Published: May 31, 2020
Track 18: Taking Flight - Part 1
As a heavy weight created a dip in his mattress, Gar struggled to open his eyes.
"Time to go, sleepyhead. If you don't get up soon, Raven's gonna come in here and whoop your ass."
"The things I'd do for that woman to spank me..."
Victor half-chuckled and half-recoiled. "Ugh, you are so thirsty, it's sad. Let me rephrase that. If you don't get moving, I'll be the one to crack open the can of whoop-ass."
Gar rolled out of bed in a sloth-like manner, gathering up his things in slow-motion. After brushing his teeth, he packed away his toiletries and pyjamas in a small backpack that only contained an extra set of clothes and his Nintendo Switch. His much larger suitcase was still in the trunk of the van. Raven had instructed them to have a quick bag ready for times like these. He wasn't looking forward to sitting in a car for the second day in a row, but the thought of spending more time with his girlfriend, no... Partner? How about romantic pursuit? Whatever. The thought of spending more time with Raven put him in a chipper mood.
To his great disappointment, Kory was already sitting next to her in the front seat. Gar exclaimed, "No fair! I called shotgun."
"You snooze, you lose, Logan!" Dick shouted through the window.
Since Dick and Victor took the second row, the only free space was in the very back. Gar sulked his way into the van and whined like a puppy with no one to play with. It seemed as though his regular spot had been hijacked. Begrudgingly, he took out his Switch and turned on the hand-held console. At least he had a way of entertaining himself. While he played his video game, he began to cook up ideas for a good old-fashioned prank to get back at his teammates. They would regret the day they thwarted him from his claim on the front seat! He laughed maniacally like a comic book villain in his mind, the gears in his brain already spinning away.
After a few hours, Victor and Dick switched places with Raven and Kory. While Gar perked up at the new seating arrangement, Raven looked like she was at the end of her rope with listening to Kory's wedding plans. Gar didn't mind stuff like that, but he could tell that Raven was the opposite of interested. He figured he could do her a favour by extracting her from the conversation. "Hey Raven, have you heard of 'Pokémon: Let's Go!'?"
She turned around and scrunched up her nose. "Isn't that for children?"
"I guess, but people of all ages enjoy it. Wanna play? I can teach you."
"Apologies, Garfield. We were just about to start looking at dresses for Raven," Kory butted in. "I am thinking she will look fantastic in tulle."
"You know what? I'm actually curious about Gar's video game," Raven said hesitantly. "Do you mind if we do that later?"
"No problems! Instead, I shall watch ladies saying yes to their dresses. Have fun!" Kory took out a pair of headphones and plugged them into her phone. Seconds later, she was fully engrossed in the wedding-themed show. Gar smiled when he saw Raven sigh in relief. He had seen straight through her white lie, but luckily for her, the bride-to-be remained oblivious. Raven unbuckled her seat belt and scooted into the back row to sit next to him.
"I guess we're doing this," she mumbled unenthusiastically.
"You got that right!" Gar saved his file and started a new one for Raven. He handed her the Switch excitedly, noting how big the portable console looked in her tiny hands. "Okay, so in this world, you're a trainer. Pokémon are animals that exist in the wild. You trap them with Pokéballs, fight in battles and gain experience points. The goal is to catch 'em all."
"How many is all?"
"In this game, one hundred and fifty-one. Although I heard that Meltan and Melmetal are supposed to make an appearance at some point. In total, there are almost nine hundred."
She raised her eyebrows and breathed, "Good Lord."
"The franchise is almost twenty-five years old, after all. This one in particular is a remake of 'Pokémon Yellow', which came out in 1999. Well actually, it was released a year earlier in Japan."
"You are such a nerd."
"And you're the one dating this nerd. What does that say about you?"
"Gar!" Raven cried softly while looking around in paranoia.
"Chill, it's not like anyone can hear us."
"What part of 'discreet' did you not understand?" she hissed.
"Okay, okay. Are we going to play or what?"
He instructed her to press "Start". The opening credits played and the game prompted Raven to enter her information. "You need to put in a name for your trainer," Gar explained.
With inexperienced fingers, she slowly typed "Raven" into the screen.
"Bo-ring! You should pick something more creative."
She gave him a flat stare and asked, "Oh yeah? What's your name?"
"Beast Boy."
"Beast Boy?" she repeated with one eyebrow raised in amusement.
"I'm a boy that befriends beasts? Duh."
She rolled her eyes and deleted the last few letters, replacing them so that her trainer's name was written as "Rachel". Gar was about to tell her that it was still too plain for his taste, but she pressed the "A" button, locking in her choice. He let her explore the in-game bedroom for a bit before guiding her out of the house to visit Professor Oak. There, she was gifted with her very first Pokémon, an Eevee. The creature looked like a brown fox with wide eyes, poofy fur and large pointed ears. Raven read the Pokédex entry aloud in a bored voice, "It can evolve into a variety of forms. Eevee's genes are the key to solving the mysteries of Pokémon evolution. Fascinating."
"You're going to have to name it too."
"I can't just leave it as is?"
"Naming them is half of the fun!"
Her eyes flashed with inspiration and she turned the screen away from him so that he couldn't see what she typed. She had a grin on her face and Gar heard a beep, indicating that the name was entered successfully. Within the game, Raven's trainer sprite started its journey, with Garfield the Eevee following happily behind her.
The video game kept Raven occupied for the remainder of the trip. Much to her surprise, she found it entertaining and strangely addictive. She felt bad that she had basically taken over the console from Garfield, but he seemed to enjoy himself in guiding her play. However, her amusement was replaced by stress when they ran into heavy traffic upon entering Portland. The unexpected congestion put them an hour behind schedule. Raven made the executive decision to go straight to the concert hall instead of stopping by their hotel like they had initially planned.
When the team stepped out of the vehicles and into the venue, the manager shifted to work mode. She directed the Titans inside, trusting the roadies to take care of their duties under Tim's leadership. Her brain sharpened into focus, going over a checklist in her mind. Introduce everyone to the venue staff. Check. Review the schedule with the stage manager. Check. Confirm merchandise stock with Cassie. Check. Once Bart and the band members began to test out the sound system, Raven busied herself in the green room. As she set out snacks and water bottles, she felt two strong arms slip themselves around her waist from behind. A pointy chin rested itself on her shoulder and warm breath tickled her neck.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Just saying hi," Gar replied light-heartedly.
She turned around and he flashed her a handsome smile.
"You have one job," she answered back testily, somewhat flustered from his brazen display of affection. "What happened to soundcheck?"
He waved a hand dismissively. "That can wait. I wanted to let you know that I've been doing some research."
"For what?"
"Our first date, obviously. I know we don't have much time here, so I started looking up things to do at our next stop," he explained. "I heard the Richmond Night Market is pretty cool, but it only opens in May. There's also the aquarium in Stanley Park. Or we could go to Lynn Valley for a hike."
"I don't hike. And when exactly did you plan on doing all of this?"
"Tomorrow! Aren't we arriving in Vancouver like a full day early?"
"True, but who knows what will happen at the border? Depending on traffic or the number of cars in front of us, we could be delayed."
"Aww come on, Rae," he pouted.
Raven was about to correct him out of habit, but then she remembered that they were technically in private. She let the nickname slide and said, "And before the show, there's the meet and greet, remember?"
"Oh yeah! The meet and greet! Right, right..."
"Didn't you read the itinerary?" she asked impatiently.
"Well, we could always hang out in your hotel room tomorrow morning before checking out. Order in breakfast, maybe watch a movie? Nothing too crazy."
"Kory wanted girl time. I couldn't say no."
"Mon dieu, t'es serieuse?"
/Oh my God, seriously?/
Raven raised her eyebrows at the French expression of exasperation. She wasn't aware that Garfield spoke another language, let alone with such fluency. She would have commented on it, but she wanted to wrap up their conversation quickly to avoid being caught. "She booked us a reservation at the hotel spa. It's her way of thanking me for agreeing to be her maid of honour. I'd like to spend time with you, but not enough to pass up a free massage."
"If you wanted a massage, all you had to do was ask." He rested his hands on her hips and began to knead her lower back gently.
However, Raven wasn't having any of it. She brushed his palms away and gave him a stern look. "Behave, Garfield. We'll go on a date soon, I promise. Now go out there and do your job."
Despite their late arrival, the Titans were able to get everything ready in good time. Although it was only the second show, both the band and the roadie team seemed comfortable in their roles. After unpacking their things and taking a quick rest at the hotel, they returned to the venue in time for their performance. The show went by smoothly, just like it did in Las Vegas. The concert hall in Portland was slightly smaller, but it was packed to the brim with people. They performed as they normally did, with passion and finesse. At the end, the Titans went outside to greet the concert-goers who stayed behind. Raven observed that Garfield noticeably kept his distance from fangirls. Instead, he focused his attention on a group of tweens.
They had come with their parents and one of the children was celebrating a birthday. The musician took TikTok videos with the entire party and signed their T-shirts. He even gave the birthday girl a guitar pick from his pocket, telling her to "Rock on, dude". Raven smiled at the way Garfield interacted so naturally with the middle schoolers. The man was less mature than most people his age, but his "cool older brother" persona was endearing. As he ruffled their hair and wished them a safe trip home, he even looked a little paternal. Her heart skipped a beat when he caught her eye from afar and sent her a wink. She returned the gesture with the tiniest of nods, hoping that no one would notice their light flirting.
The team returned to the hotel just before midnight. Garfield implied that he wanted to visit her for a goodnight kiss, but he was intercepted by an insistent Victor. His roommate wanted to watch a movie before bed and he wasn't taking no for an answer. Admittedly, Raven was a little disappointed but she was exhausted and ready to sleep. She bid everyone goodnight and retreated to her room by herself.
The next morning, Raven joined Kory at the spa and the two girls went in for their scheduled massages. The manager had never gotten a full body massage before and she was a bit anxious to undress in front of other people. Kory, on the other hand, seemed very comfortable in her own skin. Raven suppressed her laughter when one of the massage therapists offered robes to cover their naked bodies and Kory refused the garment point blank. The walls of the room were painted a calming dove grey and it smelled of incense. Quiet piano music played in the background, along with the sounds of waves crashing on a beach. Two massage tables were set up side by side and the women were instructed to lay down on their stomachs. While they received the therapeutic treatment to their muscles, Kory and Raven spoke quietly together.
"Thank you, Kory. I didn't realize how much I needed this." Raven felt the aches and pains leave her as the therapist's hands gently massaged the knots out of her shoulders. Driving for hours on end had been hard on her body, especially since she rarely had the spare time to do her daily yoga routine.
"You are most welcome. Sometimes, us girls need to do the spoiling of ourselves."
"I'm really happy for you and Richard, by the way. Things worked out, didn't they?"
"They certainly did. Have you figured it out?"
"Figured out what?"
"If you have been in love. You said before that you were not sure."
The previously relaxed muscles in Raven's body tensed. She loved Kory dearly, but the woman had very little tact. It was a touchy subject and she hardly wanted to talk about her personal life so plainly in front of strangers. As if on cue, the pair of staff workers muttered some excuse about having to leave the room momentarily. They exited, leaving the two women alone with Kory's question still hanging in the air. The redhead turned her neck so that she faced Raven. "And so?"
"I... I still don't know. Probably not. I was young and looking back, I think I was more infatuated than in love."
"What does that mean, 'infatuated'?"
"It's kind of like love, except that it is more shallow and short-lived. It all happened very quickly and I think I gave away my heart too easily."
"Richard says that I give my heart away to too many things. Like kittens in windows and babies in strollers at the park."
Raven chuckled lowly, "I guess it's kind of like that. Anyway, to answer your question... No. I haven't been in love."
"I hope you experience true love one day," Kory answered. "It is the most wondrous thing on earth."
By the end of the massage, Raven's body, mind and spirit felt refreshed. After an early lunch, they hit the road again, heading up north to the Canadian border. As usual, Victor took the first driving shift. Garfield had reclaimed his seat in the front, which left Raven by herself in the back row. She took this as an opportunity to catch up on her reading. She secretly hoped that Garfield might offer his Switch again, but she hesitated to ask. She didn't want the others to think that they were too close. Halfway to their destination, Raven took her place behind the steering wheel.
"Another musical, milady?" the guitarist asked.
"Sure, why not?"
"We're going to continue with the 80s theme and listen to Into the Woods. It's based on several fairytales, like Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood."
Raven cringed internally at the mention of the last story, remembering her ridiculous Halloween costume. She and Garfield had come a long way since then. She wondered if her former self would be horrified or ecstatic at their current relationship. "Sounds good to me. And you don't have to explain the plot or anything."
"Let me guess, you read the book?"
"If you count the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales as the 'book', then yes. I had to read them for German class."
"You know German?"
"Ja, aber es ist rostig." Raven answered quietly, a little embarrassed at her bad accent.
/Yes, although it's rusty./
"I have no idea what you just said. I guess they weren't playing around at that fancy European academy of yours. What was that like, anyway?"
"Going to a boarding school? It was okay, I guess. I learned a lot of different languages."
"Parles-tu le français aussi?" asked Garfield.
/Do you speak French too?/
"Bien sûr. C'était nécessaire pour la vie en Suisse. Et toi, comment es-tu si bon?"
/Of course. It was necessary for life in Switzerland. What about you, how are you so fluent?/
"J'ai appris la langue pendant mon enfance en Afrique de l'Ouest. Bon, c'est notre langue secrète. Dans ce cas, je peux continuer ma grande séduction!" he said loudly with his chest puffed up in confidence.
/I learned the language during my childhood in West Africa. It's our secret language then. In that case, I can continue my grand seduction!/
"Calme-toi," she replied with a tiny smile, "je veux écouter les paroles."
/Quiet down, I want to listen to the lyrics./
For the next two hours, they tuned into the music. Raven found the lyrics quite funny, although objectively, it wasn't on the same level as The Phantom of the Opera or Les Misérables. Near the tail-end of the musical, they could see the border. There was a long stream of cars so Raven tried to pick the lane that had the least amount of vehicles. Conner followed behind her in the roadie van. When they were only a few spots away from the front of the line, Raven announced, "We're almost there. Get out your passports, please."
She heard a rustling of bags as the band members took out their documentation. They passed them up to the front one by one, with the exception of Garfield. He rummaged inside the backpack that lay at his feet, then his jacket pockets. "Did I put it in my suitcase?" he wondered out loud. "No, it's definitely in here somewhere..."
When he leaned down to look through the bag once more, Raven felt a sick dread rise and settle in her stomach. They were now four vehicles away from the booth.
"Gar? Did you find it yet?"
"Nuh-uh. Still looking."
Three cars away. Then two.
"Garfield?!" Raven cried. The car ahead of them moved forward, making them next in line.
"I think I forgot it at home."
"EXCUSE ME?!" she hollered.
Behind her, Richard added, "Really, Gar? I thought I reminded you a hundred times before we left!"
The light turned green and the bar raised. The border patrol officer waved them forward. Raven felt like she was about to spontaneously combust. Just as they pulled up to the booth, Garfield extracted something from the back pocket of his jeans. His face broke out in a cheeky smirk, holding his passport between his index and middle fingers.
"Fooled ya!"
If not for the government official right outside their window, Raven would have committed cold-blooded murder right then and there. Instead, she rearranged her fury into a neutral expression and rolled down the window.
"Good afternoon. Passports, please."
Raven snatched the little booklet from Garfield and handed it over with the rest. The officer asked her a couple of questions before comparing their faces to their photos. Each band member waved silently when their names were called.
"Garfield Logan?"
"Oui, c'est moi. Comment-allez vous?"
/Yes, that's me. How do you do?/
"Uh, pardawnnay-mwah?" the agent replied with visible discomfort and a terrible accent.
Raven whipped her head around to glare at Garfield. What kind of childish stunt was he pulling now?
"Vous ne comprenez pas le français? Mais c'est le Canada! Quel dommage, c'est une de vos langues officielles."
/You don't understand French? But this is Canada! What a shame, it's one of your official languages./
The uniformed man just stared back sternly. Raven flushed with embarrassment and intervened, "I am so sorry, sir. He's just fooling around. In fact, he can understand English perfectly well."
"I'm going to have to ask you to pull over and step out of the vehicle. All of you."
The five of them had no choice but to comply. Since they were travelling together, Tim, Bart, Cassie and Conner also had to follow suit. The entire group sat in a waiting room in total silence. At one point, Cassie and Kory started talking, but they immediately stopped after a fierce glare from Raven. Nearly half an hour later, the officer came back and announced that they could move along in their journey. "Next time, no jokes. Beeyenvenoo oh Canada."
When they pulled back onto the highway, Garfield attempted to clear the air. "My bad, guys. I didn't think he would be so anal."
Victor answered first, "You are such a little shit. We're in British Columbia, not Québec."
Kory and Richard didn't say anything but nodded their heads in agreement. Raven spoke next, "I cannot believe you did that. What were you thinking?"
"It was just a joke!"
"It wasn't funny at all! In fact, it was really immature," Raven said harshly. "We could have been detained. And that stupid stunt with your passport. Had you really left it at home, we would have all had to turn back!"
"Lighten up, will ya? Pranks are part of the road trip experience! What's wrong with having a little fun?"
"Next time, keep your pranks to yourself."
Raven was furious. Garfield reached over to turn on the radio, but she shut it off immediately. They spent the rest of the car ride in a tense, awkward silence. When they arrived at their hotel later that evening, he followed Raven to her room. "Rae-"
"-Save it. See you tomorrow," she gritted through her teeth and slammed the door behind her.
Gar pouted by himself in his hotel room. Victor had stepped out with the excuse of calling Sarah, but the guitarist could tell that even his best friend was still annoyed with him. Admittedly, it wasn't one of his best pranks, but why did everyone have to be so uptight? Dejected, he tried to distract himself by playing on his Switch. When he turned it on, he saw that Raven's file was still open. He sighed, remembering the delight in her eyes when she caught her first Pokémon in the wild. Just when things were starting to go well, he had to screw it up. He was ashamed of his actions, but at the same time, he felt like everyone was overreacting.
Gar was still brooding by the time they headed to the venue the next day. Their soundcheck was scheduled for earlier than usual to accommodate the meet and greet. Kory extended an olive branch by encouraging him to sit next to her in the second row. That morning, Raven drove with Dick beside her while Victor sat in the very back. Gar could tell that both his manager and team leader were still mad at his behaviour from the day before. Neither of them acknowledged his presence when he entered the van and watching them talk amicably soured his mood even more.
Gar was on auto-pilot during soundcheck, only speaking when spoken to. He had been excited for their first Canadian performance, but at the moment, he was too bitter to care. However, his spirits lifted slightly when he saw the long lineup of people waiting outside the door for the fan event. The concert was supposed to start in three hours, but those who paid for VIP tickets would get to go in early and meet the band. They were set up like a panel of judges along two wide tables and each band member was given a handful of silver Sharpies. Dick sat at the end closest to the doors, with a big stack of posters in front of him. Kory sat beside him, followed by Victor and then Gar.
"Everybody ready?" Raven asked. "Doors open in a minute and it's going to be intense."
Gar noticed that she made eye contact with the others, but purposefully averted her gaze when she got to him. He squashed down the negative feelings and plastered a fake smile on his face. "Anything for the fans," he replied confidently.
Soon after, the floodgates opened and they were inundated by a heavy stream of excited people. When the first person got to him, Gar's false happiness transformed into pure joy. Their fans were men and women, young and old, all from various walks of life. It turned out that Gar was quite popular, which was made obvious by the bottleneck that formed at his spot. He drank up the attention, feeling a huge boost of confidence as fans fawned over him.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I'm meeting you!"
"Can you please sign this for me? My sister is obsessed with you, but she couldn't be here today. Her name is Lily, L-I-L-Y."
"Dude, you are such an inspiration. I started playing the guitar because of you!"
The event went on for two hours, but rather than feeling drained, Gar never felt more alive. He buzzed with energy, feeling extra hyped up after meeting so many members of their adoring audience.
"That was incredible!" Kory squealed.
"Tell me about it," Victor said, "I've never felt so popular in my life."
Dick stood up from his spot and gestured for the others to do the same, saying, "Time to head backstage, guys. The show is starting soon." He led them to the venue's green room where Raven had already set out refreshments. They had about forty-five minutes to relax since the opening band was performing first. Gar tried to keep up his energy by pacing around the room instead of sitting down. By the time it was their turn to go on stage, the guitarist practically sprinted out with unbridled eagerness. He rubbed his lucky penny, not because he was nervous, but out of habit. After Raven unceremoniously threw it back at him in Vegas, he decided to keep it for the time being. When they walked out, the audience chanted their name.
"Hello, Vancouver! Are you ready to rock?" shouted Dick into his microphone.
The crowd shouted back and Victor hit his drums in a 4-count, quite literally starting the show with a bang. The first song they played was "Aftershock", the single that had been chosen for the Apple campaign. Unsurprisingly, the entire concert hall sang along to every word. Their first two shows had gone fairly well, but there was something about tonight that felt different.
"I guess third time's the charm," Gar thought.
The band played through their set with ease. Gar forgot all the drama from the day before and let himself go with the music. The reverberations from the speakers crackled in his veins like electricity. The audience sang with them in unison; the larger-than-life "voice" made Gar feel like he was on top of the world. He had never taken hard drugs before, but he imagined that this was the feeling of being high as a kite. The screaming of the crowd was addictive and he couldn't get enough. Too soon, their set ended and it was time for them to exit the stage. The audience chanted, "En-core! En-core! En-core!" This was the first time that a crowd had begged them to extend the show. With a nod of approval from Raven, the band walked back out, much to the excitement and glee of the audience.
"Did you miss us?" Dick joked into the mic. "We don't have anything prepared, so tell us what you want us to play!"
Several suggestions were thrown out, but the overwhelming winner was "How Long Is Forever?", the song that had started everything.
"You got it," Dick said. "Here we go!"
Gar didn't even have to concentrate on the task at hand. They had played the track so many times that he surrendered his body to muscle memory. As the song progressed, he let loose and had even more fun than usual. He walked over to Kory and they played their instruments back-to-back with exuberance. Victor was having a blast as well, adding extra flair to his drum playing by tossing the sticks into the air. Dick supported them all with his strong vocals and steady keys.
When the song came to a close, the room thundered with applause and cheers. Gar set aside his guitar and surveyed the tightly packed crowd. On instinct, he backed up a couple of steps from the edge of the stage. Still drunk off the ecstasy of performing, he didn't think twice. He ran forward and launched himself into the air, like an eagle taking flight. But instead of catching him, the crowd parted in confusion. With a sickening thud, Gar plummeted to the ground and everything went black.
A/N: What will happen when crowd-surfing goes wrong?! Raven was a dick in Vegas, so it was time for Gar to do something dumb too. That passport prank was inspired by true events.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Canadian geography, Québec (and New Brunswick, sort of) is the only province where people actually speak French. It's a second language in the other provinces, but no one really uses it past high school.
Till next time, Lily Timbers
Replies to Guest Reviews
vi: Thank you for leaving a review! It's always nice to hear your comments.