Up To Scratch

It had been later the next day when Octavia received word from Laureate about the yacht party. Though Uppercrust said it was late notice, she had been happy to fit Octavia's quartet into the schedule. It had been a bit hectic getting her quartet ready for their performance scheduled two days after it had been confirmed with her, but Octavia managed it. The performance had gone as well as she could have hoped, and Uppercrust had complimented Octavia profusely, clearly impressed.

That was yesterday. She hadn't been nervous, being nervous about a performance was something she had overcome as a child, and it hadn't ever bothered her since. Even when talking with important, influential people or was trying to land a performance with some snobby entrepreneur, Octavia was never overcome by her nerves.

But today, Octavia was nervous.

The contact list on her phone had consisted completely of potential employers and the three other members of her quartet, it had been that way for a while... but Vinyl Scratch was the newest addition, and the only one to have no relation to her work. They had exchanged numbers the day Octavia had stopped by her apartment, and Vinyl had called the next day to convince Octavia to meet her sometime. They decided on the day after the performance, and Vinyl had left the location and time for Octavia to decide... so they were meeting late that morning at a coffee shop near Octavia's house.

As she headed down the street to meet Vinyl, she could scarcely remember feeling this nervous before. Her parents made her nervous, especially when showing them her music and compositions, but this was a different type of nervous.

Closing in on the coffee shop, she tried to recall how she had dealt with stage fright as a child, wondering if using the same methods would help here... it was quite a long time ago, or so it felt... she couldn't remember. She was already here anyway, Vinyl was sitting at a table outside, her blue two toned hair easy to spot... but she was resting her head on the table, on top of her folded arms.

“Vinyl?” Octavia had reached her, and quickly realized Vinyl was asleep.

She sat down at the opposite side of the table, finding it amusing how she could just completely pass out in public like that. After a moment though, she kicked Vinyl's leg to wake her up.

“Ow...” It took her a second to snap out of dreamland, but when she did she jolted upright. “Oh, I'm sorry!”

“It' fine,” Octavia laughed as Vinyl began rubbing her eyes, “Late night?”

“Yeah... It's been years since the last time I woke up this early...”

“Well luckily, this fine establishment is full of caffeine,” Octavia stood back up, “I'm going to grab a drink, do you want something?”

“I tried a drink earlier...” Vinyl gagged at the memory, “I have no idea why anyone would do that to themselves. It tastes like mud.”

“What did you order?”

“Uh, coffee?”

Octavia shook her head. “You've never had coffee before, and you just started out with black coffee?”

“Sorry, I didn't read the Guide to Coffee Drinking for Dummies!”

Octavia rolled her eyes as she continued into the coffee shop, though she was smiling. That girl seemed to have a knack for making her smile, and as she ordered her and Vinyl a drink, she realized her anxiety was gone. Instead, she felt happy. Really happy.

“What's that?”

Vinyl seemed wary of the drink Octavia placed in front of her.

“White mocha,” She took her seat and crossed her legs as she watched the cup glow blue and rise up to Vinyl, who was trying to sniff her drink through the lid. “It's more your speed. You'll like it.”

She still seemed skeptical, “If you say so...” She took a sip, and Octavia had to hold back her laughter as Vinyl's eyes lit up.

“So... any particular reason you wanted to see me today?”

Vinyl had popped off her lid and was looking amazed at the whipped cream on her drink, but glanced back to Octavia once she spoke. “Not really... oh, I wanted to tell you your performance last night was pretty nice.”

Octavia blinked, looking surprised. “You were there?”

“Yeah, only stuck around for your quartet. Ducked out after that.” Octavia's surprised expression didn't change as Vinyl kept talking, “I recognized the first and second pieces you played, but was the third original?”

“Yes, it was. I composed it.” Octavia continued as Vinyl imitated a golf clap, “I really didn't take you for a classical music appreciator.”

“Oh, I'm not. I had a musical history tutor when I was a kid.” She quit her clapping and rocked back on her chair, her drink floating beside her, “It was fun though, watching you all in the zone. You're good.”

“Ah... thanks.” The nervous feeling was encroaching once again, Octavia tried to distract herself by talking. “So, you said you were a musician? What do you do?”

“I'm glad you asked!” Vinyl let her chair fall so it was flat on the floor again, “Close your eyes.”

“What? Why?”

“Do it!” Octavia folded her arms, and Vinyl's command became a whine, “C'mon, do it, please?”

Octavia sighed, and finally obliged

“Okay, imagine a room full of people... it's dark, silent, motionless... you can feel the misery like a fog hanging over the room...” Vinyl paused for a moment, then continued, “Suddenly, music. Incredibly loud, incredibly fierce, impossible to ignore. Each beat pulses life into the listeners, driving them to move, and dance, and feel passion, the same passion that everyone around them feels, and it can only be expressed by dancing like you're fucking insane.”

“So... you're a DJ? At a club?”

“Yeah! Well, not always clubs.”

Octavia opened her eyes to see Vinyl grinning at her from across the table. “Well, our genres are very different. I doubt I could enjoy music blindly, not thinking about it as I listened. That's what you were describing, correct?”

Vinyl nodded, “But sometimes you gotta stop thinking, and just...do.”

Octavia looked down at her lap for a moment.

“Stop thinking!”

She looked up to see Vinyl smirking at her, and she shot back a playful glare. “Stop thinking... and do what?”

“Talk.” Vinyl leaned back on her chair once again, “What are your goals?”

“My goals...? You mean with my music? Or my career...?”

“Yes.”

Octavia took another sip of her drink, and noticed that Vinyl's seemed to be empty. She wondered if she was going to regret giving her caffeine later... but for now she couldn't seem to deny Vinyl's smug little grin. “Well, right now I'm trying to make a name for myself as a musician. I have my quartet at the moment, and they're very talented people, but I'd like to be well known, so I may be able to perform solo one day. It's certainly going to be a challenge.”

Vinyl seemed to be mulling this information over. “Okay... let's say you're well known. A household name, when anyone mentions the cello, you come to mind... You've reached your goal, what then?

Octavia gave her an inquisitive look.

“Come on, where do you see yourself once you've made the big time?”

Her eyes reverted to her lap once again. “I see myself living well off. Somewhere in the country, probably. My parents finally leave me alone, and I can just play and compose music for myself.”

She looked up to see Vinyl's smile was gone. “Your goal is to be alone?”

“You could look at it that way, I suppose.” She sighed.

“Why?”

“Ah...” Octavia bit her lip, undecided if she should continue or not. But Vinyl had shared her story, wasn't it only fair?

“My father was a concert pianist, but his career was cut short when he started getting horrible arthritis. He could still play, but typically not for more than ten minutes. I was little when that happened, and a few years later I started tinkering with his piano. It was before grade school, so I was four or five, and he seemed to think I was a natural.” Octavia took another sip of her coffee, and Vinyl patiently waited for her to continue. “By the time I was in school my parents had gotten me an array of instruments to try, and I was partial to the cello. It was this huge, powerful, beast of an instrument... It made me feel strong, in a way, and I loved it, so my parents had me focus on it. I mean, focus on it... when I went to sleep I could see sheet music on the back of my eyelids.” Before going further she laughed, though it was a humorless one. “Eventually I became home schooled, and started performing. I was talented for my age, but playing had become less enjoyable and more of an obligation. My dad would relive his glory days every time I played, you could see it on his face... and there was so much pressure. I had to be flawless...”

“I bet they haven't let up on the pressure, right? They're still keeping tabs on you?”

“Yes... good guess.”

“Not a guess... I just know people never change.”

Octavia took her final sip of coffee and pondered over Vinyl's statement for a moment.

“So, wait... did you never have any friends? Since you were home schooled and glued to your cello?”

“Distractions... according to my parents.”

“Damn...”

Octavia had been looking down when Vinyl suddenly jumped to her feet, startling her a bit. “Well that's behind you! I'll help you make some friends, are you free tonight?”

“I... yes, but what are you planning?”

“I'm guessing you're not one for wild parties, so I'll get some more chill guys and we can have a toned down party. And you can hear me DJ a bit! Then you can form an educated opinion on electronic music... this is an awesome idea!”

She had intended to decline, not at all interested in partying, even if it was 'toned down'... but saying no to Vinyl was proving to be incredibly hard.

“Sure... sounds great.”

Lying on her couch, Vinyl was texting the last of her more laid back friends, four of which were already here, sitting in front of her TV and playing a fighting game. It was about ten at night, and she had recruited two others who were supposed to be on the way over. If things went according to plan, this was going to be a relaxed get together, and Octavia could get some social experience.

“I'm sick of this, Nano keeps beating everyone.”

One of the girls playing threw down her controller, and the other two players did as well. The man who had been winning simply smirked at them.

“What? You said don't go easy on you.”

“Whatever. Vinyl, you have some drinks or should I do a beer run?”

“It's gonna be a booze free night... I said that like twice already.” Everyone seemed to groan in unison, and Vinyl rolled her eyes. “You can go one night without getting smashed, you're not gonna die.”

Vinyl had left her apartment door unlocked so she wouldn't have to keep answering it, and one of her other invited friends came in... along with someone else.

“Aye Vinyl, you said we were gonna chill? My buddy Ganja said he can hook us up.”

His red-eyed, dread-headed companion held up a plastic bag, and Vinyl's eyes widened.

“That's not what I meant!” She jumped to her feet and held up her phone, showing her friend the text she had sent. “I even said no drugs in the text, man!”

“Oh...” He looked embarrassed, “I kinda only read the first sentence.”

“Well, thanks... Ganja, but get that out of here. Some other time.”

Another unified groan swept over the other guests as she started to shove the dealer out of her apartment. But at the door, she was met with a second problem.

There was a mob of people. She recognized plenty of them, but she hadn't invited them over... she managed to spot the friend she did invite, at the front of the crowd.

“What the hell is this?!” The mob started to enter her apartment, and Vinyl was shoved to the side in the process.

The woman who Vinyl had been expecting walked over to her. “I got the word out. You're welcome.” She smiled and then disappeared into the mob.

“Okay, remain calm, Vinyl... just gotta cancel on Octavia...” Vinyl was still holding her phone, but the screen was black. She flipped it over to see that the battery had fallen out in the chaos. “Shit!”

She began scanning the floor for it, but with no luck. Everyone was inside at this point, and Vinyl followed after them, keeping an eye out for her battery. Chances were it had been kicked underneath something...

“Shitshitshitshit...”

Someone tapped her shoulder, and Vinyl jumped before turning to see who it was.

"Whoa dude, you're way up tight." It was Ganja, the newly introduced drug dealer. "I've seen you before, you used to be super chill. You were a pretty sick DJ."

"Yeah... I still am.

"Nah dude, you changed. You've got this negativity... you're not the same wicked DJ who didn't give a fuck. Whatever's giving you that negative energy, cut it outta your life, dude. You don't need that fuckin' you up."

He disappeared into her apartment, and Vinyl leaned back against a nearby wall.

"I haven't changed... he's wrong..." With a new found resolve, Vinyl pushed her way passed the crowd and jumped on top of her living room table. She had caught their attention, and didn't waste a moment getting out what she needed to say.

"Are you fuckers ready to party?!"