Dance?

So Jenny ended up running off to go smoke outside of Medusas after our little argument. I leaned against the video room wall and stared at the screen. These were one of those incidents that started to occur more often and it would give me a headache.

I closed my eyes for a second and took in the music and the atmosphere. Medusas was jumping that night and it was my fourth time there. I took a sip off my Coke and sort of moved with the music a bit. Anna and the other kids were down by the donut shop and Jason was at a party with the Terror Crew at the Factory. And I was here with her--Jenny. It seemed like she'd become extremely jealous of my new friends and the person I was now becoming. I, myself, felt great about it. Never been better you'd say. But for her, I guess the thought that she was going to be the one showing me the ropes and leading the way had become the harsh reality that this simply wasn't the case.

I turned and look to the side of me and noticed this girl dancing on one of the risers by herself. She had red hair, cut into a pixie and she was wearing a long black skirt with a pair of oxfords and a red sand black striped sweater. She looked like she was either waiting for someone, or looking for someone. Or maybe, she was looking for a dance partner?

©copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved. we don't own the video. we just like this Michael Penn song.

The New "Me"

Walking into school that morning, I was both confident and nervous at the same time.
The old David was fading now that I got my cool new haircut, and of course, new clothes. I had on a pair of black jeans with my black oxfords. I paired it with the gray button down shirt I bought from Dark Wave the day before.

I walked in and everything seemed to become in slow motion. I felt like everyone stopped and was turning to look at me. Was this it? Acceptance? Popularity? Here at school? I was ready for it and it felt awesome. It felt awesome until...

"Hey Feltcher, nice hair you fag!" One of the jocks said.

"It's Fletcher." I corrected him.

"Whatever, ass munch." He said popping a spit ball toward me.

So as I was abruptly brought down to earth, I saw Jason and Rusty down at the end of the hall. I perked up and carried my way toward them.

"Whoa! Look at you." Jason said.

"You look like a fucking new waver." Rusty commented with a high five.

"This is good." I said.

"Well, until gym class." Jason laughed.

"Yeah, maybe I'll sit out." I said.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you." Rusty joked.

"No. I got to stand up for this. This is who I am and who I want to be now." I exclaimed.

"You serious about this?" Jason asked.

"I'm serious. This is the first time that my life seems right." I said.

©copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights. All Rights Reserved. We don't own the video. We like New Order.

Late Night Swim

It was a week before school started back up and Jenny and I were sitting on my pool deck late at night . The blue pool light was on and we were playing the Depeche Mode 101 tape off my boombox.

"David, we need to get you to go down to Medusas!" Jenny said.

"Jenny, my parents will never let me go all the way down my the lake. Especially to a club." I said.

"Well, you could say we're going to see a movie or something? Then maybe go back to my house?" She stressed.

" I don't know. I really want to go. Jason and Rusty talk about it all the time. It seems really cool." I said.

"Then let's do it. I really want you to see my crew and the donut shop where we all hang out. It's so cool! Babe, you'll love it." She said

"I don't know. I'm sort of, you know, nervous." I said.

"Why?" She asked.

"I don't know if I'll fit in. I mean, look at me. I don't look anything like Jason or Rusty. I mean, even you dress cooler than me." I said.

"We can change all that. How about I find something we can work with and then you'll look the part?" She suggested.

"Well, maybe next weekend?" I suggested.

"Ok. Let's do it!" She said.

"Yeah." I said staring in her eyes.

"I love you, David. I can't wait to transform you!" She before kissing me.

"I love you, too. I just hope I'm doing the right thing." I said.

"Don't worry sweetie, I got it all under control. Now, let's stop talking for a bit." She said as she pulled me close.

©copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights. All Rights reserved. We don't own the video. We like Depeche Mode.

Girlfriend

Mars rolled his eyes again and asked “So Max, is this your girlfriend?”

“Tracy?  No, I just made her a mix and now we’re hanging out today.”

Tracy looked down at her shoes, looking slightly crest-fallen.  Then Silvia called her over to her and Anna.

“Max, that little girl really likes you.” Mars said

“Nah, we’re just friends.  All I did was make her a mix.”

“Darling, a mix tape is you telling her that you like her.  Do you like her?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe?  I don’t really know her.  Plus she lives far away.”

“Don’t play with her heart Max.  Little girls like that get attached quickly.  She isn’t tough like Anna or your cousin. “ 

I just looked at Mars confused and said “I think they’re just hanging out with us.  I don’t think she likes me.  Besides, I think she’s hung up on some guy that works at Tower Records.”

“What you need to do is ask yourself what kind of messages are you sending her and if they’re worth breaking her heart, because you don’t know what you want.”

“It’s nothing!  I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Max doesn’t like girls.” Alex chimed in as he sorted through the giant garbage can full of 1” buttons.  “He’s never touched boob in his life.”

“This again.” I said “Alex touches a girl’s boobs after graduation and all of a sudden he’s an expert on women.”

“Never mind him.  I’m telling you, be careful with this girl’s heart.”  Mars stressed

“Hey, lets get out of here.  I wanna go see if there’s any action at Punkin’ Donuts!” Alex stressed.

“Honey, before you go, take those shirts you stuffed into your pants and put them on the counter.” Mars said “You too James.”

“You guys are really bad at this shoplifting thing.”  I said

© copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights. All Rights Reserved.  We don't own this video. We like Erasure.

David's Journal: 10/12/89

Journal entry: 10/12/89

My name is David. I'm 16 years old. Over the last two months, I saw my life change like I would've least expected. It all started when my friends Jason and Rusty told me about this place called Medusas. Then one night, my girlfriend, Jenny took me there. It's an awesome place that has great music and the people inside are so interesting you'd think they belonged in a Jack Kerouac novel. 

Around the corner from Medusas is the donut shop where all us kids hang out after Medusas. I'm friends with a few younger kids since coming down there. Anna, Max, James, and Alex like to hang by the donut shop and watch all the action that takes place there. They all go to my school. Anna has a zine that I take photos for. I'm also a photographer, and I'm never at a loss for great pictures. 

I've also changed my looks since I started coming down there. I mostly wear black and I changed my hairstyle. I get my clothes from Dark Wave at the Century Mall on Clark, where my friend Darren hooks me up with the coolest clothes. I'm usually wearing a button down shirt with cuffed jeans and black oxfords.

Down the street from there is Trax, the coolest record store in town. I buy all my music there. There's this college girl named Violet who works there and she's awesome. She's Max's cousin. She knows everything about the music and the scene. 

One day when I get older, I'd like to tell this story in detail. I had so many experiences since that first day and I don't regret any of them. I feel like I'm becoming popular, which is something I never thought would happen to me! When I'm down there, I feel more at home than I do at school or in my actual home. 

I look forward to every Friday or Saturday Night when I can go down to Medusas and see the two black lights shining out front. I refer to them as two purple lights, even though my girlfriend thinks thats stupid. I don't know how to put into words how I truly feel when I'm down there, but if I was to reference song lyrics, I would say the line "Were flying high, were watching the world pass us by. Never want to come down, never want to put my feet back down on the ground." from Depeche Mode's Never Let Me Down Again would probably sum it up!

© copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights. All Rights reserved. We don't own the video. We just like Depeche Mode.

708er

“So Max has a girlfriend.”  Anna said to Violet “She’s a 708er.”

“Oh?  What suburb is she from?” Violet asked

“Hoffman Estates.” Anna said

“At least it isn’t fucking Schaumburg.”  Violet said “Fuck Schaumburg.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.  She doesn’t even like me.  She’s just some kid from the burbs who I’ve seen at Medusa’s a couple times and she and her friends always find me and talk to me.” I stated, “She’s so not interested in me.”

“She asked you to make her a mix tape and she hangs on every word that comes out of your mouth.”  Anna said

“OH, you made her a mix tape??” Violet exclaimed, “Lemme see, lemme see!”

I pulled the tape out of my pocket and tossed it to her across the store.  She studied it intensely, looking over each song.

“Front 242?  Nitzer Ebb?  Fuckin’ Skinny Puppy? Are you trying to date this girl or scare her off?”  She asked, “Fuck, you put a GG Allin song on side B?  There is no way this girl will date you with these song choices!”

“I’m not trying to date her.  I was talking about Front 242 and she said she’d never heard of them.  Then she asked me to make her a mix tape, so I did.”

“Max, when someone asks you for a mix tape, or they make you one, that isn’t them showing you songs.  That’s them sending you a message – they’re giving you a piece of their heart.”  Violet said

“You made me a mix tape.  Were you giving me a piece of your heart?  Because that’s really sweet, but it’s super gross because we’re cousins.”

“No, I gave you a mix tape because you were a dumb ass.  Now you’re just slightly less of a dumb ass.”  Violet said as she went back to counting new inventory.

© copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights. All Rights reserved. We don't own the video. We just like Nitzer Ebb. 

Club Stud

“Whattsup!” Jason said grabbing his skateboard.

“Hey. I got to be back by six.” I said.

“That’s cool. It’s only ten.” He said.

We went over to the Belmont caught the approaching bus. When we got off the bus, Jason and I began to walk south down Clark. I was anxious to check out the Century Mall and Dark Wave that Darren worked at. I also wanted to see this area in the daytime. 

Looking around, the atmosphere was way more muted than the night before. I still saw some punks and goths, but in fewer numbers. Most of them were walking into the coffee shops like Voltaire and Scenes Coffeehouse. Jason was skating next to me, singing a very off key rendition of London Calling.

“Hey, did you get some last night?” He asked.

“Maybe.” I said reluctantly.

“Because this girl Crystal was there with her girlfriend last night and she swore that this unicorn looking kid was getting blown by his girlfriend and she couldn’t help but watch the joy on his face.” He said.

“Holy shit!  Did the whole place see it?” I asked.

“Dude it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Jason said.

 " Do we have to talk about this?” I replied.

“I’m not trying to piss you off. I'm just happy you made out like a stud.” Jason said punching my arm.

“Really?” I said. 

“For sure.” Jason said.

“ I want to get a haircut while I’m down here. Any place good?” I asked.

“There's a salon inside the mall.” Jason said. “I got my hair cut there a few times.”

©copyright 2016 Two Purple Lights . All Rights Reserved. We don't own the video. We just like The Clash.