Stand Out
Chapter one: The dare
By: Ambrlupin
Rating: T
Summary: It started out as a dare, then an interest formed, and then an obsession. Now Anthony Higgins will do anything he has to, just to stand apart from all the rest. After all, Mr. Sunshine, a.k.a Matt Conlon, cant ignore him forever...right? SpotRace.
A/N: ahem, yes, yet another Race and Spot fic. I swear, these things aren't planned! Hehehe, anyway, I hope you all like this, cause im having a lot of fun writing it! Word to de beta for this story- antiIRONY.
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own newsies. Thank you.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Death is silence, or so it has been said. Or rather, it is a slow serenade, calm and gentle. It saddens the soul, humbles and quenches those earthly desires we so ache to possess. Its as gentle as ocean waves.
If that is true, then life...life must be Rock n' Roll.
Or, for a better comparison, life is heavy metal; shooting up to impossible heights and then falling back down only to arch in a totally different direction. There is no controlling metal, no reigning in the music. It goes wherever it will, with or without the permission of the musician.
Much like the lives of millions around the world. Some hold on and let the road take them where it will, but many fight it with all the strength they possess, defiant to the end. Those are the people who hardly care whom they drag down with them, as long as they get to their goal.
And even then, most of them fail.
0-0-0-0
The club was full, but not overly crowded. With two levels, the upper reserved for the bar and such things, and the lower reserved for the heavy music and all around frolic, it was a nice club, set deep into the heart of Manhattan, New York.
It was nearly midnight, and the dance floor was swimming with swaying bodies, the lights pulsing in beat to the guitar and drums that pounded over the numerous loudspeakers. Scantily clad women and all too eager men, each and every one sweaty and cheering.
The second floor was less...lively. A handful of people lounged around in either bar stools or in booths set around dark tabletops of cherry wood. A few of them sipped drinks, while a few television sets hummed away. This floor was made nearly soundproof, nearly, but not entirely. If you listened, you could make out the words of the music from below, but just barely.
A group of older guys were nestled in a corner, sitting backwards in chairs or thrown across the benches, a pail of beers in the center of the table. They were the loudest thing there, laughing and joking around like children.
"Hey, Race!" One of them leaned forward to prod at a small dark-haired teen, who was inspecting the bottom of his glass with a serious expression on his face. "Ya okay man?"
Race sighed, "Im fine, Mush. Just tired." There was a slight accent to his voice that made you know immediately he was Italian. Of course that was if the appearance didn't give it away first. He just had that 'Italian look' about him.
"Naw, something is bothrin ya. Why don't you just tell us what it is?" Another teen with light brown hair raised an eyebrow as he leaned over the table from the bench on the other side.
"Sod off, Jack." Race glared as he leaned back, away from the other.
"Come on!" He pleaded with a grin, voice taking on a mocking tone, "Ya know you want too..."
The Italian just flipped him off silently.
"Right back at 'cha. Just give me a time and a place." Jack flipped a pen out of his pocket and held it over a napkin, waiting.
"Francis."
"Anthony."
"Ryan. But everyone calls me Blink." The last teen, his hair a dirty blonde, threw his arms around the two bickering teens. "Now that everyone is properly introduced, cant we all just be friends?"
"Yeah, where's all the love?" Mush cried, eyes glinting as he wiped away an imaginary tear, "I need some love here!"
Jack rolled his eyes as Blink proceeded to grab Mush's hands, dragging him out of a chair, spinning him around as he did a fancy quick-step, singing a botched up love song in high pitched voices.
"You two are so gay." Race groaned, but there was a wide grin on his face.
"Mission accomplished!" Mush crowed.
"Aren't you one to talk, Race." Blink pointed out as he let Mush go. "Oh, here, I got you another by the way." He held out a new drink, which was promptly seized from his hand.
"And now you see why you must always keep your fingers...and other such important body parts...away from our dear Racetrack's mouth." Jack chuckled, even as their friend guzzled down the alcoholic beverage.
Race, without any way to snap back, after all there was only so much one could do with their mouth full of beer, settled for the ever-so-wonderful-finger to do the trick. It was sign-language they all could understand and appreciate.
Jack waved his pen, "Im still waitin' here, buddy."
Mush rolled his eyes as he settled in against Blink's side, head on the taller teen's chest, pulling his arm around his middle. They had no problem whatsoever in their sexuality, a trait that the other two couldn't help but admire.
"I want a boyfriend." Race muttered, hardly aware he had uttered the words out loud until Jack prodded him with his beer bottle, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Well..." He started.
"Don't even think about it, Francis Sullivan, you have David!"
"Hey!" He held out his hands, palm up. A gesture of peace. "That's not what I meant, Race! Honest! I was just wondering if you would be willing to go out with a stranger."
"What, a blind date?" The other blanched a little, "I dunno...Im not a big fan of those. I want to get to know someone before I go out with them, ya know?"
"Okay...I was just saying there's a guy Davey works with. He's nice, ya know, for a rich guy. He's not snobby or anything, takes care of himself. He's confident, trustworthy, successful, and not too bad on the eyes either."
"Well gee, Jacky, why don't you date him?"
Jack sighed, "I'm just trying to help you out here. Your problem is that you're just too gosh darn shy. You cant get past the first date cause you're so nervous. No one knows the real you because of that."
"I am not shy!" Race exploded, siting up straight in a shot.
"Yes you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are-"
"How about him?"
It was quiet for a moment, nothing heard but the low hum of the television mixing with the music, before Race broke it with a confused, "What?"
"Why not him?" Blink repeated, to the same results- blank looks and worried glances. They must have thought he was losing his mind, or something akin to that.
Shaking his head, he tried again. "How about a test? You say you're not shy. Okay, well then who us what you're doing wrong."
"Oh!" Mush's face brightened, "Except he cant practice on us, because we would have to be watching, and plus that would be really weird. So we have to get someone else to do it."
"A stranger." Jack let the idea run through his mind. It had merit. "So, I take it you've already thought of someone?"
"How about him?" He repeated- and this time, it made much more sense- and even more when he gave a little head bob toward a young man sitting not too far away at the bar.
"Ooh, he's cute." Jack said softly, eyebrow already disappearing into his hairline.
"You have Dave, member?" Race told him as he turned to look anyway. But once he had, he couldn't, even in good faith, fault Jack for such a comment.
Slightly angled away from the counter, eyes seemingly facing the swaying bodies a floor down, his cinnamon colored hair fell over his eyes, tapered to the back of his neck. He had a sensual mouth, curved up into a smirk as his blue shirt lay half-way buttoned over a pair of black jeans.
Swirling the amber liquid in his glass, he took a sip and his eyes moved to the floor he was actually on, passing over each and everyone there. When they met with Race's, the Italian thought his heart had stopped.
Those eyes, they were such a vibrant shade of silver-blue, they sent shivers up his spine, his chest aching as if those eyes had somehow pierced straight through his heart. They were so piercing, that he felt the effects long after they had passed him by.
"I...I...Not a test..." Race whispered brokenly. He couldn't, couldn't do it. He was scared, and didn't know why. The guy couldn't be much bigger than he was, and he was dangerously close to being of the 'petite' male class.
Blink gulped, apparently also suffering from that harsh gaze. "A dare then."
A dare? Could he handle that? He shook his head, no. "Ryan...look at him! I...just...cant!"
"We dare you, Tony." Jack ran a hand through his hair, "Just to go over there and speak to him for five minutes. That's all. Five minutes."
"I'll even put money up." Mush dug his wallet out, "On Tony, for five minutes."
"Hey, wait a second-"
His voice was cut off as Blink and Jack joined in and added their own money, piling it in front of him, a startling amount of money, for just five minutes. All he had to do was talk to him, he could do that.
"Fine." He said, sounding more held together and braver than he felt. He got to his feet and started to make his way over, feeling the guy's eyes on his back as he walked.
"Fine." He repeated, already there, before he realized...he had absolutely no clue what he was supposed to say.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
like it? hate it? dont care? leave me a note by using that nifty button on the bottom left that says 'submit review' and it doesnt matter if you have an account or not!