Scream Me a Dream

“How are the boys treating you?” April asked as they waited for their food in the small Mexican restaurant that April had driven them to.

“Fine.” Soya smiled kindly, dipping a chip into the mild salsa.

“I’m guessing Bam’s been a problem?” April asked sympathetically, knowing her son.

“Not much of one.” Soya shrugged. “But he doesn’t know me so I don’t blame his attitude. I’ve been through worse; Bam’s little tests really aren’t getting to me.”

“You let me know if he goes too far,” April told her. “Bam sometimes doesn’t know where the line is, so when he crosses it, let me know.”

Soya shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I don’t.”

April smiled, moving on with their conversation, trusting Soya’s word. Once their food came, April found that talking to Soya was very easy. The young girl was so open with her life and so animated when talking about any subject, having an opinion about everything.

“So how long have you run your studio?”April asked, curious to know more.

“Going on five years now.” Soya admitted. “My run with the company ends in two years, after that, if Benjamin wants to sign me again I’d be up for it, but if not, then I have the studio to fall back on. I love teaching dance.”

“What age group do you teach?” April asked.

“All ages,” Soya said dipping one of her chips into the salsa, having finished with her food. “I do a toddlers group that’s so much fun, watching them do their first leap or even learn a bunny hop is very amusing and satisfying to watch.” She laughed. “I do beginners, intermediate and advanced classes as well. All different ages.”

“Which is your favorite?”

Soya didn’t hesitate in her answer. “My advanced class is by far my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my students equally, and I don’t resent teaching any of them anything, but the group of advanced students, it’s just amazing to see them dance. To watch them progress from their intermediate class into the advanced, especially those who plan on making it a career, they start putting in ideas for choreography and just have such dedication.”

April smiled. “It shows in your face how much you love teaching.” She waved for the check and took care of it, before Soya had a chance to argue. “I figure since you’re teaching me to dance and I invited you out, I’d pay.”

Ten minutes later, they were on the road as April directed them towards the dance studio a few minutes outside of Westchester. Once they parked, they walked inside and Soya smiled at the receptionist behind the desk.

“Hello,” Soya smiled. “Is there by chance an empty studio you’d be willing to rent out for a couple of hours?”

“We have one free.” The girl replied, smiling over at April. “Hi Ape.”

“Hi Shannon.” April smiled at the girl who had grown up in the old neighborhood with Bam and Jess.

“It’s free until 3, if that’s ok?” Shannon asked looking at Soya.

“That’s perfect.” Soya said looking at her watch; it was nearing one in the afternoon. “How much for it?”

“Fifty. It’s twenty five dollars an hour.”

“Not a problem.” Soya said taking out her credit card and handing it to the girl.

“You have free reign on the CDs and stereo systems in here.” Shannon said, leading them into the empty studio. “Do you guys need shoes?”

Soya looked over at April’s feet, biting her lip. “Size 7?” Soya asked.

“How did you know that?” April laughed.

“I’m that good.” Soya teased, before turning back to Shannon. “Just a pair of sevens, I have my own.”

“I’ll be right back.” Shannon said leaving the room, coming back minutes later with a pair of new ballet flats, handing them to April before closing the door.

“How do I know which one goes on which foot?” April said, not seeing how they were formed for which foot.

“It doesn’t really matter when you first put them on.” Soya explained, kicking off her flats and leaving them by the door as she slipped on her ballet shoes. “The more you wear them and use them the more they form to your feet. What I do with new shoes is put them on and then mark the right one with a ‘R’ so I will put them on the same foot consistently.”

“Is it supposed to feel weird?” April asked as she put them on.

“It’s a bit awkward at first.” Soya laughed as she bent down and tightened the small laces at the front of the shoes. “Too tight?”

“Perfect.” April told her as Soya retied the bow and repeated the action on the other.

“Now,” Soya said taking her iPod from her purse, along with the connecter for it, “Who’s your favorite artist?”

April laughed and picked the first that came to mind. “Um... Billy Idol.”

Soya laughed and nodded. “Perfect choice.” She went into artists and put on “Dancing With Myself” and took April through the basic stretches.

XxxxxxX

“What are you doing?” Dunn asked as he looked over Bam’s shoulder to look at the laptop screen.

“Did you know Soya has an official website?” Bam asked as Dunn settled next to him.

“Dude, seriously?” Dunn asked. “You’re searching her now?”

Bam looked at Dunn. “Do you want to know or not?”

Dunn sighed, knowing there was no use to resisting, either way Bam would suck him into the vortex. “Fine, what’d you find?”

Bam smirked as he turned the screen towards Dunn. Dunn pulled the computer closer and rolled his eyes. “I thought maybe it was like naked pictures or something.” On the screen was the dance schedule that Soya had just finished, along with a small announcement saying she was on break. He scrolled down, looking at the user and shook his head. “It’s not even run by her.”

“It’s not?” Bam asked looking at the screen again.

“No, the posts that are being made are made by Josef or a girl named Brooke.” Dunn looked and saw that there was a multimedia page, clicking that, he saw that not only were there albums for a lot of the shows she had performed in, but there was one labeled ‘Vacations’ , along with one called ‘The Soya Show’ which was filled with videos.

“Open that one.” Bam said pointing at the one labeled ‘The Soya Show’. Dunn did as he was told, only for a screen to pop up, asking for a password. “Why the fuck would you have it up and need a password to see it.”

“So nosy people like you don’t get in.”

Bam turned and saw Ville watching them with a raised eyebrow. “Pointless.”

“What are you doing Bam?” Ville asked amused as he looked at the computer screen.

“Bam found Soya’s website.” Dunn said with a smirk. “We can’t get into that album though.”

Ville rolled his eyes, but curiosity got the best of him, he scrolled down and clicked the album labeled ‘Vacations’

“What’s in that one?” Bam asked.

“Just pictures.” Ville said absently, the pictures were mostly of her or Josef on their days off in different locations, some in San Francisco, and some in LA, most of them of her around New York. One set of photos caught his attention.

Clicking on one of the pictures, it was Soya laughing with another woman. They could have been twins; both had dark hair and matching smiles. The only difference was the other woman had caramel brown eyes, lined with black eyeliner and blue eye makeup, her lips painted a blood red, whereas Soya’s face was void of all make up, her grey eyes still popping without it. “Holy shit.” Ville muttered.

“What?” Bam asked, looking at the picture. “Who’s the other chick?” He looked at Dunn. “She’s hot.”

“That’s Rosalind.” Ville laughed, “I know her.”

Bam raised an eyebrow and looked at the girl in the picture. “Nice.”

Ville shook his head. “Not like that.” He laughed. “I met her through Jyrki.”

“69?” Dunn asked with a raised eyebrow, he looked at the girl again. “Really?”

Ville nodded. “Yeah, she toured with The Eyes, well her band did.”

“Band?” Bam asked.

“Revolution.” Ville said. “She’s the drummer and lead singer. I can’t believe she knows Soya.” Ville said in disbelief as he clicked on the next picture to see Soya and Rosalind looking down at the baby girl who was bundled up in Soya’s arms. “She’s Impi’s godmother.” Ville said in disbelief.

“Impi?” Dunn asked.

“What the fuck is an impi?” Bam asked.

“Impi is my goddaughter.”

They turned and saw Soya standing there with a small smile on her face next to April.

“How was lunch?” Ville asked, starting to shut the laptop, but Soya’s narrowed gaze made him stop.

“It was great, Soya showed me how to do a pirouette.” April laughed then turned to Soya. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” Soya laughed, hugging the older woman. “It was fun.”

“Don’t let the boys treat you too badly.” April warned before walking away with a wave. “I’ll be back with dinner later!” April shouted before leaving.

Soya put her purse and shoes down on the counter and turned to laptop towards her, laughing when she saw the picture. “I remember this.” She laughed. “It was the first time I’d seen Impi and Rose since Impi was born.”

Ville looked at her wide-eyed. “You were at the hospital when Impi was born?”

Soya nodded. “Josef and I chose Barcelona for our vacation spot that year so we could be closer to Rose when she gave birth. We were there the day she was born ; unfortunately we had to leave the next day because Rebecca pushed our schedule up a month.” Soya said with a roll of her eyes.

“Soya.” Ville said not quite believing how close they had been. “We missed each other by a day.”

Soya frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I got to Barcelona to see Impi the day after she was born.”

Soya frowned and shook her head. “That’s not right, Rosalind said Impi’s godfather was coming to visit, HIM wasn’t anywhere near Barcelona when Impi was born.”

“I made a detour.” Ville laughed. “And I am Impi’s godfather.”

Soya looked at him in disbelief, before looking back at the screen. “If that’s the case then Spain wasn’t our only missed chance.”

“Who the fuck is Impi!?” Bam asked, frustrated with being ignored.

Soya smiled at him, while Ville digested the new information, going back as far as he could remember trying to pinpoint each and every missed meeting. “Impi is the daughter of my friend Rosalind.”

“Rosalind is a drummer.” Dunn said filling in the blanks.

Soya nodded. “She’s the drummer and lead singer of her band. It’s her and her two brothers.” Soya frowned at Bam. “I thought you were friends with The 69 Eyes.”

“I am.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t met Rosalind then,” Soya laughed. “Revolution’s been on multiple tours with The Eyes. They tend to merge their tours when they both hit Europe and split when they reach Finland or the states.”

“That would be why then.” Ville laughed. “Bam mostly sees them in the states or Finland.”

Soya laughed. “It’s the reason I haven’t been to one of their concerts. Rosalind’s been trying to introduce me to Jyrki for years but our schedules have never meshed well. Truthfully I’ve been quite a bad friend. I haven’t seen Rose and Impi in almost…god, she’s five now?”

Ville nodded. “Just turned five.”

“So I haven’t seen them in three years, and Rose and I haven’t talked in about three months. We’ve both been so busy.”

“So let me get this straight, you know a drummer of a band who knows not only The 69 Eyes but HIM as well.” Bam asked, not quite believing the connections this chick had.

Soya shrugged. “I guess I do. But Rose has never been a drummer to me.”

“Then what the fuck is she?”

Soya laughed and picked up her purse. “My friend,” she answered as if it were obvious before looking at Ville “I’m going to go check my mail real quick.” Soya said as she left the pirate bar.

Ville looked back at the screen, before turning to Bam. “Just get to know her Bam, because apparently, you two have a lot more in common than even I thought you did.”

Dunn looked at Bam with a raised eyebrow after Ville left, presumably to spend time with Soya. “So are you going to follow everyone’s advice, or keep being an asshole?”

“Asshole sounds fun.” Bam started. “But…”

Dunn groaned. “What are you going to do to her?”

“Nothing!” Bam laughed. “I just think that if she wants the position as Ville’s friend, she should interview for it.”

XxxxxxX

“Who are you writing to?” Ville asked as he watched Soya’s fingers race over her keyboard. He settled on the bed behind her, his legs on either side of her, causing her to lean back and rest her back on his chest, settling her laptop on her legs.

“Rose.” Soya sighed. “I miss her and Impi so much.”

“I think they’re back in Spain.” Ville said, thinking about it.

“When was the last time you saw Rose and Impi?”

Ville thought about it. “Back in March? The Eyes had a show a few days before we did, in Manchester. Rosalind heard we were going to be there, so she stayed, she was on short break and had about a week before she had to meet her brothers. She caught the show and a ride with us; luckily I was able to see Impi too.”

Soya groaned and sent the e-mail off, leaning her head back on Ville’s chest, her eyes closed. “Lucky!”

Ville chuckled as he lifted his hips, taking out his cell phone and putting it in front of Soya as he fiddled with some buttons before finding the right picture on his phone.

“Oh!”Soya took the phone from his hand as she saw the picture of Impi kissing the camera. “I miss her almost as much as I miss Aida!”

Ville chuckled. “She’s becoming quite the character, that Impi. She’s five and already she has so much personality it’s amazing. I have some more in there of her, she stole the damn thing and started taking pictures like crazy.”

Soya laughed as she saw what Ville meant; apparently Impi had had the phone while Ville was on stage, because some of the pictures were tilted pictures of him on stage, or Linde, who was closest to her, out of focus.

“Hey.”

They both looked up and saw Bam leaning against the doorjamb, grinning at them.

“Hey.” Ville greeted back with a frown. “What’s that grin for?”

“Nothin’, what are you guys up to?”

Soya smiled as she continued through the pictures. “Looking at pictures of Impi on Ville’s phone.” She looked up at Bam. “Wanna look?”

“I’m good.” Bam said. “So everyone’s been telling me that I should get to know you.”

Soya blinked and nodded. “That would be nice.” She said slowly, keeping eye contact with Bam instead of looking at Ville in confusion like she wanted to.

“So…I’ve decided to interview you.” Bam said with a shrug.

“In…” Soya gave into the urge and looked at Ville, who also looked at Bam with confusion written all over his face.

“Interview?” Ville asked. “As if she were getting a job?”

Bam rolled his eyes. “Not just anybody can be your friend. They have to go through an extensive interviewing process.”

“I think I’m old enough to pick my own friends Bam-Bam.” Ville said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I don’t think you are.” Bam said with a laugh. “Interview is at 8, dress to impress.” With that said, he turned and left them alone, leaving Soya to look at Ville in disbelief.

Ville looked down at her and laughed. “Come on, you know that whatever Bam decides has no bearing on whether or not we remain friends.”

“No, it’s not that.” Soya said sucking in her bottom lip. “I just…”

“What?” Ville asked, wondering if she was reconsidering spending the rest of the week in Westchester after what Bam had decided to put her through. Hell, she hadn’t even been in Westchester a full twenty-four hours, but then again he really couldn’t blame her, he hadn’t given her much warning about Bam.

“I’ve never been interviewed before.” Soya said. “What do I wear?”

Ville stared at her in disbelief, before he wrapped her up in his arms, chuckling into her neck, unable to believe she was actually humoring Bam instead of being angry over the fact that he was butting himself into their friendship.

“You are simply amazing, you know that.”

Soya pulled away and smiled at him. “I’m serious, Ville. I don’t think I have any interview appropriate clothes.”

“Come on,” He groaned getting off the bed and flipping the lid off her suitcase, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”