videokilledme: The Mae Shi ("R U PROFESSIONAL?")
Alex Faulkner ([personal profile] videokilledme) wrote2018-08-27 01:55 pm

“And The Rest Is (World) History.” Alex, Bianca. (Persona Dreamscape) - Chapter Fifteen

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"And The Rest Is (World) History." Alex, Bianca. (Persona Dreamscape) - Chapter Fifteen

[music]

“Let’s play a game.”

It was Friday, February 13th, Alex’s 20th birthday, and he and Bianca were currently sitting together in her godfather’s Benz, driving across town to get ice cream at what was supposed to be the best ice cream shop in the whole D.C. area. Alex had been fairly ambivalent about the whole ‘birthday thing’--Bill usually just gave him money instead of presents, and Gemma and Joe had already sent their gifts earlier in the week--but Bianca had insisted that they should do something special, and really go out and celebrate the day.

“Why?” Alex had asked her with a faint smirk when she’d first brought up the topic over lunch a few days ago. “It’s just 20, not like it’s a big milestone or anything. I’m still underage, so there’s no reason to celebrate.”

“It is a milestone, though--you’ve been alive for a whole decade, and you’re not a teenager anymore.”

Alex just shook his head and made a sound halfway between a sigh and a snort, every aspect of his expression and lean frame suffused with whatever, who cares.

But Bianca did care, apparently.

“Fine, I won’t try to throw you a surprise party or anything-”

“Good, I hate surprises.”

The blonde had rolled her eyes at that, though her usual smile hadn’t faded. “Alex, there’s a lot of things you hate.”

The small, cautious smile Alex often wore around Bianca had shifted into something much closer to a smirk. “Yeah, but I really hate surprises. Even ‘good’ ones.”

“All right, all right, no party. But I’m at least gonna take you out to eat somewhere--oh! Ice cream’s your favorite dessert, right? I heard about this new place that’s supposed to be really great, the best ice cream in like, a two hundred mile radius or something. We can go there!”

Getting to go somewhere with Bianca was kind of a birthday present in and of itself, so Alex hadn’t even tried to argue the point. Besides, she was right: ice cream really was his favorite dessert.

And so, after their classes had finished for the day, they’d met in the parking lot closest to the library, and had headed off on their quest for ice cream...and as Bianca hit a button on the steering wheel that made the radio skip between stations, a slow smile spread across Alex’s face:

“Let’s play a game.”

“Sure! What kind of game?”

It was a testament to how much Bianca trusted him, that she’d agree before even knowing what kind of game he was going to propose. He could’ve said ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ or ‘Spin the Bottle’, or something else to that effect, and while she could’ve laughed it off or said no after the fact, it might’ve been hard or maybe just awkward for her to back down and back out. But Alex didn’t have that sort of ulterior motive: it was really just a game to play to pass the time with his best friend. Well, mostly, anyway.

“Let’s make a bet, and whoever loses has to buy the ice cream.”

“It’s your birthday, Alex, I’m buying the ice cream.”

“Well, yeah, probably, ‘cause I’m gonna win this game, no problem.”

Bianca glanced away from the road long enough to arch an eyebrow at him, then gave a shrug of resignation and took the bait--it was his birthday, after all. “All right, I’ll bite. Tell me about this game.”

“It’s pretty simple, really. You control the radio, and try to find a song I don’t know or can’t at least partly sing along to. You can use any sort of satellite station or streaming service, Shotify, whatever. The only things off-limits are foreign language stations, any non-music stations of course, things that don’t have lyrics like Classical music, straight-up rap--because while I recognize its cultural significance to a certain age group and demographic, most of it’s not really to my taste--and also...contemporary worship stations. Not because I don’t still know more of those songs than I want to, thanks to my aunt, but...a lot of the music is just kinda...dull.”

“Whatever you say,” Bianca chuckled, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel in anticipation as they waited for a particularly long light to change. “I mean, it’s your game, so you can make the rules. I’m not gonna fight you on it, birthday-boy.”

Alex shot her a flat, unamused glance. “...I’m adding something to the stakes. If I win, you’re not allowed to call me that any more.”

“Sounds like it’s game on, then, birthday-boy,” the blonde drawled, those last two words leaving her mouth slow and pointed, and mashed the radio control button on the steering wheel with her thumb.

“-s agooo, I wanna be submitted-”

Bianca wasn’t surprised in the least to find that the radio was tuned in to the local Classic Rock station, one that apparently played the Ramones sometimes. That’s Zico, all right, she thought, smiling to herself--then her attention was pulled over to the passenger seat by the unexpectedly strong but still somehow soft, clear singing voice that filled the car, melding with Joey Ramone’s distinctive tone, molding itself to fit alongside the famous rock star’s throaty yowling.

“Nuthin’ to do, nowhere to go-oh~ I wanna be submitted-”
“Nuthin’ to do, nowhere to go-oh~ I wanna be submitted-”

Bianca gaped for a moment, then punched the button with her thumb again, and the radio came up with, “-re searchlights, we can see in the dark-”

Once again, it was only a second or two before Alex picked up the song and sang along, and as before, he adjusted his own tone to compliment that of the female vocalist:

“We are rockets, pointed up at the stars, we are billions of beautiful hearts-”
“We are rockets, pointed up at the stars, we are billions of beautiful hearts-”

That one impressed her a little--Alex didn’t really seem like the type to listen to much pop music, or maybe just not like the type who favored anything too ‘mainstream’--but then again, he did have a decent number of songs by ‘sellout’ punk bands on his phone and mp3 player, and she’d seen him wear shirts promoting a few of those bands, too. She’d have to try more pop stations, but first-

“-m what I've seen I believe ‘em-”

-an Oldies station seemed like a reasonable next step, though the singer hadn’t gotten out more than a few words before Alex was singing along with that one, too:

“Now the old boy may be barely breathing, but the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beat-in’-”
“Now the old boy may be barely breathing, but the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beat-in’-”

...Okay, maybe something newer would be better...

“Stepping out of body, no matter how you call it-”

Alex smirked as he sang along to that one, letting himself look right at her, unblinking, and quirk his eyebrows at her as he sang the word honey:

“This is suicidal, honey, nothing you can do about it-”
“This is suicidal, honey, nothing you can do about it-”

Bianca couldn’t hold back a little bubble of laughter at that almost-eyebrow-wiggle, and she was still smiling as she bent her head to look at the radio display more closely.

“Let me take the check with the reckless abandon on it,” Alex continued even after silence descended on the car again due to Bianca searching for another station, another song. “Just call me kamikaze~”

At that moment, the car behind them gave an impatient beep, making Bianca jump--the light had finally changed, and she shot the other driver a hard look in her rearview mirror as she simultaneously stepped on the gas and punched that station-shuffle button with her thumb. It went back to the default, that Classic Rock station from before, and this time Bon Jovi came crowing out over the speakers:

“Woah, we’re halfway there-”

Alex actually barked out a laugh at that one. “C’mon, really? Too easy.”

“Woh-OH, livin' on a prayer-”
“Woh-OH, living on a prayer-”

“Too easy, huh? Let’s see, then...”

They continued on like that for the entire trip, and while Alex didn’t know all the lyrics of every song, he certainly knew the majority of them. Perhaps the most interesting thing, in Bianca’s opinion, was that he wasn’t stumped for even a second by any Classic Rock songs, while some of the most recent, obnoxiously pop-y songs sometimes did give him a little trouble, even if he figured most of them out before too long.

“I’m a DJ, remember. Music is what I do,” he chuckled as she turned a look of intense disbelief over at him during one of the temporary spaces of quiet between songs. Bianca just shook her head and tried again:

“-ong with you, if you go along with me.”

This one was a lot more Indie-sounding, so Bianca nodded to herself when Alex joined in almost immediately:

“We could take the final fall, I know a good place to eat. Tell me all the things you know, list of every book you read; maybe we could meet again, I'm free every night next week.”
“We could take the final fall, I know a good place to eat. Tell me all the things you know, list of every book you read; maybe we could meet again, I'm free every night next week.”

Then, abruptly, Alex fell silent, letting the radio sing the next line alone, unaccompanied:

“We could be...everything.”

He didn’t pick it back up right away either, which seemed strange--he’d nearly always kept singing along to the songs even after she’d changed the station--but when Bianca tried to look over at him and catch his eye, she found that he’d turned his face away, and was looking out the window intently.

“...Alex? You okay?”

The blue-haired teen shook himself as he turned back to her, blinking as if he’d just come out of a daze, then offered a slight half-smile. “I’m fine. Also,” he added, pointing back over his shoulder, “I think we just passed the ice cream place.”

Bianca swore (in Italian, Alex was interested to note) and stomped on the brakes, slewing the car into the nearest turn lane to flip them back around, as he said aloud in an admirably calm voice, “Take your time, please. I’m sure the ice cream shop will still be there five, ten, or even fifteen minutes from now, and I don’t really want to die on my 20th birthday. There’s way too many things I haven’t done yet, and not reaching 21 at least would kinda be a travesty.”

“Oh, hush, we didn’t even come close to hitting anyone, or getting hit either.”

“Still.”

Bianca huffed at him good-naturedly, but made a point of being lot more deliberate and careful as she turned the Benz around, then made the correct turn into the parking lot this time. Within minutes they were inside the ice cream shop, sliding into a booth with tantalizingly tempting sundaes in hand. The shop wasn’t very busy, seeing as it was mid-February and most people weren’t particularly in the mood for ice cream in the middle of winter, so they nearly had the place to themselves, and had managed to find a booth in the back, tucked away from most of the rest of the tables.

Bianca had gotten a chocolate peanut butter brownie sundae, while Alex had gotten one scoop of mint chocolate chip and one scoop of chocolate fudge ice cream on top of a warm brownie; both were drizzled with hot fudge and caramel, and topped with a generous amount of fresh-made whipped cream and cherries. Bianca had insisted on tossing a few sprinkles on top of his (“Just to make it look more birthday-ish!”), but he hadn’t fought it, despite the fact that he didn’t particularly like sprinkles.

“For me, the flavor of their mint chocolate chip and their chocolate-y-iest chocolate ice cream is what determines how good an ice cream place is,” Alex said as he dug into his sundae, spooning up the first mouthful. “If the chocolate leaves a weird aftertaste, or the mint tastes like fluoride...that’s no good. And it happens a lot more than you’d expect.” He finally stopped talking long enough to shovel in that first heaping spoonful, a satisfied smile coming over his face as he let it melt in his mouth. “This place passes my test. Super passes,” he added, and bent his attention to eating.

“Here, try some of mine, and I’ll try some of yours, too,” Bianca said after a few minutes of busy near-silence passed, and Alex found himself confronted with a spoonful of admittedly delicious-looking chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

Don’t overthink it, he told himself sternly, and leaned in casually, opening his mouth to accept the proffered spoonful, which Bianca cheerfully shoveled in. It’s your birthday, and she’s your best friend. Of course she’s going to be friendly with you like this.

“ ‘S good,” he mumbled around what remained of the mouthful after a moment, then slid his sundae closer to her, so she could help herself. Alex didn’t think he could handle feeding her like that--he could feel his cheeks going hot just thinking about it, so he purposefully redirected his thoughts elsewhere. (Music, homework, classes, basically anything and everything other than the idea of slipping the spoon in his hand between her invitingly parted lips, into the waiting warmth of her mouth-)

“Thank you, Bianca,” he blurted out in a rush, hoping his voice didn’t sound strained, that his face wasn’t tellingly pink as he forced himself to speak more slowly, normally as he went on. “This is...really good. Great, I mean. Definitely the best ice cream I’ve had since...I don’t know when, actually. I mean, the cafeteria ice cream isn’t bad, it’s pretty good for what it is, but...this is something else entirely. So, thanks for thinking of this, and me.”

Bianca smiled across the table at him, her mouth obviously too full to answer right away, but those bright sea-green eyes sparkled with happiness, and, cheesy as it was, Alex thought that he couldn’t’ve asked for a better present.

“I’m glad you like it! And you’re right, it’s really good. We’re gonna have to come here every so often--maybe we can study here sometimes, if they’re not busy and don’t need the table.”

“If their coffee is half as good as their ice cream, this’ll be a perfect study spot. Maybe not as perfect as the secret base, but-”

“ ‘Secret base’? Is that-”

“The spot you showed me in the library, yeah.” Alex resisted the urge to look away or rub at the side of his arm, nervous tells that he was all too aware of and didn’t want to give in to, especially around someone like Bianca, who could and would pick up on them. “It’s- it’s a little embarrassing, I guess, but I think it’s kinda like a secret base-”

Instead of laughing at him, Bianca just nodded and dug another heaping spoonful out of her sundae. “Yeah, it really is, I agree. Heh, I like that! I’m gonna call it that from now on, too.”

Before Alex could reply, his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. Frowning, he dug it out--the family members he was in regular contact with had already contacted him, so he wasn’t expecting any more texts, even on his birthday--and his frown only darkened when he saw whose name came up on the screen.

“Uh-oh,” Bianca chuckled, sneaking another bite of his sundae while he wasn’t looking, then repaying the ‘damage’ by leaving him most of her whipped cream and cherry in return. “A face like that can only mean one person.”

“Connor,” Alex confirmed with a sigh that was more than half-growl, looking very much like he wanted to smash his phone even as he tapped on the notification with a thumb, read the message, then typed something back.

“Well, what’s he want? I’m not gonna say ‘it has to be something important or he wouldn’t contact you,’ because, well...it’s Connor. But is it at least something interesting?”

Alex’s expression had gone increasingly closed and unreadable as he sent and received a few more texts, but before Bianca could ask if something was wrong, he looked up, expression a bit bemused, and slid the phone across the table towards her. “See for yourself.”

hey man
u gotta come 2 the radio station STAT
doc de Forest is goin NUTS

> Why? What’s wrong?

nothin is WRONG
just get over here!!!

> No. It’s my birthday, I’m busy celebrating.

WAT??? Y DIDNT U TELL ME???? T___T
or nvite me 2 teh party???
if ur evn havn a party probbly not tho huh lol
still HPPY BDAY BRO
WE SHULD GO OUT DRINKN >D
ILL SCORE U A HOT DATE
but 4 now
this is a gr8 bday gift
saves me from havin 2 get u smthing
so just come!!!!
trust me!!!!!

> I *DON’T* trust you. Or want your ‘hot date’.

idc COME N E WAY
!!!!!


Bianca looked up from the phone screen to find Alex watching her closely, grey eyes glinting with both curiosity and apprehension. “...What do you think?” he asked, so preoccupied that he didn’t even notice his forgotten half-spoonful of sundae was dripping melting ice cream and cooling hot fudge on the table in front of him.

The blonde exhaled a considering breath through her nose as she passed his phone back, then gave a decided nod. “I think you’d better go find out what’s up. Connor can be dramatic, but it’s still weird enough that I’m kinda curious--aren’t you? So let’s finish eating and then head back to Carrington.”

Even though he held Connor in extremely low regard, Alex was curious--damnably so. But, fervid curiosity or not, he was exceedingly reluctant to cut short something he was actually enjoying (an outing with Bianca no less!) for whatever nonsense Connor was raving about.

Alex was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice Bianca studying him intently, her eyes sharp, shrewd and perceptive. ‘No way in hell am I going to trade a night out with my only real friend for having to deal with that jackass and his bullshit!’ was scrawled all over his face as he glowered down at his phone, and while it was definitely nice to know that Alex would choose her over basically the only other person who ever really talked to him...she had a feeling that this might be important, something worth looking into.

“It’s okay,” she said aloud, breaking in on his thoughts. Alex’s head snapped up from his phone, a surprised and vaguely distracted look on his face until she gave him a warm, almost conspiratory smile and went on, “I’ll take a rain check on hanging out tonight. But I’m definitely gonna collect on that, so don’t think you’re getting out of spending time with me somewhere off-campus. Got that, Faulkner?”

Alex blinked, startled by that firm future-claim of his time, trying and failing not to let himself read into it for so much as a second. If it was anyone else, he would’ve sworn she was asking him out...but one look across the table at her cheerful, friendly expression and the total lack of any sort of nervous energy or demure blushing forced him to discard that idea as soon as it crossed his mind. Yeah, right, Faulkner. You wish.

“All right,” Alex gave Bianca a wan smile and a nod, “I’ll go find out what’s going on...but only if you come with me.”

Bianca grinned at him, clearly pleased to be included--she hadn’t been kidding about being curious about what was going on. “Deal.”



As soon as they’d reached the radio station, Connor had grabbed both Alex and Bianca by an arm and dragged them all the way through the building and up the stairs to Dr. de Forest’s office, shoving them both inside the messy little room with the giddy-looking professor before crowding in behind them. He’d been atypically close-mouthed the entire time--all he’d say was that it was perfect and amazing and hilarious and that ‘Doc de Ef’ should be the one to tell them the rest, but Alex was welcome in advance for the boost to fame and stardom.

“Ah, yes, very good! I’m glad you could make it on such short notice,” the vaguely scatterbrained professor said, smiling brightly up at Alex before turning a curious look on Bianca, then shaking his head and eagerly re-focusing on the blue-haired student. “Anyway, as you may know, Mr. Faulkner, your appearance on Mr. Katou’s radio program a few weeks ago was very well received.”

Alex gave a silent nod as Dr. de Forest hurriedly shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk, seizing a handful and thrusting them out for the startled student to take, then immediately redirecting his attention to his computer, pounding away on his keyboard as he explained, “What you’ve got there are copies of all the emails we’ve received about that show, screenshots of messages posted on our FacePlace wall and Flitter accounts, as well as some transcripts of calls.”

The stack wasn’t huge, but it was still definitely a lot heftier than Alex would’ve expected after a solitary appearance on a campus radio show. He felt Bianca and Connor leaning in on either side to read over his shoulders as he flipped through them, skimming the messages--not all of which were complimentary, mind--before looking back up at the beaming radio station manager, who’d swiveled his computer screen around for Alex (and company) to see some additional messages that hadn’t been printed off.

“This is the most student response we’ve gotten for a call-in show like this in--in much longer than I can remember! Giving students a platform to express themselves is our primary concern, but audience demand is important to keep in mind as well--and it would seem the voices of the masses have spoken, and what they’re saying is that they want you, Alex.”

As Bianca uttered a low, impressed-sounding “Whoa!” and Connor gave a loud whoop right in his ear, Alex nearly let the whole stack of papers drop to the floor from nerveless hands, staring at the radio station manager in silent, wide-eyed shock.

“And so, if you’re interested, I’d like to offer you the late-night time slot. We’ve just been using it as an extra call-in requests time, since the student who’d held that slot last semester graduated early--it’s not unusual for a late-night slot like that to come open during the spring semester, since oftentimes seniors will quit their jobs here at the station to focus on their studies and final projects during their last semester. She’d informed me of her intentions at the beginning of the year, so at least it didn’t come as a shock, but, well, so far there’s been no one who was both willing to work that late every weeknight and talented enough to host a show of their own.”

Alex continued to stare across the desk at the eagerly-babbling professor, still speechless with surprise. He’d enjoyed being on the radio, sure, and it really had felt good to verbally put that guy in his place, to at least try to give him a wake-up call, but...but it had been one time, and he hadn’t been on-air alone, and while it was true that he didn’t know what exactly he wanted to do with his degree, he also didn’t know if he wanted to make this big of a commitment to this branch of the Communications world.

“It is quite late, not the most convenient time slot, I’m well aware,” Dr. de Forest went on, “from midnight until two in the morning, plus at least an additional hour or so afterwards, manning the requests hotline and setting up a playlist to run until the early morning sound tech comes in at 4:00 a.m., but it’s a work study position, so it would knock a fair amount off your tuition.”

“...And...you’re saying that you think I’m ‘talented’ enough to host a show by myself?” Alex had finally found his voice, though he was still so taken aback that his disbelief was drowning out the usual polite tone he took with teachers and other adults in positions of authority. “I mean...thank you, I appreciate that, it’s...a huge compliment, but...I was a guest star one time on someone else’s show. I don’t see how you can really know whether I’m ‘talented’ enough or not just by that.”

Dr. de Forest smiled--a shrewd expression that seemed out of character for such a dreamy, distracted man--and there was a keen light in his eyes as he looked up from his computer screen and over at Alex. “Sometimes, you just know. Something like instinct, I suppose. I haven’t been wrong about a student yet, and I’ve worked here upwards of twenty years. But even if you do happen to be the first--which I highly doubt, from what I’ve seen of you, Mr. Faulkner--I believe that you’re a risk well worth taking.”

Despite that ringing endorsement, Alex’s uncertainty was plain on his face, in the way his shoulders hunched and his whole body seemed to fold in on itself somewhat. This man had met him all of once, and yet he was already saying something like that? That Alex had talent, enough that he was a risk worth taking? And talent at what, exactly?

Before he could finish drawing a breath to express all of that doubt and cynicism, he felt a gentle hand come to rest on his back, palm flat against his shoulder blade.

Turning an oblique look back over his shoulder, he found a bright-eyed Bianca almost glowing with confidence--confidence in him--and her smile only widened as she pressed that hand into his back a little more firmly, giving him an encouraging look that clearly said go for it!

Sensing Alex’s lingering hesitation, Dr. de Forest hastened to add, “Ah, you don’t have to give me your final answer now--you can have a few days to think it over, and even if you do decide to take the position, you still don’t have to completely commit to it right away! We can give it a trial run for a month or two, and if you don’t like it, and/or the listeners don’t continue to respond positively, then...well, then you can quit! No guilt, no strings attached! And during the trial period, the school will still pay you for your time with work study hours.”

It was still completely unexpected, the whole thing felt more than a little unreal, but (Connor’s typically awful behavior aside) he really had enjoyed it. It had been interesting, fun even, and the more he thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea, and it didn’t hurt that Bianca’s hand hadn’t moved, radiating strength and courage and sharing both with him, letting him draw them in like a plant soaking up light from the sun.

“Sure,” Alex said suddenly, and when he looked up to meet the station manager’s hopeful gaze, there was a steely gleam in his pale grey eyes...and a slowly growing, undeniably sly smile spreading across his face as well. “I’ll give it a try. Sounds like fun.”



Despite having accepted the job at the campus radio station, Alex didn’t quit his original job at the music store. The ‘radio personality’ gig was only a trial for now, and since he did have such a late-night time slot, the two things didn’t really conflict much, except when it came to DJing, though that was easy enough to resolve: Alex worked his regular hours during the week, as always, but his DJ assignments were limited to weekends. The majority of those assignments were at the Rave Review--the venue where he and Bianca had seen Infinity On High together that fall, and where he’d already been doing most of his DJ work.

Tonight was no different. It was a Saturday, a little more than two weeks after his birthday, and so far, the radio station job had gone well. Alex had only officially been on-air for a week, but he’d had plenty of callers right from the start: Connor had talked him up on his own show the whole week beforehand, and that same week, Alex himself had been making smartass remarks here and there during the call-in request show that he would be replacing. That had been Dr. de Forest’s suggestion, a way of giving Alex a low-pressure way to get used to being in the booth alone, working all the machinery alone, with no supervision or back up other than the sound tech. And it had worked; by the time he was settling into the chair on Monday night earlier that very week, he’d still been apprehensive, but much less so than he’d imagined he’d be. By the time the show was over, any trace of the previous anxiety he’d felt was gone: he’d been so busy answering calls and reading off emails, talking to people, and offering scathing commentary on their life choices, he’d completely forgotten to be nervous. That had remained true the next night, and every night afterwards--all he’d felt when he’d taken his place in that chair, slipped those headphones on, and flicked all the proper switches...was excitement. Being there in that room, going through those motions, taking on that ‘snarky advisor’ role and becoming a radio personality, it had all just felt right, like so very few other things in his life had, like a puzzle piece fitting into place with a quiet, satisfying snap.

The only other times he felt like that, that soul-deep sense of satisfaction, was when he worked as a DJ, when he completely immersed himself in playing his keyboard, the few times that Keiji had coaxed him behind a drum set...and whenever he was around Bianca.

Bianca had definitely been listening to his shows this week, or was at least recording them and listening to them later; she had to get up for morning classes and volleyball practice, so staying awake until 2 in the morning wouldn’t have been either beneficial or easy for her. But the fact that she’d taken the trouble to record them, or download the recordings from somewhere, meant just as much or more to Alex. He knew that she’d been listening because she’d texted him about it, and had also laughed about a few of the worst callers with him over lunch. Her group of friends had been curious at first, but once Bianca had explained it to them, told them about Alex’s new show, they’d expressed some definite interest, either promising to listen or asking for Bianca to send along the files.

Alex figured that was mostly general politeness, that maybe two or three would actually listen in, but that was fine for now. He was still learning, still getting used to being a radio personality, still going through that initial trial period; he’d just have to improve enough to fully claim that spot, and get so undeniably good at what he did that even the biggest critics would have to pause for a few seconds before changing the station, captured by the ring of clear, incontestable truth in his voice.

Even so, working here at the Rave Review was a welcome change of pace. As the DJ, he could, did, and should talk to the crowd every so often, but they didn’t talk back, at least not one-on-one. They answered him in stereo, with a flood of mingling voices and riotous cheering, with the gleam of their sweat in the neon lights and the movement of their bodies on the dance floor. In the middle of the darkened club it was easy to submerge himself in the music, to let the pounding of the bass beat in time with his heart as he melded into the moment, a strange sensation akin to being ensnared by a waking dream--one that he couldn’t shift or alter.

His entire being was fully saturated by the song pulsing through him, all his senses immersed in that almost hallucinatory feeling when, somehow, a voice managed to cut through all the noise, sliding through the syrupy, viscous ambiance of the club with ease:

“Alex! Hey, Earth to Alex Ace!”

Hearing that joking radio call-sign would’ve definitely been enough to catch his attention, even if the voice saying it hadn’t been a profoundly familiar one. After shaking his head to clear it of the clinging cobweb-like tendrils the music had woven all around and through his mind, he glanced around, at a loss...then stepped to the left and leaned over the edge of the sound tech’s booth, looking straight down one side...to find Bianca beaming up at him from where she stood on the bottommost rung of the service access ladder.

He wasn’t surprised, not really: she’d mentioned forever ago that she and her friends had talked about going clubbing, but he’d still felt a flicker of something like shock when he’d actually seen her walk through the door. It had been interesting to note that the sound booth had been the first place her eyes had gone, and when they’d made eye contact, she’d grinned and given a little wave. Alex had met her greeting with a slight smile and a nod of acknowledgement, since his hands had been busy at the time--but he hadn’t really expected her to try to talk to him, especially considering how out-of-reach the sound booth was here.

As usual, Bianca Jackson defied all his expectations. She was wearing the classic little black dress, a sleek lacy sheath that stopped a few inches short of mid-thigh and hugged every curve, dipping almost courageously low in the front--enough so that, considering his vantage point, he felt the need to redirect his attention elsewhere almost immediately. Her makeup was decidedly different than normal as well, a darker, smokier look with some kind of sparkly powder around her eyes and on her cheekbones, and her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that fell around her neck and shoulders in a cascade of blonde curls.

She was beautiful. She was always beautiful, but this time she’d clearly made an effort to show off that fact, and Alex had to swallow hard, forcing down all the words he wanted to say, all the feelings that looking down at her like this gave him. He couldn’t tell if he was visibly shaken, if she knew how hard her appearance had hit him, but if she did, she certainly wasn’t acting like it, letting one of her feet (which were shod in over-the-knee black leather boots) carelessly pop up behind her as she absently swung back and forth on the ladder a bit.

“Hey, Mr. DJ~ I have a request,” she called up to him, jokingly fluttering her eyelashes before smirking up at him through them demurely. “For you to come down and dance! But...you probably can’t actually do that, can you?”

Alex chuckled, a soft sound lost in the surrounding cacophony of noise, giving her a small smile and a disbelieving, but also regretful shake of his head. He absolutely couldn’t leave the booth, he had to keep the music going, so he was pretty well stuck there until the whole place shut down around three in the morning.

“Raincheck,” he called down, giving her a droll, meaningful smirk--clearly a nod to what she’d said to him on his birthday two weeks before. “But I’m definitely gonna collect on it someday, so don’t think you’re getting out of getting your feet stepped on some night when you least expect it. Got that, Jackson?”

The grin Bianca flashed up at him in return was so heartfelt that Alex almost thought she meant it when she replied with a playful salute and a wink, “I read you loud and clear, Faulkner! But I’m warning you, I’ll hold you to it!”

Glad of the dim setting and the roving, multicoloured light fixtures (the better to hide his painfully red face), Alex watched her rejoin her group of girlfriends, all of them dressed in typical club fare: strappy heels and tight, flashy outfits that boasted far too many sequins and almost scandalously little fabric in important areas. (Bianca wore it better than any of them, he couldn’t help thinking to himself, somehow making it look classy instead of cheap.) He watched them all a moment more, then had to swallow a laugh and hide a grin, because it was super obvious what they were up to. From the way they were looking around the room, turning disdainful, disparaging expressions on any guy who got close, this was that vaunted, sacred thing that Bianca had conspiratorially mentioned to him on more than one occasion: this was a Girls’ Night, and they were just there to dance.

But...if they’re scaring off any guy who gets close, then why’d she ask me to dance? he couldn’t help wondering, not quite certain if he should be flattered or affronted. Maybe she’d only done it because she’d known that he’d have to say no, which was, again, kind of confusing. One thing’s for sure though: they’re here to have some fun...and in that case...

Alex bent over the turntables and the soundboard with renewed concentration, pouring all of his effort into making this the best club rave he possibly could. He spun and mixed and layered and crossfaded between songs fluidly, keeping the beat going steadily until his phone lit up, an alarm he’d set to remind himself of when it was time to start winding things down.

“Last call, and one final song,” he said over the microphone as he faded out the previous song and let the new one take its place. There were already fewer people on the dance floor--it was late, very nearly closing time, and he’d kept up a grueling tempo with the music. He glanced up, scanning the floor, but he didn’t see Bianca or the other girls--they must’ve had enough already, and headed out while he was still engrossed in beatmatching and slip-cueing. It wasn’t until he’d packed up his equipment, hauled it out to Bill’s truck, and slid, exhausted, in the cab that he noticed the message indicator light blinking on his phone. Curiosity did wonders to dispel the fatigue in his muscles and the heaviness of his eyelids, and he tapped at his phone’s screen a few times to bring up the message. It was from Bianca, about 45 minutes ago:

Leaving now bc one of my friends drank a liiittle too much x_x
BUT you did an awesome job with the music! \o/
The girls and I had a great time tonight! C:
Will def. be back!
(And not just to redeem that raincheck C;)


It was followed by a little emoji of two pairs of feet dancing, and Alex smiled at both the message and the image in spite of himself. He didn’t consider himself much of a dancer, but he was already painfully aware that if Bianca was involved, he would give just about anything a try, and do his very best at it in the bargain.

He could only hope that if she ever did decide to collect on that raincheck some night when he wasn’t DJing, he wouldn’t actually step all over her feet.


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