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I know that sounds silly coming from a guy who could walk through the cafeteria naked without a problem. But to me, singing was personal, for some reason. I wasn’t good at it, and I was going to make a fool out of myself if I didn’t get with the program. Still, I was holding onto the hope that they might let me lip-sync the songs. I mean, if big stars like Beyoncé and Scotty McCreery had done it, I was sure I was a good-enough actor to pull it off.

I’d floated the idea to Jett via a text message. It’s best that I not repeat what she sent back. That was one of those that even if you deleted it, someday it would come back to haunt you, I was sure.

“Let’s try the songs and see how you sound,” Jett said. “I’ll sing the girl parts so you start to get used to singing as a duet.”

“Then we should begin with Little Drummer Boy,” I offered.

I heard someone bang on the other side of the glass, and suddenly the door opened, and standing there was Trip. It looked like he’d lost weight, and I mean serious poundage. He was Steven Tyler skinny. Behind him were Halle and Rita.

“Did you just call me a girl?” Trip asked.

I hugged him. I hadn’t seen him since this summer when I’d won the Gatorade award. Stepping back, I shook my head.

“I’m going to have to talk to Rosy. She obviously isn’t feeding you.”

Rita stepped forward and took control. Halle rolled her eyes when her mom changed into business mode.

“I want to hear you do the songs with the artist. We need to figure out what order to put them in,” she explained.

“Whoa, hang on,” I said, holding up my hands. “I thought I was just doing one song, and you were going to help me pick which one it would be.”

Rita ignored me. I looked at Trip and Halle, and they both just smiled at me. I threw my hands up and let out a long breath. Clearly, I’d been set up. It wasn’t worth fighting Rita about this. I’d opened my big mouth and said I would do whatever she wanted. Now that I thought about it, why else would I be learning all four songs?

“Time is money, people,” Rita said, clapping her hands.

“Come on, Trip. Let’s show them what we’ve got,” I said as Jett kicked Halle and Rita out of the room.

Jett had us sing it through once, and she decided that my part needed to go down a key. Trip had a strong voice and quickly hit the high notes for the Peace on Earth. When we sang it together, it sounded good; then Trip took it to another level when he sang the Peace on Earth part. I tried to keep it steady as I sang my part in the background. It wasn’t easy to sing two songs at the same time because you don’t have someone to harmonize with.

Jett was good at directing us and letting me know when I was to come in with each round. She took Trip aside and gave him some ideas, and then we tried it again. By the third run-through, I could see Halle and Rita smiling through the glass. They kicked Trip out, and Halle replaced him as we sang The Gift.

Halle had the opening part, and as soon as she began to sing, Jett did a double-take. Halle James was a talented young lady. The Gift was more of a love song than a Christmas song. The guy’s part was higher than I was comfortable singing. But Jett got in my face and urged me on as I hit a few notes that I wasn’t sure were possible for me.

We sang that three times also, and by the third, Jett had taken some notes and suggested that Halle and I work on it together. She wanted to make sure our chemistry came through.

I was surprised when Rita stepped in next and sang Silver Bells with me. That was the most straightforward song, and I knew it the best, so we only had to do one take. Then it was time for me to unleash my inner rocker and sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

“I might have to steal some of those moves,” was Jett’s only comment.

I took that as I’d nailed it! Of course, my sarcasm meter was set to eleven.

Before we left, I asked Trip and Halle if they wanted to go with me to watch Jett and her band play tomorrow night. Rita begged off. I scheduled another session with Jett for Saturday.

I had to get going because Lexi had set up our meeting with the investigator from the NCAA.

◊◊◊

Manaia wanted tacos, so he called in an order at Del Taco for pickup. They had a special on Thursday nights for their chicken tacos. Thirty bucks later, we were loaded down with tacos. Manaia and I put a dent in them on the ride. When we got home, we shared with Hana, Lexi, Dad, and Fritz; he was relieving Manaia for the NCAA portion of the evening.

While everyone else ate, I strolled out to the pool area and crashed on one of the lounge chairs. The wind was coming off the ocean, and you could smell it. If I described it like I would a wine, it would have a slightly fishy smell with a touch of seaweed and a briny finish. After eating ten or fifteen tacos, my tummy was full, and I began to get the heavy-lidded feeling you got just before you had a power nap.