Conflicted in Paradise Ch. 03

"Wow... what song is that?" Stacey asked in obvious surprise.

"'Through the Barricades,'" Siara said, a little distracted. "It's by Spandau Ballet. It's been my favorite song for as long as I can remember."

The crowd, which had been pretty rowdy during the Beyonce hack job, grew quiet as a whisper as Ryan's voice effortlessly soared to the higher keys, syncing up perfectly with his guitar.

"Oh my God, he's amazing," Kelsey sighed. She gave Siara a teasing little nudge. "Is there anything he can't do, Siara?"

"No," Siara said, shaking her head with a dreamy smile, her eyes and attention completely focused on her boyfriend.

Kelsey and Carynne exchanged a knowing grin. They held hands while they enjoyed Ryan's performance, both of them noticing that Stacey was holding Siara's hand in a similar matter.

Behind them, Amanda and Damon were dancing slowly to the song, lost in their love for each other. Kelsey blinked away a small tear at the sight, remembering how Damon had protested when she'd almost ordered him to take dancing lessons about half a year ago, for Amanda's sake. She knew that Damon was, by now, probably extremely grateful for her insistence. She made up her mind to go talk to the two of them soon.

Ryan's voice was filling the club, his volume increasing as the song went on, and a few people in the crowd slowly began to cheer and whistle in acknowledgment of his talent.

"He is awesome," Carynne said appreciatively. "But I know someone who's even better."

"Really? Who?" Kelsey asked curiously.

"You."

"Me? Carynne, don't be silly. I'm not even half as good as he is!"

"Yes, you are," Carynne said, utterly serious. "Kel, I love you, but you really have to stop selling yourself short where your singing is concerned. You're incredible, and it's time you start to realize that."

Kelsey just shook her head, a bright blush on her cheeks.

"Stace..." Carynne pleaded.

"She's right, you know. You really are great," Stacey said, nodding at Kelsey. "Do you want me to go get Amanda and Damon, so they can tell you the same thing?"

"No, don't do that!" Kelsey said quickly. "This is the first time they've seemed happy since... well... you know. Besides, I know I sound okay, but I definitely don't sound that good."

"Yes, you do," Carynne said, unperturbed. "I want you to sing for me. Up there, on that stage."

"What?!" Kelsey gasped.

"Please?"

"But..."

"Please, Kel? I love hearing you sing, and I wish you'd do it so much more often. Please, sweetheart? For me?" Carynne said, her voice soft and pleading, while she batted her eyelashes in the same way that always got her what she wanted from her dad. She felt a quick flutter in her heart when she saw that they had the same devastating effect on her girlfriend.

Kelsey looked genuinely frazzled, and she turned to Stacey for help. "Stace, I—"

"I'm on her side, baby. I want to hear you sing too!" Stacey said with a huge grin.

"Guys!" Kelsey pleaded.

"Please, honey?" Carynne asked again, putting all her love into her voice.

Kelsey lowered her head, then she finally nodded. "Okay, fine, but I'm going to make a fool of myself up there!"

"No, you're not. Stop saying that!" Carynne said, starting towards the podium and pulling Kelsey along by her hand. "Come on."

"What, you mean now?!" Kelsey squeaked. "I don't want to go right after him! I... let some—"

"No, right now. You're going to blow everyone away, so we don't have to listen to other people screeching again." Carynne just kept on going, determinedly pulling her lover behind her.

Kelsey stuttered and complained as the two of them made their way through the crowd, but Carynne mercilessly dragged her on, until they were right next to the stage, just in time for the finish of Ryan's song.

"And through... the barricades," Ryan sang one final time. He played the riff twice more, then he stopped, and the club erupted in raucous applause. Loud, thunderous cheers were let out by everyone, in full appreciation of the fantastic performance.

"That was fuckin' righteous, man!" the DJ belted loudly, and the crowd just roared even louder in approval.

Ryan got up and handed the guitar back to the DJ. He smiled humbly at the applause, nodding his thanks to the crowd; then, he saw Kelsey and Carynne standing next to the podium. He leaned down so he could talk to them. "Hey, are you guys doing a song? Or do you just want an autograph?" he joked.

"Kelsey's singing next," Carynne said, unceremoniously shoving her girlfriend towards the podium.

"Really? That's great!" Ryan said happily. "Kick ass, girl!"

Kelsey gave him a wan smile as she nimbly climbed up on the podium. She gulped audibly when she turned back and saw the entire crowd switch their attention from Ryan to her. Wolf-whistles started going up in appreciation of her incredibly sexy outfit, and for probably the first time in her life, she didn't eat up all the attention with relish.

"What song you want, me girl?" the DJ asked.

"Ehm... I..." Kelsey stammered. Nerves were tearing through her, and she felt as if she was about to get sick. Drops of sweat were dripping down her face, and her hands were clammy.

"Girl? You gots to tell me what song you wantin'," the DJ repeated.

Kelsey closed her eyes and listened to the roaring in her ears. She tried to order herself to get over it, but she felt as if she was going to have a nervous breakdown. C'mon, you've stood in front of crowds ten times this size for your cheer competitions, she angrily thought to herself. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to look around for Damon, but she couldn't pick him out of the crowd. She took a step towards Carynne, getting ready to bolt off the platform and run back to the villa.

"Stick to looking hot and fucking girls, honey, since that's obviously all you're good at!" a male voice shouted from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. A few chuckles of laughter went up, and the crowd began to buzz at Kelsey's inability, or refusal, to sing.

Ryan quickly jumped back up on the stage, his face furious. He grabbed the mic and turned to face the crowd. "Would you like to repeat that, asshole?!" he snarled. "If you're so fucking gifted, how about you come up here and show how awesome you are in front of all these people!"

The crowd fell quiet, turning almost as one towards the guy who'd spoken—a ratty looking douchebag with way too much fake jewelry hanging around his neck. Suddenly the center of attention, the guy's face turned deathly white, and he quickly slunk away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, you fucking jackass!" Ryan snorted, then he put the mic back in its stand. He turned to Kelsey and gently put his hands on her shoulders. "You can do this, Kelsey. Show them you're more than just a ridiculously beautiful, smoking-hot-looking girl."

Kelsey stared at him for a few seconds with her mouth open, then she suddenly smiled prettily as his remark finally sank in. "Thanks, Ryan."

"Just the truth," he said with a grin and a shrug. "What song do you really like? What have you listened to a lot lately?"

Kelsey thought it over for a second, then she said, "'Evacuate the Dance Floor.'"

"Okay. Can you sing it?"

"Yeah."

"You want to do that one, then?"

Kelsey nodded slowly, her nerves almost reaching a crescendo.

Ryan looked at the DJ. "Have you got Cascada? 'Evacuate the Dance Floor?'"

The DJ nodded, and quickly tapped a few commands into his system. "Ready when she be, man."

"You can do it," Ryan again said encouragingly to Kelsey, while making ready to get off the platform.

"Stay here with me?" Kelsey asked in a small voice.

He gave her a big smile and nodded. "Sure. Go get 'em, girl."

Kelsey approached the edge of the podium, feeling the butterflies in her stomach go nuts when she saw all the eyes focused on her. She took the mic out of its stand; clenching it tightly, she glanced at Carynne, who was giving her a look of absolute adoration. The others had joined Carynne, and both Damon and Amanda were nodding at her, urging her on.

"Just pretend it's a cheerleading routine!" Amanda said loudly.

Kelsey released a deep breath to gather herself. Just a cheerleading routine, she thought. Just ignore the fact that everyone's staring at you and you alone, rather than everyone on your squad. After a few more seconds, she nodded at the DJ.

The pop music started blaring from the speakers within a second, and the crowd cheered its approval when they recognized the song.

"Turn up the music, let's get out on the floor..." Kelsey began, mentally wincing at the way her voice squeaked. Her eyes crossed paths with Damon's, and for a moment she felt overwhelmed when she saw his love for her reflected in his face. She actually missed the entire next line, then she quickly recovered, her voice getting stronger as she sang.

"You're doing great, Kel!" Carynne cheered, a bright, beautiful smile on her face.

"Dance, Kel! Dance!" Amanda shouted.

"Watch me get physical, out of control. There's people watching me, I never miss a beat!" Kelsey sang, putting her lungs into it as her voice finally hit the right key. She began to shake her hips, and her years of cheerleader training came back to her in a flash; her legs started moving almost out of their own accord in the oh-so-familiar steps.

She felt her confidence grow throughout the next few lines; then, when the refrain came up, she was fully in the groove. She quickly discarded her jacket, showing off her incredible body, and she sensually trailed her free hand along her bra-covered breasts while doing one of her most complex cheerleading dances.

Most of the guys in the crowd were absolutely enthralled with the way the slender, sexy goddess was moving, and with the way her breasts were shaking.

"Evacuate the dance floor!" Kelsey belted out, a huge smile adorning her face, and she closed her eyes, losing herself in the music.

For nearly a minute she sang, oblivious to the world around her, just focused on her singing and dancing. When she began to sing the refrain again, she opened her eyes, a little surprised and absolutely delighted to see the entire crowd dancing and cheering wildly. Her friends were even more exuberant, yelling and screaming their support for her as they danced to her song. A large circle had formed around Amanda, who was showing off her absolute finest moves—moves that would put many professional dancers to shame—to the obvious approval of the crowd.

Once she got near the end of the second refrain, a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that the next part was done by a guy. Before she could even begin to worry about if and how she was going to be able to do that, Ryan walked up beside her, and his voice smoothly cut in just in time.

As he did the lame little rap sequence, all the while grinning at her, she suddenly realized that he'd been singing in the background where appropriate throughout the whole song, and she threw him a quick thank-you smile. Once his part was finished, she took over again, and she delivered the rest of the song at absolute top volume. She sang so loudly and so pure that she felt she didn't even need the microphone, and while she was absolutely crushing the song she also easily kept up with her intricate dance routine, putting on a dazzling show.

"Come burn this place right down to the ground!" Kelsey finished, and without even realizing she did it, she took her "Tigers Roar!" pose from her old cheerleading routines. She grinned proudly as sweat poured down her body, and her beautiful smile dazzled in the club's strobe lights. For almost a second, there was an almost palpable silence in the club; then, without warning, the place absolutely exploded, with people yelling themselves hoarse and pounding their hands until they hurt. Several people threw scraps of paper with phone numbers on them onto the stage, screaming at her to please call them. One guy shouted over the crowd to beseech her to marry him.

The thunderous wave of sound rushed over Kelsey, and adrenaline surged through her body. Needing to find an outlet, any outlet, she turned around and before she even thought about it, she jumped into Ryan's arms and gave him a big kiss.

It lasted for only a second, but both of them were looking utterly surprised when their lips broke their contact.

"Oh crap! Ryan, I'm sorry!" Kelsey said, feeling herself blush furiously. Glancing over at her friends, she saw Carynne just give her a big grin, though Siara's look was probably just as surprised as her own.

"It's okay," he said loudly, trying to be heard over the roar of the crowd, which had intensified in volume upon seeing the kiss. "I take it that wasn't meant seriously?"

"No! I don't even know what I was doing. I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry. It can be quite a rush when you get your first applause," he said with a knowing smile, trying his best not to glance too obviously at her incredible, half-naked body. "By the way, I joined in with that shitty rap for your sake, but next time I'm not doing so unless I get to do something decent, like Fiddy or Snoop, okay?"

Kelsey grinned. "Okay. Thank you for your help."

"No problem," he said with a pearly white smile. Again Kelsey was struck by just how really damn hot he was.

"I should probably go apologize to Siara," she said grimly, putting the mic back in its stand and getting ready to step off the platform.

"I'll do that," Ryan said, pushing her back. "You just enjoy the cheers for awhile."

Before Kelsey could even object, he'd already jumped off the stage, quickly going over to Siara and wrapping his arms around her. He talked with her for a few moments, then Siara looked back at Kelsey. Kelsey put her hand up in apology, and mouthed, "I'm sorry!" at the British girl.

Siara just shook her head and gave her a comforting smile, after which she put her hand behind Ryan's neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss.

Kelsey didn't see anything else as suddenly Carynne was there, nearly jumping on top of her and smothering her in a huge hug.

"Oh my God, you were so amazing!" Carynne squealed in glee, kissing every part of Kelsey she could reach with her eager lips.

Kelsey just giggled in response, trying her best to stay upright under her girlfriend's assault. She squeezed Carynne's ass, and the two of them made out for several wonderful moments, in response to which the crowd just roared even louder.

"I'm sorry that I kissed Ryan," Kelsey said once they finally let up with their kiss. "I didn't mean to, it just happened."

"I don't care!" Carynne chuckled. "If I'd been up here with that hunk, I would've kissed him too!"

"I just hope Siara isn't mad at me."

"I'd say that after what she did to you this afternoon, she hasn't got much right to complain!"

Kelsey looked back at Ryan and Siara, who were still kissing heavily. "No, I guess not," she grinned.

Carynne gave her another kiss, then the two of them got off the podium and rejoined Stacey, Amanda and Damon. Each of her friends hugged and kissed her in turn, though Damon's kiss was brief—out in public, they always made sure never to appear improper. Her tummy turned to mush at the touch of his lips, and she wanted nothing more than to tear his clothes off and fuck him senseless right there on the stage. Amanda followed with a kiss right after Damon, though her kiss was far less reserved. Kelsey moaned at the feeling of Amanda's tongue teasingly rubbing against hers, and all her desire for her first real love came rushing back. With her mind nearly drowning in turmoil, she almost started crying. She knew then that she definitely had made a mistake with her decision, and she planned to rectify that mistake at the first possible opportunity.

The high of the adrenaline rush was still surging inside her, and she grabbed all her friends' hands and put them on top of one another. "I love you, guys. All of you. I'm so thankful to have you in my life," she said emotionally, pulling the assembled group of hands against her chest, almost as if to take them inside herself. She kissed Amanda's hand, sneaking in a few kisses on Damon's hand too, and she looked at both of them with love and longing.

"We love you too, Kel," everyone replied practically simultaneously, like it was scripted that way. They all laughed when they realized it, wrapping their arms around the others' shoulders for a big group hug.

"You guys are the best, seriously!" Kelsey said, somehow feeling as if she hadn't explained her feelings well enough yet. "And I... I want to..."

"We need to get her to sing in public more often. She becomes really fun to be around afterwards," Stacey said with a teasing grin.

"She's always fun to be around!" Carynne countered, coming to her girlfriend's defense while giving Kel a big kiss on her left cheek.

"Yes, she is," Amanda agreed, kissing Kel's other cheek.

Kelsey was about to say something when Ryan's head poked through underneath Stacey's and Carynne's arms. "Hey, is there room for a few more in here?" he joked.

Stacey stepped aside a little and smiled at him. "Sure, come on in!"

Ryan and Siara quickly joined the circle of friends. Kelsey immediately took the opportunity, leaning towards the British girl. "Siara, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to kiss him. I just—"

"It's alright, I understand," Siara said, reaching out and squeezing Kelsey's shoulder in reply. "To be honest, the look on both your faces was awfully hilarious!"

Kelsey laughed, feeling much better knowing her new friend wasn't angry at her.

"So, Ryan, what's up with you singing so well?" Stacey asked after a few moments.

"Me? What about her?!" Ryan said, trying to deflect the attention to Kelsey. "She sounded far better than I did!"

"Oh whatever!" Kelsey giggled. "Just tell us already!"

"I'm in a band," Ryan said with a small shrug. "It's nothing big or anything, but we play a few gigs here and there."

"Really? That's cool!"

"Yes, it is. And he's bloody talented, too!" Siara chimed in. "Don't fall for his humble, meager artist act! He knows damn well how good he is, and it makes him an even bigger insufferable clot!"

"I thought you asked him to sing for you?" Carynne asked, her face looking puzzled.

"Well, yes. He's a very good sounding insufferable clot!" Siara laughed. "And I really do love that song!"

"Always happy to sing it for ya, babe!" Ryan grinned. "Okay, so now that I've fessed up, it's your turn, Kelsey."

Before she could reply, someone tapped on Kelsey's shoulder. She looked back in surprise to see the DJ standing there, a huge smile on his face. "Yo, that was awesome, me girl. But your fans be wantin' more, ya know!"

Slowly, Kelsey became aware of the massive "We want more! We want more! We want more!" chant going in the club, and her smile grew positively dazzling.

She threw a questioning look at Carynne, and Carynne just nodded, making a motion that she should go. She was about to hop back on stage when she turned back. "Ryan, would you... come sing with me? Please?"

"Of course," Ryan said graciously. He gave Siara another kiss, whispered something in her ear, then he jumped onto the podium, chivalrously helping Kelsey up while he was at it.

"Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate you coming back up here with me," Kelsey said, putting her hand on his arm.

"No problem. Still got those butterflies going in your stomach?" he grinned. He threw a quick peek at her tummy and had to resist the urge to swallow when he saw a few drops of sweat trickle down that perfectly tight body.

She nodded sheepishly.

"They'll go away, trust me. I was far more nervous than you are right now the first time I had to perform!"

"Really?"

"Hell yeah. I even puked all over our bassist's shoes!"