Chapter Twelve: Living Alive
So Roxie called Sam and invited him along. Mark and Roger talked to Collins and everyone planned to meet at the Life Café at 7:00 that evening for Jason's seventeenth birthday.
Sam was waiting in the Café when Aaron, Becky, Jason and Roxie arrived at 6:30. He immediately got up to greet them.
"Hey guys. Your parents aren't here yet,"he informed them.
"Yeah, and they won't be for at least another half hour,"Jason replied.
"We had to get here early to push the tables together!"Becky explained excitedly. Sam laughed a little as Becky went skipping over to the center of the restaurant, and began shoving several of the small tables together. Jason ran after her, filming her as she did so.
"January 16th, 6:36 PM...it's my seventeenth birthday here at the Life, and Becky is successfully throwing off the balance of the entire café for my pleasure,"he narrated.
"Excuse me! Excuse me! What do you think you're doing?"The very snooty-looking and very feminine maitre-de had come dashing over, frowning at them.
"Oh, we're putting the tables together,"Becky replied, smiling.
"That is strictly against the rules of this restaurant, if you read the sign correctly,"the maitre-de snapped.
"You know, that sign would probably be very helpful...if we planned on actually following the rules. Which we don't,"Becky said, shoving the last two tables together. The maitre-de frowned.
"Oh, we're the little anarchists today, are we?"he droned.
"Bohemians, actually,"Becky corrected.
"Please. Get with the new century, kids. This is 2009. Bohemia is dead in a ditch. So fifteen years ago,"the maitre-de stated, strutting off. Jason sighed.
"Oh well. Let's go, Becky. We can probably meet up with dad and Uncle Mark on their way here, and we can just celebrate back at the loft..."he began, starting to push the tables back to their original spots. But Becky shook her head, grabbing the table and keeping it where it was.
"No! Jase, did you hear him? Bohemia is DEAD! We can't let that go without a proper funeral!"she insisted. Suddenly, Becky leapt up onto the table. She grabbed a glass from wine from the tray of a passing waiter...who looked her up and down, snatched it back and shoved a glass of water in her hand instead. Becky sighed, but nonetheless, she proceeded with her performance.
"Excuse me! May I have your attention?"she called, walking up and down the tables, clinking on her glass.
"Becky! What the fuck are you doing?"Jason hissed. Becky just grinned.
"Don't worry. I saw this in a documentary once,"she said, with a small wink. Sam, Roxie and Aaron were all shooting Jason questioning looks, which he returned with a confused shrug.
"January 16th, 6:40 PM...Becky has officially lost her mind,"Jason said to the camera, filming Becky as she stopped in the center of the table, holding up her glass and grinning around at all the people, who were staring at her now.
"Dearly beloved...we gather here to say our good-byes!"she began, turning around to face everyone as she spoke. Becky's friends were all convinced she had lost her mind, the other customers pretty much figuring that as well as she rambled on nonsensically for a good three minutes. "Now, we raise our glass!"She held up her glass, and the other customers followed suit, deciding not to anger the crazy kid on the table.
"What are we toasting to?"someone called out. Becky grinned.
"To...La Vie Boheme,"she announced, slowly placing her glass back on the waiter's tray, as people all around the restaurant began nodding, and repeating 'La Vie Boheme', including Jason, Aaron, Sam and Roxie.
"To days of inspiration!"Becky yelled out, imitating things she had heard her father say.
"Playing hookie!"Jason continued.
"Making something out of nothing!"Becky laughed. "The need to express!"
"To communicate!"Aaron shouted. Becky grabbed Jason, pulling him up onto the table.
"To being an 'us' for once!"she announced.
"Instead of a 'them'!"Jason added.
"La Vie Boheme!"the two cried out together.
Aaron was laughing hysterically, as Becky and Jason began imitating a scene from 'Dirty Dancing' on the table in the middle of the restaurant. The maitre-de walked by, clearing his throat at them. Jason grinned.
"Hey mister...she's my sister,"he said, making sure to strike a particularly dirty pose as he said it. The maitre-de rolled his eyes, walking away as several others in the Café laughed.
Aaron had leapt up onto the table by then, and Jason was dragging Roxie up with them too, so the four kids were all together in the center of the Life Café.
At this moment, Roger, Mark, Collins, Maureen and Joanne had all arrived at the Café, to see their kids on a table in the middle of the restaurant, dancing and yelling and preaching to the customers.
"Oh God..."Mark moaned upon seeing Becky sliding across tables.
"Are those our kids?"Roger asked, spotting Jason.
"They sure are!"Collins laughed.
"Boy does that look familiar!"Maureen cried, also laughing. "Look at Becky! She looks just like you, Mark!"Mark frowned.
"Rioting was not exactly one of the shining traits I wanted my daughter to inherit,"he grumbled. Maureen just hit him playfully.
"It's cute!"she insisted.
"Who's that other boy with them?"Joanne asked, spotting Sam.
"Probably a friend from school or something,"Maureen said dismissively. "Come on, let's go surprise them!"
Aaron now had the floor, raising his own glass up in a toast.
"In honor of a death in Bohemia, Roxie Johnson-Jefferson, just back from whining and complaining about her mother's newest protest at the Eleventh-Street Lot, will perform Gwen Stefani's latest dances to the sounds of her newest ring tones!"Roxie grabbed the glass from him, shoving him aside as the others laughed.
"Aaron Collins will recount his exploits as a senior, including his illegal joy riding all over the East Village, spray painting the school mascot on several public bathrooms and tee-peeing Mr. Henry's English classroom!"she recalled, as the laughter continued. She handed the glass over to Becky.
"Jason Davis will preview his new documentary about his love of old movies like 'Dirty Dancing', which he so enjoys reenacting with his failed filmmaker and attempted songwriter of a roommate!"Becky called out, as she and Jason struck another 'Dirty Dancing' pose. Jason snatched the glass from Becky, skipping across the table.
"And Rebecca 'Becky' Cohen will take over as the rock-star of the loft on Avenue B, composing all sorts of 'poetic' songs that make no sense to anyone but Roger Davis!"Suddenly Sam came flying back into the restaurant from outside, leaping up onto the table.
"And Samuel Coffin, newest member of the bohemian family, will attempt to rid himself of his father's yuppy reputation while performing crazy tasks and stunts in the middle of the Life Café, including officially changing the letters on the sign outside to read Professor Tom Collins' motto..."
Everyone peered out the window, and read aloud:
"ACTUAL REALITY, ACT UP, FIGHT AIDS!"
Their parents had all stopped.
"Roxie's complaining about my protest again!"Maureen demanded.
"Aaron did WHAT on several public bathrooms!"Collins shouted.
"Roger! Look at where your son's hands are on my daughter!"Mark shrieked.
"Well look at where your daughter's tongue is on my son!"Roger cried.
"Did he say Samuel Coffin?"Joanne asked. The group all stopped.
"Our kids are hanging out with Benny's son!"Maureen shrieked.
"Benny's son did that to the sign outside?"Roger asked, examining the sign again. Collins let out a hearty laugh.
"I like him already!"he laughed.
"Our kids are insane!"Mark said, also laughing a little.
"I wonder where they get it from..."Joanne teased.
"Come on, it's time we joined this party!"Collins yelled, running over, followed quickly by Mark and Roger.
"Ahem."Jason and Becky stopped dancing long enough to see their fathers standing below them, staring at them. They quickly jumped apart, both looking very flustered and shocked.
"Dad!"Becky shrieked.
"Heh heh...hi dad, hi Uncle Mark..."Jason greeted, waving awkwardly.
"We were just, um...you know...messing around!"Becky said, and Jason nodded.
"Apparently,"Roger commented. Then Mark and Roger both grinned, and burst out laughing. Roger jumped up onto the table with them. Jason and Becky laughed too, more out of relief. Roger helped Collins up onto the table as well, as they continued to recite chants of 'La Vie Boheme'. Maureen and Joanne had also climbed up, and began kissing openly, Roxie becoming instantly mortified. She was heading for the door, when Sam stopped her.
"Excuse me, miss, but I believe I was invited down here tonight,"he said suddenly. "And I know I didn't get invited down to be ignored!"
"Sam, come on! My moms are right there!"Roxie hissed.
"And it's about time they figure out about us, Roxie! Look around! Everyone is doing crazy things! Why not us?"Sam demanded.
On the table, Becky and Jason's dancing had slowed down, and the two were now gazing into each other's eyes, as Sam took Roxie's hands below them on the ground...
"Come on, Roxie. Please. For me,"Sam pleaded.Roxie was about to take Sam's hands, when she noticed Maureen watching her. She took a deep breath...and shot her mother a defiant look.
"Why not!"she cried. And she slammed her face right into Sam's. And much to Roxie's surprise, Maureen merely turned her attention back to Joanne, as the two giggled.
On the table, Jason also took a plunge, and found his lips meeting with Becky's. They locked in a kiss, oblivious to everything around them for a good fifteen seconds. When they pulled apart, Jason kept his hands on Becky's cheeks. He had let himself have what he wanted...he had taken the risk...
And he found himself immediately regretting it.
Jason quickly pulled away from Becky, who looked confused. But before they could have a moment to talk, Becky and Jason were both pulled back into the whirl of noise and excitement around them, both with different interpretations of what that kiss had meant.
A/N: I'm baaaack! I'm sorry the update was later than I told you. This Friday is opening night for the show I'm in, so it's been VERY hectic! But I finally got this up. You can obviously see bits and pieces from the song "La Vie Boheme" in here. I couldn't avoid it! This is also our first realy Becky/Jason chapter! Whoo hoo!
Okay, to answer some questions I got: Becky does NOT have AIDS, but the others don't want her to get sick because, obviously, most of them would not be able to take care of her, and she'd have to be separated from them until she got better. And they just don't want their friend to be sick.
As for ages, Roxie is 14, about to turn 15,Becky is 16, Jason was 16, and just turned 17, and Aaron is 18. In flashbacks it mentions that Jason was 14, but that was about three years earlier.
Also, the pairings in this story are Maureen/Joanne and Roger/Mimi, though there will be some very strong Roger/Mark friendship in later chapters.
I'll be sending some PM's to other people with more feedback. Sorry for such a long Author's Note, I just wanted to get this stuff out of the way! Thanks for reading, next chapter should be up VERY soon!