Shoot for the Stars

Verity smiled as she reached out to take his hand, gently locking it with her own as she took a small step closer to him. “Okay well, I guess we better head off then? Unless you want to stay for a while longer of course.” She didn’t mind either way, she was just glad he had offered so to speak, even though she felt more like an inconvenience than anything.

“Do you, uh, know which bus to take? I’ve never actually taken the buses here before.” He had his car, so he had no need for public transit. When he couldn’t drive, he would call an Uber or get a ride from Kellen. With his free hand, he tried to scratch his nose, but smeared some of his costume makeup in the process. “Aw man.”

“Like Gandalf? I kind of like that and I think I put that on my list of things to be for Halloween this year.” She said with a small laugh escaping from her lips. “Yeah I haven’t been keeping my ears on the radio or things like that, I just stumble upon things and get into them.”

“Gandalf would be a cool costume! My boy AJ had a Spongebob-themed barbecue a few weeks back, and I went as Barnacle Boy. Were you there?” He couldn’t remember if he had seen her at that barbecue. The latter half of that night was a blur to him. 

 Verity felt her whole body heat up. He was being so considerate towards her, it wasn’t something she had felt in a very long time. “Thank you - You really did!” She smiled back at him, happy that he was willing to make an effort with her knowing she didn’t always make it easy. “Tuesday works for me!” She nodded, already starting to mentally prepare something for them to eat, wanting to try her best to impress him, even though her cooking skills weren’t the best.

“So that means you’re having a good birthday?” he asked, grinning goofily. “Awesome! It’s a date.” He still felt giddy saying that word-- date. Going on dates. Dating her. It was all amazing. 

 “Lucy, the blonde one. She is moving in with her boyfriend.” She said with a small shrug. She understood completely, it just sucked as they all got on so well. “Yeah I might have to. I am just nervous about it as you never know what you might end up with..” She added with a small shrug. “Mmm, sounds nice!”

“Aw man, she’s cool.” He wondered how far away she was moving to. He knew she worked locally. “When’s your lease up anyways?” His lease was done in September and he still needed to figure out if he was going to renew it or not. “Yeah, true. Could be someone weird. Hopefully not though.” He flashed her a smile. “Dope! There’s this Filipino dish called lechon kawali. It’s deep fried pork belly and it’s one of my favorite foods. I don’t get to eat it much though.”

Once the song was over, Mike flashed Vito a grin. “I mean, I’m not a musical expert or anything but it sure is catchy. Good job, man! I’m proud of you.” 

“Thanks man!” he grinned. “I’ve been trying to get out a music funk. I need new stuff to play at the club.” If he wanted to a) keep his job, and b) not dread going to work, he needed to make it exciting again. Mashups were helping.

    “Wait really?” Lenny tried not to laugh but the smile appearing on her face, “I mean…true you go to dance but sometimes getting drunk or finding someone to hook up with is usually the case for most people.” 

“Yeah, some people got weird taste,” he answered with a shrug. “Yeah, drinking’s a big one too. And hooking up. That’s never really been my style though.” Vito did go out drinking sometimes, but he didn’t like hooking up. He preferred to be romantically involved with one person.

33. Do you wear a lot of band t-shirts? If so, do you like it when strangers comment on them?

“I don’t wear too many band shirts. Not really my style.”

34. Pick one of your favorite bands/artists and choose a song by them that you associate with each season

“I’m gonna put Usher for the artist. For summer, ‘DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love’ with Pitbull, because it makes me think of going out clubbing in the summer. For fall, it’s gotta be ‘Birthday’ from his collab album with Zaytoven ‘cause my birthday is in the fall. ‘My Boo’ makes me think of winter, since it’s a sad song and winter makes people feel sad and lonely sometimes. And for spring, I’m going with ‘Yeah!’ with Lil John and Ludacris. It makes me think of spring break.”

35. Name two musicians who haven’t already collaborated on anything who you think would sound great together

14. Is there any band/musician who you really strongly dislike? If so, why?

Answered here.

15. Have you ever traveled outside of your area to see a concert? If not, would you want to?

“Oh yeah! I went to a couple shows in Jersey when I was living in New York. I’d totally do it again too!”

16. Have you ever been in the first row for a concert? If not, what was the closest seat you’ve ever had?

“There were a few acts at La Playa where I was at the front of the stage. Other than that... Oh! There was one show I saw at Barclays where I was in the Lower Level... It was Lower Level 16, and I was seeing Avicii.”

17. If you could go back in time and attend any artist/band’s concert that you were unable to attend, who would it be and when?

“Definitely Juice WRLD. He played a show in Manhattan in 2019 and the tickets sold out before I could get one.”

18. What decade do you think had the best music? Is there any particular year that you think was the best?

6. From the album you feel is perfect, what three songs would you choose to eliminate if you absolutely had to?

“Aw man, why would you make me do something like that? I’m picking Straight Outta Compton as the album. And what songs would I take out... Damn. If I had to... ‘Gangsta Gangsta,’ ‘Something Like That,’ and ‘Quiet on Tha Set.’ That was hard. I don’t like this question.”

7. Do you have any concert tickets right now? If so, whose concert is it?

“I don’t have any concert tickets. I wish I did though!” 

13. If you could talk to any musician, who would it be? What would you want to say?

“Uhhh... I’m gonna go with Ryan Tedder. He’s the lead singer of One Republic. And I’d tell him that he’s awesome, ‘cause he is! Did you know that he co-wrote Beyoncé’s song ‘Halo?’”

14. Is there any band/musician who you really strongly dislike? If so, why?

30. Name an album you really love that you haven’t listened to in awhile

“Usher’s Confessions album. It’s a great one. I should put it on today!” 

31. Name an album you’ve wanted to listen to for a long time, but you haven’t gotten around to it yet

“H.E.R.’s new album, Back of My Mind. I don’t know why I haven’t listened to it already. It’s been out for like two months.”

32. What is a band/artist you really wanted to start listening to, but you just really couldn’t get into it?

“Oh I’m fine, I mean aside from the fact I might have to go home and fix it.” Lydia sighed, “but I’m fine really, just a little frustrated. With my parents mostly.” 

“Oh, are they fighting or something?” He didn’t know much about her familial situation, and wasn’t sure how much he should ask. As the youngest in his family, the burden of solving family problems never fell on his shoulders, so he had no sort of advice to give. All he had were words of sympathy.  

 “Ah right, right - Makes sense!” She said, for a moment not having thought so far ahead as she was just amazed by what he had created. “Aww babe!” She smiled while leaning forward and giving his cheek a gentle peck. “I love it! It is incredible.. You are.. Incredible.” She looked at him in slight awe for a second before brushing some of her hair behind her ear. “How about you come around for dinner one evening this week? I’ll attempt to cook us something and we can watch a movie?”

“Aw babe, you really mean that? I wanted to try to do something special for your birthday.” He hoped she was having a great one. It was the first time they were celebrating a birthday together. “Uhhh, yeah! How about Tuesday? I don’t think I have anything going on that night.”

     “I think I might make a trip home,” Lydia thought out loud and turned toward the person near by, “How does a family disaster sound? I think it sounds appealing or not…who knows, I just know that my little brother wants me to go back with him to face my parents and all.” 

@santamonicarp-starters​

“Family disaster? Damn. Are you alright?” Vito didn’t know what was going on in her life, but from the sound of it, it didn’t seem good. He didn’t know what to do other than lend a listening ear. “You wanna talk about it?”