Tyler and the Valaholics: The Beginning

Chapter 25

Song of the chapter - '528491' by Hans Zimmer (from 'Inception' OST)

'Positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time'

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your real name? Oh right, the reason most people go by another name is to keep their actual names private, sorry, you don't have to tell me," I blurt out without thinking and mentally smack my head.

After confessing that Josh Jansen isn't his real name, he immediately turned into a nervous wreck, biting his nails as he still seems to expect me to retaliate negatively. At my words, his eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he quickly tells me that his actual name is Josh Bird but he didn't like having Bird as a surname so he took his middle name as his surname, which is also his mother's surname.

"Are you mad at me?" he asks softly, his tone betraying his fear of the same.

"Definitely not! It's upto to you to decide what name you want to be known by, so it's really your choice and, even if you change it to Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock, I really wouldn't mind. In fact, if it would make you feel any better, I'd change my name to Crap Bag," I wink at him, watching happily as his face lights up.

"That's a F.R.I.E.N.D.S reference, isn't it?!" he yells rather excitedly, successfully paving the way for another hour-long conversation about the evergreen show.

Our conversation is interrupted only by a staff member asking us if we've picked our songs and to get practicing soon.

"We're definitely continuing that conversation later!" he tells me as we head to the desk set up for us to write down the song we've picked.

Nodding at him, I scan the list to ensure nobody else has picked my song and write it down. I thought somebody would've already picked it, but apparently not. After getting an affirmative response when I ask him if I am to write his song too, I check and write down the song.

"Alright, we're good to go, right? Hey, if you don't mind, could you help me figure out how to play this? I mean, what--"

I cut him off with a warm smile, "Sure, leggo!"

I head out to inform Stacie that I'll be late while he goes to claim a practice room. Stacie wishes me luck for my practice and says that she'd love to stay behind but Tracie's getting quite cranky and Violet's half-asleep already so she has to head home with the girls. Vanessa asks if she could stay back with me and accompany me back home. Stacie doesn't look very convinced and seems to be pondering how to tell her she can't so I decide to help her by stepping in.

"Say, Van, I don't have any idea if how long it's going to take and they said they have some more instructions to give later so it might get too late. It might be better if you went home with Stace, plus she might need some help getting these two sleepyheads home and settled on her own," I interject, Stacie shooting me a grateful smile.

After Van has agreed to go home and goes to pick up Vi, Stacie pulls me into a hug and warns me to stay safe and head home safely. She further encourages me to ask Josh to accompany me home if I feel uneasy.

"Done, love you, see you later, Stace!" I gush and bid them goodbye as they leave before locating Josh.

We discuss several possibilities before he eventually settles on one idea and practises for about an hour or so. He begins to suggest some ways I could play when we're both distracted by someone loudly shouting repeatedly, "Where is she?"

The voice nears the room as the words are repeated several times. I barely have enough time to turn to Josh and give him a wary look, registering that he's doing the same, before the door to the room is slammed open and a livid-looking girl barges in. Her eyes dart between the two of us and her expression becomes incoherent when her eyes land on me. I recognize her as the girl who sang 'Teenage Dream'. She was so cheerful then, but what happened to make her so feral now?

She asks me, "You're Valerie Tyler, right?"

When I reply with a careful 'Yes', she immediately begins to y. ell and become more hysterical, "You have to change your song!"

"What, why? I thought you'd already picked a song," I recall a song already being written by every single participant's name when I wrote in our songs, so has there been a mistake?

"I did pick a song but I kind of discovered that it's not exactly in my range, so you have to change because your song's a good fit for me," she replies almost nonchalantly.

It's Josh's turn to become angry as he shouts, "There are so many other songs, you can pick one of those, you vixen! You can't just yell at a person and order them to change their song so curtly. She's not going to change her song just for you, you're going to select something else. If you want, we can help you prepare but you're not getting her song after asking for it like that!"

She becomes angrier as her voice rises too, "Excuse you, but I'm not talking to you. Valerie, gimme please! C'mon, you've got a wide range, you can pick some other song, they'll all suit you but this one is perfect for me."

"Being rude will get you so far," he mumbles under his breath but it's certainly loud enough for both of us to hear.

"Look, man, I don't care about whatever the heck it is that you're saying, I don't care if you're trying to impress her by 'standing up for her' but let me tell it to you straight- she's never going to date a guy like you," her face flushes as she shoots her words sharply at him.

I open my mouth to tell her off but he beats me to it as his eyes widen while he glares at her, "Why don't you get the hell out of here? You aren't welcome here and if you're only going to stand here and bad-mouth me or her, I'll be glad to call security."

She looks like she might just choke him in her rage so I step in and clear my throat, drawing both of their attention to me.

"Alright, you can have my song."

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Did you expect that to happen? How do you think Josh is going to respond? Do you feel Josh overreacted? Your general thoughts about this chapter or any character's behaviour?

'528491' is such a mood-setting, calming and soothing song (as is the rest of the 'Inception' soundtrack)!

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