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 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.

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.

New Scene: Audition

(The new characters in this, except for one, are minor enough that I will not be making bios for them. The one character who that is not true of isn't getting a bio because....well, because I'm lazy. :-P)

Alexis rubbed Nathanial's shoulders. "You'll be fine," she assured him, "Totally fine." She, Terry, and Nathanial were outside the theater wing, prepping the Theater Queer, as they affectionately had dubbed Nathanial, for his audition.

Terry nodded his agreement. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"It's a musical, I can't sing," Nathanial snapped, "You do the math, babycakes."

"You're a guy in a girl-heavy theater department," Alexis reminded him, "What song are you doing anyways?"

"I don't even know, I figured I'd pull something out of my ass when I get there," Nathanial answered.

"No wonder you're so nervous," a woman's voice interrupted. Hope was walking steadily towards them, a small pile of books under her arm. She was headed for the auditions, but she seemed totally nerve-free. "What's your range?"

"Uhm...male?" Nathanial tried. Music was not his thing, not at all.

"High or low?"

"Uhm....male?"

"Okay, here." She put down her pile of books and opened up one of them, then turned it towards Nathanial. "It's not difficult. Read it, when they play the music you give them, just do what the piano is doing with your voice."

"I can read music," Nathanial retorted. He paused then added, "Well, kinda."

Hope was unimpressed. "Do what the piano is doing with your voice." She picked up the rest of her books and walked by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you here to audition?" the stage manager asked when Hope rounded the corner and found the table she had been looking for.

"Yes, I'm Hope Daniels I signed up for--"

"I don't really care," the stage manager replied, "We're so far off schedule that you could have signed up for three weeks from next Thursday and I'd let you go. Threw the whole damn thing out. "

"Who are you?" Hope asked.

"Laura Angelli," she answered, "Fill out these papers. Correctly, please. Then I'll let you in to audition." She slid a couple papers towards Hope, and then began ignoring the redhead completely.

Hope put her books down on the table, sat, and started looking at the paperwork. It was a fairly typical college audition sheet, just two copies of it.

"She's kind of a hardass, Hope," a boy sitting at the table finishing his own paperwork said, a comment which Laura either agreed with or was ignoring, "Totally anal retentive and probably OCD but that's why she's good at what she does. Stage managing that is. I'm Nick, by the way." The two awkwardly shook hands with their left hands so as not to stop writing.

Nick finished his papers and handed them to Laura. She whipped a camera out from under the table. "You get three shots. One of them is goofy. Go." Nick smiled, and Hope couldn't help but look. His teeth were perfectly straight and white and his already handsome face looked even better. The camera flashed. A few seconds later it flashed again. Then Nick was up, stradding the table. It flashed again.
"Go in," Laura ordered, pointing at the door to the theater, while handing his forms to another girl who ran into the theater with them and was back empty-handed in a flash.

Nick inhaled. "Wish me luck," he announced to no one in particular.

"Break a leg," Hope mumbled as she tried to determine what her scheduling conflicts would be.

It was then that Nathanial turned the corner. "Laura, who is in there now?" he asked before he even got to the table.

"Nick just went in," Laura said, "Fill out the papers."

"Conversation skills, Laura, have I taught you nothing?"

"Very little, Nathanial. I have work to do." Laura slid his papers across the table -- momentarily disrupting Hope -- and went back to ignoring everyone. She was now fiddling with the camera.

As she put the camera away and pulled out a three-ring binder, Hope finished her paperwork. "Here you go, Laura," the actress said, handing them to the stage manager.

"Three shots. One goofy. Go." Hope smiled. The camera flashed. She kept smiling. The camera flashed again. She paused. "What should I do for my goofy picture?" she asked. Before she knew what was going on, Nathanial's tongue was plastered on the side of her face. Her jaw dropped. The camera flashed.

"No problem," Nathanial smiled, and returned to his papers.

"Go in." Laura pointed at the door. She handed the papers to the other girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were two students other than Nick already in the room, and neither of them was Laura's assistant who seemed to have managed to get out before Hope saw her again. One of them was on stage belting out a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables that, honestly, Hope wished she'd missed. She put her music on top of the piano as she walked by it to get to the seats.
"But the tigers come at night..."
Nick saw the redhead and recognized her. He smiled and even across the darkened theater seating, Hope could see the flash of pearly white. She made her way over to him. The other girl, who appeared to have finished but was waiting for her friend, was sitting on one side of him. The department's faculty sat several rows behind them.
"With their voices soft as thunder..."
Hope cringed slightly at the off-key notes.

"Thank you Caitlen," the department head interrupted suddenly, as though he had been asleep and was suddenly realizing how painful the noises he was hearing really were.

"No problem whatsoever! I mean thank you, Professor Strisky!" Caitlen answered perkily. She bounded off of the stage and the other girl got up to leave with her, waving shyly at Nick, who only nodded at her.

"Nick, why don't you show us what you've got?" one of the professors asked. The actor smiled at them, then at Hope, and then headed for the stage, vaulting up onto it.

"Are you singing us something of yours?" another professor asked. She sounded almost excited.

"Not today, no," Nick replied. There was a microphone on the stage, where the lights were at full, but he was making a point of not going near it. "I'll be singing 'The Old Red Hills of Home' from Parade. Carey's got my music already. And, Carey? I'm ready to go."

Piano music started. "Farewell my Lilah, I'll write ev'ry ev'ning."

And Hope was mesmerized. She did not even notice Nathanial plant himself in the seat next to her. The music erupting from the boy on stage's throat was so...perfect.
"Pray on this day, as I journey beyond them...
These old red hills of home..."

(To be continued...)

Short Scene...that I won't even pretend to have a title for...

"I'm done for tonight," Terry explained as he headed, as quickly as he could, for the door. It's not that Red Robin was necessarily a bad place to work, he just loathed working as a waiter, and the sooner he got to Alexis' car the better.

"There's a table in your section still!" his co-worker shot back quickly, "What about them?"

"What about 'em?" Terry retorted, "Barney's got 'em. Bye ya'll." He shot a wave to a waitress who was heading for the kitchen, she gave him a quick nod back. Her section was busy so that was all he was going to get. He pushed open the door and headed out to the parking lot.

Alexis leaned on the car, waiting. She really wanted a cigarette, but she'd made the resolution to quit smoking at New Years and she was going to stick with it. No matter what her boyfriend put her through, no matter what school put her through, she would not smoke again. But, oh, she wanted one.
Good thing there wasn't anyone nearby, or she probably would have mooched one. She didn't have any on her after all.

Finally, the door opened and someone exited. Terry. About damn time too. "I was about to leave without you," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss, "I guess it's a good thing I'm done with classes for today."

"How long have you been waiting?" Terry asked.

Alexis shrugged and smirked. "Like five minutes. It's cool."

"And you didn't smoke?" Terry added, his tone expressing his awe.

Hs girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I didn't have any cigarettes so I rolled up the pages you have so far of paper you need to write for Monday and lit them up."

Terry groaned at her mocking. "You are so mean to me. And I love every second of it."

"It's only because it's better than work," Alexis replied with a sly and playful smile, "And because you know you can punish me for it later. Now get in." She pulled away from him and moved towards the car.

He could never move while he was watching her. He soaked up every detail, her hair in the wind, the color of it in the sunlight, whatever outfit she was wearing. Everything was breathtaking and refreshing every time he saw her. Especially when he was leaving work. She was wearing a new top, a dark green color that worked perfectly on her. Long-sleeved, of course, as it was winter There was a hood, which despite the cold temperature he knew she would never put up. When she turned towards him at the door of her car, he saw that there was a translucent fabric where her cleavage would have been, had she not had a shirt on underneath.

"Coming?" she reminded him.

Terry nodded and started for the car. "New top?"

"Just made it this weekend," she nodded, grinning. It made her day every time he noticed things like that. Most boyfriends hardly paid any attention to anything, but he noticed whenever something was new or different and could tell what it was in under three minutes.

"I like it." He opened the car down and got into the passenger seat. He knew that the drive back to campus would be filled with her telling him all about her latest adventurers in fashion design, particularly where this shirt was concerned, but that was fine. She would be ecstatic to tell him about it, and he knew he would love every second of it just because it was her voice.

He was just a little bit head over heels for this one, but after eight months he guessed that was kind of expected.

Fourth Character

Name: Alexis Tanner (last name subject to change)
Siblings: One younger brother
Parents/Guardians: Alexis was raised by her mother
Birthdate: October 15th, 1986
Appearance: Alexis has a style all her own. She adores punk hair styles, and has even been known to dye her hair on occasion to go with an outfit she has chosen. Her natural hair color is unknown to those who go to college with her, but she prefers to keep her hair a deep auburn. She also adorns her right ear with piercings, although nothing too large or too tacky. She has a scar on her left lower back, which she refuses to discuss with the few who have seen it. Her eyes are a dark hazel that looks even darker due to her light Caucasian complexion.
Style: Alexis seems like the sort of girl who would dress in a very punk style, but she actually dresses in a very unique fashion, mixing and matching from different styles. Her closet is an ecclectic wardrobe of blouses, flowery skirts, cargo pants, fish nets...you name it, she's got it and she'll find the perfect occassion to wear it. Many of her clothes are her own creations. Alexis considers her style ahead of the times, and she is probably right. One of the key features of her style is that she always has a belt around her waist, and her collection of belts is vast.
Hobbies: Sewing, clothing design, drinking coffee, reading, window shopping, visiting museums, clubbing, partying
Education: Alexis is a junior in college.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Dreams: Alexis dreams of presenting her designs at Paris Fashion Week and being one of the world's best fashion designers.
Fears: Alexis keeps her mouth pretty tight when it comes to the things she is afraid of, but it isn't hard to guess that it involves her body as she can be very body shy.
Celebrity Crush: Nate Parker
Introvert or Extrovert: While she thrives being around other people more than most (which, technically, makes her an extrovert), Alexis usually lets others do all of the talking. She is the quiet type who, when she deigns to, will be the most uproarious person anyone has ever seen.
Happy or Depressed: Although she does like the direction her life is headed, she is generally not a happy person except for when Terry is around.
Indoors or Outdoors: Indoors
Single or Taken: Taken, she is dating Terry
Favorites
Season: Winter, she actually enjoys the cold weather
Food: White meats like turkey and chicken
Desserts: Pumpkin Pie
Places to Eat: Boston Market
Least Favorites
Season: Spring, because it marks the end of winter
Food: Spinach
Desserts: Oatmeal cookies
Places to Eat: Any fancy, expensive restaurant