Chapter 229: Singing

"Paige is working on something that might very well turn into a Nobel in physics. Then we could put her on the same level as the other three," I laughed, but the four of them fell silent.

Even in Hollywood, everyone understands what being an Einstein means (only Haley manages to confuse him with the character from Back to the Future...)

Paige was turning a little red.

"Oh look at you, little girl, becoming all shy," I joked again, moving in to hug Paige.

She jabbed an elbow into my stomach but hugged me back.

"And about her not being more famous than she is," I went back to the topic of Natalie, "I think all of you here know the weight that fame at a young age can bring," I said more soberly.

Here we have four of the biggest examples of that...

They all looked thoughtful (the pressure is no joke, especially for someone without the right mindset).

"Let her enjoy her youth a little more, and little by little she will gain global fame," I continued.

I had already talked to Paige about it. She doesn’t want all the hype right now or to be overly famous.

"And if some idiots try anything," I struck a pose like Gilderoy Lockhart, "I, Jake Harper, her older and awesome brother, will kick their asses," I declared.

Maybe a few stumbles will make them learn the lesson, I thought more darkly. Sometimes, that is all it takes, a few stumbles and some disappearing pen tricks.

"Laaame," Paige winced 

I went to sit down. Scarlett murmured to me, "I thought you were cool..." but then smirked, "for a twelve-year-old boy mindset."

I shot her a glare. "You are all so mean to me. And I have absolutely no idea why."

Now she was the one glaring at me, slightly raising her eyebrows.

Then Regina said on stage, "Good evening, everyone, now let’s move to our musical part.

Remember, since this is not being recorded or anything of the sort, you can sing songs that are not your own.

Our list by draw ended up as follows: Mikayla, Lindsay Lohan, Hannah Montana, Drake, Hilary Duff, Carly, Carly & Jake, special guest & Jake, special guests," she listed.

"Oh yeah," I remembered something, "now we have free tickets for the Star Wars premiere," I said and turned my head, "right, Natalie?"

Scarlett pinched me.

"You can say no, Natalie. Jake has zero shame," Britney remarked, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

Natalie looked a little astonished at my shameless remark, but gave a slight laugh. "I can provide you some."

"Thanks," I said and turned my head again. "Paige, is there something we need from Sheldon? Now we have blackmail, cof, I mean, an incentive for him."

Before anyone could say anything more, Mikayla started singing.

After the first song I thought: later in the future I could offer her to feature Wolves and It Ain’t Me.

---

Mikayla, Lohan, and Drake decided on two songs each. Hilary and Hannah decided on three. Carly also 3, but one with me.

After singing He Could Be the One and Ordinary Girl, Miley ended with the last song, The Climb:

♪I can almost see it

That dream I'm dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head

Saying: You'll never reach it♪

"This one is really good," I murmured.

Britney beside me was humming along.

When she finished, everyone applauded.

---

Finally, it was Carly’s turn. She started with Leave It All To Me (which is the iCarly theme song here too), with Sam and Freddie doing the backing.

Then she announced the name of the second song 

"I love this second song you wrote, Jake," Paige commented. "When is Carly going to release it?"

"Probably only in the second season of iCarly," I replied. "I also thought it suited her, even if the lyrics don’t represent her that much."

"Do you write music as well, Jake? Besides scripts" Natalie asked with interest.

"Yeah, music is what I do best," I said, looking at the stage. Well, it’s what I can copy most easily (I never had that self-doubt some protagonists would have. I have zero problems copying it all).

"Really?" Natalie murmured, surprised. 

Carly began to sing,

Cool Kids (Echosmith)

♪She sees them walking in a straight line

That's not really her style

And they all got the same heartbeat

But hers is falling behind♪

♪...♪

"Uhh, my turn is coming," I said, "and don’t forget Britney, you need to be seen drinking that VitaminWater."

She nodded.

Another good thing about parties like this: people like Britney can launch trends and the rest will copy without us needing to pay anything for it (VitaminWater and Beats—when released—would be good examples). 

---

I positioned myself on stage next to Carly, “Good night everyone, now Carly and I are going to sing a song I composed, Young Folks,” I said, already adjusting the guitar on me.

Young Folks (The Kooks version)

♪If I told you things I did before

Told you how I used to be

Would you go along with someone like me?♪

♪If you knew my story word for word

Had all of my history

Would you go along with someone like me?♪

Then Carly started to sing her part:

♪I did before and had my share

It didn't lead nowhere

I would go along with someone like you♪

♪It doesn't matter what you did

Who you were hanging with

We could stick around and see this night through♪

I continued with the chorus:

♪And we don't care about the young folks

Talking 'bout the young style

And we don't care about the old folks

Talking 'bout the old style too♪

♪And we don't care about our own faults

Talking 'bout our own style

All we care 'bout is talking

Talking only me and you♪

Sam and Freddie continued doing the backing part 

♪Usually when things has gone this far

People tend to disappear

No one will surprise me unless you do♪

♪I can tell there's something going on

Hours seems to disappear

Everyone is leaving, I'm still with you♪

♪...♪

♪Talking only me and you

Talking only me and you

Talking only me and you

Talking only me and you♪

After we finished the song, everyone clapped.

As soon as things settled down, I announced, "Okay everyone, now I will call two special guests of the night. I know most of you already know."

Mikayla, Cher, and Regina had told everyone there would be special guests, but without mentioning any names (Mikayla herself, even if she wanted to, couldn’t say, since she didn’t know who they were).

"Britney Spears and Shakira," I called

Seeing the two of them leave the booth and head to the stage, several surprised faces appeared, and some screams quickly got stifled.