Minisode #1: A short tale of mutual validation

"Why'd you want us to go to a music contest?" Dick asked when Gar finally got off the table.

"Because, Dick," Gar answered, "this contest happens to count with my amazing performance! For the first time in Jump City! One night only!"

"Gar, you sing?" asked Kori, delighted.

"I sure do, Kor!"

"Gar, this contest's been open for a month. Why's this the first time we hear about this?" asked Dick.

Gar's smile waned. "Well, it was kind of a last minute decision."

"Right," went Dick, bracing himself. "I'm sure it's gonna be great."

"Save your compliments for after I blow your hats off." Gar confidently put two flyers on Dick's and Kori's hands, and then looked past them, towards Raven sitting quietly by the window. Despite what Victor believed of his foolhardy tendencies, Gar always needed to work up his courage before going up to her. He was especially having trouble inviting her to an event he knew she wouldn't want to go to.

The door opened to admit Victor. "Vic!" went Gar, and he climbed the table and drew a big breath. "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and-"

"Don't do the whole bit again," complained Dick.

So Gar jumped off. "I'm in a music contest today in the Jump City Auditorium," he told Vic, giving him his flyer. "I'm gonna be singing and playing guitar."

"Since when do you play guitar?" reacted Victor.

Gar gasped in mock indignity. "I'll have you know I've dabbled for years!"

"Oh, you dabbled. I'm sorry," Victor quipped. He read through the flyer he'd been given. "You have your own song? This thing says it's an original song contest."

"'Course. Wrote it myself," bragged Gar.

"And you have your own guitar?" Victor asked.

Here Gar hesitated. "I have my ways of getting hold of one," he said airily.

"Yeah, like how?" challenged Dick.

Then Dick and Victor both were drilling him on his experience and commitment to music, and Kori was behind them probably asking them to make peace—Gar couldn't hear her over the other two. He had to shout to make himself be heard.

"I'm very serious about it, guys! Right now, I'm leaving video games behind to go practice!"

"You already played three rounds-" Dick started.

"Goodbye!" said Gar, and he was gone.

The club settled down into a calmer space once Gar was gone. Dick assured Kori they had only been teasing Gar in a friendly way, that Gar was in on it, as Vic started up a match on the console.

"You guys are going to Gar's thing, right?" Dick asked.

"Yeah, can't let the green bean down," said Vic.

"I will go too," Kori confirmed.

Dick was putting his coat on. "Good, 'cause I can't go. My uncle asked me to join him at this charity thing. Tell Gar I said hi."

"Sure," Vic waved him off, and simply started a match against the computer instead.

"Please, why do you call Gar a green bean?" asked Kori.

"Oh," went Vic. "It's a personal story… I'm sure Gar wouldn't want me to tell you."

"Alright," said Kori, and leaned back to watch Vic play.

"But I'll tell you anyway! Okay, so back when Gar was eight or nine, he went to summer camp, okay? So one day this other kid dares him to eat all the cans of green beans in the deposit…"

The story ended with green-tinted bodily waste, an incident Vic had decided never to let Gar forget ever since he'd made the mistake of sharing it. Raven stopped listening by that point and let herself focus on her book.

By the time she became aware of her surroundings again, Victor had slipped out of the room, and Kori was on the phone. Raven had only tuned in because Kori sounded distraught.

"…alright. Yes, thanks." Kori hung up and turned to Raven. "Oh, Raven. I just had a call from my apartment lord. A plumbing pipe broke in my floor above. I will not be able to go to Gar's concert."

"Mhm," acknowledged Raven.

"I need to go home. And I need to google what is a plumbing pipe," Kori said to herself, as she too left the clubroom.

Seeing as she was left alone, Raven packed up her things to leave. On the way out, she ran into Vic, who was coming back in.

"You're leaving?" he asked. "Hey, are you going to Gar's thing?"

"What is Gar's thing?" Raven asked, reluctantly. She hadn't quite gotten the gist of it half-listening to the four of them.

He cocked his head at her. "He has a song contest thing in the Jump City Auditorium. Surprised he didn't tell you."

"Maybe he doesn't want me to come," she said.

Victor snickered. "Yeah, right. Nah, I'm sure he just forgot."

Raven waited until Vic got his bag from the clubroom and they left together.

"But you should come," he said.

She knew they both knew what he was doing. He would gently push her to go, without really expecting she would—they both knew she didn't want to.

So she replied, "I'll check my schedule."

Victor's easy smile vanished. "Wait… Oh, shoot. I can't go. I've got a check-up today. Well, guess Kori's gonna have to represent us all."

"Right," went Raven, before she snapped out of it. "Wait, but Kori said…-"

"It's okay, Kori will go," Vic said, quickly walking away in a sudden rush.

Raven watched him disappear down the hallway. As she was left alone, she became aware this had just turned into a pivotal moment. This was her first choice of whether to reach out, or draw back.

She could ignore what she'd heard, go home and play it safe; she would hear Gar demand the next day why none of his so-called friends had shown up to his thing, hear the others explain the misunderstanding, and shrug at her part in it. Or she could take a risk and do a solid for a budding friend, putting herself out there like she'd historically never done before.

Honestly, she was leaning towards the former. …Gar hadn't even invited her in the first place.

The prospect of putting herself out there was harrowing. She was picturing getting back to her warm, familiar home with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.

But wasn't this –this rush of social nervousness, this renewal and change- exactly what she'd wanted? When she'd followed the inkling that drew her to the clubroom, wasn't that what she'd had in mind?

She'd just been so bored that day. She'd been sick of going home every day, to be surrounded by the holier-than-thou adults she'd always felt so out of place with. She wanted to be with people her age, even if it was just existing in a room while they interacted with each other. It was better than being home and being told all her feelings were wrong. She preferred being with kids her age and seeing how unapologetically out of control they were. It made her feel more normal.

And she enjoyed her time in the Club –she must, there had to be a reason she kept coming back-, but day after day, she sat on her corner reading as things happened around her. She only read and heard the background noise of scattered conversations, the sounds of the console, the low bass that escaped from Dick's headphones, and the hum of cooking equipment, until it was time to go home.

Somewhere, a shift had occurred. From a point in time, the other four had started acting more like friends. One day, Victor had suddenly stopped talking to his old friends. She didn't know what had happened, but she knew when: it was marked by the first day she'd seen him without his letterman jacket. She didn't know if the others had noticed it then.

Now Vic and Gar were acting like they'd been friends forever. Dick and Victor had seemed to get on a truce one day that had lasted until forever; they hadn't fought in weeks. Kori had always been sweet; now she'd just found readier soil for her friendship.

At some point, everyone had moved forward… except her. Raven was still on step one.

If she went to Gar's contest, that was a way to give another step out of her comfort zone. She just didn't know if she wanted to take it.

The Jump City Auditorium was dark when Raven walked in. Her first impression of the venue was that it had been built a century ago and left to fend for itself since then. She also thought she might be the youngest person here. Everywhere she looked she saw college to middle-aged people. Her all black clothes and dark makeup stood out as unsuitably teenage in a sea of more toned-down attire—from the tired new adults in hoodies to the older people in business casual.

She found a seat. As the seats at either side of her filled, she felt more and more trapped. No going back now. She couldn't begin to fathom Gar's reaction when he saw none of the friends he'd invited and only her in the audience. Sticking out like a sore thumb.

He'd certainly be confused. Maybe even disappointed. Could she play it like she secretly loved music? No, that was dumb. She wished she could skip to after the show, when she could explain to Gar why she was here.

…It was a weird sensation for her to want to talk to Gar at all.

The theater darkened, and the host called all contestants to stand on stage.

Apart from Gar, and two other individual performers, the other contestants were all bands. Gar held a worn-down acoustic guitar—so he'd managed to get one, at least. It seemed to Raven that every other instrument on stage was much shinier.

Then Gar finally saw her. His face showed an initial confusion, and then it beamed in a joy-filled way that it made Raven feel relieved as well.

She breathed, and even considered enjoying the show. She wasn't in such a rush to explain anymore.

Admittedly, Raven didn't know music—but she was pretty sure no music history was made that afternoon. There were acts she could tolerate and acts she couldn't, and none of them made a lasting impression on her. Her only note was that this contest must contain every last white boy with dreadlocks in the city.

When it was Gar's turn, she braced herself. She thought she'd heard it all, but there was the possibility that his go would be even worse.

The last band finished removing all their equipment, and out came Gar; just him and his acoustic guitar. He grabbed the microphone, announced the song was called 'Lessons', and began strumming the guitar. Raven thought he looked as comfortable on stage as out of it.

When he started singing, Raven found herself pleasantly surprised. …She hadn't even considered the possibility that he'd be good. He sung like he didn't care whether he won, which was a good look on him. Every other song was about love or loss of love. Gar sung about his thought process being on detention on a sunny day, where he could see people outside having fun through the window. She especially enjoyed the lines, 'Now the teacher fell asleep / could I make a break for it? / Running out for me would be the last choice / Classroom's on the third floor / And the door is locked / Should have come to school with a saw'.

Perhaps it was only because he was her friend, but she enjoyed his turn. For the second time today, she was immensely relieved.

"Dick had to go to a charity function with his uncle," Raven finally explained an hour later. "Kori got a call from her landlord about a burst pipe, and Victor forgot he had a checkup."

"And no one knew about the others?" asked Gar.

They were sitting on the low stone fenceoutside the venue. The sun was on its last rays, but it wasn't too cold because the wall behind them shielded them from the worst wind, and the chilliness was a welcome change from the dark and smoke-filled venue anyhow.

Raven nodded. "No one knew the others couldn't make it, so I just came myself."

Gar lost the smile he'd been wearing. "Wait, so, you came out of pity?"

"Well, you never actually invited me, so," she pointed out.

"Yeah…" Gar rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I didn't think you'd wanna come."

"I probably wouldn't have," she said lightly. "I came out of pity, remember?"

Gar looked a bit stunned, and then realized she was actually teasing him—she was making a joke in her no-nonsense tone and serious face. He laughed in appreciation, and she looked away, pretending she didn't have a sense of humor.

"So, how was I?" he asked her.

She turned back to him. Gar thought that when Raven looked at you, it felt like a shock of cold. Sometimes it was freezing, and it made you step back. Other times, like now, it was just cooling. She was a sobering presence; everything slowed down and cooled under her gaze.

"You're actually not bad," she told him. "I was relieved to find out I wouldn't have to lie to you about that."

"Really?" he asked, swinging his legs off the side of the wall.

"Your song had a nice melody. And original, if not metrically adequate lyrics."

"You mind going back in there telling that to the judges?" he asked, waving his Twelfth Place ribbon.

"The other contestants had expensive equipment and amplifiers. You never stood a chance. There was also a share of nepotism. I saw the host greet the first-place winners like they knew each other from before."

And because she had said it, and she was Raven, he believed it, and he had a much higher view of his music from that day on. The things she said became the things he'd forever think about his music. Not that bad. Original, not metrically adequate lyrics. And economically disadvantaged.

He gave her a wide grin. "Thanks, Raven." He hesitated for the next thing he wanted to ask her—but he'd already been wrong not to ask her something once that day, so he went for it. "Hey, uh, you wanna grab something to eat?"

Raven looked at him, and she thought she could tell what he was thinking. If only for that, she replied, "Sure."

She was hungry anyhow.

He jumped from the fence and hooked the ribbon on his jacket, where it sat huge and ridiculous looking.

"You're not gonna wear it like that, are you?" asked Raven.

He turned with an indignant expression. "Of course I will. I won it fair and square." And he turned and strode along the street, not looking to see if she was following, walking with his arms and legs spread out as if to embarrass her more.

Raven shook her head, beginning to regret all the reaching out she had done today. Was it too late to go back into her comfort zone?

Thanks for reading!

Sanzojoe: Mmm don't hold your breath, fame is hard.

Claircrystal: I don't know exactly which incident you're referring to, but yes. Yes he does. (He gets better, though)

Eris: Thank you! Don't worry, this is Vic going through his lowest point. Things are gonna start looking up for him!