After about 30 more minutes of Bob dancing practice, and marginal improvements at best, Rachel had completed her shower and was calling Calypso to join her on the porch.
"Wait, do you know how to roll yet?" I asked her.
"Uhhh… yeah… it's not that difficult… we mostly just use this gravity bong Rachel built though."
"The what she built now…"
As if a completely new person, Rachel showed up now in an oversized T-shirt, messy shower hair, and pajamas with what I believe were prints of a Tardis. In her hand as well, was a large glass container filled with water and a glass half bottle with a pipe covering the top half. In her other hand was a bag of weed, a grinder, and a lighter.
"We gotta blast off, girl!" Rachel said, grabbing Calypso's hand and dragging her towards the porch. Despite the dramatic change of appearance, Rachel still appeared as lively as ever. Definitely a sort of charm that transcended any form of clothing.
"You want greens girl, or are you high enough already?" Rachel asked as she began grinding the weed.
"Nah, load me up!" Calypso said, "Anything to get my mind off the drooling Pixie."
"Ahaha, there you go again," Rachel said as she began patting down the weed into the bong. "Where does your active imagination even come from? Your sure you're sober right now?"
"Sober as a judge…" Calypso said taking the gravity bong from Rachel's hand as she finished packing. She leaned in and took a much larger hit than I expected someone her size.
"Now I'm…kkkkkkk"
She began coughing violently.
"Not… kkkkkk"
"There we go…" Rachel said grinning as she took the gravity bong from Calypso, "now let me get on your level and you can tell me more about this little, "Pixie" of yours."
She began repacking the bong as Calypso recovered from her hit.
"No no. you don't understand Rachel… there is literally in my vision, a pixie who is talking to me about how I NEED to be a star!"
Rachel began taking her hit but unlike noob Calypso, she didn't even cough once as she exhaled the smoke smoothly and in rhythm.
"Woooo… that was nice, might need another one before I get on seeing pixies levels though! Ahaha."
"Nooooo you don't understand!!!!" Calypso said, her eyes were bloodshot red already and her speech slower than usual.
"Theeerrreeeee issss…. A realllll actualllll Pixie…"
Rachel didn't seem any bit surprised at this point as she began packing the bong for another hit.
"Like… what kind of pixie? Like the type in Fairly OddParents?"
"Uhhh I mean… he does seem very businesslike about everything… but no, he's wearing a tuxedo for some reason…"
Rachel took another smooth hit of the bong.
"And he's ogling at you like a creep again…"
"What, no I'm not! I just find it amusing how smoothly she's taking that bong rip! Very professional in the entertainment industry. There're going to have work meetings that are based around smoking weed soon… you just watch…"
"And now he's making up an excuse for his ogling… Urghhhh…"
Rachel began laughing.
"You really do have an active imagination you know that?" She sighed, looking up at the sky, full of stars that night.
"Which is nice, isn't it?"
"No, it's not my imagin… nevermind, I guess so! I guess I do!" Calypso said pouting, "Whatever… how was the performance by the way?"
"How most performances are darling," Rachel replied, keeping her eyes on the stars, "A room full of people, and a room full of applause."
"Must be nice," Calypso sighed, "must be nice feeling…"
"Feeling?" Rachel replied, turning to face Calypso again.
"Feeling elegant…" She said as she began packing the bong again.
"Oh, it's not that nice," Rachel said waving her hand, "I mean the performances and people are fun, but the dresses and heels do get a bit itchy, ya know! Plus! Half the time we have to wear suits ourselves!"
"Yeah but…" Calypso sighed as she began taking another hit of the gravity bong, "It's still nice though, no? Having all those people watching you and a crowd applauding your performances…"
She took maybe a quarter hit at best before violently coughing again. Rachel grabbed the bong then saving her and finishing the hit smoothly herself.
"I mean… yeah… it is nice." Rachel said smiling, "It's just not… as individual I guess?"
"Individual?"
"Yeah like… sure, I'm with the orchestra, and part of the ballet squad, but it's still a "group" ya know? Though there is a sort of camaraderie, it's not like… personal I feel?"
She sighed, "First world problems I suppose. But yeah, sometimes I wish I could choose the music we play myself. I'm hardly a "star" yet as your little pixie friend would say!"
"Wait, you actually believe me when I say there's a pixie floating next to me?"
Rachel stared at her intensely.
"I'm very good at telling when people are lying actually… most musicians are… and you don't appear to be…"
"That's because she's not!"
"Urghh… Quiet you!"
"Wait no, not the wing not the wing…"
She grabbed my wing and tossed me towards the other end of the porch. Which from Rachel's perspective, must have looked like Calypso was performing some sort of improv skit.
"Ahahahahhaha, you're honestly too funny Calypso," Rachel laughed. Her laugh faded to a smile as she looked back up at the stars.
"Still… supernatural things exist in this world, I definitely believe that much."
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" Calypso asked as I gathered myself watching them from a distance.
"Because" she said smiling, turning back to Calypso again, "I saw a ghost once before you know!"
"A ghost? How zooted were you?"
"As sober as you claimed to be earlier," Rachel replied, "Which I also believe. You act very differently when you're baked."
"Whaaattttt, nooo wayyyy," Calypso slurred holding her hands on her face, "Is it that obviousssss?!?!"
"It most certainly is," Rachel laughed, "But yeah… I swear it though; I saw a ghost once. It was a guy I knew long ago in my high school orchestra. He also played Viola like me and really liked some cartoon horse show for some reason. I didn't really see him at all after high school though but one of his close friends told me he died of a truck accident in college. Well… that's just what was told me to me though…"
She began packing the bong for a 3rd hit as she still did not appear half as baked as Calypso yet.
"But then, I swear to you on my life, I saw him again. At a K-Pop Concert of all places! You know who Kim-Hyuna is?"
"Uhh… yeah…" Calypso said darting her eyes back and forth. It was clear she wasn't the biggest fan.
"Yeah…. It was at one of her concerts. I swear I saw his ghost there dancing along and shouting to her songs. I had to do a double take to make sure it was him. He recognized me as well as we were leaving."
"Rachel?"
"Kane?" I said to him. His body was transparent, so people were passing through him. That's how I knew for sure he was a ghost.
"How… how's it been?"
"I remember clearly we had a brief conversation," Rachel continued.
"Yeah, I mean… I've been dead for a year now…" he told me with a smile, "but the music inside always lives on I guess!"
"My sister was pretty dumbfounded, like I was to you earlier wondering who the hell you were talking to. I don't think she was able to see him. But you have to just trust your own senses you know? If supernatural occurrences happen, they're meant to happen. After we caught up for a bit, I gave him a ghost hug and we went our separate ways, but ever since then I've always believed in the supernatural, and magic as well as a matter of fact."
She finished packing the gravity bong and this time took the largest hit yet, exhaling slowing and methodically. As she did, her hazel eyes began turning emerald in color.
"So yeah, I mean… I don't doubt there's a magical Pixie near you that's invisible to me right now. Some supernatural events are sometimes meant for just one person," she said smiling again. "Honestly, I'm kind of jealous, if anything."
"You wouldn't be if you realized how annoying he is…" Calypso groaned giving me a death stare. "All he does is tell me about how I have to be a star! But like…"
"Well do you?"
Rachel stared deep into Calypso's eyes, as if trying to read her soul.
"What, want to be a star?"
"Yeah, I mean… you just said how much you envied me for being on a stage performing in front of a crowd, no?"
"Yeah but…"
She began pouting again as she laid down on the bench on the porch, head on Rachel's lap.
"It's soooo hard though! I have to like… always practice and… urgh! I tried for 2 hours just trying to do the "Bob" dance from Animal Crossing just now!"
"Well of course! Anything worth performing requires practice you know." Rachel replied gently running her fingers through Calypso's hair, "What, did you think being a star would be easy?"
"I thought it would be fun at least!" Calypso groaned, "At least, that's how I always interpreted music and stuff! Why does it have to be so difficult?"
She put her arm on her face.
"I'm only talented at Video Games…"
"Oh, you don't really believe that do you?" Rachel said looking down at Calypso.
"Anyone can get good at anything if they put their mind to it you know?"
"Yeah but… what's the point if it's not fun! That's why I work for a video game company you know? Why can't music just be like a video game where it's like… clearly defined how to get better?!?!"
"Because then it's not creative, silly." Rachel smirked, putting Calypso back upright "Anyone can play a video game, they're meant to be produced for the masses. Creating your own music to be an individual star is a much more difficult thing to do, but you know what?"
She did a pose, pointing her finger up at the stars.
"It's still worth it. I mean… don't you want to go there one day?"
"What? To the stars?"
"Yeah! And to be among them too." Rachel replied, "Where everyone knows your name, and you get put down in the history books. Well… that's not really that important. What I mean is, don't you want your existence acknowledged by the masses? Inspire others to do the same even. Somebody applauding after all means you affected them in some way emotionally. There's not really a feeling you can get from just playing video games."
"Sigh… I guess…" Calypso said sitting back up. "I just wish it was… like Rock band ya know! Yeah like… why can't I just… mechanically master music or something?"
"I mean you can it just… wouldn't be creative then," Rachel replied, "which is what real artists value. Originality, above all us. Something that is real and truly theirs that the world acknowledged. That's the essence of Art really. An individual telling something only that individual can tell. But that said…"
She began cleaning up the bong components.
"Nothing wrong with Rock Band! Let's go play a few rounds before bed?"
"Wait no…" I said flying up next to Calypso, "But… the Bob dance…"
"You're not the boss of me!" Calypso shrieked at me. To which Rachel just stared at her blankly for a moment before bursting out in laughter.
"It will help with your pitch if you do the singing parts! Come on! The Avril won't sing itself ya know!"
"Oh true… Aiight, I'm down!" Calypso said. And before I could interject any further, she began going back inside to once again play more video games…