Scream Me a Dream

Friday, May 7th, 2010
4:30pm

She closed her eyes as the intro to her solo dance came over the speakers, she could feel the stares of the audience as she began to move about the stage, the soles of her ballet shoes barely making a noise as she floated across the stage making her pirouettes.

She moved across the stage, focused on making her cues, doing the right turns at the right times while at the same time trying to keep the graceful movement about her, her body straight and her arms looking graceful while really they were taut with tension. She swallowed before she stood center stage, her feet in position before the cue came and she turned her body gracefully to make the first of the thirty pirouettes she had to do in a row.

She counted in her head, trying hard to keep her breathing in control as she reached fifteen, the music swelled and she felt her feet moving faster.

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Reaching twenty-eight, she readjusted herself minutely, but just enough for her foot to catch around her ankle the wrong way and send her tumbling down to the ground, her bottom sliding across the wooden floor a bit before she put her hands down to catch herself.

“Damn.” She muttered, before opening her eyes to see her own reflection looking back at her. Dropping her head in her own self-disappointment, she glared down at her ankle before rubbing the bone.

“Hej miláček.”

Soya looked up, dropping her hand away from her ankle only to smile when she saw who was standing at the door of her rehearsal space. “Josef.”

“Is your ankle bothering you?” he asked in perfect English as he stepped into the room.

“No, it’s fine.” She said with a quick smile. “What brings you here?” she asked as she looked over him. He was wearing his nice dress jeans, and a black long sleeve button down shirt, while his blonde hair that was usually unruly and slicked back in sweat from dancing all day was fixed with hair products. “You look nice.”

“Thank you.” Josef said looking down at himself with a satisfied smirk. “It’s been awhile since I’ve dressed up for someone other than you.”

Soya laughed as she tiredly reached up and took her hair out of its bun letting the long brown tresses fall down her back. She tilted her head back and arched her spine, the tips of her hair hitting the floor as her spine cracked back into place. “It’s been a while since I dressed up period.”

“Well maybe you’ll have the chance soon.”

“Oh?” Soya asked looking back over at him, meeting his bright blue eyes with her grey ones. “Where are you taking me?”

Josef laughed. “Not where I’m taking you, sweet Soya, it’s where you’ll be taking yourself.”

She watched as he bent down and slid a white envelope across the wooden floors, so the tip barely hit her thigh. “What’s this?” she asked picking the envelope up.

“Open it, silly girl.”

Soya shook her head but humored the blonde, opening the envelope and peering inside, only to look back up at Josef in shock. “How did you get this?”

Josef moved across the floor and settled down next to her. “I went with a few others of the crew to make sure everything for the show was delivered for tomorrow and I met one of the security guards that works for the band.”

“Josef.” She whispered looking back into the envelope.

“He’s beautiful specimen of a man, Soya.” Josef laughed. “Gave me the tickets as an exchange for a date, I told him I wasn’t a fan, but I had a friend who was.”

“And?” she asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Told him that if I could keep the tickets, he would be rewarded.” Josef smacked his lips together. “And rewarded he was.”

Soya crinkled her nose in disgust. “That’s crude.”

“That’s life.” Josef laughed. “I’ve got a date with him tonight and you, my dear girl, have a concert to go to.”

Soya shook her head, holding the envelope back out to him. “I can’t go.”

“Of course you can.”

“Josef, my parents are in town, the last place they’d ever allow me to go the eve before a performance is to a concert, let alone their concert.” She nudged him in the chest with the envelope. “I can’t go.”

“Miláček, you’ve wanted to go to one of their concerts ever since you saw his face on a poster when you were eighteen. You know you want to go now.”

“I know I want to, I just won’t be able to.”

Josef smiled. “You underestimate me, I’m going out tonight and so are you.”

Soya frowned at him and was about to responded when they heard her name being called loudly.

“Soya!”

They both looked up at hearing the young voice, knowing exactly who would be following. Josef snatched the envelope from Soya’s fingers, standing and stuffing it in his back pocket just as a young girl came tumbling into the room, falling to her knees on the hardwood floor.

Josef and Soya both held their laughter in as the little girl stood up, dusted off her pink dress before giving them an embarrassed smile. She looked over at Soya, grinning and continuing her run. “Soya!”

Soya laughed as the little girl launched herself into Soya’s arms, holding onto her neck tight. “Oh Aida, how I’ve missed you.”

“Don’t coddle her Soya,” a feminine voice echoed across the room. “And get off that dirty floor.”

Soya peeked over Aida’s shoulder and saw her mother standing at the entrance of the room stiffly looking around, before spotting Josef next to them. Instantly her tight and disapproving demeanor changed to a large smile.

“Josef! I didn’t know you were going to be here!”

Josef smiled, reaching down a hand for Soya, Soya took it and allowed him to help her up, Aida still attached to her neck.

“Aida, let your sister go.” Elizabeth said sternly.

“No, mamma, she’s fine, I don’t mind.” Soya said quietly, rubbing her sisters back.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “I know you don’t, but I do.”

Soya sighed and placed her little sister on the ground, smoothing out her wavy brown hair that fell down her back. Aida refused to cut it until Soya did, and at the rate Soya was letting her hair grow, they were both going to have floor length hair by the summer.

“I didn’t know you were coming by Elizabeth.” Josef said walking Soya and Aida over to the women.

“Yes, well, Soya said she would be done rehearsing four, and it is now four, we’ve come to pick her up.”

“I wish I would have known.” Josef said, “I, myself, came to pick up Soya for a night out.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and looked over at her daughter eyeing her appearance, worn out ballet shoes, white tights that had runs in them, a wrinkled wrap around pink skirt and white sweat stained leotard, her face glistening and her hair in disarray. “Are you sure you want to take her out?”

Josef laughed and wrapped his arm around Soya’s waist. “Of course, I couldn’t ask for better company.” He leaned down and kissed Soya’s temple. “I was going to take her to her apartment first so she could freshen up.”

Elizabeth sighed. “I don’t think Soya going out the evening before a performance is such a good idea Josef, even if it is with you.”

Josef laughed, “We’ve rehearsed everyday for the past three days for the show Elizabeth and Soya has been putting in extra hours, trust me with a pair like us nothing can go wrong.”

“Speak for yourself Josef.” Elizabeth said. “I saw your last show in Los Angeles, Soya could use a lot of improving.”

Soya winced. “Mamma,” she started only to be cut off by Josef.

“Really?” he asked. “I thought she danced beautifully.”

“She did.” Aida smiled, hugging her sister’s leg.

Soya tightened her grip on Josef’s waist and smiled down at her sister. Thank god, for them both, she wasn’t sure how she had survived so long without Josef’s quick tongue and Aida’s innocent nature.

Elizabeth sighed, “As long as it’s not too late, Josef.”

“You have my word Elizabeth.” Josef said with a smile bow of his head and a large grin playing on his lips.

“Well all right, Aida, come, we’ll go back to the hotel and see what your father wants to do now that Soya is going off with her boyfriend.”

“Mamma,” Soya said. “I really didn’t know Josef was coming to pick me up, I didn’t mean to ruin plans.”

“No, its fine Soya,” Elizabeth said with a regal shrug of her shoulders. “We’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast, Aida?”

Aida smiled up at Soya, “You’ll come tomorrow right?”

Soya bent down and kissed her sisters forehead. “Sinulle mitään.”

Aida grinned, hugging Soya once more before going over to her mother and grabbing her mother’s hand. “Bye Josef.”

“Bye sweet Aida.” Josef said with his own grin waving at the young girl before Elizabeth led her out.

Once they were both sure Elizabeth and Aida were out of the building, Soya let out a breath of relief and looked up at Josef. “I swear, they love you more then they love me.”

“Well of course,” Josef said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m marvelous.”

Soya laughed. “Thank you Josef, for everything you do for me.”

Josef turned and hugged her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Don’t let them get to you Soya, you’re a beautiful dancer.” After a moment of silence, he pulled back and stared at her. “So does this mean you’re going?”

Soya laughed. “Yes, fine I’ll go!”

Josef laughed and swung her around before leading her out of the room. “Then let’s get you a shower and dressed.”

Soya laughed and followed her best friend out of rehearsal room, they walked out to the small lobby area, where she grabbed her bag and keys, then left the building, Soya turned around and made sure the door was closed before she locked it. Looking up she smiled, as she always did when she saw the sign over the door, “Soya’s Dance Studio”.

Her parents had hated the idea of her setting up a dance studio in New York, had even refused to help her pay for it but because she wasn’t a materialistic girl and for the most part only needed her ballet shoes to keep her happy, she’d saved every check her father had sent her. She had decided to save when he had decided to ship her away from Finland and to New York and because of her habit, she had been able to pay for the building without a problem and still have money to spare. It was the one thing she had ever defied her parents on, and she could not have been prouder of it.

“Let’s go Soya!”

She looked over and saw Josef standing next to a taxicab with the door open waiting for her. She looked once more at her building before running over to Josef and sliding into the cab.

XxxxxxX

Ville sat on one of the couches in their dressing room, a water bottle in one hand and his pack of cigarettes in the other. Lifting his hips he searched for his lighter, only to look down when he felt something hit his lap.

“Why’d you take this?” Ville asked in amusement, lifting the lighter up to the cigarette that now hung between his lips.

“You don’t want to know.” Bam laughed as he fell onto the couch.

Ville looked down at the lighter in his hands, wondering what mayhem the little thing had just caused, before stuffing it back in his pocket, making sure he had it with him for the show.

“So you guys coming back to West Chester for your days off?” Bam asked

Ville shrugged. “Probably, I think at this point we all miss a home cooked meal.” He looked over at Bam with a grin before tilting his head back and blowing out smoke. “And I am missing April dearly.”

Bam put a hand to his heart in mock hurt. “I knew you only hung around for my mother.”

Ville laughed. “I do like those older women.”

Bam laughed, just as the door opened and the rest of the band came in followed by the owner of the stadium.

“All right,” Mark Peters said as the rest of the band took seats around the room. “I just want to thank you guys first and foremost for choosing us to hold your concert; it’s a huge honor for us.”

“Thanks for having us.” Ville said with a nod.

“Second, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but there are people wondering around the stage that are not a part of your crew.”

“We have.” Linde said with a nod.

“Right, well tomorrow and then Sunday morning and afternoon before your show we have Benjamin Miller’s Ballet Company doing their recital and it’s their crew. They are just finishing up sets and making sure everything is set for tomorrow afternoon for their rehearsal and then the recital itself. They won’t be in your way or anywhere near the stage, they’ll be on the sidelines finishing sets and making sure everything got shipped out from LA.”

“LA?” Bam asked.

“It’s where their last show was.” Mark explained. “Well they travelled all over California really, they’ve just made it back to New York and it’s their last two shows before their break.”

“Are they any good?” Linde asked.

“Why?” Mige asked with a smirk. “Are you planning on taking up ballet?”

Linde shot him a glare before Mark spoke again. “The company is amazing actually, my wife loves catching any of their shows, and their lead dancers are probably the best anyone’s ever seen. If you have time you should definitely catch their show, I saw them when they opened…” Mark stopped talking when he saw everyone in the room raise a brow. “Right, anyway, they won’t be a bother.”

Bam smirked. “Are any of the dancers here tonight?”

Mark frowned as he thought about it. “I think Josef was here earlier,”

“I think Bam meant more of the female dancers.” Burton laughed.

“Oh, right,” Mark laughed running a hand through his hair. “Not that I know of, I think all the dancers have strict schedules before the show, anyway,” Mark said with a shake of his head. “I’ll let you guys rest, and I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“No inconvenience, it’s fine.” Ville shrugged, blowing out smoke with a smile, Mark gave a nod before leaving the room again.

Linde looked at Ville with a smile. “You know the last dancer we knew…”

“Don’t start.” Ville warned as Mige started laughing.

“God I wonder how Soya is?” Mige smirked. “From what Linde’s told me, you took my kiss.”

Ville groaned as he got up and started out of the room. “I told you not to start.”

Linde laughed once the door closed behind Ville. “I think we’ve upset him.”

“Who’s…Soya?” Bam frowned, “That her name?”

Linde nodded. “She’s an old friend of ours,” Linde shook his head with a smile. “God it’s been almost thirteen years since the last we saw her.”

“What happened?” Bam asked, knowing it must have been huge to have Ville leave the room at the mere mention of her.

“I’m not aware of the entire story.” Linde admitted. “All Ville would share was that she got sent away, I don’t even think he knows the entire reason why.”

“Were they close?” Bam asked.

Mige snorted. “Linde got him drunk a few nights after she left.”

“Yeah?” Bam grinned turning back to Linde.

“They’d kissed,” Linde, laughed. “They’d both been dancing around each other for the year in a half that they’d known each other and the night before she left she went over to say goodbye and they ended up kissing.”

Bam looked over at the door as it opened, Ville walking back in, a new cigarette between his lips. He looked over at all of them before sighing. “I’m assuming Bam knows all about Soya now.”

“Not all about her.” Bam laughed. “But I’m betting I’ll find out more.”

“I have no doubt in my mind that you will.” Ville said with a shake of his head, before grabbing his beanie off the couch.

Bam watched as Ville went over to talk to Linde and couldn’t help but let his mind wonder how he could find Soya. Hell, if they could find Raab’s Russian bride with little to no information, he could definitely find Soya.

XxxxxxX

Soya stared up at the old theater nibbling her bottom lip all the while Josef sat in the seat next to her laughing.

“Just go in Soya, you have the pass, they’re not going to stop you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Soya whispered, she looked away from the building, and over at Josef. “What if they just don’t care anymore? It’s been thirteen years Josef.”

Josef sighed and took her hands in his. “Soya, of course they care, you’ve told me how close you all were, they care miláček.”

Soya shook her head. “They’ve probably changed so much.” She whispered, looking back at the building.

“So have you.” Josef teased as he rested his chin on her shoulder and looked at the building with her. “Change is expected after thirteen years Soya, there’s no stopping time.” Josef pulled away and got out of the car, going around and opening her door.

Hesitantly, she undid her seatbelt and stepped out, just as the back door of the theater opened. They both looked over and saw a large built man walk over with a grin on his face, Soya looked over at Josef and saw his own grin.

“You must be Soya.” The man said once he reached them.

“I am.” Soya smiled, accepting his offered him.

“Russell, Josef told me you’re a fan of the band.” Russell said with a grin. “They just went on stage, so you haven’t missed anything.”

Josef looked over at Soya. “See, now you have time to think about what you’re going to say. It’s going to be fine Soya.”

“All right.” Soya sighed. “I’ll go in.”

“Of course you will, I’m not giving you a ride back home, we’ve got reservations.” Josef laughed.

Soya rolled her eyes before looking at Russell, “You’ve picked a wonderful man Russell.”

“Oh I know.” Russell laughed.

Soya bit her lip before lifting up to whisper loudly in Russell’s ear so Josef could hear her as well. “I don’t know if you know this, but dancers…they’re very flexible.”

Russell burst out laughing while Josef flushed a light pink at her unexpected comment. “Go in you minx!”

Soya laughed as she went towards the back door, looking over her shoulder she watched as Russell and Josef talked briefly before getting in the car, two seconds later they were gone. Biting her lip, she knocked on the door as Josef had told her earlier to do, the door swung open to reveal a security guard on the other side.

“Soya right?”

Soya nodded. “Yes.”

“You have your pass?”

Soya nodded and showed him the pass she had clipped on to the bottom of her shirt. He gave a nod and let her in pointing out the way to the stage.

“Thank you.”

“They just started like ten minutes ago,”

Soya gave a nod and followed the directions, not that she really needed them, she’d spent the last week moving around this particular theater and even more time on the stage itself. As she moved closer to the stage, she found herself getting nervous, her palms began to sweat and her heart began to beat much more rapidly then was normal.

Without realizing, she had reached the side of the stage and looked straight at him. Her hand to her mouth she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Oh my god.”

XxxxxxX

Bam nodded his head with the music, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Ville and the guys take over the stage and command the audience as they were known to do. Feeling a presence stand behind him, he ignored it thinking it was just a security guard making his rounds, that was until he heard them speak.

“Oh my god.”

Bam turned around, surprised to see a young women standing behind him. He looked her up and down with a raised eyebrow, dark skinny jeans, black heels, black ribbed tank top with a denim jacket over, her hand was over her heart while a large grin was on her face. Bam frowned when he saw tears gathering in her eyes.

“Who the hell are you?”

Her startled grey eyes met his before she looked back out towards the stage. “I…” she shook her head and raised the hem of her shirt slightly. He looked down and saw the backstage pass hanging there.

“Yeah, I have one too, doesn’t answer my question, who the hell are you?”

She shook her head again and stepped closer so she was standing next to him, her eyes still on the stage. “Just an old friend.” She whispered. “They’re so much better then I remember.”

Bam raised his eyebrow. “Who?”

She gestured towards the stage. “I listen to their music all the time, I just…” she laughed and covered her mouth. “I forgot how amazing they are live.”

Bam looked at her again, she was so put together, even in skinny jeans, he could tell every inch of her clothing was designer brand, from her hair, which was slicked back into a perfect ponytail at the top of her head to the manicure she had. “You don’t look like a HIM fan.”

She finally looked away from the stage to him. “I’m sorry?”

Bam shook his head. “It’s just…you don’t look like the HIM fans I’ve met.”

“Do you always judge people by how they appear on the outside?” she asked.

Bam shrugged. “Getting to know someone takes too fucking long.”

The girl shrugged. “You’re loss, and for your information, I’ve been a fan of HIM before you even knew who they were.”

Bam snorted. “I highly doubt that.”

Soya shook her head. “Believe what you want, it’s the truth.” She turned again to watch the band and couldn’t help the grin that formed. Ville and the boys had definitely come a long way from the small band that use to practice in Linde’s garage. She watched as he stripped off his shirt and couldn’t help but swallow as she saw the tattoo’s that covered his body. She didn’t remember him having so many the last time she’d seen him.

She took a step back, away from the man who had been talking to her, as Ville made his way towards them. He tossed his shirt over to the man, who squealed like a little girl as he caught the shirt, causing Ville to chuckle into the microphone. Soya shifted in her heels, causing Ville to look up and at her with a frown, he looked back over at the man, nodding his chin towards her in question, only to have the man shrug. Ville shrugged himself before going back towards the stage, allowing Soya to release the breath she’d been holding.

She hadn’t known that she hadn’t want to be seen by him and she wasn’t sure if she had the guts to even stay after the show and talk to them. She watched as the man put the shirt over one of the amps that was sitting backstage with them. She went over and settled down on top of it, lifting her leg, hugging it to her chest as she rested her chin on top of her knee and watched the rest of the show in complete and utter amazement.

Two hours later, Bam watched as the guys left the stage, Ville held out his hand and Bam looked at it confused.

“My shirt.” Ville laughed.

“Right.” Bam said walking over to the amp where he had set it down, only to frown when he found it gone, he looked around about to ask the girl that had been sitting there about it, only to find her gone too. “It’s gone.”

Ville laughed. “I know you love me Bam, and I’ve come to accept it but if I find out that you’re building some sort of voodoo shrine of me in your closet and my shirt was the last piece, I don’t think this friendship will survive.”

Bam shook his head. “No, it was right here, I set it down right here, I think that chick took it.”

Linde frowned. “What chick?”

“The girl that had a backstage pass.”

Ville shook his head. “The only people that had backstage passes this show are security and you.”

“No, she had a pass, I saw it, she had to have taken the shirt.”

Linde frowned, walking towards the dressing room, only to see Mark a few feet away. Wanting to ask about the mysterious girl that Bam swore he saw, Linde started walking towards Mark, only to see him talking with a girl. Stopping he frowned again when he saw the girl hand something to Mark with a small smile, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“Linde!”

The girl looked up as Gas called his name, she smiled slightly at him and gave a wave, before turning around and walking away, a shirt hanging over her shoulder. Mark walked towards him as the rest of the band and Bam gathered around him to see what was holding him up.

“The girl I was talking to, she wanted you guys to have these.” Mark said handing Linde a white envelope.

“The girl with a backstage pass?” Bam asked.

Mark laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she got it legitimately. She said she really enjoyed the show and she hopes you enjoy hers.” He laughed again before walking away.

Linde opened the envelope and saw tickets inside, pulling one out, he read the print in it only to grin widely before running towards the backstage door, where he saw her walking, ignoring the calls of his band mates.

He pushed open the door and ran outside; just in time to see a yellow cab pull away from the curb. He looked back down at the ticket he had in his hand and grinned widely at the name that was printed on it “Soya Toivonen” he whispered with an amused shake of his head, before walking back into the theater.

He went back into the dressing room where he found everyone else talking, only to look up when he came in.

“Where the hell did you run off too?” Bam asked.

“We need to get formal clothes.” Linde said ignoring Bam.

“Formal cloths?” Ville asked with an amused smile. “What do you mean formal clothes?”

“Whatever would be appropriate for a ballet, that’s what we have to get.”

“We’re going to a ballet?” Bam asked. “Why the hell would we go to a ballet?”

“Yes,” Ville asked. “Why?”

Linde looked back down at the tickets, before looking at his friend. “Trust me; this is one ballet you won’t want to miss.”