In the past few years, everything had gone wrong for Scene. Indie decided finally that MyMusic was too mainstream. Shut the production down, sent everyone on their way. The second strike was when Techno called Scene up, crying, saying Dubstep had just disappeared. They never found him, and Techno didn't call again after that. Straightedge had gotten a huge job in France. Promised to visit, to call. Never did. House was robbed, they stole her phone, her computer, everything. That was fine. They could be replaced. But what wasn't replaceable was the numbers she lost. Especially Nerdcore's. When everything went wrong, she dialed his number, and he'd make everything okay in the few short minutes of time he had to talk between flights and meetings. After all, when you work a high end job for Nintendo, even if it's your dream job, life can get hectic. Friends can fade.
Even best friends.
Scene walks into a cafe, the same cafe she's been going to since before MyMusic shut down three years ago, when she was twenty-one. She orders decaf. That was the last thing Indie said to her, giving her "advice". And Scene? Stay off the caffeine. Maybe it was a joke, but that's not a note to end a long friendship on. Sure, he said "good luck" but that was to everyone. It wasn't special. It wasn't...good.
But since when did life give Scene anything good. If only all it took was that caffeine comment for her to realize that nothing has, or ever will, go her way. No. It wasn't until Nerdcore, her anime buddy, forgot his past that she remembered hers. She used to be okay with settling. Settling with the paid foster family with six other foster kids that were forgotten, too. Settling with the way people at school talked about her. Settling with the crying. Settling for a fake smile.
Why did Indie have to hire interns...
The barista sets Scene's cup down at the table she always sits at, the one she's sitting at now. The one that, if you look through the window next to it, you can see the abandoned warehouse across the street. The one right next to mainstream burger. The one that used to read MyMusic. The one that reminds her that everything good she ever had was in that company, and now that company is gone. The company she's at now, a print shop, isn't good. Nothing is good.
She sips her coffee, watches a bird build it's nest on the roof of the warehouse. At least someone will have good memories of it. But something that has never happened before shocks her. A man leans against the front wall, smoking a cigarette. When he's finished, he throws it on the worn and filthy mat at the doors.
No matter what has happened since she last stepped foot in that building, Scene refuses to settle for someone tarnishing the only thing she has ever wanted to remember!
She walks out the front door of the cafe, coffee still in hand, and runs down the sidewalk to the streetlight, and starts pressing the walk button furiously as the man starts walking in the opposite direction.
"Come on!" She mutters. The little man finally appears, and she suddenly remembers that she used to smile when he appeared. She rolls her eyes at what was seemingly stupid, and walks across the street. She runs towards the man, who is still walking down the long street.
"Hey!" Scene calls. He pauses. "Get over here!" But then she stops in her tracks, and wonders how wise it was to approach this man.
"Scene?" With disbelief, Intern 2 says her name.