Behind The Shade

Taking the fastest shower in the history of showers after she finished the chores at home, Jasmine rushed to Katie's. Her band mates would chew her out if she kept them waiting, again.

"Hi guys"

She got murmured 'heys' in response, they were pissed. And rightfully so

"I'm sorry I was late for the program yesterday"

She almost laughed at the shocked expression on their faces. They were surprised she apologized without being scolded.

Usually Katie go off on her and if it rubbed Jasmine the wrong way, they argue loudly and hurl insults at each other until their friends interfered.

They've been told one too many times they acted like they hated each other. Key word on 'acted'.

"It's fine" Pauline answered first

Daniel shrugged "we did great anyway"

Katie huffed "yeah...but next time pick when we call, or reply to our texts, you had us worried" They all exchanged surprised glances, seems like they won't yell at each other this time

"It won't happen again," she assured them

Luke looked skeptical, she laughed

"I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again" he nodded smiling and she grinned, happy they had forgiven her

"So there's this competition I saw online" Pauline said taking out her phone, she was the most experienced of them all, well in terms of music.

She has auditioned in a few popular talent hunts like The voice, AGT and Access the stars

"Let's see," Daniel said peering into her phone, she tapped the screen a few times and then gave it to him.

"This should be lit guys," he said and passed the phone to Luke who passed it till it got to Jay

"How do we sign up?" Katie asked, passing the phone back to Pauline

"I'll take care of that, or my dad will," Pauline said, her dad was in full support of her doing music, she was even going to study music, how cool is that?!

"Your dad is super cool, never forget that," Jay told her and she grinned

"That settled, what song are we going to perform?" Luke asked

When no one came up with a song, Katie suggested Consequences by Camilla Cabello

They all exchanged looks, Katie has always been a die-hard Camilla fan

"Let's hear it then," Daniel said

She took her phone from the nightstand and played the song

"Dirty tissues, trust issues

Glasses on the sink, they didn't fix you

Lonely pillows in a stranger's bed

Little voices in my head

Secret keeping, stop the bleeding

Lost a little weight because I wasn't eating

All the songs that I can't listen to, to tell the truth

Loving you was young, wild, and free

Loving you was cool, hot, and sweet

Loving you was sunshine, safe and sound

A steady place to let down my defenses

But loving you had consequences

Hesitation, awkward conversation

Running on low expectation

Every siren that I was ignoring I'm paying for it

Loving you was young, wild, and free

Loving you was cool, hot, and sweet

Loving you was sunshine, safe and sound

A steady place to let down my defenses

But loving you had consequences...."

"Wow" Daniel found his voice first

"Now I understand why Katie's a fan of her music," Pauline said sighing

"We'll hope to capture our audience and the judges too"

"Who'll play the violin or was it a piano?" Jay asked with an innocent look just to mess with Katie

Daniel snickered, Pauline coughed discreetly, and Luke laughed

"Of course, it's a piano," Katie said rolling her eyes

"Yes ma'am," Jay said laughing

"Using a violin is not a bad idea though, I'll bring mine next week" Pauline piped in

"Good, get the song and listen to it as many times as you can, till the next time we meet"

They played the song a few more times and decided what parts each person would sing before they left, but Jay stayed behind.

"Care to explain why you arrived late to church yesterday?" Katie asked, not willing to let it go without an explanation

"I was stuck in traffic, the job was at Manhattan"

"You would have made it back in time if you left early" she insisted

"Katie please, let's forget about it, I apologized already," Jay said exasperated

She huffed "Alright, just don't do it again"

"I won't....so what's up with you?" She asked and Katie just smiled, she raised an eyebrow at that

"Alright, spill"

"Aiden asked me out on a date" she blurted out

"Wow, lucky you girl

We don't all get to go on dates with our crush" she poked her ribs playfully which made her burst into giggles

"I know right" She sighed "He'll be back from college for the holidays next week so we agreed to meet for lunch on Saturday...and you're going with me"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? you're going on your first date with him and you want to take an extra?

Or is it that you don't feel safe with him?" she asked not wanting to be a bother

She smiled "Of course I feel safe and you're not an extra, he's coming with a friend, so it's only fitting my bestie's there too"

"Aww...How sweet" she cooed

"Is the friend as good looking as he is? You never know could be a double date" she said wiggling her brows

Katie laughed "she's a girl though"

"I like girls too remember? Who knows? She might be my type and it could still be a double date" she deadpanned

Katie burst into laughter, Jay would say the funniest things with a straight face. She only hoped she'd find love and at least try being in a relationship. They have been friends for a very long time but she has never had a boyfriend

At some point, she'd thought she played for the same team and was hiding it from her, so she offered to introduce her to a female 'friend' of hers that likes girls

But flushed with embarrassment when Jay had looked at her for a long time before laughing so hard she cried, the memory still made her cringe.

Jasmine is very attractive even if she hated being complimented for her looks. Katie always suspected her lack of interest in men stemmed from the shitty relationship she had with her dad, though she never talks about it, they were best friends and they talked about everything except that

"We'll know if she's into girls too by then...

what am I gonna wear though?" Katie asked flopping down on the bed

Jay laughed "I knew you'd be worried about that, but leave it to me, I'll have you looking like a goddess, trust me"

Katie smiled "I have no doubt"

"I gotta get home babe, I got kitchen duty as punishment for yesterday"

Katie laughed "Well someone has to do it"

They walked to the bus stop

"Bye sweetheart" she kissed her on the cheek and watched as she got in the cab, before heading back home.