AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Never said I would.” He singsonged with a giant smile on his face. “Go get her, boys.”
Fisher made a sound that was suspiciously similar to a gag and opened his door. “God, I hate us.”
“Which window is hers?” Booth looked up at the small cottage house and looked at my dad. “Do you know?”
“I texted and asked for the address, kid, not a blueprint of the house.”
I glared at Dad. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
Fisher was in control of the music. He had the song ready on his phone. Booth and I stood on either side of him and we positioned ourselves in front of the left window, taking a guess on it being the right room. We’d just won a championship game that morning and there we were, all about to vomit while singing a Taylor Swift song.
Fisher didn’t give us longer to panic. He hit play and we went for it.
57
***Ella***
I’d just put on my pajamas and washed my face when I heard what sounded like cats fighting from somewhere outside the house. I knew out neighbors didn’t have cats so I slowly moved closer to the sound and ended up in Mom’s doorway. “What is that?”
She was kneeling on her window seat, peeking out of the blinds. When she looked back at me, her face was bright red and she was laughing so hard she had her legs crossed and her hand pressed over her middle.
“What?” I walked over and pulled one of the blinds down, just to let it snap back into place. My entire body lit up with a mixture of excitement and horror. “No.”
Mom pushed me away. “Go out there and make them stop. They’re going to wake the dead.”
“What are they doing?!” I looked out again and saw a neighbor’s lights turn on behind them. “Oh, my god. How are they here? What is happening?”
“Go! Here comes Mr. Daniels! He’s never going to shut up about this.”
I rushed to the front door, full of nerves, and quietly stepped outside. Booth, Vaughn, and Fisher were standing in front of Mom’s window, their attention focused there so they didn’t notice me standing there, watching them. Fisher had his phone over his head and they were screaming “Lover”.
I covered my mouth to stop a laugh as more of our neighbors started coming outside to shout at the guys to shut up. Mr. Daniels was in the middle of the street, shaking his cane at them.
“People are trying to sleep! What do you even call yourselves doing out here? Is this some sort of gang thing?”
The quiet neighborhood had been disrupted in a big way. Dogs barked, people shouted, and then there was just the sound of them continuing to sing. I realized quickly that they were blessed with a lot of things but harmony wasn’t one of them. And then there was the sound of laughter coming from the end of our driveway. Paul was standing next to his truck, doubled over as he cackled.
Vaughn stopped singing to turn on his dad. “Jesus Christ, Dad! Stop laughing! We’re trying!”
“Shut the hell up!” That shout came from Mrs. Conner, two doors down.
When someone shouted that they were calling the police, I found my voice again. “Did you guys come here just to get arrested for disturbing the peace?”
Three heads snapped in my direction and the singing stopped just like that. I watched as they each sent a hopeful smile my way before slowly moving closer to me.
“We want you back, Ella Rae. We care about you and we’d do anything for you. Including going to jail for disturbing the peace.” Fisher turned his phone off and winced. “I’d really like to stop singing now, though.”
“Please, do.” I saw that Mom had opened her window and was hanging out of it. “You’re lovely boys but you’re never going to make it as singers. At least not together.”
Vaughn ducked his head and lifted his hand in a surprisingly shy wave. “Hi, Ms. Daughton.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Focus on my daughter. I’m just here for the show.”
“Same. Got any popcorn?” Paul called out as he came closer.
“I didn’t know you were coming, too. What a surprise.” Mom was smiling despite how sarcastic she sounded. “Let yourself in. There’s a bag of chips on the counter.”
“Mom!”
