It was a Thursday night.  I was out with my friends.  We were karaoke-ing, it was loud, and we were having a blast.

My phone rang, and your picture popped up on the screen.  Normally, I wouldn’t bother answering, but it was you, so I did.

I couldn’t hear you, it was too loud… so I went outside, phone pressed to one ear, pointer finger plugging up the other. I still couldn’t hear you.

You said it wasn’t important, you were just calling to chat.  You knew I was out with my friends, you would just talk to me tomorrow.

I agreed that was best, bid you farewell, and returned to my friends inside the bar.

Someone told a joke and we all laughed.  I laughed too, but my eyes strayed to my phone, sitting silent and dark on the table in front of me.  I wondered what you were calling to talk about.

The MC called our name for karaoke and the four of us filed onto stage, blushing and giggling.  The song they had chosen started to play and we took turns sharing the single microphone.  In the middle of the song, I thought I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket and I whipped it out.  It was a false alarm, but it made me wonder what you were doing right then.

Our cheesy karaoke number ended and we skipped back to our table.  Well, they skipped.  I walked slowly behind them, frowning a little as my brain tried to process what my heart had already figured out.

I stood at our table for a minute, hesitating, until someone noticed I hadn’t sat down yet and laughingly asked me about it.  I shook myself a little, smiled, and then bid my friends a regretful farewell before turning and leaving the bar to head home.

I waited until I had left the bright lights and loud music of downtown before pulling the words out of my subconscious: I would rather sit at home and talk about nothing with you, then go out and party with my friends. 

And that’s when I realized I had fallen for you.