February 2011. Although you are underage (to drink anyway, you were 20) , your folks take you along with them to a bar. Now obviously, you don't drink anything. And you don't really eat either. You're there for something they told you about a couple weeks ago; karaoke night.

You watch the people go up to sing. You don't exactly see the next American Idol or X-factor winner (or whatever you kids watch these days -.-) , but they weren't… terrible.

You had fun, but a though wouldn't leave your head…

I wanna sing too…

So the next time you went, when you noticed the same woman was getting up and singing again and again, you decided to give it a try. You chose "I don't wanna miss a thing" By Aerosmith.

You felt your nerves getting to you as your turn came up, and when the instrumental started to play it only got worse. But there was no turning back now, and you knew that.

As you started singing, your nerves died. You had a bit of a problem with the microphone, but your singing itself was amazing. You somehow managed to sound so much more confident than you were. By the time you reached the bridge, your nerves were gone.

The song came to a close and the whole bar clapped. Words cannot describe the pride you felt. You, the shy wallflower, actually got up on stage and sang in front of a crowd. And you rocked it!

The next week, the DJ actually asked if you were going to sing again. You couldn't believe it. He enjoyed it that much? You didn't think you were his type (if you know what I mean) so his compliment had to be genuine.

So you said "Yeah!" and you did, this time singing "Unwritten". You did even better than before! You actually saw people in the audience clapping and moving their heads to the music.

In that moment, you knew you wanted to be a singer.

So you began looking into colleges for singing, looking for voice coaches, everything you needed. And of course, you returned to the bar again.

This time though, there was a different DJ was there.  This one actually introduced himself to you, his name was Antonio. He was the cousin of the previous DJ, who was on vacation for a bit and asked him to fill in for him. And he was cuuuute~ ! You hoped he liked girls. Wanting to impress him, you sang "Bust the windows". Your nerves must have got the best of you, because you were a little off…

Still, he pulled you to the side and told you that you did great. He said his cousin was right about you, you did have talent.

Be still your beating heart.

Despite his high praise, you felt you should probably do a few silly songs – silly in the sense that they'd be silly for you to sing, not that they're silly themselves- .  Next week, you accomplished this with "Gangsta's Paradise" and "The Real Slim Shady" (which was harder than you thought). You were back! You did great! So you decided to end the night with a more serious song, "Who knew".

"Who knew" was a song that of meant a lot to you. It spoke to you; the idea of love lost, love you really foolishly believed would last forever, was something that happened a lot to you. You felt like you didn't do as well with that song, but maybe your expectations were too high.

Antonio once again pulled you aside and told you how well you did with all the songs. When he told you he especially liked the last one, you felt like maybe he was just being nice. But he insisted! You blushed and thanked him for the compliment, wondering how he could seemingly feel your insecurity about that song.

You blushed even more when he gave you his number. Looks like you were his type after all.

Your dad gave Antonio death glares, and after he got you to tell him what happened, he warned you not to make him kick his ass. Your dad was protective like that.

You texted him that night. The poor guy was still at the bar. You looked at your clock; it was 1:04 am. Bless his heart.

You felt guilty, so you texted him most of the night in order to keep him company (in a way). You discovered you two had a lot in common, making you like him even more. You told him about your plans to become a singer, and he told you go for it. His encouragement made your heart flutter.

You decided to put it on the line and flat out asked him if he had a thing for you.

The 2 minute pause in your conversation felt like forever.  You were too scared to look at first, but eventually, you took a deep breath and looked.

His response was "Actually… yeah. "

You pulled a Tom Cruise on your bed, not caring if the neighbors heard your excited yelps and giggles.

Then it came to a halt when you received another text, not because of fear, but because of curiosity.

"What about you?" , It read.

Of course you felt comfortable telling him now that you had feelings for him. He then proceeded to ask you out, and you naturally accepted.

A few months into your relationship, the time for the interview at your college of choice, *Ohio State University. Days went by and you heard no word from them. You'd almost given up hope…

But Antonio didn't. He was always encouraging you, reassuring you. His faith in you was proven well placed when you finally got your acceptance letter.

You had to run over to his place and tell him the news. When you did, he picked you up in his arms and swung you around, telling you how proud he was of you.

"You know Antonio… None of this would've happened if I'd never stepped into your cousin's bar, and the two of you hadn't encouraged me."

"Ah, don't mention it." He assured you.

"No, I really mean it. Thank you so much."

"De verdad, es nada."

You smiled, hugging him tight. You gave him a kiss before humming a new song with a lot of meaning to you.

"Only exception"