Sing of the Moon - 4.
“Walk safe!” Lola called after Harlan as he left her apartment. She heard him chuckle outside as she collapsed onto the couch with a pillow, ready to end the night peacefully.
After the creative partner debacle at the beginning of dinner, Lola had worried the night would stay awkward, but before long it had become the same casual conversation their Saturdays always were, and she’d breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed like he’d maybe started to move toward taking her advice tonight, too, which in her book made it the ultimate success. She ought to tell Stevie when she saw him next, she thought. As if on cue, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. She answered. “Hey!”
“Heya,” Stevie said. “You’re still coming to group tomorrow, right? I’ve got some stuff to show for once.”
“Yeah, Tay told me the same thing yesterday,” Lola said, rolling over to face the studio corner of the apartment and glancing at the now mostly dried painting she’d finished earlier. “I might be late, but I’ll be there. I’ve got a new idea to share too.”
“Ooh, do tell,” Stevie said.
“I—“Lola stretched the word out with a grin, knowing it would build anticipation, then dropped it—“will tell you tomorrow.”
“Man,” Stevie said, clearly hiding a laugh, “you’re no better than Harlan.” Lola could picture him shaking his head, pretending he didn’t care, and it only made her grin grow.
The image was quickly pushed back in her mind by Harlan’s name and the reminder of what had happened earlier. “Oh my god, speaking of Harlan, remember how I’ve been trying to get him to work with somebody? To share his work?”
“Yep?”
“I think I finally pulled it off. I…I definitely almost upset him with it this time, but then when he left a few minutes ago he looked so lost in thought. Bet you any day now he’ll come to tell me he changed his mind and he’s going for it.”
“You’re kidding!”
“I wouldn’t do that about this! You know how long I’ve been trying to get him to put his stuff out there.”
“Well, congrats,” Stevie said, sounding genuinely surprised. Then he seemed to have a stroke of inspiration: “Ooh, what if we got him to come to group with us?”
Lola frowned. It wasn’t a bad thought, but…“Let’s get him fully on board with the creative partner idea first,” she said. “I don’t want to push him too far.”
“Good point.” It was quiet for a minute before Stevie spoke again. “Anyway, I’ve got to go, just wanted to see if you were still coming tomorrow. I’ll see ya.”
“See you,” Lola said, still frowning a little as the call ended.
She knew Stevie’s idea was a good one on paper. The city’s amateur art group was deeply important to her, both as the place she’d made her best friend and the place she’d come closest to belonging. But it had never been completely accepting—after coming out as autistic shortly after joining, she’d fallen down a rung on the social ladder. No matter how good she knew she was, the others never seemed to take her completely seriously, and if she brought Harlan along…how would they take it?
Would they let him exist as a person of his own, an artist separate from her and her oddities?
Or would they just see him as an extension of herself, another reason to smile down on her and refuse to give her real feedback or thoughts?
She groaned and covered her face with the pillow. This was too much to worry about today, she decided. She’d talk about it with Stevie or maybe even with Harlan soon.
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Sing of the Moon is a stage play and eventual musical first written in prose, a method designed to flesh out each character and each scene before its translation to the stage.
I‘ve done a whole lot of fleshing out of this project since the last post - I’ve finished an outline and got a good number of songs planned out, though not written! As a result, I’ve heavily edited the last two chapters/scenes, and the next few will probably be a lot more barebones in order to get this prose draft done quickly. Onward!