Excuses aside, here's the next section. The song featured is "Penguin" by Christina Perri. Again, I own nothing, I'm just inspired by it. When the song comes up in the story, I encourage you to click the link and listen to the song as it's being sung to get the full effect of it.
Thank you for reading! Any and all comments are much appreciated!
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Night three.
I’ve dated people before; I’m no newbie to relationships. Most of the guys I’ve dated have been great for the first couple of weeks or months and then have either cheated, gotten pissed cause I didn’t want to have sex with them, gotten bored, or gave up for some other stupid male reason.
I wasn’t expecting Hunter to be anything real special. I mean, he’s a nice guy and he’s really fun to be around, but that’s the case with a lot of guys. However, as we began to hang out and get to know each other better, I began to think that there might be something kind of special here.
I told him about my shitty past relationships and he cared and said he was sorry. He promised he would never do anything like that to me. He told me about his own shitty past relationships. He hadn’t had as many as I had but his last breakup was pretty brutal. This girl had cheated on him for months and he walked in on them. I felt bad. At least I never had to see someone cheating on me.
He didn’t pressure me to do anything, he seemed perfectly happy and content listening to me play piano for hours, and we never ran out of things to talk about. For once it seemed like I had found someone who got it. I’ve told plenty of exes about the douche-bags that came before them but none of them could really relate the same way Hunter did. Things felt different this time and I really liked it. The more time that went on, the more I realized that I think I’m in love with this guy.
I hadn’t played at open mic night in over a month, a personal record for me. It wasn’t for any real reason; I just didn’t have much to say. Alex was a novelty at this point. I don’t care about him. I don’t care that he doesn’t care about me.
Tonight I had something to say. I’m going to sing a song for Hunter.
I’ll admit it’s a little corny and a little mushy for my usual standards, but it feels right to me and I know he’ll absolutely love it.
Hunter and I grabbed my usual table and Estella joined us within a couple of minutes. She was simply ecstatic when I told her about Hunter and me and had quickly grown used to seeing us together. She got along with Hunter great.
“Welcome to open mic night,” Lewis said, “like usual we’ve got a great show tonight and some really great people performing. Up first is Sonya Stormwood.”
Sonya plays violin, guitar, and sings. She plays here about once a month and I always really enjoy her set. Tonight she was playing violin.
“When do you play?” Hunter asked me.
“Like fifth.”
“I’m so excited, you haven’t played here in so long,” he smiled.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Who are you singing for?”
“A surprise.”
There were two bands after Sonya, one was good, one wasn’t that great, then I left to warm up. I’ve never questioned whether or not I should sing a song this much this close to when I’m going to go onstage. I’m sort of going out on a limb here. I’m going to tell Hunter that I love him. Neither of us have said that yet. I hate telling people I love them. It’s terrifying. It makes you so emotionally vulnerable.
Screw it. I’ve been in love before but this just feels better than those other times. I love him. I’m singing this song. I’m telling him. End of story.
“Hey guys, it’s been a little while,” I said after I got onstage. “I finally have something worth saying,” I smiled. “This may be a little out of character for me and a little corny but whatever, hope you guys like it. This is “Penguin” by Christina Perri.”
“Can you find the time
to let your lover love you
He only wants to show you,
the things he wants to learn too
The hardest parts you'll get through
And in the end you'll have your best friend”
One I started, the nerves washed away. It was easy. Strum a chord here, change chords there, sing the words, and don’t look for Hunter in the crowd. I usually don’t mind trying to make eye contact with people as I sing, but in this case, I feel like seeing Hunter would make me lose all of my nerve. What if he doesn’t like it?
Love like this may come once
Baby it's fate like a soul mate
He's your penguin
Baby it's fate
Baby it's fate not luck
….
Love like this is all I want
Baby we're fate
Love like this may come once
Baby we're fate like a soul mate
You're my penguin
Baby we're fate
Baby it's fate not luck”
“Thanks guys,” I said after playing the final chord. I walked backstage and took a deep breath. No going back now.
Right as I was going to leave and go find Hunter, he joined me backstage. “Hey,” he had a huge grin on his face. “You sounded awesome.”
“Thanks, it wasn’t too corny right?”
“No it was great. Are you going to tell me who it was for now?”
“Oh right! It was for Estella, do you think she liked it?” I was joking, I hope he got that.
“Yeah, she looked really into it,” he smiled, calling my bluff.
“Oh good. Well you know I don’t like games so I’ll just cut right to the chase. It was for you obviously. I love you,” I shrugged.
Hunter grabbed my head in his hands and kissed me full on the mouth. “You are amazing. I love you too Jennalee.”
