Room Five, Karaoke time! (Tag Misfits & friends) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Gia Donovan

May 02, 2016 5:39 PM

Room Five, Karaoke time! (Tag Misfits & friends) by Gia Donovan

Gia had sent out handmade invitations to her friends the day after the Opening Feast. The invitations were a plum purple with hand drawn figurines of two people that were charmed to move (something that she had learned previously in class, but needed refresher but had her book handy), not very well drawn, but enough to know that they were holding their wands to their throat and presumably singing. Above the people in bright silver glittery letters was ‘Invitation to’ and beneath the people were more glittery letters (though of various colors instead of just silver) that read ‘KARAOKE PARTY’. On the other side of the invite was the required information, First Saturday after the Opening Feast, please meet me in the MARS Music Room for Karaoke after dinner at seven. Dessert and refreshments will be available. Be prepared to have fun and a sore throat in the morning!. At the very bottom of the invitation, Gia made a note saying that they were more than welcomed to bring other friends if that was what they liked.

Gia had been looking forward to setting this up ever since the bonfire the year before. She would be terribly disappointed if her friends didn’t come for whatever reason it might have been (her only acceptable excuse being illness). She knew that this was going to be a busy year for some people, possibly even for her now that she was taking an extra class and joining any clubs that peaked her interest. She felt that if she had this gathering earlier in the semester before anything became too heavy for people, everyone would be able to be available. Plus, she thought this was a fantastic way of getting back together, catching up, and spending time together. She really hoped no one brought anyone who was against having fun or singing because that would just be terrible.

She wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt and believe that everyone was nice and enjoyed being around others, but there were people who just weren’t like that, namely, Barnaby Pye. She was sure he never laughed a day in his life. As much as she found him nice to look at, she didn’t think she could ever date someone who was so serious all the time. It didn’t help that Jax wanted little, if anything, to do with him.

Gia went down to the MARS room earlier than the invitation said in order to make sure no one was going to try to steal the room, plus she wanted to help the elves set up the refreshment table. The room was perfect. She had never been karaoking, but she had read about people doing it in some of her books. The room was exactly how she pictured it, and she was aware that was the magic of the room, but it translating wonderfully in person. The candles were dimmed low to give it some atmosphere. There was a glass ball hanging from the ceiling that created different colors of light bouncing from wall to wall. There was a small stage in the middle of the room, with booth style seating in front of it. There were stands on the stage with lyrics to songs and a wizard wireless off to the side that changed songs whenever you tapped it with your wand.

Now all she had to do was sit and wait for people to show up. She should have made Jax come with her to make sure he didn’t back out of it, but he had seemed interested in seeing everyone, so she was trusting him to come on his own. Along with everyone else in their group of misfits. The main group that she sent invites too had been her brother, Sammy, Laila, Peizhi, Chuck, and Joella (whom Gia was liking more and more each time they had a conversation). And of course, anyone they brought along for the fun. Now that she had time to reflect on everything, Gia hoped Peizhi would come. She was such a quiet girl that she might not feel comfortable, but Gia hadn’t spent any time with her friend and Gia really hoped she would come for that reason alone.

She sat on stage while she waited. She had worn a light purple floral dress and sandals. Her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. Her makeup was much like it had been for the Opening feast. Effective enough to make her feel pretty, but not overbearing for her facial features. She hummed quietly to herself to pass the time. Thankfully, Gia didn’t have to wait long after seven came along. The door to the room opened and she saw her brother enter along with some others. Smiling brightly, Gia greeted everyone with a hug. “Who would like to sing first?” She called out.

6 Gia Donovan Room Five, Karaoke time! (Tag Misfits & friends) 308 Gia Donovan 1 5

Sammy Meeks

May 03, 2016 5:58 AM

YAAAASSSS by Sammy Meeks

Sammy’s first thought upon receiving an invitation to the karaoke party was, Aw, that’s cute! Look at the little moving guys! Her second thought was, This is gonna be GREAT! She’d never done karaoke, but she’d always seen it on TV, and it seemed like the most awesome, amazing thing, especially for a cool group of buds like hers. A total sitcom moment, and Sammy loved sitcom moments.

She was so excited about it that she barely made it through the week; she just wanted it to be Saturday already! And the morning of, she woke up in such an immediately chipper mood that she was pretty sure she accidently woke Gia up. “Sorry,” she’d murmured nervously as she slid out the door, hurrying down to the Common Room where she could make more noise and in her haste forgetting to get dressed. (But luckily, Sammy didn’t sleep in any sort of revealing pajamas, just a baggy t-shirt and athletic shorts.)

When it was deemed safe (or at least more considerate) to return, she put on a different baggy shirt and athletic shorts (and a bra, that part was important, less for the social convention, which she didn’t care about, and more for her own comfort, as the girls were growing and uncomfortable to free-boob for any extended amount of time), as well as grabbing some socks--the fuzzy kind, aka the best kind--and sneakers. Then the brunette grabbed her backpack and headed out into the world, just looking to kill time until 7:00pm.

When the time finally came to head to MARS, she spied Jax on his way, so she called for him to wait up, sprinting to make up the distance. She followed him into the room, a grin spreading across her face when she saw Gia waiting for them. “You look so cute!” Sammy beamed as she accepted the offered hug.

“Thanks to the uncountable hours of TV I’ve watched, I’d say I’m the karaoke expert, so I’ll go first!” Sammy announced. “But I wanna do a duet, so who wants to go with me? I’ll be honest with you, I’m not a great singer, but what I am is fun, so who’s gonna copilot this thing with me?”

12 Sammy Meeks YAAAASSSS 310 Sammy Meeks 0 5

Joella Curtis

May 04, 2016 5:18 PM

Let's do this thang! by Joella Curtis

Joella had been thrilled to receive an invitation to Gia’s karaoke party. First of all, what an awesome idea! Secondly, how lovely of Gia to include her. She was feeling very excited by the time she was making her way back to MARS from her dormitory after having been there just earlier in the sports room. She’d never actually done karaoke before but she knew what it was and didn’t envisage it being so radically different from some of the late night entertainment at the Curtis farm, although minus the guitars and add in some funky lighting.

She rocked up to the music room only a couple of minutes late, dressed in a black velvet playsuit and simple black strap heels. Playsuits were one of Joella’s favourite fashion inventions of all time and she much preferred them to dresses, although the latter she unfortunately had to wear much more. The fifteen year old wasn’t entirely sure what one was supposed to wear to karaokes but she didn’t think it would matter too much. She’d picked her usual preferred make-up style of long dark lashes and nude lipstick but added in some subtle glitter eye shadow in place of her regular even-subtler pale pink. She’d accessorized her dark outfit with a thin gold-fronted belt and some gold bangles.

“Hi!” Joella grinned enthusiastically when she entered, returning Gia’s hug and then stepping back to admire the fourth year’s outfit. “Girl, you look gorgeous,” she smiled, speaking in a jokey manner but completely meaning the compliment as always whilst knowing it was a nice gesture too. Her eyes scanned around the room, checking out the fab set-up. Her fellow Pecari had clearly put a lot of effort into the evening. “I love what you've done with the room, Gia. It’s such a cool idea, having a karaoke - thanks for the invite by the way.”

Her eyes fell on the refreshments table, her stomach feeling rather empty. The Pecari knew she should have had a more adequate meal earlier but she had only stopped for a briefest of brief dinners in Cascade Hall before hurrying on to fit in a workout before getting ready for the karaoke. “Hey you don’t mind if I grab something from the dessert table?” Joella knew the food was obviously there to be eaten but she felt it politer to ask first, even if she didn’t actually hang around for a response. She swiftly moved over to the table and swiped a cupcake - probably not the best solution for a hungry stomach but better than starving.

Next thing she knew Gia was asking wanted to go first. Joella was keen to do so, feeling confident amongst the group even though she didn’t know everyone. However, pausing to clear her mouth of cake allowed for Sammy Meeks to get in there first but Joella didn’t mind that in the slightest. She chuckled as her Quidditch teammate pronounced herself the ‘karaoke expert’ and jumped at the chance of joining her. It was funny how Joella felt she was much better friends with Gia than her roommate Sammy, since Sammy was on the Quidditch team and all, but she figured now was as good an opportunity as ever to get to know the Beater off the pitch.

“Ooh me!” Joella piped up, rather sheepishly finishing off the remains of her cupcake before joining Sammy up on the small stage. “You may do the honours,” she grinned at the fourth year, indicating for Sammy to tap the wireless so their song would start up.

8 Joella Curtis Let's do this thang! 295 Joella Curtis 0 5

Jax Donovan

May 10, 2016 10:33 PM

You all go ahead now. by Jax Donovan

Jax stepped out of the way as people began to file into the MARS room after he had Sammy entered. He had thought about skipping out on this whole event since he wasn’t going to be joining in on the actual Karaoke part of the party, but he knew that Gia would be upset with him and there was a good chance that Sammy and Laila would back her up on that sentiment so he thought his safest bet was to just show up and be there. It really was the lesser of two evils.

He stood back and watched as the girls all greeted each other and was amused that they always complimented each other on their looks. Sammy looked the same to him, very boyish in style, but Joella definitely kicked it up a notch and Jax had noticed. Not that it really meant anything for him, but it was another pretty girl that he was now aware of. But he watched the exchange between them anyway and noted the look of delight on his sister’s face at the compliments. Over the summer she had worked very hard at creating new outfits for herself. Their mom had purchased new patterns and Gia had picked up different style outlines to use while she cut and sewed her dresses and skirts. She had mentioned wanting a more mature look and it apparently paid off for her. His clothes were easy. Usually it was just adjusting the length of his jeans, fixing any holes or worn out spots, and getting t-shirts. His dad’s old leather jacket (that he was currently sporting and would also sport whenever he wasn’t wearing his school robes) was the end result to that look. But all of this was also done by Gia, taught to her by their mother.

Jax was well aware of how much Gia did for the family. She did most of the cooking, learning several recipes and attempting both American cuisine as well as Greek cuisine, she did most of the cleaning, and she did all of the sewing. So when people complimented her on the work she did (most unaware of the fact that her clothes were hand sewn), he knew that it made her feel positive about herself and her abilities.

He took a seat at the booth that was in front of the stage and waited until it was decided who would want to go first. It really wasn’t any surprise that Sammy was the first to volunteer. He also wasn’t very surprised to find that Peizhi had yet to make an appearance. Of all of them, she was the shyest. Jax was quiet, but that was because he chose not to talk. He did talk though. Sometimes he wasn’t sure Peizhi knew how to. There was a chance that she may show up later, but he doubted it. Lucky girl.

Gia sat down beside him as Sammy and Joella took the stage to begin the evening festivities. Jax had to give it to his sister, not many people would have chosen this to be an evening with friends, but with their group, it was probably the most fitting thing to have chosen. For them, not him. He would have preferred a study session in the library, but he highly doubted any of the Pecari group would have liked that idea very much.

6 Jax Donovan You all go ahead now. 296 Jax Donovan 0 5

Laila Kennedy

May 11, 2016 2:33 PM

And let me know when I can join in! by Laila Kennedy

Laila was out of breathe when she arrived at karaoke late enough that Sammy and Joella had already kicked off the event. It had all started earlier that afternoon when she was in the library, studying with Tobi Reinhardt. She had found that she quite enjoyed the company of the older Reinhardt brother, he being much calmer and easier to get along with than his more fiesty younger brother with whom Laila had been in class with since kindergarten. Besides, Tobi always had nice things to say to her, he never picked fights like Arne did, and he was rather nice to look at as well. Plus he had already taken all the courses she was in so he was able to offer her helpful tips. They didn’t study together often since they were in different levels, but occasionally they happened upon each other in the library when each had come there for solitary study time and ended up sharing a table so that they could have at least some companionable silence.

Usually she ate dinner at seven, but since Gia had invited her to the karaoke party at seven, she had decided that she would leave studying early and head to dinner when Cascade Hall first opened at five o’clock. However, as usually when it came to interacting with a Reinhardt, her plans came unravelled. As it appeared, Tobi had found out there was to be an Intermediate Herbology class, and so instead of leaving the library at four thirty like Laila had originally planned, she and Tobi ended up getting into a whispered conversation about the new subject that he was only going to have one year of. By the time they were winding down from the rather interesting discussion that had moved from plant theory to Care of Magical Creatures to the forest-y areas around Turner’s Point and how each of them enjoyed spending time hiking there (with her brother in Laila’s case and alone or with his sister in Tobi’s), it was already six o’clock and Laila knew she would have to move fast if she was going to drop off her books and bag before going to dinner. She regretfully said goodbye to Tobi, offering for him to join her and her friends at their karaoke party even though she knew the quiet fifth year would say no, and headed down to the Crotalus Common Room.

Where, of course, she was accosted by an irritated Arne Reinhardt who demanded to know why she was trying to steal his brother from him. To which she had responded that she was never trying to do such a thing and if he was really that insecure about his relationship with his older brother perhaps he should spend less time scowling to himself in a corner and doing his best to make everyone around him angry and hate him and actually try to get on with Tobi for a change. To which he had asked when Tobi became ‘Tobi’ to her and they had quickly regressed to trading rather immature insults until Laila realized that she was actually going to be late for Gia’s party and she and stuck her tongue out at Arne and flounced off to Cascade Hall to try and eat something before the party so she didn’t fill up on sweets, purposely not inviting him to karaoke though she heavily hinted that she had invited Tobi.

In Cascade Hall, she had managed to scarf down a piece of grilled chicken and a small salad of mixed greens before deciding it was best she get moving and so she buttered a roll and left, eating the sweet bread as she made her way to the MARS room, wishing she had thought to at least put on some pants and a nice shirt before going since she was still in the shorts and sweater she had put on that morning for school. When Laila arrived, she grabbed a drink and a cookie and quietly slide into the booth that Gia and Jax were sitting in, whispering a hello to each of them and apologising to Gia for her tardiness, blaming it on ‘stupid boys’.

“How long have you guys been singing for?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t missed too much of the fun.

10 Laila Kennedy And let me know when I can join in! 318 Laila Kennedy 0 5

Chuck Fintoc

May 25, 2016 12:08 PM

I take it you're next. by Chuck Fintoc

Chuck had been glad to receive an invitation to Gia’s karaoke party. He had enjoyed hanging out with Gia and her friends at the bonfire the previous term and wanted to continue his friendship with that group. The fourth year had noted that he was welcome to bring friends and he had briefly considered bringing along Emmy-Lou who would totally love this kind of thing. However, he had opted for not to mentioning it to his step-sister in the end, uncharacteristically for purely selfish reasons that he felt rather guilty about.

Chuck had never been to a karaoke before so was pretty impressed by what he saw when he entered the music room not too late.He was greeted by a hug from the hostess herself, which he returned accompanied with a thank you for the invitation. It didn’t escape his notice that she looked very lovely in her dress but, unlike a couple of the girls, he did not voice this observation.
Chuck himself had put on a clean plaid shirt for the occasion, paired with the blue jeans he’d been wearing that day, the outcome of which being that he looked the same as he always looked but he was comfortable with that.

He greeted the other members of the group who had arrived before him, his smile friendly as ever. The large redhead was pleasantly surprised to see Joella amongst them, but the rest he had presumed would be there.

Chuck grinned as Sammy and Joella took to the stage to kickstart the karaoke evening, slipping into the booth with the Donovan siblings. In all honesty, he couldn’t picture Jax singing or just doing anything silly in general. Chuck didn’t dislike the reserved Aladren by any means, but he did find his yearmate a little hard to reach. Hopefully the more he hung out with Gia’s friendship group, the more he’d get the chance to know her brother better.

“Not long; Sammy and Joella are the first singers,” Chuck responded to Laila’s question when she made an appearance. “You eager to get up there?” he grinned.

8 Chuck Fintoc I take it you're next. 309 Chuck Fintoc 0 5

Sammy

June 03, 2016 3:39 AM

NEXT you say? by Sammy

Admittedly, Sammy kinda always wore a dopey grin (partially because she liked smiling and partially because she didn’t consider herself very bright, so any smile of hers was sorta dopey). Still, that normally semi-dopey thing grew irresistibly with the exclamation of “Ooh, me!” A duet partner! Sammy didn’t think she’d ever sung a duet before, except sometimes when she sang in the car and one of her moms would join in, but that didn’t really count. Actually having somebody pipe up and want to sing with her made her a little bit… nervous.

Especially somebody like Joella Curtis. Sammy didn’t know her all that well, but she had never seen anything she didn’t like about her. Joella was amazing on the Pitch and surely just as great off. She was talented and smart and beautiful, ~~and Sammy maybe had some less-than-strictly-platonic feelings about the girl floating around in her head~~. So yeah, Sammy really wanted to be better friends with her.

No pressure.

She went over and tapped the wizard wireless to start their song while the rest of the small crowd talked. Sammy didn’t know if the machine was Super Ultra Magic enough to read her mind, but either way, it picked the perfect song, just the one she wanted.

“Don’t go breakin’ my heart,” Sammy started, assuming the guy part. She generally preferred doing the dude’s part in most songs anyway (why were all the popular ones guy-girl anyway? That was dumb), plus she was so dang eager that she didn’t think she could physically contain herself long enough to wait to be the second voice anyway. “Oh honey if I get restless…”

As she had promised, the fourth year was not super particularly talented; she was an alto of moderate talent, not too unpleasant but clearly untrained. General confidence (or at least acceptance of the facts) did a lot to make it more enjoyable for listeners, but it was still very clear that she needed a lot of work before she’d be up to par with getting anything substantial in musical theater, even hypothetically.

She did her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach while performing with Joella, and soon enough--too soon, honestly--their song was done. “Yeah! Nice!” she cheered, offering a high-five to her duet partner. “Okay, so who wants to go next?” she asked eagerly, glancing between the others. So far it seemed to just be Gia, Jax, Laila, and Chuck.

12 Sammy NEXT you say? 310 Sammy 0 5

Joella

June 13, 2016 5:28 AM

That was fun! by Joella

Music meant a lot to Joella and it was a fundamental part of her background and family. It was deeply rooted within her upbringing and she’d always been surrounded by a lot of musical talent. She considered herself pretty well informed on the topic of music and having a celebrity sister in the industry did help her keep up-to-date with all the latest songs and artists. Therefore, Joella was rather surprised that the song Sammy picked out was not at all familiar. Only then did she remind herself that Sammy was a muggleborn so it was likely that she’d selected a muggle song.

For a brief moment, the fifth year found herself wondering what her parents would think if they knew this was the sort of thing she got up to at school - singing muggle songs at a karaoke with no potential connections present (Chuck didn’t count because the Curtises and Fintocs already did a lot of business together). Joella was lucky in that her parents were rather liberal in comparison to many others of such status, but she was still aware that without their reputation they would have much less of an impact on the world. She was very proud of her father and all the selfless good he did for other people, including a number of target groups that much of society types like him tended to disregard.

Joella didn’t bother to dwell on any of this, however, and continued smiling cheerfully. She was here to have fun and fun she would have! She tried to get a feel for the tune as Sammy sang the first line and then sang “I couldn’t if I tried” in response, reading off the sheet music. It was a fun and upbeat song that seemed to work really nicely for a duet. Joella shot her duet partner a grin, hoping she was doing the song at least a little justice. She was a fairly decent singer, with a good ear for music and a tuneful voice, but not so much that people would necessarily recognise her as being talented, and she certainly did not compare to Rolene.

When they got to the part of the chorus where they sang together, Joella had relaxed into the song and began to feel more confident about the new tune. She slung an arm around Sammy’s shoulders for this part, getting into the spirit of karaoke. By the end of their song, the prefect was singing more confidently and loudly, not that she had started off remotely shy, and tried her best not to laugh too much at points - which was particularly difficult whenever she made eye contact with her duet partner and thought how fantastically silly this was. Always keen for livening things up, Joella couldn’t resist involving a bit of goofy arm swinging and leg kicking to the rhythm of the music.

It was rather a shame when the song was over and Joella would’ve rather liked to go on and do another, perhaps of her own choosing this time, but it was only fair to give others a go. Joella grinned and high-fived Sammy when the other girl raised her palm. “I think we’ve set the bar pretty high,” she commented to Sammy and the rest of the group teasingly. “Let’s see how you guys top that.”

Whilst the others figured out who wanted to go next, Joella hopped off the stage and headed over to the refreshments table again. She still had an empty stomach that needed filling and was now also rather desiring a drink.

8 Joella That was fun! 295 Joella 0 5

Gia

June 16, 2016 8:45 PM

It was fun! And now someone else! by Gia

Gia thanked everyone for their compliments, returning them to her friends. She was rather pleased that anyone had even took notice of her appearance. Gia had worked very hard on her new style of dresses. Since their income was rather limited, the majority of her outfits (which consisted of dresses and a handful of blouses and skirts) were handmade. Occasionally, when her mother received a bonus or a large cash tip, they were taken out shopping, but neither she nor Jax asked for much. Jax only asked for new clothes when Gia’s alterations were no longer effective due to his constant growing. It felt good knowing that at least her sewing wasn’t horrendous and they seemed to like her outfit.

Almost immediately, Sammy volunteered to go first. Gia was going to volunteer to partner with her, but Joella beat her to the punch. Not missing a beat, Gia cheered them on as she took her seat in the large half-moon booth in front of the stage. She managed to sit next to Jax and as Chuck slid in next to her, she missed seeing Laila on Jax’s other side until she spoke. Gia looked around, hoping to also see Peizhi with her. Not seeing their quiet friend anywhere, Gia was a bit disheartened. She hadn’t really seen much of Peizhi lately and Gia wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Focusing on Laila, Gia gave her a smile and shook her head while Chuck responded to her question. Gia wasn’t really sure what ‘boys’ Laila had been referring to, but since the first day back to Sonora, Gia had a feeling that Laila and Arne Reinhardt had more going on between them than what Laila was admitting to.

Her attention turned to Sammy and Joella as they began to perform. She laughed, clapped, and danced along with their performance. Gia was not totally familiar with the song, but she typically only listened to music from Greece. Occasionally, if a song was popular enough world wide, an English speaking song would make it onto the Greek station. However, since she sent out the invitations out, she had attempted to learn some more popular English songs that would bring in energy.

Gia loved to sing, mostly in her native tongue since he felt far more natural to her, but she could sing in English too. She didn’t have any formal training, but her voice had a natural pleasant sound to it as she sang, making it sound like she knew what she was doing. Her love for singing had her crawling under the table (to avoid making anyone move for her) to get to the stage. “I’ll go next!” Gia exclaimed, stepping up onto the stage. “Please excuse me if I mess up. I usually only listen to Greek music.” She said as a disclaimer as she tapped the wireless and her song choice came on. This song was slightly complicated simply because there was fast ‘talking’ singing going on, but the beat always made her want to dance.

“Somebody save your soul cause you've been sinning in the city I know” Gia began in the fast past. Singing with the music for the first verse, getting to the main part “Cause you don't even know,I can make your hands clap. Said I can make your hands clap” Gia clapped her hands with the music and indicated for her friends to do the same. When the chorus came around, Gia gave it her all showing off her voice, “Every night when the stars come out. Am I the only living soul around? Need to believe you could hold me down. Cause I'm in need of something good right now.” She kept going with the song, jumping around and clapping while she sang. She was hoping that the performance really got everyone excited. She ended the song and stood panting for a moment on stage. “Neeeext.” She shouted with a giggle.

OOC: The song is ‘I Can Make Your Hands Clap’ by Fitz and the Tantrums. Here is their video for your reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2V6yjjPbX0

6 Gia It was fun! And now someone else! 308 Gia 0 5

Barnaby Pye and Nevaeh Reed

June 26, 2016 4:31 AM

...Your friendship is the best present ever. by Barnaby Pye and Nevaeh Reed

As prearranged, Barnaby waited for Nevaeh in the Aladren common room and they walked down to dinner together. Afterwards they walked over to the MARS room together. And this is where our story starts…

“Ready to go in?” Barnaby asked his little friend.

If someone had asked him last year, just before starting his third year at Sonora, if he was about to be willingly walking into a karaoke party, he probably would have laughed at them. But then he had met Nevaeh and against all odds the strange blind girl had wormed her way into his good graces. He would never willingly admit this, but he cared for her on a level different from the other people who surrounded him. Perhaps part of him (a very small part of him to be sure) actually wanted to take her to karaoke and have a good time, but that was a part so small that it would probably never emerge even if under threat of Veritaserum and, should someone decide to use that particular potion on him and ask after such a specific question, he’d probably have denied his very truthful answer until his dying breath.

Nevaeh would not have predicted a day like this either, but for vastly different reasons. Here she was, a plucky but otherwise unremarkable (personality-wise, at least--requiring and having a service animal made her fairly noticeable in general) second year going to a primarily fourth-year party. She felt like the queen of the world and wondered what her parents back home would say about it in their next letter, after she relayed every single wonderful detail to them. Admittedly, she supposed she could have wondered what her parent here would say, but she didn’t feel close enough to the woman to feel inclined to share all the details of her social life.

“Yeah,” beamed the young girl. “I’m ready. How about you, Scout?” Her German Shepard gave a chipper bark in response. “He’s all good, too. Let’s go!”

Barnaby held out his arm to Nevaeh in a comically gentlewizard-like manner and they entered the arena. To be fair, he wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting when he showed up to crash the karaoke party, but he supposed that once he got there, things failed to meet his non-existent expectations. Except for one thing. One of the Donovans was singing when Barnaby and Nevaeh entered and it did not disappoint.

It was a fast paced song, and Gia was jumping around onstage like a maniac chocolate frog and clapping her hands a bit like an idiot and Barnaby couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong with her. It was the strange sort of music that he supposed his mom and her ridiculous friends listened to when they went out on the town. As she finished, Barnaby began to clap for her himself in a slow way that made sure the room would acknowledge both his and Nevaeh’s arrival.

“I suppose Nevaeh and I can go?” Barnaby said, stepping into the room fully with both Nevaeh and Scout. He turned to the younger witch with a generous smile which, though she couldn’t see, would be reflected in the tone of his voice and which would simultaneously probably give the Donovans and Co. a heart attack. Double win. “Would you like to pick the song?”

Nevaeh scrambled nervously over to the music system, leaving Barnaby amongst the group of previously assembled friends. “That is,” he continued quietly so that he would not ruin Nevaeh’s opinion of him. “Unless it’s too crowded in which case we can just leave but...” he trailed off to look at Nevaeh who had already started to make her way over to the stage. “I think Nevaeh is really excited about singing.”

10 Barnaby Pye and Nevaeh Reed ...Your friendship is the best present ever. 298 Barnaby Pye and Nevaeh Reed 0 5