mic stand and caressed it with my free hand as I sang.
The bar was buzzing as people began to walk over to the stage area
to watch. People were rocking and singing along to the chorus with
me. The adrenaline rush I felt made my confidence soar, leaving me
breathless as I sang every note pitch perfect and loud. My ears
were ringing as the sound from the large speakers boomed through
the bar. I was making people rock, dance and sing to the beat. I’d
never felt so exhilarated.
     
    When the song ended, the
whole bar cheered and Oliver was on his feet whistling at us. I
grinned and bit my lip, suddenly feeling a little e self-conscious.
As I came down from the stage, Amy wrapped her arms around me
giggling. “Oh my god that was great! I told you that you’d
rock.”
    Turning her attention to
the guys, she hugged them both equally as grateful. “You guys
totally rock too! Awesome!” The blonde guitarist blushed as she
pressed her lips against his cheek, leaving her shocking pink
lipstick on his pale flesh.
     
    I could still feel
adrenaline pumping through my body when I got back to our table.
Oliver was still applauding me when I approached. I gave him a small smile, bowed gracefully in
jest and sat back in my seat, exhaling loudly . I didn’t realize I was even holding my breath.
    “Well, well, well. Who knew that the
musically named Layla would also be a rocking pop star too?”
    Feeling a little shy, I
gave him another quick smile and took a big gulp of my drink. I
needed it.

    My heart was pounding so hard in my chest that I thought
it was trying to escape my ribcage . I
could feel his eyes on me as I tried desperately to concentrate on
the glass in my hand. But they were penetrating my thoughts. I
glanced sideways at him and the corners of his mouth curled up as
he bit his lip. Then almost simultaneously we were diverting our
attention, me at my glass and he at a group of guys now setting up
on stage. A jolt of exhilaration ran through me. He was flirting
with his eyes. Or did I imagine it? If I did then Amy had too. Our
exchange had not gone unnoticed. She was giving me a goofy grin as her
eyebrows bounced up and down. I rolled my eyes at her as she gave
me a knowing look. I was sure we’d be talking about this
later.
     
    The rest of the evening
was spent talking about our performance on stage and discussing
classes. They would be starting on Monday and everyone was taking
something different. Nick and the blonde guitarist, who turned out
to be named Eric, were taking sports and music and their other
friend Henry was taking Media and Journalism. I turned to Oliver
and arched an eyebrow. “So what are you taking?”
    Sipping his drink he smiled. “Psych and
music. So I guess we’ll be in some classes together this semester.
And there I was thinking it would be boring.”
    Ok he was definitely flirting and I was
enjoying every last moment of it. This college thing was going to
be more fun than I thought.
     

Chapter
5
    Money, Money,
Money
     
    It was finally Saturday
morning and I was working. I’d promised dad I’d be home for the
weekend so when I called to tell him I was doing the morning shift
at the shop, he insisted on picking me up in the afternoon and
driving me