2000
Juu,…kyuu,..hachi,...shichi,…roku,…Jordan wiped his hand across his brow and strained his eyes to look up at the ceiling. This was the weirdest place he'd ever been and he wondered how long before this crazy tiredness wore off and he started to feel like himself again. Seriously, how the hell had Tino even got him to this place? All around like a million lights were flashing and music was blaring and causing the ground to shake. Jordan felt sick. He had been to enough clubs in his life but this was like some frickin' E crazy clown dream or somethin'- it was so weird and Jordan couldn't understand a word anyone around him was saying. He hadn't even done any drugs yet and he still felt like he was on the worst frickin' trip of his life! Where was Tino anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be deejaying here tonight? Jordan pushed past a bunch of drunk kids who were like yelling and dancing to some crappy Europop shit on the speakers and tried to look for his friend. Surely Tino's set hadn't started yet? He wouldn't play this trash, would he? He never knew with Tino, though- the guy had changed since graduation. He was all into like meditation and shit now and he had this new Japanese girlfriend who the other guys in the band called 'Yoko'. That was kinda weird because Tino had told him that the girl's name was Satoe or somethin'. So who the f*#k was 'Yoko',then? All this foreign language stuff was too hard for Jordan to deal with. I mean English or whatever was bad enough and now Jordan couldn't even make out the letters on the signs and billboards in this place. Where was the way out? Tino shoulda told him that they talked a different language in Japan. I mean the guy seemed to know what he was doin', right? He had sorted out Jordan's passport stuff and like papers and flights and tickets, how had he missed the reading thing? Jordan sighed, found the exit and went outside to get some air. He was leaning against a wall in some alley at the back of the club taking the first precious drags of his first cigarette in like 14 hours when he saw Tino coming toward him with some Japanese chick who was probably this 'Yoko' girl. "Hey man! I finally f*#kin' find you! Why didn't ya wait at the airport like I said?" Jordan shrugged. He didn't like making plans and meeting times and shit. Didn't Tino know that? "Well, you're here now bro! Tokyo! You're gonna love it! Hot ass in every frickin' direction!" Tino emphasized the truth of this statement by draping his arms around Yoko who immediately bared her breasts from beneath her neon tank top. "Didn't I tell ya? The classiest girls in the world man! Better than all those Pittsburgh skanks put together!" Jordan shrugged again while Tino took a few puffs from his cigarette. "Ah! American tobacco! The one thing I miss about the Pitts! Marlboro are like 18 bucks here! So anyway, bro, how ya been?" Jordan inhaled and sniffed the humid air, he'd been ok he supposed. What the f*#k was with Tino anyway? He was so like hyped up or somethin'. Was he back using E? Jordan didn't need more of Tino's creative bullshit right now. He had come to this crazy weird place cos he thought Tino had finally got them a record deal. After a ton of like breakups and fights and shit they had finally re-formed their band under the new name of 'Scarlett Mutants'. Jordan had come up with that and he was pretty frickin' proud of it. He had been stoned out of his head at some like weird porn theater and had seen this movie with like these mutant chicks having sex with this like guy in like an old army costume or somethin'. Anyway, the guy had kept saying this girl Scarlett's name and like panting and shit and Jordan had thought in his spaced out way that the name 'Scarlett Mutants' would be cool for their band. Tino was like into getting them established with some execs he knew at this place that made like CDs and arranged gigs for US groups overseas. The details were pretty vague but Tino had assured all four of 'em that they would definitely get in a recording studio and tour with some big groups. "Like Nirvana and shit?" Jordan had asked but Tino had immediately laughed and said that Nirvana was over, grunge was over and Seattle was dead. If Jordan wanted their band to be relevant in the naughties, they needed to like embrace the club culture of like Ibiza and like the electro pop trends of the Asian market. What the f*#k was Tino on, like, seriously? Jordan wanted their music to be real and not some shitty knockoff of NSync or Moby! Why couldn't Tino just shut up and let them be like normal? Tino was still going on and on about his creative process while he dragged Jordan and Yoko back into the club. It must have been like New Year's or somethin' because all the Japanese kids were like screaming and starting to throw rice and shit in the air. "Come on Jordan, man, let's find you an Asian hottie to kiss at midnight! The babes here are gonna love you – you're like 'gaijin' bait bro! " Tino shouted as they waded through a sea of sweaty drunks dancing to the frenzy of more shitty house 'music'. Eventually Tino came to rest in a group of some fat Sumo-wrestler types, nerdy Japanese tech kids and a few hot girls who, Jordan had to admit, were way hotter than Tino's Yoko. "Kinga Shinnen! Kinga Shinnen! Let me introduce you to my buddy Jordan all the way from the US of A! Any of you girls wanna party with this rock star? Come on ladies!" Seriously, why couldn't Tino shut the f*#k up? Just as he was thinking this, Jordan locked eyes with this one cute Japanese girl in the group. She was small, thin and very pale. Her long black hair framed her face like some kinda lunar halo. She had this sweet, innocent look in her huge expressive eyes that reminded Jordan of this girl he had loved in high school…..go, …shi,…san,….ni,…ichi.
