Ayana sends Grace and Ichirou off to the disco while she claims to set a trap for the group's thug. Having no choice, they dress up and go to the disco, where Grace gives in to her fatalism in a .
Let me know what struck you, what questions you would ask.
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Music blared in the disco, enough that I thought I saw the walls move. A few people sat at the bar tables and even fewer danced. The blue lights — can lighting, neon accents — rendered the clientele almost anonymous and the wooden tables and chairs and walls a greasy black. The performer, dwarfed against his equipment, hit knobs and slides and created loops of sound that slid against each other. The couple that slow-danced when everyone else on the floor couldn’t figure out whether to dance fast or slow took the anonymity offered to start locking lips. I wondered what that would be like …
Ichirou and I finally sat at the edge of the disco. We sat silently, not watching the performer, not looking at each other. I thought about Stockholm Syndrome and whether I could truly escape Second World Renewal’s plot and why they wanted me in the first place, given I wasn’t a real prodigy like Ichirou, and if I would survive to get my first kiss —
Tears overcame me.
Ichirou reached for my hand.
I yelped — “Don’t do that, you little pervo —“
A tall man wearing a crew uniform stopped by our table. “Is there a problem?” he asked in a low pleasant voice. That was all I could discern of him given the lurid blue lighting.
“No,” I gulped. “Everything’s okay. I’m just babysitting and — “
“You decided to bring your charge to the disco?” the white-uniformed man chuckled.
“Well, I …” Ichirou had turned away with his arms crossed as I spoke.
“It’s okay. Just so you don’t let him drink any alcohol.” His face bent close to mine, and I saw freckles, dark eyebrows, and a thin nose.
“We’re not drinking,” I shrugged. As far as I was concerned, Ichirou wasn’t drinking. I myself considered trying Sex on the Beach if I was about to lose my freedom to Ivanov’s goons.
“Why not? You have a chaperone.” He shared a significant look with Ichirou, of all things, and Ichirou nodded. “May I get you something to drink?”
“Sure, if you’re not going to drop a roofie in it.”
The man nodded thoughtfully. “It’s hard not to worry about that, isn’t it? I assure you, nobody’s going to tamper with this drink. What would you like?”
“Sex on the Beach,” I mumbled.
“I couldn’t hear that,” the crew member grinned.
“She wants Sex on the Beach,” Ichirou chirped. I laid my head on the table, hoping the blue lighting hid my flaming cheeks.
“Ok, one Sex on the Beach for the lady, and for you?” I heard the crew member ask Ichirou.
“I’m fine with mineral water. Sparkling if you have it,” Ichirou replied. And do they have any vegetarian food?”
“Lacto-vegetarian?”
“Lacto-ovo-vegetarian,” Ichirou corrected. “I don’t want her drinking on an empty stomach.”
“You’ll make a fine salaryman someday.” I saw the crew member wander off as I lifted my head. If I survived this trip, not even I would believe the story.
“Please, no, not a salaryman,” Ichirou breathed when the crewman had walked out of earshot.
“What’s a salaryman?” I queried.
“The stereotypical Japanese man. Works in a company, lives for the company, spends more time drinking with his co-workers than with his family. Dies of overwork.”
“Oh.” I wondered if being a salaryman would be better or worse than being a kidnapped prodigy.
The anonymous crew member interrupted my thoughts wielding a tray. “Here you go,” as he handed me an icy drink off his tray.
“You take care of her, all right?” The crew member pulled out a phone, scrutinized the screen, and trotted quickly out of the disco.
I like how Grace is sizing up her environment and is thinking about all the things she would like to do if she is about to caught by the people who are after her.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the things that Grace wants to do before she is caught. Will it take more than one drink to gather the courage to kiss Ichirou? Or is she expecting him to make the first move?-hinting, making herself so obvious by applying lip gloss to excess, asking him if he can see the "eye lash" that is irritating her eye? Navigating the feelings of a budding relationship can be awkward but when it is your first crush and you are a teenager who may be socially delayed it can be potentially painful and very funny to the reader. This is Lanetta
You've picked the subtext very well. The one catch is: Right now she thinks he's 12 years old, so she doesn't understand her subconscious actions. He's seventeen to her eighteen. She's observing what looks like crush behavior on his part and thus calls him a "pervo". What's weirder is the crew member, who will become a more significant character very shortly. She's about to get a crush on him as well.
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