Prompt: Late Night Superstrings
Rudy's last minute search for a band puts him face to face with an old match.
Three days before his first gig as DJ Che, Rudy woke up to the worst text he could receive from his featured band:
We gotta bail. Sorry, bro.
It was flu season, and the latest strand spread through the band faster than rage bait on social media.
“Fuck.”
Rudy booked his first gig at Danza Futuro, a small EDM fest hosted by Dade College, but it had potential to open doors for aspiring DJs. Rudy liked to collaborate with local bands, feeding off of their original music with his improvised sounds. Even though his original band leaned towards metal, he found a sound that complimented their edge with catchy beats. Without them…well, he was just a college kid playing on his Macbook.
Rudy leaned against the window of Vicky Bakery, scrolling through his socials while sipping his cortadito. The lady on the other side of the ventanita snapped at him to step aside. Once he found a new spot, a new video greeted him from his screen.
It came from an account called Superstrings, a quartet that covered top 40 music. The band consisted of two violins, a viola, and a cello. The video he watched was them covering Bad Bunny’s “Moscow Mule.” The cellist marked the beat with his right heel, while the other three swayed their hips as they played. One of the violinists plucked her strings. Despite their dynamic movements, the band kept a clear and snappy sound.
Then he recognized the violist.
“Ah, damnit.”
They matched on Tinder about a month ago. Despite his goal to find a one night stand, their mutual interest in EDM led to a free-flowing conversation on the future of music production. But when Rudy found his lusty one night stand, he ghosted her. He had long forgotten his hook up, but his thoughts occasionally wandered back to their chat.
Looking through Superstring’s account, they only had a couple hundred views on their videos. Well…what did he have to lose?
Rudy shot back his cortadito before starting a DM:
Yo, this is DJ Che. You guys sound dope! This is a long shot, but I’m looking for a band to link up with for a show in 3 days. You interested?
“God, please don’t reply…” He pleaded to his imaginary violist.
Rudy showed up for his university lecture halls, bouncing his right leg in anticipation for a response. At last, his phone quietly vibrated in his hoodie pocket:
Thanks, man. This is Diego, the cellist.
Sure, why not? When do you wanna meet?
It turned out that they all attended the same college. Diego was the first to arrive, offering a firm and formal handshake. His stoicism was a stark contrast to the loose-limbed cellist in the videos. Next were the violinists, fraternal twins Cat and Marty. Cat laughed a little too hard at Rudy’s quips, invoking Marty’s cautionary glances at his sister.
When the violist finally arrived, Rudy’s stomach turned inside out. Leti was exactly his type: Christina Milian, but with dark, doe-eyes that invited him to swipe right in the first place. Now those eyes were twisting his stomach tight.
Leti shook his hand and offered a thin, but cordial smile.
“Nice to meet you.”
Her introduction plausibly denied their ever meeting, but he knew it veiled her salty opinion of him.
Rudy played along and dove right into his predicament. The quartet exchanged glances at his proposal to collaborate at the last minute.
“So, what, you’re expecting us to learn new music by tonight?” Diego asked.
“Nah, I want to riff off of any cover sets you already have lined up. Based on your socials, you cover a lot of Pop/Latin music. We can link up, get some practice to find our flow, and we’ll be set for the show.”
“And what’s in it for us?” Marty said.
“For one, we’ll split the cost. I know that’s chump change, but it’s the least I can do for a last minute link up. Also, I’ll share all of your videos on my socials to find you more fans.”
“It’s nice that you’re splitting the cost, but we’re not in the business of growing followers.” Leti replied with a little more bite than she intended.
“I respect that, really. But the more eyes that find your content the more opportunity for gigs. Superstrings might be a hobby, but there’s no harm in getting some cash out of it.”
“Sounds like you’re always looking to get something out of things.” She judged.
Rudy murmured ya allah under his breath.
“Look, I know I’m asking a lot at the last minute. But I really do like your sound, and I think together we can put on a sick show. You can turn me down if you’re not all on board.” That last offer was directed at Leti.
The Superstrings shared looks. Cat and Leti lingered. The former ever so slightly tilted her head, causing the latter to raise her eyebrows.
“Is it all right if I DM you tonight? We gotta discuss as a group before we give you a final answer.”
“Yeah, bro, do whatever you need to do for the band.”
As they went their separate ways, Rudy shook hands with each member of the quartet. Leti was last, with her expression was as cold as his lecture halls.
Danza Futuro at 11:30pm met Rudy and the Superstrings setting up for their midnight slot. The quartet were warming up their electrical instruments, and Rudy was connecting his Macbook to the DJ controller. There was already a crowd of 300 people lingering in front of the stage, ignoring the group’s warm up routine.
Rudy was impressed to discover that each string had an electric counterpart. What’s more, each member’s instrument reflected their personalities. Diego’s cello was a midnight blue outline of the classic shape, with its tuning pegs found on the tailpiece rather than at the neck of the instrument.
At first glance, Cat and Marty’s violins seemed to be simply the neck, bridge, and tailpiece. But there was a clear, seemingly crystal body running parallel to the neck and curving out of the chin rest. Marty’s instrument was royal blue, while Cat’s version contained glitter that appeared even under black light.
Leti’s viola was perhaps most similar to it’s classical counterpart, only designed as if someone sliced the edges to slim the top half. However, her viola was an ombre of black and orchid, which stood out under the special stage lighting.
After setting up his system, he noticed Marty squat down to chat with someone in the audience. A girl in a disco dress cradled his face in her hands, giggling before going in for a kiss.
“I’m guessing that’s Tahlia?” Rudy said to Cat. She glanced over at her brother and sighed with a teasing eye roll.
“Yeah, Marty is super into her. It’s kind of annoying sometimes, but she’s cool. So long as she doesn’t break his heart, I’m all for it!” She gave a playful wink before parting to chat with the couple.
Meanwhile, Diego had gone backstage, leaving Rudy and Leti with the heavy weight of expectation to make small talk. They were cordial enough during rehearsals, but Leti made sure she was not the first or last person to be alone with him. The laser lights strobed between warm and cool neon tones, putting a spotlight on Rudy’s discomfort in the silence.
“Our set is gonna pump up the crowd, I just feel it!” He said enthusiastically.
Leti politely hummed in agreement, marking her fingers on her viola. He tried again.
“You get a chance to catch the earlier shows?”
“No. I was focused on making sure my sound is tight for our slot.” She said with a little pushback.
“That’s smart.” He affirmed.
“Yeah, even electric strings are very delicate. They need a lot more time to prepare, compared to a Macbook.”
Rudy huffed under his breath.
“I hear you, you don’t gotta take shots at me.”
The stage in the next parking lot began a new song, inciting cheers from their crowd.
“Listen, I know that you know that I remember we matched on Tinder. The way you act around me makes think you were into me, and me ghosting you like that was really shitty of me. I’m sorry I made you feel that way, and I wish I hadn’t done that to you.”
Somewhere in the distance, a DJ dropped a deep base which rattled Rudy’s bones. But the base was nothing compared to how Leti’s flabbergasted reaction drop kicked his spirit. She removed her viola from her chin as her dark lips dropped open. A singular eyebrow rose in aghast.
“What the fuck? Do you think that I was, like, pining over you or something?”
“No! Well, not exactly like that…I mean…”
“Que tremenda…”
Leti approached Rudy’s turntable, staring right into his eyes.
“I will be abundantly clear: I am not pining over you like some obsessive stalker. Yes, you shouldn’t have ghosted me. You should have just said ‘hey it’s been real, but I found someone else.’ But we literally met over an app. I am not in love with you.”
Rudy held onto the sides of his turntable, receiving her message crystal clear. After offering a nod, Leti backed out and studied his demeanor. Rudy hunched so far over, his neon bucket hat nearly fell off.
“I’ve never felt like a bigger asshole than now.” He admitted, pressing his hand against his hat.
“You should. Thinking you’re hot shit when you’re out here looking like a neon Crayola.” She said, followed by a teasing laugh.
Compared to the girls’ trendy and form-fitting styles, the boys - including Rudy - opted for loose, mostly black outfits with one or two neon pieces.
“Okay, valid. Then why have you been avoiding me all through rehearsals?”
“Because I don’t deal with douchebags, which is what I thought you were. But now I know that you’re just an asshole.”
Rudy laughed unexpectedly.
“So that’s…good?”
“It’s a step up, but you’re still at the bottom.”
They lingered for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Rudy noticed the rest of the Superstrings taking their places.
“Are we good?” He asked.
“We’re better now.” Leti smiled.
She joined her quartet in warming up the crowd. Rudy lined up his introductory track, and the Superstrings aligned with the sound to open with their first cover song.
Their show ended in bubbling cheers and applause from the crowd. Leti and Rudy shared soaring smiles before bowing to an enthusiastic audience.
Thank you to
for inspiring today’s writing exercise!This story is honestly more inspired by ✨vibes✨ than an actual plot, but I hope that you were at least a little invested in Rudy and the Superstrings.
A special shoutout to
and his EDM music for additional inspiration for this story. Check out his Substack, and/or find him on Spotify!