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Chapter 79 – New girl
🕑 Added 2025-04-23 23:30:15 +0000 UTCThe new recording session.
This time, it was the turn of the third song: “Happier.”
I stood inside the booth, fully dressed as Marshmello.
The guest singer was Richard.
He wasn’t famous, but he walked into the booth with quiet confidence. I stood nearby, nodding to the beat, occasionally adjusting a setting or giving subtle hand signals to guide the vibe.
The track began, and as soon as Richard started singing, everyone in the control room leaned in a little closer.
♪ Lately, I've been, I've been thinking
I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier ♪
Richard’s voice was warm and raw, perfectly matching the mood of the lyrics.
Cher spoke up, her voice soft. “He’s really good.”
Sam nodded slowly. “Yeah…”
—
After the end of the song, I stepped out of the booth, still wearing the Marshmello helmet.
“So,” I asked the same question, my voice slightly muffled but still teasing, “what did you think?”
Carly lit up immediately. “Oh my God, that was incredible! I want to hear it again—right now.”
Cher nodded enthusiastically.
Regina crossed her arms with a small smirk. “The song’s fantastic… but I still think it would’ve been even better if you had sung it.”
I walked over and playfully pinched Regina’s cheeks. “When did you become a bootlick?”
Regina rolled her eyes but didn’t hide the smile creeping onto her face.
Cher looked at me, half-serious, half-pouting. "How come I'm the only one that didn't hear you sing?"
"Oh, yeah. You didn't come to my end-of-year party last year," I said with a grin.
"I was in Paris," Cher replied, like she’d just been wronged.
Everyone looked at her deadpan.
"I can't feel any pity... rich girl," said Sam.
Even Carly, though she didn’t say anything, looked like she totally agreed.
Cher turned to me with a raised eyebrow and a smile "Jake, we're literally in a recording studio. You could sing now."
The others looked at me, nodding in agreement. After all, Richard was the last one scheduled to sing today—the remaining two tracks were set for tomorrow.
Pepper checked her watch and shrugged. "We’ve still got about thirty minutes left in the studio—and I could extend it if needed."
It seemed like everyone wanted me to sing. The way they were all looking at me made it hard to say no.
I sighed, then smirked beneath the helmet and looked at Cher.
"Coincidentally," I said, "I have a song called 'Paris.'"
I reached up, unlatched the helmet, and pulled it off
Then, without saying anything else, I walked back into the booth and took my place at the mic.
I quickly adjusted a few beats on the control panel. The original version of the song needed more prep than I had time for, so I decided to go with something more improvised.
I closed my eyes, took a breath, and began to sing
♪ We were staying in Paris
To get away from your parents
And I thought
Wow, if I could take this in a shot right now
I don't think that we could work this out♪
♪ Out on the terrace I don't know if it's fair but I thought How could I let you fall by yourself While I'm wasted with someone else?♪
Cher blinked, clearly impressed. “Wow, I had heard he was good,” she said, glancing toward Regina. “I thought you were exaggerating a bit.”
"Yes, that mouth, he really knows what he’s doing," said Regina with a teasing smile.
They both giggled.
Sam and Freddie exchanged a weird look.
Carly murmured, "Is he really that good kissing?"
They both turned to her.
"What? I'm just curious," she added quickly, trying to play it off.
I stepped out of the booth again after the song, rubbing the back of my neck with a smile
---
The next day, we were back at the cafeteria—me, Regina, Sam, Freddie, and Carly.
The noise of lunchtime filled the room like every other day
I took a sip of my juice and looked around the group.
“So,” I said casually, “today we’re finishing the last two songs. That’ll complete the first five.”
I looked around. "You guys coming again today?"
They all answered with a mix of nods and quick yeses.
"Wouldn’t miss it," said Regina.
"You better believe it," Sam added.
Freddie raised his hand like he was signing a contract. Carly just smiled and nodded.
That’s when Cher showed up at the table—with a stunning blonde girl walking beside her.
I barely caught myself murmuring a quiet “Wow” before I looked down at my tray, pretending to be focused on my lunch. No one seemed to notice.
Cher placed her tray down and gestured to the girl. “Laura, this is my friends.”
Everyone took a second to greet her.
With a smirk, I extended my hand. “Jake. Jake Harper.”
The girl smiled back warmly. “Laura. Laura Vandervoort.”
"Voldemort?" Freddie blurted out before he could stop himself.
“Yeah, I thought that too,” I said with a grin. “But I figured it would be a little lame to say it out loud.”
"Oh, the kids' book," Laura said with a slight sigh, apparently used to the comparison.
"You don't like Harry Potter?" I asked, astonished.
In my head, I was thinking about it. Harry Potter was already pretty famous but it was nowhere near the frenzy it would reach. The first movie hadn’t even been released yet. That storm was still coming.
"Don't tell me you're like Freddie, Jake." Sam jumped in. "He camped out just to buy the book that came out last year."
"Not really," I said, shaking my head. "But I did buy the book nonetheless."
There was no reason to wait in a huge line for a book I had already read. But... I did read it again.
"You only don't like the book because you can't read anything longer than two pages," Freddie shot back.
Sam turned to him immediately. "Says the guy who cried when Cedric died."
And just like that, the two of them were bickering again, picking up their usual rhythm like no time had passed.
