Chapter Two: In the City of Neon and Chrome
"It's the age of daring. It's the only time we have. We must live in the present. We are young and alive." – Wicked, Gregory Maguire
"April, are you ready?" Maureen asked from the living room. When April didn't answer, Maureen walked to the bedroom door of April's room, leaned in, and frowned. "Why aren't you ready? You're coming, aren't you?"
April had sprawled out on her bed, reading a book, and now looked up calmly at her roommate. Maureen wore her favorite black dress that clung to her figure, and heels. April was still in jeans and a random T-shirt she had thrown on that morning. "Coming to… what, exactly?" She had the feeling she missed something somewhere along the way.
Maureen rolled her eyes in frustration, walked to the bed and grabbed April by the arm, half-dragging her upright. "I told you this before. Weren't you listening?"
April sighed and allowed Maureen to pull her off the bed. "Before, I was a little busy trying to fix the microwave, which still doesn't work, by the way. Would you mind filling me in?"
Maureen gently shoved April towards her closet. "Get dressed, or do I have to help you with that too? Roger's playing somewhere tonight and he wanted me to come and meet his friends…"
Searching through her closet, April paused and glanced at Maureen over her shoulder. "You're still with Roger?"
Maureen glared at her, obviously not amused. "Yes, I am," she said in a long-suffering tone. "It's only been four days, April."
Rather than argue, April simply shrugged. "With you, you never know… And Maureen, I honestly don't particularly want to go out tonight. Can't you just go without me?"
"No, I can't," Maureen replied as if scandalized. "Come on, April, I'll be all alone when Roger's playing if you're not there and—"
"That never bothered you before," April pointed out.
"That's not the point!" Maureen walked over to April and put her arms around her friend's neck, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Please, 'Ril?"
April sighed and lifted her hands, palms out, almost as a gesture of surrender. "Fine, fine, you win, I'll go. I hope you're happy."
Maureen squeaked happily and hugged her roommate tightly without really moving her arms from around April's neck. "Thank you!"
"Maureen?" April asked as she gently pried Maureen's arms from around her neck. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Her friend frowned at her a moment, and after a few seconds realized what she meant. "Oh! Sorry!" She released her and bounced back, heading out the door of April's bedroom. "Now quick, get dressed and let's go! Maybe if you're lucky one of Roger's friends will be really cute."
She was out the door before April could respond, so April simply shook her head and pulled a dress out of her closet, wondering silently why she let Maureen talk her into things like this.
"He's good," April commented quietly, her eyes fixed on Roger on the stage. "He's very good."
"He really is," Mark said from beside April. As she turned to look at him, he grinned and added, "Just don't tell him that. He gets unbearably smug."
"I'll remember that," April said with a laugh. Of all of Roger's friends, April had hit it off best with Mark, perhaps because neither of them felt entirely comfortable in this environment. Maureen, Tom and Benny were another matter, but Mark and April sat together at a table for most of the night, listening to the music and talking.
"Please do." Mark rolled his eyes a little. "Roger's my best friend, but he can get annoying when his ego gets the better of him. And I can never smack him for it, because he's bigger than I am." April tried not to laugh at that statement, but she couldn't help it—the scrawny filmmaker had a point. Luckily, Mark was good-natured enough to take it in stride, and he broke into a smile when April finally gave in to laughter.
"You poor thing," she said with mock sympathy, her grin softening the teasing. She liked Mark; he was a genuinely nice person, easy to talk to… She'd meant to say more, but just then Maureen appeared at her elbow and held out her hand.
"Come dance with me, 'Ril," she said, tilting her head to one side as she looked down at her friend. As she smiled up at Maureen, April thought that next to Maureen surely no one would ever notice her. April was cute, maybe pretty, but it was Maureen who possessed the sheer beauty. Just once glance at the way Mark—and every other straight male in the club—watched Maureen confirmed that.
"Mark, you don't mind if I go, do you? I'd hate to leave you alone."
"Huh?" Mark asked, snapping out of his Maureen-induced trance, and quickly fumbled, "Oh, no, go right ahead. I'll be fine, promise."
April nodded and took Maureen's hand, allowing her friend to pull her to her feet. "Alright, Maur, let's dance."
Maureen positively beamed and led April out, away from the tables, just as Roger's band started up a new song. April looked up at the stage, her eyes automatically searching out Roger among the other members of the band, and found that Roger's eyes lingered on her and Maureen. She didn't doubt that he'd been watching Maureen the entire time, and found herself half-hoping he wasn't too interested in Maur. Odd as it seemed that the rock star might be vulnerable, he could get hurt when Maureen got tired of him.
"You've got an admirer," April pointed out to Maureen, nodding to the stage. Maureen glanced up at him and flashed a bright smile, along with a quick wave.
"Well of course I do," Maureen said with a somewhat toned down version of Roger's all-too-confident smirk. "Everyone admires me, baby. Now come on, let's have some fun. You should talk to Benny. He's nice… You two would make a cute couple."
"What?" April demanded, somewhere between laughter and exasperation. When Maureen took it into her head to fix her up with someone, it was sometimes difficult to talk her out of it. "Maureen!"
Pretending innocence, her friend asked, "What? Oh, fine, I won't set you up. You ruin all my fun."
April laughed and raised one eyebrow, giving Maureen a frank look. "Sweetheart, your definition of fun is very twisted."
"I know," Maureen said sweetly, "but you love me anyway."