Chase This Light

Reid entered the club, suddenly bashful. Just hours before, he had stood in the same club, gun in hand. Confident, knowing that they had brought down a murder. Now though, Reid dodged teenage girls, just as awkward as he was on the first night.
“Did she say she’d meet you anywhere?” Morgan asked, yelling over the sound of the opening act. Reid suddenly got nervous- did he already blow his chance? Before she even got here!
Before he could answer Morgan though, he noticed the light shinning off Morgan’s bald head. Direct and yellow, Reid traced the light back to the sound booth in the middle of the club. A simple platform raised a couple feet above the ground, the sound booth held the boards, along with a group of people- one of whom was waving frantically at him.
He followed down the steps to the platform, a bewildered Morgan following shortly behind him. When they got close enough, Reid’s face broke into a smile. Jasey was leaning over the edge, waving and calling his name.
“Spencer! You made it!” she yelled, pulling the headset from her head. “Do you want to come up?” She typed a code into the padlock, opening the gate at the top of the stairs. Reid was on the first step when Morgan grabbed his arm.
“I’m gonna go try and get a drink”. Reid’s face turned into a look of panic. Morgan chuckled. “It’s okay kid- it’s not like she wants to see me!” He spoke the last part quietly, chuckling more at Reid nod. He turned to walk away and Reid looked up at the stair again, right into Jasey’s outstretched hand.
“Spencer!” she yelled again, once he reached the top. He smiled again as she shut the gate door.
“Hey Jasey!” her energy was catchy, and soon he found himself walking around the platform with her.
“Do you want to meet everyone?” she asked, waving her hand around. Reid nodded and she reached into the basket to grab a pair of headphones. She handed them with him, before she plugged them into the sound booth. He let them stay in his hand awkwardly for a moment, before hurrying to put them on his head, mimicking Jasey. “This is better”, she said, and suddenly her voice came in crystal clear.
“Whoa.” Spencer said, slightly quietly. He had finally really taken a look at the board, which was lit up in all different kinds of buttons and knobs. Instead of being marked, everything was just colored. “It’s like some sort of secret code.” Suddenly, a deep voice laugh filled Spencer’s ears, causing him to jump back.
“Sorry dude,” the voice continued. From the corner of the booth, a large man with a big brown beard waved down at Spencer. “It’s always entertaining when someone looks at the board.”
Spencer blushed again, trying to laugh it off. He waved back slowly before turning back to Jasey, slightly deflated. He had such plans of coming in and playing it cool, but so far he had completed nothing but looking like a complete fool.
“I just have to sit for the rest of this band, and then I’m free for the night!”, she moved a slider up on the board, and the room shook a little more. “Do you want to sit? I mean, if you want to go get a drink or something…”
“Oh, I’d rather stay here. Observing all of this is interesting to me.” Jasey smiled again, reaching behind her to pull up an office chair. Spencer sat, and moved himself closer to the board to watch Jasey work.
“This band is fairly new.” She started, nodding towards the stage. Spencer noticed that none of the band members could be anywhere near 30. “They’re young, and slightly naïve. They just signed to a 360 deal with FBR.” Spencer looked up, giving her the confuse look he rarely used. Jasey laughed, and launched into a full explanation on how the deal worked, including the pros and cons compared to a normal record deal.
Across the club, Morgan was nursing a drink in his hand, watching the two. The girl next to him ran off the details about her brush of crime, but Morgan blocked her off. Watching Spencer and Jasey made him smile- she would be good for him. Her world was so new to anti-social Reid. It’s not like he could ever lose interest in that.
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“Sorry.” Jasey spat, right in the middle of telling Spencer about merch equations. “Sorry, I’m, like, going on and on about this. I know it’s not the most interesting or attractive thing to talk about on the first date….” She stopped, trailing off when she realized what she had said.
“No no!” Spencer practically shouted, pushing away from the board. “I’m intrigued! It’s almost like a whole new world I can learn statistics about-“ Now it was Spencer’s turn to stop. Statistics. The ban of his dating life. The haunting wingman no one wanted.
But Jasey just laughed. “I love that. It’s so adorable. So innocent, compared to all the douchebags I talk to daily.” She shook her head, turning some knobs until the music faded and the band left the stage.
Innocent. Spencer looked around him- at the man with the beard, the man behind the march table, the men clearing off all the amps off stage. Innocent. Is there anyway he could really be any better than the men surrounding Jasey daily?
“I’m checkin’ out Scotty!” Jasey’s voice interrupted him. “Can you make sure the interns get the room cleaned up?” She leant down, right near Spencer’s face, reaching up to slide off his headphones. She smiled down at him, and laughed when the chord hit his nose.
“Yea. Just..” Scotty looked between Jasey, who was walking towards him, and Spencer, who was just stretching as he got up.”… be careful, okay?”
Spencer got nervous, looking between the two of them. Scotty ignored him though, focused on Jasey- who was shaking her head. “I know Scotty. Drop it.” She turned to grab Spencer’s hand and he followed her down the stairs. When they were far enough away, she looked apologetic. “Sorry. The guys like to believe that I’m this little girl who can’t take care of herself.”
Spencer had to bring himself to reality- she was still holding his hand- and when he answered, he almost regretted it. “Well, that’s comforting.”
“What?” she laughed, stopping to face him. “How so?”
He blushed again, felling like a classic seventeen year old at prom. “It’s… reassuring. Knowing that you work in an environment where woman, statistically, are looked upon as either less worthy, or assumed to be provocative, that there’s a group of extremely buff men making sure you’re okay.” It was another second till he added an quick- “Not that you can’t take care of yourself!”.
Jasey looked at him for a moment, making him nervous. She smiled though, relieving him instantly. “You’re such a dork. Did you want to get a drink?”
“N-no. I’m good.” Jasey leaned over the bar, grabbing a water bottle and waving down the bar.
“Spencer- have you ever been in a mosh pit?” She smiled before taking a drink of water.
“No, I actually haven’t. Faced a criminal holding a gun to my head, yes, but a mosh pit, no way.” Jasey laughed, covering her mouth.
“Would you want to? I promise to protect you?” She winked and Spencer laughed. He looked back towards the crowd of teenage girls that filled the space in front of the stage, and back at Jasey.
“Well, the chance of me dying in a sea of twelve year olds seems low…” Jasey took that as a confirmation, and pulled Spencer through the pit.
“Alex promised me my favorite song.” She explained, moving towards the walls of the area. Spencer felt the glare of girls on the back of his head, noticing the irony that he had finally gotten the female gender’s attention. “And I promised him I’d be in the pit. After this, we can go anywhere in the city you want.” She promised him, turning as they reached the barricade. Spencer’s inside jumped for joy. A mosh pit was nothing to suffer through- if he got a continuation of this date.
But before he could think of anything to say back to her, the lights dropped on stage. Teenage squeals erupted throughout the club as Alex and his band took their place on stage. The lead singer Spencer still didn’t know the name of, stood at the mic, while Alex sat in a stool with his guitar. Band members filled in their spots, but the spotlight stayed on Alex and the lead singer.
“Jasey!” Alex screamed into the mic. “We love you babe!” He handed the mic over, and started the chords of his guitar. Spencer turned to Jasey, who was watching the stage. In light of blue and green, she looked more beautiful than ever. Here she was, in her normal light. Listening to one of her favorite songs. He was almost jealous that he couldn’t be the one putting the smile on her face as the lyrics began.
‘I'm a suspect, I'm a traitor,
I'm only here in body, visiting.
Yellow faces and the distant screams,
"The beauty is in what isn't said,"
I'm rising to my feet’.
Jasey caught Spencer’s eye, and before he could even blush, she had slipped under his arm. He felt her warmth pressed against his side, and relaxed. Together, they leaned against the barricade and watched the lights reveal the rest of the band.
’Because tonight, the world turned in me.
Because right now, I don't dare to breathe.
Oh, babe, I know, it's alive and somewhere for us to find tonight,
Chase this light with me.’