Chapter Text
SDM was a ghost town.
Robert and Herman had gone on their romantic getaway. Courtney was taking a mental health break. Being Visi had started to get to her head. Chad had an appointment with his so called “beauty guru.” Colm and Malevola both had food poisoning from some questionable street vendor.
Prism sat alone in the studio.
Dying of boredom.
Mandy had been busy helping reorganize SDM after the 3 Alarm Fire and Mecha concert. Too busy to chat. Victor had been on a mission lately, locking himself in one of the studios for hours at a time obsessing over his new equipment. Prism didn’t dare interrupt that.
“Damn, all these bitches up and left me.”
She rubbed her hands over her face and spun slowly in her chair.
Every minute felt like an hour.
She scrolled through her socials, absently refreshing her feed for what had to be the hundredth time that day.
Her phone rang loudly, startling her enough that she nearly dropped it while reaching for it.
Chase.
“Oh god… what could he want?”
She stared at the screen for a second before answering.
“Hey!” she said, trying to sound normal while frantically running through all the reasons Chase might be calling her.
“Hello, Alice!” he answered.
Alice.
The unusual cheerfulness in his voice immediately made her nervous.
No one called her Alice anymore. Not Mandy. Not Chad. Not even her mom most of the time.
Chase only used her real name when something serious was happening.
“Could you stop by my office for a moment?”
Prism sat up a little straighter.
Yep.
She was definitely in trouble.
As she approached the office, she noticed the door was already open. A fan sat just inside the doorway, lazily oscillating back and forth.
She knocked lightly on the doorframe and peeked inside.
Chase was casual today.
Well, casual for him.
He was wearing a red golf shirt, black sport pants, and a pair of surprisingly nice tennis shoes. It looked unnatural. Like it was Halloween and he was dressing up as a frat bro. Even his braids were pulled back.
The old man was making a statement.
It was unsettling.
“Come in!” he said, gesturing toward the chairs in front of his desk.
She sat down quickly, hoping he’d get to the point so she could breathe again.
“Let me show you something,” Chase said.
He reached into a drawer and pulled out what looked like an old photo album. After flipping through a few pages, he turned it around and placed it in front of her.
Prism blinked.
Looking back at her was a handsome young man with smooth skin, gold framed glasses, and an afro so massive it had to be two and a half feet across.
“No fucking way.”
Chase laughed.
“That’s me.”
He tapped the photo.
“I had just earned the nickname Track Star.”
She looked from the picture to the man sitting behind the desk and back again.
He smiled.
It was strange seeing him like this. Relaxed. Almost nostalgic.
The knot in her stomach loosened a little.
“Why Track Star?” she asked.
“I was on a roll back then. Every song, every track I worked on became a hit.”
He shrugged.
He wasn’t bragging.
He was simply telling the truth.
Chase flipped to another page and pulled out an old newspaper clipping.
“Proof,” he said.
Prism took it from him.
The headline read:
CHASE, THE “TRACK” STAR!
Underneath it was a smaller subtitle.
Hollywood’s Hottest Producer.
The idea of Chase being some celebrity producer was ridiculous.
And yet…
Looking at the photo, it honestly made perfect sense.
“Now I look like Black Albert Einstein.”
Chase leaned back in his chair, laughing at himself.
Prism completely lost it.
“BLACK EINSTEIN?!” she shouted.
“Yes. You can thank Robert for that one.”
“Robert called you Black Einstein?”
“Years ago.”
Chase smiled and shook his head.
“Robert used to be such a little shit.”
“Used to?” Prism asked immediately.
Chase pointed at her.
“Exactly.”
The room settled for a moment. Chase closed the photo album and folded his hands on top of it. The lighthearted expression faded from his face, replaced by something more sincere.
“Look, the reason I called you in here is to say thank you. From the bottom of my heart.”
Prism blinked.
She couldn’t bring herself to say anything yet.
“None of this would’ve happened without your social media know how.”
She just stared at him.
The words didn’t feel real.
Chase gestured vaguely toward the rest of the building.
“Sure, people love Robert and Herman. But they wouldn’t have seen them without you. You helped build all of this.”
He smiled.
“Besides, people love you too, you know.”
“Chase, I…”
He gently cut her off.
“I want the rest of this summer to be about Prism, Alice.”
“Thank you, but I didn’t do much.”
Chase immediately shook his head.
“No. We’re not doing that.”
The response caught her off guard.
“Yes, you did. You, Herman, and Robert put this place back on the map.”
His voice wasn’t angry. It was matter of fact.
“They’ve had their moment. Now it’s your turn.”
Chase turned toward his computer and clicked a few times.
A colorful flyer filled the monitor.
Palm trees. Sand. Ocean waves.
An open air venue sitting right on the beach.
Across the top read:
INTRODUCING SUMMERBASH AT CHARLIE’S BY THE BEACH
Hosted by Prism, accompanied by SDM
Prism leaned forward.
“No shot..”
“A colleague of mine and an old friend named Charlie reached out about partnering on a local music festival at his beach bar.”
Chase glanced over at her.
“We’ve already done the planning. The permits are handled. The venue is ready.”
He paused.
“Say the word and I’ll pull the trigger.”
He tapped the screen.
“It’s all yours.”
Without hesitation, she answered.
“Pull the trigger, Einstein.”
She stood up from the chair.
“These bitches aren’t gonna know what hit ’em.”
Chase smiled.
“That’s the Alice I know.”
He leaned back in his chair, clearly pleased with himself.
“You know, I see a lot of myself in you. You’ve got tenacity.”
Prism shook her head.
“Thank you so much. This… this is gonna be the shit. I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
Chase laughed.
She was already halfway to the door when he spoke again.
“Oh, one more thing.”
Prism stopped.
“As a thank you to the whole team, I rented a beachfront house for the week leading up to the show.”
She turned slowly.
“You did what?”
Chase smiled.
“Figured it’d be good for everyone. A little vacation before the festival.”
“Everyone? You either brave or crazy.” She laughed.
“I’m both.” He laughed back.
“Thank you…” she said as she left the room.
She practically ran back to the studio.
The boredom was gone.
Replaced by something electric.
By the time she sat down at her desk, an email notification had already appeared on her screen.
Chase.
She opened it immediately.
The flyer.
The event plans.
Venue details.
Charlie’s contact information.
Budget projections.
Everything.
It was all there.
It was all real.
Prism leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen for a moment.
Just an hour ago she had been doomscrolling social media and complaining that everyone had abandoned her.
Now she was hosting a beach festival.
A grin slowly spread across her face.
“Oh, we’re gonna do something stupid.”
She reached for her phone.
It was time to start making shit happen.
———
Robert and Herman were laying in the afterglow of a particularly good night. If the walls of the cabin they were staying in could talk, they would need a therapist after what they had endured over the past week. The best part?
They still had another week of shenanigans left.
“Damn you and your magic fingers…” Robert groaned as he sprawled across the bed, his head resting on Herman’s chest.
“You know what they say about bad players…” Herman laughed, taking in the satisfaction of what he had just done to Robert.
A notification suddenly chimed from both of their phones.
Then another.
A new group chat.
Herman, Robert, Chase, and Prism.
Prism messaged first.
“Hey lovebirds, sorry to interrupt your sex week but I need some help and I trust you guys to keep a secret.”
Then another message.
“You don’t have to respond now just be ready when you get back.”
Chase messaged next.
“Please do not include me in any threads where you will be discussing Robert and Herman having sex. 😂”
A second message appeared almost immediately.
“But yes, we have a project when you get back. Low stress.”
Prism chimed back in.
“Also Robbo, Black Einstein is incredible.”
Robert laughed at that final message.
“You called Chase Black Einstein?” Herman asked seriously.
“A long time ago, when he was working with me and my dad.” Robert grinned. “He is way more lighthearted than you think.”
“I can’t imagine that.”
The deadpan delivery only made Robert laugh harder.
“Trust me. He’s mellowed out.”
Herman set his phone down on the nightstand. “So we’re helping Prism with something.”
“Apparently.”
“Should we ask what it is?”
Robert rolled over and pulled Herman a little closer.
“Nah.”
“No?”
“Nope. Whatever disaster they are planning can wait until we get back.”
“Good.”
——-
Alice sat alone in her bedroom.
Not Prism.
Alice.
She was still processing the meeting with Chase from earlier.
Her phone had been going off nonstop for the last hour. Messages from her SDM coworkers filled the screen. Questions about the festival. Questions about the beach house. Questions about how the hell she managed to get both out of Chase.
For now, she ignored them.
This wasn’t about them.
She had a small but dedicated fanbase. People who had believed in her long before this opportunity had landed in her lap.
This was her chance.
Not just as a musician.
As a headliner.
As a host.
As the one calling the shots.
Alice looked at her reflection in the mirror.
For a moment she didn’t see Prism staring back.
Just herself.
“Fuck…” she laughed.
A grin slowly spread across her face.
“Guess we in this shit now.”
The excitement was finally starting to outweigh the nerves.
“I hope they can keep up.”
The festival was happening and it was going to be the shit.