[cody] a girl like me in a place like this?

[hannah]

The school year had gotten off to a rocky start as Kate showed up late to one of her classes since she could not find the actual building it was in. Part of that was not her fault, however, since she had been told the wrong directions by one of helpers at the front desk of the office, so she could partially blame it on that. The other part of being late came from the stupid traffic and her cab driver not knowing how to navigate properly through the New York traffic. But hell week, otherwise known as the first week of classes, was now over and Kate needed some down time. Saturday was one of her favorite nights of the week since she could go down to the Viper Room and chill out where no one would bother her. She had been doing that for the better part of the past few years since her mom passed away unexpectedly. And now that she was back in school again, she was going to need an escape to come to weekly or as much as possible with her school schedule and the classes that she was taking to finish out her degree. She had two more semesters left to finish her degree and she was going to do it to make her mother and family proud of her.

After her mother had passed away toward the end of her junior year, she dropped out to help take care of her younger siblings since their dad was kind of incapable of getting on his feet as quickly as they would have needed him to. So she took responsibility at twenty-one for nearly four years to help her younger siblings all finish high school and get started in college before deciding to go back and finish herself. Going back was hard, but she made herself do it so she could get a better job and an actual career that she could be proud of. But tonight, it was about getting drunk and having a little bit of fun. Taking her fourth shot of tequila, she chased it down with a lime before squeezing her eyes shut from the sour taste, shaking it off when she was done. After another shot, she was feeling pretty good about herself, so she went and signed up for one of the spots on the karaoke stage. It was pretty ballsy to do something like this, especially for Kate, who was the epitome of a good girl on the outside, but getting a few drinks in her changed her tune. When it was her turn, she got up and started her little rendition of P!nk's newest single, which she frequently heard on the radio and knew enough of the lyrics to make it happen. As she sang, she knew she was out of tune, but really didn't care as it helped her to release the stress of the week and have a good time, giving her some confidence as well.

[Cody Jensen Cavanaugh]

Cody wrapped his arms tightly around Mandi’s shoulders as he hugged her. “ I can’t believe you’re actually doing cheerleading again..” he said to her while slightly laughing under his breath. “ Yeah it’s.. it just made sense. I can go with Hunter and I already talked to my professors so.. Works out, fortunately. But I have to go! I haven’t told Hunter yet.” Mandi said as she hopped off of the barstool and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “ Nice hat, I almost couldn’t tell who you were” she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Cody laughed dryly , letting her kiss his cheek and hugged her again loosely around her waist. “ See you tomorrow then” he said before ordering another drink, watching her flow her way out of the bar and onto the sidewalks of New York. Cody took in a deep breath and held it while licking his lips before sighing and looking down at the drink on the counter. “ Oh thanks man” he said, taking his wallet out to throw some bills down on the counter. Cody was halfway through drinking it when someone grabbed his arm, ‘ You look just like the lead singer of Maroon 5” the guy said drunkenly. Cody brought his hand up to the side of his face, scratching the back of his knuckle against the side of his jaw. “ That guy looks like a douche.” he said flatly before patting the guy on the back and pushing his way back through the crowd. Ordinarily he had no problem stopping and talking to fans, but being alone in a bar where ninety-five percent of the population was drunk wasn’t really his idea of a good time to rub elbows with them.

Actually there really wasn’t any point in being here anymore, seeing as how he didn’t know anyone. He could always call Madeline, Hillary or Audrina. Tyson probably wasn’t busy either. He stopped in his tracks, hearing the opening for Pinks newest single. There probably wasn’t an artist he disliked more. He cringed as he listened to the singing before turning to look at where the noise was coming from. Cody finished his drinking, watching the brazen girl singing along center stage. His eyes traveled down her body before he brought them back to her eyes. Well she surely looked out of place. A small smirk played across his lips, well at least she had balls enough to get up and do something like this when she wasn’t so.. well she was brave for being up there. Cody brought the glass back to his lips, finishing the drink off before he set it on the counter. He made his way to the back, finding his way to the owner before talking to him for a few moments. Just in time for her to finish up her song, Cody was in the background of the stage, hooking up a guitar to the sound system. He came up to the edge of the stage, standing by the girl before he placed his hand on her lower back. “ Alright.. let’s hear it for…” he said, looking down as he realized that he didn’t know her name. She could fill it in. If she was going to do this to relax and have fun, then she should actually have fun. She shouldn’t waste it on a Pink song. Just wasn’t going to work. Now, he could be self-serving and start playing off a Maroon 5 song. But he didn’t want to draw anymore attention to himself. Next best option? Well he knew Tyson’s music like the back of his hand, they were best friends after all. Cody licked his lips, bringing his mouth close to her ear so he could whisper. “ Make it through ‘ Gives You Hell’ and I’ll buy you a drink” he said before stepping back, with a smile on his lips. “ Jerry you can go ahead and cut the music feed,” he said out to the owner in the girls microphone before he played on the guitar for a little bit. “ Whenever you’re ready, sweetheart” he said while smiling at her as he started to play the opening of the song in a loop for her to start.

Outfit