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“How you doing, Theo?” Stephanie asked me from the screen of his phone.
“Good, Stephanie, and you?”
“Couldn’t be better. We’re really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. In the flesh, that is.”
“Digital just isn’t the same, is it?”
“You have no idea,” Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out at Ragner.
Now that I was returned fully to the real world, with my U.S. contacts confirmed, I finally felt relaxed enough to let go. I’d likely miss out on the complimentary breakfast, but that was the least of my potential worries. I had a concert to get ready for.
Summerfest, here I come, I thought, ready to put on a fucking great show during the short time I was allowed to be in Seattle.
Chapter Eight – Becca
The ringing was still there. A low, persistent tone in my ears. Like my brain was prompting someone to leave a message.
The message from the previous night, while indirect, was also clear. Something had changed in me. An element I didn’t quite have the words to describe. It was like a door had opened to a whole new world— one that I was eager to explore.
The jacket creaked as I rose like a mummy from the tomb. I hadn’t drunk the night before. It just wasn’t my scene. But I came home exhausted enough that the resulting feeling was basically the same as if I had gotten sloshed. My clothes had stayed on as I crashed onto the bed and my head was pounding.
I didn’t have my forced seminar today and was as free as I would get until after graduation. Then it would be time to face the big, scary world, all on my own.
I’d put it off as long as I could, knowing even as I did it that I was only delaying the inevitable. Like death and taxes, adulthood came for us all in the end. It was the only other thing that could really be counted on in an otherwise chaotic universe.
After the scene I’d inadvertently made the day before, Ashe basically insisted that we meet at a restaurant for lunch the next day. There were still no guarantees, but at least I wouldn’t negatively affect her working life if things went pear-shaped again.
I would still be on my best behavior, with minimum “moments of excitement,” as my mother used to call them. She could have had a bright career in the diplomatic service.
I was there first, surprising no one. They didn’t call me ‘Stopwatch’ because I was good at chess. But maybe they should have, since I was actually President of the chess club, much to the pride of my father, who’d held the same office when he was at school.
Granted, for him, that was for medical school. And music school was nothing compared to that. But at least being good at chess was the one way in which I had followed in the footsteps of family tradition or expectations.
As I waited, I listened, putting the Loki’s Laugh disc through its paces once again, wondering if they were planning to release another one soon. I doubted I would ever really tire of their debut album, though. Each of the tracks were so complex that I was still finding new things in each of them.
It was a bit of a diversion from planning the program for my graduation concert, but that was good sometimes. Too much work could be as bad as not enough.
“Hey, early bird,” Ashe said.
“Hi.”
I put the neatly folded jacket onto the table, placing the pair of Chucks on top of it.
“Still wearing the shirt, hey?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Just make sure to wash it on occasion.”
“Of course I will, I—”
“You don’t want it to be like the Gorey bat one.”
That silenced me right quick. It didn’t seem like Ashe was ever going to let me forget that time in our second year that she gave me a T-shirt with a silk-screened version of an Edward Gorey illustration. The one with the flying bat.
I loved it so much, I wore it every day without rest. It had nearly disintegrated off my back by the second month.
“Point taken,” I conceded.
“So, you really like the band, huh?”
The word “like” really wasn’t a sufficient term for how I felt about them, but I decided to let it go. There actually was no way to fully express the full depths and complexity of my reaction.
Even I had a hard time figuring it all out, having finally understood the true meaning of the word ‘ineffable.’
“I’m seeing Varg again tonight if you want to come,” Ashe said. “His friend Theo is in town, so it could be like a double date.”
“Sure,” I said, doing my very best not to blush.
I didn’t have a lot of experience with dating. Even in high school, I had been too preoccupied with course work and extracurriculars to even think about going out with guys, even though it seemed like I would have had lots of opportunity.
