radio ga ga ! saleb

1. a kind of magic

they meet at a new year's party, as cliche as it is.

the first day of january, too early to quite be called morning. she's leaning against the only sort-of-not-gross wall left, screwing the lid of her water bottle on and off again. the music pounding from the speaker is some screechy pop song, and it leaves behind an obnoxious ringing in her ears.

she's never wanted to leave a place more in her entire life. her friends, two girls that work with her, had spent hours convincing her to come — then left her to fend for herself as soon as they walked through the door.

she rode with them — which she now realizes was a huge mistake, but whatever — so she's stuck here until one of them gets kicked out or embarrasses themselves so badly they want to leave. she sighs.

usually, she would never pass up a good party. but after graduating high school and moving far away from any comfort in her life, anything but laying in bed when she doesn't have to sounds hardly enjoyable. she would much rather be finishing up the last of her new book.

thankfully, after a minute or so of misery, the song changes. it's still bad, but slightly less screechy, so she won't complain.

"whoever picked this playlist has the worst music taste i think i've ever heard."

she whips her head around, ponytail only just missing the boy who's standing there by mere inches. lifting a hand to her chest, she lets out a startled laugh. he tilts his head at her with a smirk and raises his hands in surrender.

"so, you're the person with the worst music taste i think i've ever heard?" curly, dark hair pokes out from beneath his baseball cap. he's wearing a blue, checkered button up shirt and black sweatpants, but somehow he looks more put together than she does, with her distressed jeans and knit sweater.

"oh, god, no." she laughs again, this time less nervous sounding, and shakes her head. "just didn't expect you to be standing there, is all."

he feigns wiping his brow. "good. that could've been really embarrassing."

"i'm sure."

they share smiles before she looks back to the water bottle in her hands, and her stomach flutters. he looks like a heartthrob you would see in teen movies, way too attractive to be real.

"i'm caleb leblanc." he says after a moment, holding out a hand for her to shake. she finds herself surprised he hasn't walked away. "i've not seen you around. is this your first party?"

she takes his hand and shakes her head. "no. well— i mean, yeah. i haven't been to this party before, but i've been to a party before. and, uh, i'm sydney herz. it's nice to meet you."

he laughs. "this is mine too, actually. i'm only here because my sister is convinced we can book a gig for our band with a night of flirting."

"you have a band? what do you play?"

caleb leans against the semi-sticky wall and taps his toe along to the beat of the least miserable song she's heard all night. "yep. me, my sister, and my roommate. we lost our bassist though, so it kinda flopped." he shrugs. "i play drums, and i sing sometimes, but i'd rather leave that to the others."

it's kind of strange, sydney thinks, because she has played bass all her life. she was in a band in high school but it fell apart senior year, unfortunately. or fortunately— depending on who you ask.

she hesitates for a moment, contemplating if saying something is worth the risk of rejection. she wants to keep talking to him, and he might be weirded out by her impulsive offer. finally, pulling her ponytail over her shoulder, she says, "i could fill in for you, if you want. just until you find someone else."