Alicia had met all her deadlines and the label was extremely happy with her work. Andrea wanted to go out and celebrate, given the fact that Alicia hadn't left her room in literally 2 weeks.
"I'm taking you out to celebrate, but it's a surprise." Andrea said, smile wide.
"Are you kidnapping me? 7 years too late." Alicia joked, making Andrea roll her eyes.
"Stop being annoying when I'm trying to be nice."
The girls hopped in an Uber, the destination unknown to Alicia. They arrived at an indoor go kart racing place. Alicia smiled widely, hugging Andrea and squealing happily.
"Yay! I love go karts."
"It gets better." Andrea smirked, leading her inside.
All the Brockhampton guys and Roy were waiting for them inside. They cheered when they saw them, hugs all around.
"I know this is to celebrate your reentry into this world of not working 24/7, but I'm about to kick your ass." Ian joked, making everyone laugh.
They got in their karts and put on their helmets, getting ready to race. The karts grumbled as they waited for their marks. The light turned green, and everyone took off quickly.
Joba and Andrea swerved around each other, eventually slowing them both down. Romil slammed the kart into the wall and screamed loudly that it wasn't fair. Ameer, Ian, Matt, and Alicia battled to the finish. Matt tried to swerve around Alicia but accidentally knocked the back of her kart, leaving Ian to finish first and Ameer to finish second.
"Fuck you, Champion. Didn't think you'd be one to play dirty." Alicia giggled, hopping out of the go kart.
She offered her hand and helped him out of the kart.
"Accidents happen."
"I'm sure that's the case, bet that's what Tonya Harding would think."
"Are you comparing your go karting ability to Tonya Harding?"
"Maybe."
Ameer and Ian were loudly arguing about the results, everyone else watching and laughing.
"It says it right there, you were 0.03 seconds too late." Ian yelled, motioning to the sign.
"Too late my fucking ass. This is bullshit, I was way ahead of you."
"I would remember the back of your wrinkly ass head if that were the case."
"Fuck you!"
Even though they were fighting, the two were still all laughs, giving each other a bro hug.
___
A few days later, Alicia was busy cooking in the kitchen. She had been wanting to let off some steam and actually cook. It was a relaxing hobby for her. Andrea was right behind her, helping her chop of veggies and wash dishes.
They were making chicken, rice, black beans, yucca, and plantains. This was their favorite meal to make when they were feeling homesick.
Matt was coming over for dinner with Joba because they wanted Alicia's opinion on a track they were working on. Andrea finished preparing the salad, setting it on the table.
"This is kinda like a second date for you and Joba, except I'm chaperoning." Alicia joked, making Andrea laugh.
"Hopefully it goes just as well as the first one."
"Y'all are so cute it actually hurts me."
"Aren't we?" Andrea laughed, flipping her hair mockingly.
Alicia plated up the rest of the food and put it on the table, wiping her hands on a towel and sighing in relief.
"Jesus, that took forever."
There was a knock at the door, and Andrea opened it and let in the boys. She greeted Joba with a quick kiss, making Alicia smile.
"It smells so good." Matt said, rubbing his stomach.
Alicia laughed, giving both a big hug before they all took a seat at the table. They ate quickly, all of them pretty hungry. Matt and Joba complimented their cooking immensely and helped the girls wash their dishes.
"We're gonna watch a movie!" Andrea announced, grabbing Joba's hand and leading him to the couch.
"I'll check out that song you needed me to look at. Do you mind if I tweak it?" Alicia asked, getting the USB drive from Joba.
"Knock yourself out."
"Do you mind if I go with you? I have a feeling the lovebirds want some alone time." Matt chuckled.
He followed Alicia into her room, her closing the door behind them. She sat at her desk as Matt climbed onto the edge of her bed. She plugged in the USB drive, putting on her headphones and listening to the file. She was pretty sure it was Matt on vocals, and she nodded her head as she listened.
Once the track was over, she expanded the tracks and began to tweak with different volume levels, adding some new tracks for depth, and overall trying to mix it a bit more cohesively. The existing file was good, but Alicia had a signature style that she liked to stick with. It was her producer mark.
"Can I hear it?" Matt asked, pulling her out of her concentration.
"Yeah, sorry." She laughed softly, unplugging her headphone and playing the newly mixed track back to him.
Matt smiled as he listened, nodding his head approvingly. She added an instrumentation outro to the end, elevating the song to it's fullest potential. She saved the track as a second file in case Joba wasn't feeling it and ejected the hard drive.
"Done." Alicia exhaled, handing the hard drive to Matt. He tucked it safely in his pocket, thanking her for helping them out.
"No problem. For further inquiries, I'm available Monday through Friday from 9 to 5." Alicia joked, Matt laughing softly as he shook his head. The two killed time by laying in bed and watching Youtube videos while Joba and Andrea had the couch to themselves.
Once the movie was over, Alicia quietly exited her room to find Joba and Andrea passed out on the couch in each other's arms. She smiled to herself and turned off the TV, walking back to her room and closing the door quietly.
"The lovebirds are knocked out on the couch, so feeel free to stay over."
"It's a whole ass sleepover."
Alicia laughed and nodded, rummaging through her closet for some PJs to change into.
"You can take my bed, I'll go crash in Andrea's."
She hugged him goodnight and walked over to Andrea's room, closing the door behind her and calling it a night.
