Everybody's Got Somebody but Me

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Felix's words had Erika's smile faltering, but she was quick at plastering another one on. She didn't want him to feel like talking about this stuff was uncomfortable, or even slightly awkward, even if it was. She simply wanted them to go back to how they had been before, ''Yeah, I agree with you. It's pretty rare, you know? Seeing two people like that,'' she said nodding towards the couple on the stage. ''But it is what it is, and I'm sure they will figure everything out in due time,'' she said, nodding as if she was trying to convince the both of them.

''Ah, so nothing juicy? Well, that's boring,'' Erika laughed. She was sure there had been something else, but it wasn't like she was going to pry or force him into telling her, just like she wouldn't tell him about her conversation with Liz, she couldn't expect him to tell her about his with Beau. It was simple as that.

Now, as the song started playing and the lyrics filled the room, Erika couldn't help but to frown. She felt herself sink further down into the seat, and truth be told, she wanted to hide away. It was the worst song possible, and it only heightened the already awkward atmosphere. Surely, the brunette could have twisted the situation into making a comment about how the song fit the pair on stage, but when she realized this, it was already too late.

Exhaling, Erika kept her gaze forward, on the pair on the stage. Not for a second did she dare to gaze towards her best friend. She didn't even want to know if he was looking at her. Instead, she wanted to pretend like the song had absolutely no effect, and as the crowd started applauding, the telekinetic let a sigh of relief escape her lips as she too lifted her hands in the air and applauded.

[Felix Nicholas]

How Felix wished that everything could go back the way it was... He missed the days when there was no awkwardness between them, when they could truly act themselves instead of tripping over words and holding back when both seemed to have so much to say. Felix certainly knew he did... Not that it was always awkward, but in a sense that made it worse; they could be being just as they always had been when suddenly a moment would occur that would bring all those feelings hurtling back with renewed vigour. He took Erika's save of the conversation gratefully, nodding towards the pair as they sang.

Everything seemed to be edging away a little from the slight awkwardness between them, at least until Beau began to sing... And at once a heavy weight sank in Felix's stomach. He nervously ran his hand through his hair, avoiding looking in Erika's direction as the butterflies once again took to flight in his belly. Should he say something? Make some joke about how the song perfectly fitted th pair on stage? He wanted to... He wanted to say anything to attempt to break the silence between them but the words were caught in a tangle in his throat. He concentrated on the stage, trying to make it seem as though he hadn't noticed the relevance of the lyrics in comparison to their own situation. What else could he do? He was thankful for the dull lighting of the club, which hopefully hid the warmth in his cheeks.

As the song came ot an end, Felix took the opportunity to clap loudly, putting two fingers in his mouth and whistling, trying to make it seem as though he had been simply captivated by the performance rather then being a mass of feelings and emotions.
"Weren't they fantastic?!" He spoke with enthusiasm, risking turning his gaze to Erika. "They're perfect for my radio show. Do you think they'd perform for the Academy Radio if I ask politely and bat my eyelashes?"

[Beau LaRoux]

Staring; Liz had totally noticed his staring. Damn. Damn, and double-damn; Beau was better than this. he swallowed, licking his lips, realizing that Liz had taken over, demonstrating that she, too could work a crowd and certainly didn't need to depend upon her charming country partner to do all the talking and performing for her. Beau managed to turn and wave to the crowd, making a quick joke: "Jus' got caught up in the song was all."

Such a lie. An obvious one at that. Or perhaps one of those attempts at lying that sounded so much like the truth that nobody really knew the difference. Beau rose, adjusting his guitar and reaching to take Liz's hand. He raised his hand, glad that a little more regular applause had started. This was a short set, to be sure, but they'd both be on a little later. They'd booked a few acts for tonight, what with the whole couples thing (which again: Beau had definitely not known about before coming, or he definitely wouldn't have invited Liz, let alone everyone else).

still keeping Liz's hand in his, Beau headed off the stage, feeling like a drink was good about now. He almost wished he could drink something stronger than the Pepsi he had waiting for him, but he somehow doubted that he could manage it. He always made sure that the bartenders knew he was too young to drink every time he went in one to perform. "Sorry 'bout that," he said to Liz, making sure to speak soft enough only she heard. He gave her hand a squeeze, still not wanting to let go till they were back at the table. "Jus' spaced out or somethin'," yet another lie. "We should make sure that Erika an' Felix ain't wonderin' if I lost my mind."

At least that was probably true. Beau tried to work them back to the table, hoping that maybe they could just talk with the other two and forget his little mistake up there. And that maybe being with another pair of friends would help Beau remember what he and Liz actually were.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Elizabeth wasn't completely convinced of Beau's sudden freezing but she let it go and let him whisk them off stage for the moment. She kept glancing over to him as they walked over to the table Erika and Felix were guarding, unaware that someone else had gone on stage in lieu of them.

The hand squeeze had her looking up at Beau and shaking her head in reassurance. "Don't mention it. Happens to the best of us." She recited, giving his hand a squeeze in return. She laughed and nodded at his suggestion as they neared the table.

Once they were at the table, Elizabeth naturally went straight to Erika, recognising her as a familiar anchor. Though she did offer Felix a wide smile as she sat down, unwittingly still holding on to Beau's hand.

"So how was the set? Did you guys enjoy it?" She asked, bumping slightly against Erika's shoulder.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

''Oh, I'm sure they would love that,'' offered Erika in Felix's general direction. Swallowing the awkward sensation, the brunette took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. There was no need to make one song ruin everything, and they had no reason to feel awkward about it. What had happened, had happened, and there was nothing they could do about besides cope. ''Here they come, so I guess this is your chance to ask,'' she mused as she looked up, finding Beau and Liz venturing towards the table.

Pulling her arms around the blonde's shoulder, Erika cooed, ''You were amazing, and Beau -- It might not have been part of the plan, but the freeze just made it seem all the more romantic, so don't sweat it, yeah?'' she said, offering the pair a grin before again turning her attention to Liz; ''Oh and Felix was totally fangirling,'' nodding towards her bestie, Erika chuckled as she let her arms drop again.

There, maybe that was enough for him to bring the topic of his radio onto the playing field. She really thought they would do just amazing there as they could on the stage. They had that kind of natural attraction that made them the perfect duo, and if only they could realize their feelings for one another... Well, it wasn't her place to comment, or meddle.

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix noticed Erika's lack of eye contact, his heart immediately sinking at this simple lack of body language. He shouldn't think on it, he really shouldn't; But he simply couldn't help finding the obvious fact that she too had noticed the awkwardness caused by the song's lyrics, and due to it had avoided looking in his direction, a little deflating. His grin faded, and he sighed softly, before immediately hiding behind a falsely strung up grin over his lips as the two performers approached.
"Hey, it added the perfect atmosphere," He spoke in addition to Erika's comments regarding Beau's stage freeze. "Those songs were amazing, though. Seriously." He nodded towards his best friend when she added how he'd been "fangirling". "And why not? They were worth fangrling over... In fact!" He threw an arm around Beau's shoulders, leaning in closer to the pair as though he was going to tell them something secretive. "I want the pair of you to perform on the Academy radio, as part of our focus on school based talent... You'll be live to the entire Academy. Well, to those tuned in... Which I think would be EVERYONE when word gets round about the pair of you."
Yes... At least discussing the radio was something he could easily be passionate about generally, so using it now to hide his uneasy feelings was the perfect mask, since it came to him so naturally. Part of him wished now that he'd not taken Erika up on her offer for a night out... Was it really fair of him to agree to it, knowing how things were between them at the moment? He'd only made things more awkward by coming out tonight... Granted, the main reason for the awkwardness was the bar's theme for the night. Perhaps once they left after Beau and Liz's last set things would return to some form of normality between him and Erika.

[Beau LaRoux]

At least Liz was willing to take the excuse and go with it, even giving Beau a little reassuring squeeze with the hand. It sent a little wave of relief through Beau, and he actually let out a little sigh, glad that there was a way of at least pretending like that hadn't been some strange mess-up. Their table worked for a sanctuary too, with Beau nodding and raising a hand toward Felix as well. Sure, the guy might be feeling a bit like the fourth wheel here or something, but Beau liked him well enough. Plus, Felix had brought the drinks over, which gave Beau something to stop his talking for a few seconds. He could legitimately suck on the Pepsi, since he did that frequently after shows to help his throat, and pretend like he wasn't worried about replacing his straw with his foot.

He, too, was interested in hearing how the others thought of the set, though he already expected them to just shower their friends with praise. Amazing, and playing off the pause like it was supposed to be romantic. Beau grinned at that, nodding. 'Totally the plan," he drawled, though his grin and the wink he gave Liz might have given him away. Felix piped up soon after, with Beau turning to face the friendly guy.

Fangirling, then an offer to play over the radio, a live set of some kind. Beau raised his brows and looked over at Liz. He'd done stuff like that before, and he knew he could manage well enough. "I'm game for it if you are," he said, shrugging a little. "Might get more people to realize that I'm more than jus' a pretty face. An' maybe they'll actually believe there's a Liz if you sing with me," he was referencing the various songs he'd written and performed for Liz, including "Liz's Song," which pretty much painted Beau's feelings quite well, though of course the two of them tactfully moved about that little detail.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Hearing both Erika and Felix's reassurance at Beau's freeze-up, Elizabeth could only nod at Beau. She responded to his wink with a smile, getting in on the joke. There had been something more than getting lost in the song and she wished she knew what it was.

Hearing that Felix wanted them on his radio show had Elizabeth staring at him for awhile in shock. "Really? You want us on your show? That would be totally awesome!" She nodded excitedly, looking at Beau, glad he was up for it as well. The idea that his show could reach a bigger demographic was exciting!

She couldn't help rolling her eyes in amusement at Beau's narcissistic response. It somehow relieved the pyrokinetic of the idea that the freeze up had anything to do with her. He was just that kind of guy. He wanted to sell his performance and that was all it was. He did it quite well, she had to admit.

"Just let me know when you need me. I'm free like...always." She grinned at Felix before turning to Erika with an excited look on her face. "God. I am thirsty. Is this mine?" She asked pointing to the glass in the middle of the table, looking at both Felix and Erika for confirmation.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Leaning back in her seat, the brunette was glad things had gotten less awkward and that they had successfully managed to turn the situation around. Of course, with great help from Felix and his undying love for the radio. Biting her lower lip, the brunette offered a smile every now and then in between sipping from her glass. She didn't have a whole lot of things to contribute with, and instead she remained silent.

At least she did until Liz turned her attention to her, ''Yeah, it is,'' Erika nodded and returned the girl's smile, ''And yeah, I think it would be wonderful for the two of you. Maybe you could score some new fans and bring more people to these things. Heck, maybe you'd even be able to use the auditorium or the gymnasium. Like, singing at prom and dances and stuff.'' And with Erika being on both committees, that could easily be solved too. But, she wasn't going to push it further than she had already. The option was tossed into the air and it was up to the pairing whether or not they wanted to grab it.

Running a hand through her hair, the brunette pursed her lips, ''How many songs do you guys have tonight anyways?''

[Felix Nicholas]

Thankfully the awkwardness seemed to have glossed over in terms of what was displayed publicly, but in terms of what was going on inside Felix Nicholas was quite the opposite. How could something so generally insignificant as an avoidance of a glance cause such emotional writhing within him? He was becoming more aware of how much of a poor choice to join Erika it had been, but he couldn't very well make his leave any time just yet. Of course he wanted to confront her about the issues between them, but how very good could he? Especially at the moment... It wouldn't be fair and certainly wouldn't be practical... And yet overall, deep down inside the tangled mess of feelings, Felix hoped that the final outcome would allow them both to remain friends.
He kept his pinned on forced grin, nodding. "I'd be really honoured to have you both feature," He replied, lightly tapping his fingertip on the rim of his glass. "The radio will be organising a school based musical talent event close to prom, so having you both as the headliner would certainly be something, especially after hearing how fantastic you are together." Although his grin and upbeat attitude was slightly falsified for the moment, his intrigue regarding the singing pair was genuine; The Academy radio was his baby, his pet project. Any excuse to further it's development and Felix was right on board... He just wished it had been under less awkward circumstances. He brought his glass to his lips as he cast Liz a nod of confirmation in regards to her drink, taking a sip of his own Pepsi.

[Beau LaRoux]

Liz's excitement made Beau's grow even fiercer, and it flared up within him in a way that probably wasn't entirely due to music; not that he'd ever admit as much in this particular company. He could practically feel her eye roll too, but that wouldn't stop him from nodding in agreement with the project as a whole. he'd love to get back on the radio, and if he managed to do so alongside Liz, so much the better.

Erika didn't leave it there though, and Beau chuckled, "Gettin' us all booked up for the next few months, are ya, Bellefonte?" he asked, adding a wink. "Can't say I mind all that much though. Beats fightin' for a spot in the local bar, an' I'm guessin' a Bellefonte can set it up. Don't know what you'd call us though. Beau an' Liz? Liz an' Beau?" he looked to Liz for a few moments there, more or less tossing the question over to his thirsty partner. He did figure he'd better answer Erika's last question though, since he wasn't entirely certain that Liz knew: "We're jus' doin' a few quick sets; got a lot of acts lined up an' all," he said, nodding. He wanted to add that he and Liz only had so many songs planned together. True, they could just straight up duet some of the songs they both knew, but Beau was never a fan of doing something like that.

Beau took a sip of his Pepsi, taking a moment to look around. Couples, couples everywhere, though with a few people looking their way. Beau waved to one or two he recognized before turning to look back at Felix. "jus' comes of spendin' way too much time together. Chemistry an' all that," he said, nodding, taking that compliment in stride. If it was just him, Beau probably would've been humbler. But he'd take every opportunity he could to give Liz the praise she so richly deserved.

[Elizabeth Edison]

A bit on a high from being offered a spot on the school's radio show, Elizabeth didn't really realise the awkward tension between Felix and Erika. Of course, even without the excitement, she would have been distracted by Beau anyway. So really, she was just very clueless.

She concentrated on Erika's own excitement of them being on radio and nodded with a huge smile. "Dude, we should totally play prom!" She looked at Beau, wiggling her eyebrows excitedly.

Without really thinking, Elizabeth reached over and squeezed Felix's hand in gratitude. "Thanks man. I mean, it's a really huge deal to me right now." She laughed, taking a huge gulp of her drink.

"Wait, you want us to headline it? Oh my God." She bounced a little in her seat, looking at Beau as though she couldn't believe this was happening. "I don't know you too well but I think I might love you already." She grinned at Felix.

Beau's response to Felix's compliment had Elizabeth beaming. "I can't disagree. Even when we're not in the same room we're on the phone texting or IMing." She laughed, throwing an arm around Beau. It seemed as though her excitement knew no end that night.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Shifting her gaze to Beau, Erika's lips turned into a smirk, ''Hey, when I have talented friends, I gotta milk it for all it's worth,'' she said, chuckling.

Now, if the evening could continue like this and offer so many distractions, this wouldn't be so awkward at all. Right? Okay, she could totally get through the next couple of hours without much trouble. As long as Felix didn't bring it up and another song like that didn't start playing, they'd be safe. She kept her eyes from Felix still, though. She hadn't fully recovered from the song incident, and she wasn't entirely sure if she would.

But, at least she'd try.

And when Liz took Felix's hand in hers, Erika couldn't help but to move her gaze to Beau's. Hopefully that didn't leave any marks; She really wanted to see the two of them together, but she didn't want jealousy to be what triggered anything. Sure, she knew that Liz didn't mean anything by it, but did Beau?

''It shows,'' Erika offered with a smile to the chemistry comment. ''The two of you make an adorable pairing, just so you know.''