Octavius stood in front of the bathroom mirror, adjusting his black necktie. He reached over and grabbed his black vest, pulling it over his white dress shirt. He looked himself over in the mirror once more, ascertaining that everything was in order.
“You can do this,” he told himself. “It’s just a recital. Just get up there and blow them away. You always do this. It’ll be fine.” He grabbed his pill that was sitting on the counter and popped it into his mouth. “You’ll be amazing.”
He stepped out of the bathroom into the room that Dash had let him use for the previous night. He had gone to the hotel and grabbed the suit he was going to wear that night, then checked out and returned to ‘Dash’s’. He’d gotten everything packed up into his car and was ready for his big performance.
He picked his suit coat up off his bed and slid it on, fastening the buttons quickly. He straightened out the slight wrinkles and departed the room, closing his door behind him.
When he stepped into the dining room of the slightly dusty restaurant, the sight he beheld shocked him. His new acquaintances were all there waiting on him, and they all looked amazing.
The first thing to catch his eye was Ditzy. Where before she had been wearing a yellow tee shirt and some jeans, now she had on a loose knee length grey dress with some sequins along the bottom edge. She was also in a simple black pair of flats. Around her neck hung her camera. Next to her was David. He was wearing a grey vest and pants over a white dress shirt, but no tie. On his feet were red and white Converses. He had a small bag on his back
Dash was sitting at a table, wearing a red dress shirt with black pants. Her rainbow hair was pulled neatly into a ponytail. Her shoes looked nearly identical to Ditzy’s. But despite how fantastic they all looked, only one truly caught his eye.
Vinyl.
She was wearing a white dress that reached just below her knees, with bell sleeves made of white see through lace. Her usually wild and unkempt hair was brushed down, falling to between her shoulder blades. She had on a pair of black leggings underneath, with white flats covering her feet. And as always, she wore her purple sunglasses. Octavius hated to admit it, but this crazy, insane, immature girl cleaned up into an amazingly beautiful young woman, a thought which he mentally slapped himself for thinking.
He cleared his throat to recollect his thoughts. “Everybody ready?” The group nodded, and they all stepped out into the cool air.
As they walked to Octavius’ car, Dash fell back to talk with him. “She’s not too shabby, is she, Tav-Tav?”
Octavius felt his face heat up. “Who?”
Dash laughed quietly. “Dude, you were hardcore checking her out! You were like, hypnotized or something.”
“I was not hypnotized,” he protested, looking around nervously. He hated to be flustered, especially before a major performance. He walked ahead of the woman, causing her to laugh.
“Whatever you say, lover boy,” she grinned behind his back, getting into the backseat of his car with David and Vinyl. She looked over at David. “I figured you’d want the front seat, since you’re so tall.”
“Well,” David said. “Usually I would be driving Ditzy anywhere she can’t walk, but if we’re both passengers, she always gets front seat. She gets motion sick really easily, and the front seat helps prevent that.” While the two were talking, Ditzy lifted her camera up and snapped a picture of the inside of Octavius’ car.
Suddenly, she turned to David, a look of sadness on her face. “Doctor! M-my camera c-c-can’t take anymore p-pictures!” Octavius looked over at her and saw that there were tears welling in her eyes.
“What do you mean, Ditzy?” David grabbed the camera from Ditzy and examined it.
“What’s wrong with it?” Octavius glanced into the rearview at David, whose tense face relaxed. He reached between his legs and grabbed his bag, unzipping it and removing a memory card. He swapped the old one with the new one, handing it to Ditzy.
“All better,” he said, causing the blond to smile.
“Thanks y-you, d-doctor.” She raised camera and pointed it at the three in the backseat. All three smiled and David wrapped his arms over the girls’ shoulders. Ditzy smiled and took the picture, then turned back around in her seat. She looked over at Octavius. “Smile, T-tavi!”
Octavius glanced over at her. That split second was all it took. The next thing they all knew, they all slammed forward, the sound of metal slamming into metal filling the air. Octavius sat up slowly. His head felt very light, and he felt blood dripping down his face.
Looking over blearily, the sight nearly brought tears to his eyes. Ditzy was unconscious, her head hanging limp. She had a massive bruise on her face where the camera slammed into her face, and the lens was broken. Blood was peppered along her dress, cuts and gashes all along her face and arms. She slowly came to and looked over at him.
“Tavi,” she sobbed, tears starting to fall. “It h-h-hurts. H-help me.”
Octavius tried to reach for her, but cried out when he moved his arm. It was broken. He suddenly became aware of how much blood was coming from his head. He started to feel dizzy. The last thing he saw was Ditzy crying and David trying to get the door open to help her. Then everything went dark.