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Rhys

Writing Now

Something Meeting by Six de los Reyes

Written for #RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge. Sort of. Jill is a character from the Playlist series, starting with Songs of Our Breakup. Rhys is a character from Six de los Reyes‘ book Just For the Record and also appears in anthology Summer Crush.

Prompt: No one asked for this but follows this first meeting and we suppose this is now canon.

 

***

They handed over the payment at the same time.

To which the lady behind the fresh juice bar looked at them odd as they each tried to one-up each other and pay for the other’s fruit shake. But Ate Fruit Shake was having none of the shenanigans and left them both to deal with whatever this was, momentarily moving on to the next customer and letting them decide instead whose money she should take. 

Rhys’s eyes flashed for a second of eye contact. 

In response Jill clicked her tongue. “You’re ruining the moment.”

“You,” Rhys muttered under breath, “are ruining the moment.”

“I’m just trying to pay for our drinks.”

Not pancakes tonight because it didn’t have to be pancakes. Instead they met at some street food fair and it was a little bit of kwek-kwek here, some barbecue there, a piece or two or four of fishballs and squidballs and what have you. And then fruit shake after. Mango for Jill. No sugar. No milk. Just mango. Rhys’s avocado shake, with the milk and the sugar and all the good stuff was waiting, and arguing meant more talking and less fruit shake-ing, so Rhys curled her lip and accepted temporary defeat. The war was far from over, and sometimes it was wise to lose a battle. Strategy. It works. 

Besides, they’ve been outside long enough, and there were too many people out, and it was time to go find somewhere quiet to sit. Find some calm. Make sure the rest of the band boys—Jill’s Trainboys and her own whatever—wouldn’t find them before it was time. Tonight they were playing at this open air stage thing, one after the other as they usually did. Trainman and then Arabella, and then Rhys. Earlier, Jill had sent her a message, “They have fruit shake here.” Easy.

Now they sat together on the curb some walking distance away from the venue. Walking was nice. The outside air could be nice, too.

“I don’t understand,” Jill said, showing Rhys her screen. “Or maybe I do and maybe that’s worse.”

Rhys seemed to have a bad habit of picking up excess baggage along the way to wherever she was going, and this was nothing new. On Jill’s phone screen was a series of photos, one after the other storyboard style although the narrative remained to be seen.

Baggage A, Michael Brian admiring himself and his muscles in the mirror.

Baggage B, Son admiring Michael Brian admiring himself and his muscles in the mirror.

And Baggage C, Steven admiring his screenshot of Son admiring Michael Brian admiring himself and his muscles in the mirror.

At the very end of it was a link to another single they seemingly dropped out of nowhere. Just because they can. Because Mikhail Learns to Brian has a brand, apparently. That brand is chaos and energy. And dragging unsuspecting band boys to supervise and offer input. At least the new song was good. Not that Rhys was ever worried. It was bright and effervescent, with a backbone of kicks and snares like a moshpit stomping on the sand and a guitar riff like a color wheel against the cloudless sky. 

“Adequate,” Rhys said, answering Jill’s silent question. “The song. Traindude helped, didn’t he? I told him not to.”

“Miki had no choice. He said it was, and I quote, not a democracy. Your boy helped, too. Kenny. ”

“That’s because the intern is a fan of Bread Cheeks.”

Jill tilted her head in thought. “Your intern is a fan of Steven?”

Rhys grunted to confirm. “And I don’t have boys.” 

“Gotcha.” Jill swiped through the photos and chuckled under her breath. She flipped her phone again to show Rhys her screen. “Of course. Only a matter of time.”

The latest update was a photo of the Shinta standee, beaten and bruised but never defeated, endorsing the latest release. “Your boy is aware of this?” Because that would be a massive headache, more than the usual because Shinta Mori did not come cheap.

Jill shrugged. “He consents to it. You, as the company, do not need to worry about that.”

Rhys grunted and bit into her sugarcane straw. In the distance, she heard Michael Brian and Son calling out for Adrian and Kim. “That can’t be good.”

Jill’s smile burst into a laugh. “But interesting for sure. Here is safe enough distance, I think. We are past the point of intervention.”

Rhys’s teeth clamped harder on her straw. Then after a moment she pulled out her phone and found about a dozen or so messages in various stages of panic and disbelief. “Thanks for the avocado shake.”

“Sure,” Jill answered. “This was nice. You going?”

Rhys tilted her chin up for another flicker of eye contact. “No. I don’t have to go.”

“Cool. And the song is more than adequate.” 

Rhys smirked. “Wait ‘til you hear the next one. I will be in touch.”

 

End

 

#RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge thread this way for more ficlets of your Romanceclass faves.

 

Writing Now

JxR: First Meeting

Written for #RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge. Sort of. Jill is a character from the Playlist series, starting with Songs of Our Breakup. Rhys is a character from Six de los Reyes‘ book Just For the Record and also appears in anthology Summer Crush

***

 

This was nice.

Silence. Calm. Being surrounded by band boys most hours of her waking life guaranteed noise, chaos, and fun too, sure. Music and hijinks abound. Son and Nino ganging up on Kim while Miki mediated. In the midst of that, productivity and songs happened somehow. It worked out.

Music could be quiet too.

From the corner of her eye she saw Rhys nudge her fork, spearing a piece of pancake. Jill mirrored the motion, taking a cut of bacon on her next bite.

She didn’t know what led to this exactly, a midnight pancake run with Rhys, DJ unicorn extraordinaire. Miki had said working with Rhys had been the strangest yet most efficient experience, a volley of files attached to emails. Abrupt, to-the-point emails. That worked out too, the Summer Crush theme song turned out nice.

Was this about work?

Jill shrugged, munching on another bit of bacon with some egg. This late, the pancake place was empty, aside from the sleepy crew behind the counter.

Earlier tonight Rhys had sent her a text. Pancakes? I know a place.

Jill had said yes. It wasn’t complicated.

They sat side by side instead of across each other, with enough space for another person between them. Rhys was now slurping down her iced tea. The girl seemed to enjoy sweet things. Jill slid her untouched glass to Rhys’s side of the table, preferring water.

Music was playing through the speakers. It was ‘Iris’ by the Googoo Dolls a minute ago. Now it was ‘Breathless’ by the Corrs. Y2K karaoke hits was the playlist theme maybe. Cool.

“So, your boys,” were Rhys’s words, bringing a quick death to their silence.

“I don’t have boys,” Jill said, surprised. “I have a Shinta?”

Rhys gave a nod and a brief second of eye contact, as if approving.

“One boy. Not your Shinta. The bassist. Curly?”

“What is Son up to now?” Jill groaned.

“What are they up to—is more precise. Curly, Fluffy.” She sighed, pointing a thumb to her chest as if claiming responsibility for the second name, albeit reluctantly.

Jill had to take a moment to try and pinpoint a Fluffy among Rhys’s crew. Curly for Son was self-explanatory, but was Fluffy supposed to be ironic?

“Michael Brian?” She ventured a guess.

Rhys gave a short grunt which Jill took as a yes.

“And Steven,” Jill finished, comprehension dawning. She wondered for a second what could be Rhys’s nickname for Steven but figured that was a question for another midnight.

Mikhail Learns to Brian. The surprise project group that two of their bandmates plus Steven of Korean rock band East Genesis Project fame had cooked up. Right under their stern leaders’ noses, an accomplishment the trio had been giddy about.

Rhys had moved on to sipping Jill’s iced tea. “Does Traindude approve of the name?”

“Traindude…?” Her bandmates were all Traindudes. Trainmen? Oh right. “Who—Miki? He didn’t have a choice. They told him to be grateful.”

“It worries me.”

“Have you heard their samples? They sound good.”

“I’m not worried about the music.”

“I get you.” Jill stuffed her mouth with pancakes, chewing to buy time. She felt herself smirk. “I don’t have energy for an intervention, if that’s where you’re going. Maybe this conversation should have been with Kim?”

“No, not that guy. Grumpy would…do things. And I’m just…”

“Worried. Gotcha.”

Jill really did. Most times the project group thing was funny, because separately, Son, Michael Brian and Steven were hilarious. Together, they were an explosion waiting to go off.

Case in point, dropping a single in the middle of East Genesis Project’s V Live session.

Second case in point, stealing—“borrowing” the poor Shinta Mori standee for their music video shoot.

Chaos. Energy.

Jill pulled out her phone and set it on the table between her and Rhys, finding a song. It was a new one. The boys had coerced Miki to supervise their rehearsal and Miki had recorded it, sending her the track.

It was a fast beat. Clip-clopping. Heavy on the bass and synths. Generous with the hi hats, the drums thumping its own rhythm. Michael Brian was crooning, the sweetness of the sound a surprising contrast to what she knew of his abs and to the energy of the track.

Rhys had closed her eyes. The song looped and neither of them stopped it.

“I will be in touch.”

She sounded so serious. Jill couldn’t help a burst of laughter.

“Is this you or the company speaking?” she asked.

“Me.” Rhys flicked her another look, another second’s eye contact. “The song is nice. I’d like to hear the next one. It doesn’t have to be pancakes next time.”

Jill shrugged, licking butter off her lips as she took another bite. “Pancakes are nice.”

***

That was fun, heh.

#RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge thread this way for more ficlets of your Romanceclass faves.  

Writing Now

Summer Crush: A Reflection Paper

Submitted by: Tria, J.E.

Section: #romanceclass 2015

Submission date: April 9, 2017

*****************************

We found each other somehow.

That’s how I explain this. Six has a more organized and grounded version of this story in her Author’s Note for Summer CrushThe three of us–Six, Tara, and myself–had this whole thread where we tried to figure out and recall how this collaboration began before she wrote it. I remembered some of the things they said, volunteered some of my own memories. But I think it all came down to that. To how we are three girls who wrote about bands and found each other and tried to do something about that.

And HAHA we did do all the things. We plotted, we threw ideas around like they were free and free flowing. Brain farts and feels floods were welcome. We had many spreadsheets (we love them). We had thoughts and secrets, shared during the bright hours past midnight. We had a trip to La Union for an ocular, of course because we were planning a music festival. I asked for that trip. They ignored me when I first brought it up. So I brought it up again and again until YAY hostel booked! Date marked! Bus seats claimed! WE’RE HERE THERE’S THE BEACH IT’S SO HOT THE SAND IS EVERYWHERE I AM DROWNING IN FEELINGS! We went back home to write (almost forgot this part haha maybe. Kind of. Semi. Ish.) We sought the help of someone who we trusted to rein in our shenanigans while also be accepting of our crazy (we love you, Ines), and someone who could put our neon dreams to book cover life (we love you, Miles). And now after all the fun and agony and laughter and drunken confessions and cat feeding and all the food, TA-DAH! Summer Crush is live.

I’m still amazed that we made it. I guess it helped that we are first and foremost fans of each other’s bands and of each other as people (yes, Six and Tara. I fan you). We knew this interactive world would be a challenge to build, to move around in. We knew we’d low-key disagree on some things and low-key put our foot down on others. But it all worked out. I shit you not, we made it work. Camaraderie was the name of the game. We’re still friends. More so now than ever.

If, right this moment, you own a copy of Summer Crush, we thank you from the bottom of our sun-kissed, sand-covered, sea-drowned hearts. I hope you find joy and sun in our stories to balance out the achy bits. I hope reading it makes you wanna go to the beach, or to a music festival, or to a music festival at the beach. I hope it makes you want to dance like you mean it, like no one’s watching and who effing cares anyway if that’s how you wanna rock and roll. I hope you enjoy a few extra thousand words of our book people who you’ve graciously accepted into your bookish hearts before.

If you are new to our book people, however, a big warm sunshiny welcome to you! Thank you for coming. I hope that you like what you found.

Writing Now

Ready To Meet Your Summer Crush?

Are you ready for summer are you ready for summer? Let the boys and girls of Trainman, East Genesis Project, Arabella and East Dragon Records jump-start the long, long, hot days and nights with their stories set in beach music festival Summer Crush.

One-click now for your all access pass. Do it from today until April 30 and receive a special gift from Six de los Reyes, Tara Frejas, and myself!

It’s bound to be a weekend to remember, we swear it <3

****

When life, love, and rock and roll come together on the sandy beaches of La Union for music festival Summer Crush, expect nothing less than the crashing of lips, bodies, and waves against the shore, against each other, and against your soul.

Allow these three tales of love to take you away for an unforgettable weekend.

Ana’s life as a corporate warrior, graduate student, and girlfriend to indie rock band boy Miki starts to spin out of control, and she wonders if it is love that has to give. (You Only Need Reminding, Jay E. Tria)

Newly reinstated EG Project roadie Filipina Legaspi flies with her band back to the Philippines for Summer Crush, unaware of the emotional waves that engulf her when she sets foot in the beaches of San Juan, La Union. (Almost There, Tara Frejas)

Rhys has three problems: Arabella, the theme song with the Trainguy, and singing live for the first time—and now also on that list is Isaiah, sea-sweet Mango Rum kisses, and long overdue decisions she’s intent on avoiding. (Ocean Eyes, Six de los Reyes)

Edited by Ines Bautista-Yao

Cover by Miles Tan