New Scene: Enter the Club

The place was called Sparke & Flash, but it was usually just known as Flash. The name was fairly accurate, it was known for it's amazing lighting. It was so popular that, despite the fact that it was overall a gay nightclub, straight guys were not an uncommon sight inside. One thing that you could always say about these men was that they were comfortable with themselves.

Terry was comfortable with himself, well, he thought he was. Of course, as Alexis had pointed out, if he was as comfortable as he believed himself to be he probably would have ended up in Flash a lot sooner.

Almost as soon as they had entered the club, Alexis and Nathanial were accosted by people greeting them with enthusiastic hugs. A few had already met Terry, and they also threw their arms around him.
"Oh my Gawd, honey, it is so weird seeing you in here!" "I am shocked they actually go you out to Flash!" "Terry, baby, is this your first time?" They fired off their amazed greetings, interrupted frequently by Alexis or Nathanial introducing him to someone else. Then, quite suddenly, they had all dispersed, returning to the dance floor or to the bar. Neither of his compatriots looked at all shocked -- apparently this was typical.
"You know I'm not going to remember who anyone is, right?" he asked after a stunned silence.

Alexis gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's okay, I barely know who half those people were," she admitted.

Nathanial shrugged. "She actually knows more of them than I do, I think," he said sheepishly.

After working their way to the coat check and leaving their jackets there, the trio made their way towards the dance floor. Periodically they would be stopped by someone who had not participated in the storm of greetings when they entered, and the same pattern would commence -- a hug to Nathanial, a hug to Alexis, and a light handshake as they were introduced to Terry.
Once they finally reached the dance floor, Nathanial began to dance. For a gay man, it was clearly not his forte. Still, he was enjoying himself and that was what counted.
"He's better at choreography," Alexis said into Terry's ear, "Wait til they play the dance remix of 'Cotton Eye Joe'."

Terry's jaw dropped. "There's a dance remix to that?"

"There's a dance remix of everything, babe," Alexis explained, "These are gays. They can and will turn anything into a dance party. They're professionals at it."

"I doubt everything. They can't have done a dance remix of "Silent Night', can they?"

"If they haven't yet, I'm sure we'll hear it brand new this December." As the couple had been talking to each other, although they were being loud, they'd had to talk directly into each other's ears. As they'd gotten close, they'd begun to dance. Nathanial spun around them, an obvious third wheel.
Alexis smiled and brought her mouth up towards her boyfriend's lips, which he parted ever so slightly as they met.

"Feeling a little left out?" a voice asked the dancing gay man.

Nathanial stopped, frozen in the middle of a move. "Huh?" he asked, turning to face his ex-boyfriend, "A, why are you here? B, why are you talking to me? And PS, what are you even talking to me about?"

Brad took a step back, putting up his hands as though to show he was unarmed. "I'm allowed in here, it's a public place," he replied, "And B, I'm talking to you because I like talking to you. I miss you. And you're obviously not here with anyone so...I just thought you'd like some company since your friends are playing tonsil hockey." He nodded in the direction of Alexis and Terry.

Terry and Alexis gently pulled away from each other. The straight man looked up towards his single friend and scowled. He had caught sight of Brad. "Excuse me, babe," he said to Alexis before striding away, "I'm gonna get a drink."
Nathanial was almost assuredly playing hard-to-get, but everyone had seen what Brad could do to that boy. Maybe he'd say he was over his ex, but even so the manipulative jerk knew exactly what to say to get exactyly what he wanted. It was time for backup...

A blond boy at the edge of the dance floor caught his eye. The boy was talking to someone on security and was holding a Shirley Temple in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. This was a golden opportunity. With a smile to himself, Terry approached him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Look, Brad, you're being all sweet and stuff," Nathanial protested, although his resolve was clearly weakening, "But, really, whatever connection there is between your life and mine or whatever...it's coincidental. We're nothing and we can't be anything more than that."

Brad's lower lip quivered pathetically. "You won't know that til you try, and I know we already did but I just don't think we were ready..."

"I don't think he's ready for you yet anyways," an unfamiliar voice said, loudly but cheerfully.

Brad stopped and stared. Nathanial's jaw dropped as a pale white arm gracefully draped itself across his arm and over his shoulder. "Right, sweetheart?"

Nathanial gave a glance towards his two friends. Terry nodded. "Your timing is so good, honey," Nathanial fibbed, turning towards the stranger, "You're always so perfect like that." The boy was blond. Otherwise not bad on the eyes, but blond? He shot a glare at Terry. Brad was going to see through this in a second.

"You don't like blonds, Nathanial," Brad questioned, "And I really can't see you dating one of the dancers at this club."

Clearly a second look was in order. Brad was right. During their special events, this blond boy was one of the Flash dancers. "You wouldn't understand the connection we have," the dancer said poetically, "It's stronger than hair color. Stronger than occupations."

"You know, no is an answer too," Brad spat, turning on his heel and storming away, glancing back. He was too stubborn to be done trying for good, but he knew he'd been defeated for one night.

"Then why wasn't he taking it?" Alexis mused. Then she turned to the newcomer. "Thanks so much, hon. Brad's so hard to deal with."

"Cheap too, he never tips, just stares," the boy complained, "I'm Ian, by the way." The trio introduced themselves to Ian. It turned out that he'd come to the club alone that night, so the the three invited him to hang out with them for the remainder of the night.

(The last two pictures come from Jennifer Thomas's site, and all three were taken at Club XS.)

New Character: Ian

Name: Ian Waters Jr.
Siblings: None
Parents/Guardians: Ian aunt and uncle raised him, but he no longer has any contact with them.
Birthdate: March 22, 1987
Appearance: Ian is a lean, but very muscular blonde boy. He has blue eyes, and is 5'9". He has the build of a dancer, because, of course, that's what he is.
Style: Ian likes to switch up his styles. One day he'll be dressed as preppy as they come, and the next day he'll be as punk as they come. There is no knowing how he'll be dressed on any given day, but you can always guarantee that he'll look good.
Hobbies: Ian has always been a dancer. He practically lives at nightclubs, but also enjoys reading. He is also pursuing a modeling career, and enjoys taking photographs. He also has a passion for flowers, but no skill for gardening.
Education: Ian decided to "take a year off" after high school -- a year that has turned into a lifetime. Ian has decided he can follow his goals without further education.
Sexuality: Homosexual
Dreams: Ian wants to become an internationally recognized male model, or a famous dancer.
Fears: Ian is actually afraid of a lot of things, but primarily he is afraid of getting drunk.
Celebrity Crush: Joseph Sayers
Introvert or Extrovert: Ian is extremely extroverted.
Happy or Depressed: Ian acts happy all of the time, but is actually not very happy at all.
Indoors or Outdoors: Ian is a lot more into the indoors, though he enjoys the serenity of nature.
Single or Taken: Single.
Favorites
Season: Spring
Food: Ian loves ice cream.
Dessert: See above.
Places to Eat: Ian eats at a lot of 24/7 diners out of convenience for his work schedule.
Least Favorites
Season: Winter
Food: Calamari
Dessert: Rice pudding
Places to Eat: Burger King

New Scene: The Date (Part 1)

After the two had eaten their dinner at Applebee's, Nick brought Hope back out to his car, opening the passenger side door for her as he had done every time so far. Once he got into his own seat, he smiled at her. "Enjoying yourself so far?" he asked with a smile.

Hope nodded.

"Good," he said, "But it's only going to get better tonight."

Hope chuckled. "Good luck topping how much I enjoyed you picking up the tab for dinner," she teased.

Fifteen minutes later, he opinion changed completely as he pulled into a parking spot in a vast field full of cars. Looming above them was the brightly lit ferris wheel of a carnival. After a moment to let the sight of the carnival sink in, Nick opened his door and then circled his car to let Hope out. He helped her out of her seat, bringing her up to eye level with him. Her face was mere centimeters from his face. "This is kind of awesome," she breathed softly.

Nick smiled. "Glad you think so." He leaned in to kiss her, only to find himself face to face with her fiery hair as she turned her head to take in more of the carnival.

"We're going in, right?" she asked, "Or just looking at it?"

New Scene: Preparations

Alexis held up the shirt to Hope, and the red-headed girl gasped.

"It's gorgeous, Alexis!" Hope exclaimed, "Perfect for the club tonight!"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Please, no. This is for you to wear tonight. I've seen your closet, girl, and nothing you have in their screams 'first date'."

Hope raised an eyebrow skeptically and turned to her own collection of clothes, hanging in her closet. "Sure, I've got something!"

"You want something that says 'I'm not easy, but I'm sexy as hell'," her roommate continued, "You've got 'sexy as hell', and you've got 'not easy', and you've even got some 'easy' in there, but nothing is the right combination."

"How do you know what I've got in here so well?" Hope asked, more than a little creeped out.

Alexis smirked. "I may have taken a mental inventory when I helped you unpack. You have to get ready, hurry up and put this on! I want to see it before I go!"

While Hope put on the clothes, Alexis sorted through her own for what she was wearing. Settling on a stunning black top she'd made and a pair of low rise pants she'd bought from Wet Seal.

Hope's cell phone rang just as she pulled the sweater down to her waist. She grabbed it and smiled. She flipped the device open and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey you," Nick's voice came, "So, I'm running a little early actually. Don't rush or anything, but I'll be outside your dorm whenever you're ready."

"Alright, I'll see you in a few minutes then," Hope replied. She closed her phone then rolled her eyes to Alexis. "This early thing doesn't work for me. On time or fashionably late, seriously."

"Trouble in paradise already?" Alexis smirked, stripping off the shirt she had been wearing.

Hope smiled, walking around Alexis to look at herself in the mirror that was hung on the back of their door. "I wouldn't call it paradise to begin with, we don't even know each other." She glanced back at her roomie. "What is that on your back?"

The immediate tension that filled the air was startling. Alexis' body tensed, and she hastily yanked the shirt she had picked out over her head and pulled it down onto her body. "Nothing."

Hope put her hands up in defeat. "Ooookay, sorry," she replied, clearly surprised by the other girl's reaction. She turned her attention back to the mirror. "Are these jeans okay?" Almost as quickly as it had filled the room, the tense atmosphere disappeared.

"Oh, they're great," Alexis answered, "But I think they need a belt. I have just the thing here." The two girls examined a few belts before deciding on a sash-like cloth belt, which Hope quickly wrapped around her waist and tied.

They both stood in front of the mirror for a second and smiled. "Perfection," Alexis said, "All we need is modesty."

"And fragrance," Hope pointed out, returning to her dresser, "You have got to smell this one. It's fabulous. I picked it up at J.C. Penny, but don't tell anyone that."

Alexis leaned in for a sniff. "Oh my, that does smell good, can I borrow that for tonight?"

Hope laughed, "I thought you'd like it. You're not trying to get Terry to jump you in the club, are you? Because he will."

A mischievous smile spread across Alexis' face. "No, I'm trying to get him on the dance floor, that's all. And I may or may not leave him out there with a boy, just for a laugh."

"You devil, I love it," Hope said, "I wish I could go with you guys, I love clubs."

"Nathanial goes a few times every week, it's not like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Alexis commented, as the two girls headed for the door, "Go, have fun on your date, and...be careful."

"I'll be fine, mother," Hope quipped as she exited the room and headed down the hall. Nick hadn't mentioned what he had planned, but they'd see soon enough.

Short Scene: Phone Tag

Nathanial swung his bag up onto his shoulder and headed for the door to the classroom as everyone else packed up their stuff. As he went he called his voice mail box. He'd gotten a call in the middle of Theater History -- fortunately his phone was on silent or the professor might've leapt across tables and attacked. She had not been in a good mood.

"Please enter your 4 digit password then press pound." He complied with the phones instructions. "You have one saved voice mail. You have three saved voice mails. First new message:"

The phone switched over to a deep voice. "Hey hottie, it's Brad. I know we haven't talked in a while, a couple months. I've been super busy. Just calling to say hi. I miss you, Nathanial. Give me a call back some time. Talk to you later."

Before the instructions could even be heard Nathanial slammed a finger into the "7" button to delete the message. By now he was walking outside in the chilly January air, not too frigid but much colder than it was outside, and his suddenly foul mood was visible to anyone who got close enough to see his facial expression.

"Hey Thanial," a voice shouted. Only one person called him that -- Terry, who refused to use most people's full names, "What's up?"

Nathanial turned towards his friend and forced a smile. "Not much, Terry, how are you?"

"What's wrong?" For all the boy's acting skills, it was simply too difficult to fool Terry. He was very good at reading people.

But perhaps a part of Nathanial wanted his friend to know and had given him away. "Brad called," he sighed.

"No, you're not going back to him." The boy's reaction was instaneous, every joint of his body tensed and his jaw jutted forward stubbornly.

Nathanial rolled his eyes. "I know. Jesus, I know. I just hate that he calls every time he's single again. You'd think he'd delete my number at some point, he has with all his other ex's."

Reassured, Terry relaxed and became congenial again. "You were the only guy he's dated who didn't treat him like shit," Terry pointed out, "At least according to him." He smirked. "Of course, there's a reason that they treat him like shit."

Nathanial shrugged. "I guess. He is a douche. But I dunno."

In a split second, Terry's demeanor had changed again. "Don't know what? Whether or not he treats everyone around him like a toy or a tool that's completely expendable and to hell with how they feel? Cause that's been pretty obvious to the rest of us since the day you met him."

"Maybe he's changed, I haven't seen him in forever," Nathanial shot back defensively, "I mean, it does happen. And I kind of miss, you know, being with somebody."

"You can get any guy you want! Okay, tonight we're going to the club and getting you a man," Terry insisted.

Nathanial held in a laugh. "You're coming?"

Terry shrugged. "Well, I figure I'll be safe if I make out with Alexis all night. Right?"

"Sure, if letting you think that will get you there," Nathanial smiled.

Two Short Scenes: Hope for Hope

Hope, Nick, and Nathanial left the theater together, showering each other with compliments for their auditions. Nathanial had resumed his usual confidence, something that the idea of singing in front of people had knocked him out of.
"I mean, I knew I'd be fine," he assured his two companions, "I probably didn't even need to use the mic, you know?"

"Neither of us did," Nick pointed out.

Nathanial glared at him, smiled curtly and shook his head. "On that note, my dorm is in the opposite direction of either of yours, so I'm gonna go. You two have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Which leaves what exactly?" Nick replied.

"See you tomorrow Hope. Good night and good riddance, Nick."

Hope rolled her eyes. "It'd be great if you two ego-trips could graduate kindergarten some time soon."

Nathanial shrugged and set off for his dormitory. The other two began walking in the other direction. They carried on a friendly, and less-than-subtly flirtatious conversation until they reached the door of Hope's dorm.
"This is my stop, see ya around stud," the redheaded said with a wink.

"Bye," Nick nodded. Hope turned to go inside. He leapt into action before he missed his chance. "You want to get something to eat with me tomorrow night? Like, off-campus?"

Holding the door ajar, Hope smiled and turned her head back to face the boy. "That sounds great. What time?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope pushed open the door to her room, to find her roommate passed out at her desk, a book in one hand. She tried to contain her ear-to-ear smile, as if she thought it might be too loud. Gently she pushed the door shut again, but the quiet click still made the roommate stir.

"Shit! The butter!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Butter?" Hope asked.

"Nevermind," the tired girl shook her head, "I was making cookies. Where have you been all night?"

"Auditions," Hope reminded her roomie, "Nathanial was great, by the way."

Alexis breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to guess you were too, from the way you're glowing." She was clearly coming back to her senses from waking up.

"Glowing? Girl, this is not a glow." Hope made another failed attempt to contain her smile, and collapsed joyfully onto her bed. "I have a date."

"Oh good!" Alexis exclaimed, "My roommate last semester never had any dates, and she always bitched about it whenever Terry and I went out."

"Probably didn't help her get any dates," Hope observed, rolling into her favorite "girl-talk position", lying on her stomach. "We met at the auditions. He was amazing."

Alexis inquired, "So which sexy, straight theater boy is it?"

"Nick."

Alexis bit her bottom lip. "Oh, good. Great." There was a hesitation in her voice.

"What?" Hope demanded, propping herself up on her arms, like a cobra ready to strike.

Alexis shook her head. "I don't really know him, personally. It's nothing. I better finish this homework." She smiled and flashed her eyes and then returned to her reading.

Hope narrowed her eyes. Something was amiss.

The Auditions Continue

"Faaareweeeellll," Nick's melodious voice finished. The pianist stopped playing and the faculty in the seats exploded into momentary applause and then stopped, realizing there were other students around.

In a few moments Hope was up on the stage. Nervous. Nick hadn't left, he and Nathanial both sat in the front row watching her. Ignore them, girl, you got this, she told herself, You have had this number down pat for a month.
She inhaled, her diaphram expanding as she took in the air. The pianist was waiting for her. "Whenever you're ready, Ms. Daniels," one of the directors said.

Hope inhaled again, her hand on her stomach. And then she was off.
"Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya."
She paused. The ensemble put in some "ya"s in this part of the song.
"Ya ya!"
Pause for imaginary "ya ya".
"Brrrrrrrrrr! Ooh!
Lock the door and stop complaining
Gather 'round and listen well..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"From now on we're entertaining how to hotten up this hell!"

Nathanial was watching Hope and was very impressed. He was still skimming his own copy of the song she'd given him. Nick had sat down next to him to watch, and as she had began to sing the department's vocal superstar had momentarily stopped breathing. He could understand it, her voice was phenomenal, unlike anything he'd ever heard in person. How had a talent like that ended up at this school? She belonged on Broadway already -- and she wasn't even using the mic!

"Hold your mood and hold your bladder
Skip the food and stop the chatter
Can't you hear the pitter-patter
We're not here to eat
We came for the heat!"

Nick was grasping at the arm of his chair.
Nathanial smirked. He was having almost the same reaction Hope had had. Speaking of heat, there was going to be plenty of that later when those two left the theater.

"Let's raise the roof! Let's make a scene!
Let's hope the gods of love will shine above
And show the way!
Let's call the shots! Let's roll the dice!
Take my advice, it always pays to raise the roof!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope sang with all her might. This was her first impression, really, to most of these professors. She was coming in with a bang. The song was quick, exciting. Kind of sexy.
Scratch that, really sexy. Which was good, with Nick in the audience. The song seemed to speed by, but she was finally coming on the end.
"Before the big hand hits the one
We've got to do what must be done
So put away that smoking guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnn
And raise the roooooof!
Go raise the rooooof!
Let's raise the roooof!
Raise the roof."

The pianist stopped. The directors exploded into applause again, only this time they couldn't stop themselves.
"Hope, where have you been all my life?" one of them exclaimed.

She blushed and tucked a strand of her flaming red hair behind her ear and smiled sheepishly. "Uhm, I think Nathanial needs to..."

"Yes, of course, Nathanial...what do you have for us?"

"I'll be singing 'The Buddy System' from City of Angels," Nathanial explained as he quickly ascended to the stage.

"Wonderful," one of the professors said. It was evident none of them were particularly looking forward to this.

"Let's go," Nick suggested to Hope in a whisper.

She shot him a look. "Wait for Nathanial to finish, he's nervous and he needs some support."

"He's Nathanial, he's fine."

The look was back. "Cool it, hot stuff, and park it." Obediently, Nick returned to his comfortable sitting position.

(Disclaimer: Hope was singing the song "Raise the Roof" from the off-Broadway musical The Wild Party.)