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Dana adjusted her headphones as she stood in front of her standing workstation. Her eyes watched the clock on the wall and the red second hand coming close to another full rotation. She lightly cleared her throat as the clock hit the hour mark, and through her headphones, she heard an audio track begin. Dana smiled as she clapped her hands while she looked at her two coworkers, joining her enthusiasm to bring out the morning excitement in the room. With a quick glance through a large wide glass window and into another room, Dana got another cue, then pressed a switchboard button and leaned forward a little. "Gooood morning, Bay area! It's 6:00 am on this wonderful Friday!With headphones on and one ear cuff behind an ear, her coworker, Rachel, smiled. "Mornings, everyone and the STYR family!" As the words out of her mouth ended, another person spoke up. "Hey hey, morning ladies and the peeps out in radio land." Chloe, the third co-host, greeted the workday.Dana ended her clapping and announced. "Welcome to STYR Radio's morning show. Let goooo!"Lively introduction music played as the prerecorded announcer introduced the Bay area listeners to the morning radio show that spread across the western state and to anyone across the world over the internet.Once the intro ended, Rachel held her STYR radio coffee mug close to her chest as she read off one of her monitors. "It's gonna be blue sky and clear throughout the day in the bay area. Ou, look at that; it's going up to a nice 83° Fahrenheit by the afternoon."Standing at her station directly across from Rachel, Chloe smiled and added, "I love mornings like this."Rachel, sipping her drink, then nodded. "Mmm, me too. I'm sure the coast has a few surfers watching the sunrise this morning."Dana, between her two coworkers, completed the triangle as she looked up from her tablet, agreeing, "So beautiful out there right now, I bet."From inside the windowed booth, a beanie-headed woman leaned toward her microphone and turned it on. "You're crazy."Rachel looked to her right at the woman and chuckled with her other co-workers. "Crazy?""As our regular listeners know," Dana said, adjusting her microphone, "Steph, our producer, has…issues with the water."With a deadpan look, Steph replied, "There are sharks."Chloe quickly added, looking to her left at Steph, "And sea monsters, don't forget sea monsters."Steph agreed and pointed at Chloe, "You know what I'm talking about."Rachel placed her coffee on her table with a huge smile. "I will never forget bringing Chloe out for her first surf lesson."Dana looked to her right and asked, "What happened?" She then looked to her left, at Chloe, surprised, then looked back at Rachel. "Wait, Chloe was out on the water?"Rachel placed a hand over her mouth, chuckling. "Sh-she… we were sitting on the boards, looking out over the water." She cleared her throat. "Sorry, excuse me, I almost choked on my coffee." Her co-hosts lightly laughed as they listened. "This also happened, I should note when we were in California and going to university.""Dana commented, "Ah, so it wasn't like last summer.""No, no, this happened years ago. I went through some of the basics in the shallow till we took the next step. We then paddled over where there were some small waves."Chloe crossed her arms and continued to look across at her co-host and replied. "They were huge!"Rachel lifted her eyebrows at Chloe. "Huge? They were like maybe three feet!""Huge."Rachel tried not to smile. "No, they weren't.""Colossal."Rachel broke into a smile, rolled her eyes, and sighed, "Oh, my gods."Chloe looked back at Steph for reassurance and added, "Tsunami size."Dana leaned towards her microphone and loudly whispered, "Aaand we all know how Chloe exaggerates a bit with her memory of actual events."Chloe turned back to her co-host, lightly furrowed her brow, and defiantly replied, "Never." Her coworkers, knowing better, laughed at hearing multiple 'exaggerated' stories since they had known her. Still, Chloe didn't crack a smile and lightly shook her head. "Rachel is talking crazy talk, I tell you. Crazy."Dana asked Rachel to get to the truth, "So what ended up actually happening?"Rachel continued, "So we're out on the water. Not a lot of people there, so we had our choice of waves. We were getting ready, then the next thing I know, Chlo was screaming." Rachel stepped back from her station with her hands up, animating her movements, "waving her arms, and she just leans over and falls off the board." Rachel started laughing.Dana asked. "What, did she freak out going further out in the water?""No-no.""Oh?" Dana replied."We were-," Rachel laughed hard, looking at Chloe's face and pointing at her coworker, who tried not to show annoyance but failed. "She's splashing around, saying my name in a panic, then tried to get on my board…"Dana looked back at Chloe. "Oh my god, what happened?""Sharkies!" Steph blurted out.Dana's eyes widened. "What?! There was a sh-"Rachel raised her hand and waved off Steph's comment. "Seaweed had wrapped around her calf."Dana lightly shook her head and chuckled.Chloe quickly stated, "It was the Kraken trying to take me under!"Rachel's shoulder dropped as she raised her head to the ceiling at Chloe's memory. "Oh, my gods."Dana laughed at Chloe's comment and Rachel's reaction. "Was it wrapped around your foot that bad?"Rachel replied before Chloe could in a higher-pitched voice, "No! She wa-"Chloe interrupted, "Hauling me to the depth below."Dana and Steph smiled wider as Rachel placed a hand over her face of Chloe's recollection of events. "Oh my gods."Steph lightly shook her head and continued to chuckle. "As Dana said, listeners, Chloe and her exaggeration of actual events..."Chloe looked back at Steph. "What! I thought you had my back in this story." Chloe turned to Dana and continued as she held up her hands, pretending to grip something, then tore it apart. "I had to fight off the tentacle!" She then punched the air in front of her. "Then I had to punch it in the snout-"Dana laughed out loud.Rachel tilted her head to the side, looking confused. "What book did you read as a kid that stated that Krakens had snouts?""Dr. Seuss," Chloe said as a matter of fact.Dana held her stomach and put a hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter.Rachel added, looking at Chloe, "You did a great reenactment of a cartoon character running on top of the water to get to the shore." Dana leaned over her station with a red face, laughing hard as Rachel continued as she giggled. "She was like Wile E. Coyote."Chloe pointed at her coworker. "Hey. I was fighting off the tentacle."Rachel lifted her brow, slowly nodded and smirked. "Riiight, that's whatcha call flailing your arms around and-""Those were karate chops."Dana let out a high-pitched noise, laughing at her coworker's interaction, loving every minute. Rachel asked another question. "And you used your high-pitched screams to what? Scare it away?"Chloe slowly blinked and replied in an 'if you must know' fashion. "I learned it from mermaids."Dana let out a wheeze of laughter that had everyone in the room looking at her and laughing along.Rachel added, "To this day, I have never heard anyone scream like that. Ever." Rachel continued her laugh, seeing the state of her coworker. "Dana, you okay, hun? Breath, girl." Dana couldn't answer but nodded her head and took a deep breath. Chloe replied to Rachel's statement, "I dunno, your wife and her thing with spiders. She has a great vocal range."Rachel sipped her coffee and raised her eyebrows. "True, very true."Dana wiped tears from her eyes, then returned to her microphone, "She's scared of spiders?" The radio host lightly rubbed her midsection. "Oh my god, my stomach hurts." She looked over at Chloe, who winked at her as the subject changed. "Chlo. I swear I dunno how you keep a straight face."Chloe smiled at starting the day right by getting someone to laugh and raised her coffee mug to Dana. "You're welcome."Rachel replied to Dana's question, "She's timid around them."Chloe turned from Dana and looked at Rachel. "Timid? That woman is terrified when it comes to spiders." Chloe looked at Dana and added as she blindly pointed in Steph's direction. "She took Steph off her feet." Dana looked at Steph, seeing the woman nodding behind the studio glass as Chloe continued. "Tackled her to get out the door of a vacation cottage we had rented a few years ago." She then chuckled. "Took the beanie right off her head."Steph blurted out, chuckling, which had Dana once again laughing.Rachel added, "She has this sixth sense of them."Chloe smirked. "Spider-sense."Rachel explained to Dana, "When she spotted the one in the corner, she turned and panicked." Chloe chimed in with the added detail. "Think it was like a wolf spider or somethin.'"Dana's eyes widened. "Those are pretty big and nasty."Chloe, remembering, added. "Think we also used a full can of bug spray on it." She started laughing. "Had to open the windows and doors to air out the place cause of the fumes… heh, more spiders probably came in with everything opened." Dana continued to laugh as Rachel looked at Steph, feeling sorry. "Poor Steph was coming in with her hands full."Steph turned her microphone back on. "I believe in making only one trip from the car to the home. Everything is to be carried at once."Dana agreed, "Me too, one trip from the car to the apartment with groceries."Rachel giggled. "Steph had her backpack on and was carrying a duffle bag in each hand.""This is the way," Steph replied with a smile.Chloe smirked at the comment, then added, looking at Dana and Rachel, "It was like watching a linebacker." Chloe raised her hands out to animate herself. "Boom! Luggage was up in the air along with Steph's feet."Rachel laughed. "Oh, gods, yes!"Steph exclaimed with her eyes wide, reliving the memory, "I had no idea what the fu–fudge was going on." Steph quickly looked at Chloe, knowing she almost swore on-air, seeing her coworker smirking at her. "I heard boots stomping-"Rachel smiled into her tea. "She loves her boots."Steph added, "I want a pair of them."Chloe nodded. "Mmhm, butt kickers.""Where did she get them?" Steph asked.Rachel answered, "Second-hand store, years ago.""Wait, wait," Dana interrupted, getting back to the story. "Hold up. What happened?" she looked at Steph. "Were you okay?"Steph went back to her memory. "Oh right, I looked up, hearing the boots and her banshee scream." Chloe and Rachel started giggling, remembering. "And I see this woman with a crazed look."Chloe smiled. "It looks like she's in mid-sneeze with one eye half closed." She then did the crazed look of her friend. Rachel, in mid-sip, spat out some of her tea, seeing Chloe's face as Dana let out a wheeze in her laughter. Steph, with her brow raised, explained. "I-I had no time to react."Rachel glanced at her friend as she quickly cleaned up her spill with a tissue. "She felt so bad afterward." She placed a hand over her heart, "Later that night, when we went to bed, she did mention that she took the beanie right off your head with that hit."Chloe and Dana laughed hard when Steph added, "I swallowed my gum too." Rachel tried to keep her laughter quiet. Her body shook as she held her breath; she stepped away from her station when she spilt her tea again as Steph continued. "I probably had a concussion. I was dizzy for the whole weekend."Chloe grinned from ear to ear and squinted with a questioning look. "Mmm, I think that was due to the beer and weed."Dana giggled, with Steph joining in. "Hmm, probably."Rachel held her stomach, took a deep breath then let it out to calm herself as she reached for another tissue. "She made up for it, though.""Oh, dude, yes. She's an amazing cook."Chloe sipped her coffee and nodded. "Mmmhm, she learned it from me."Rachel quickly looked at her friend, "You mean your mom. You barely cook-"Chloe placed her coffee on the table. "Which in relation, since Joyce is my mom and by osmosis since your wife is around meee-"Rachel shook her head at the stretch Chloe was trying to get at and whispered. "Oh my gods."Chloe then concluded. "Therefore, she's learned my mom's cooking from me."Rachel crossed her arms. "It has nothing to do with her asking Joyce to give her some recip-"Chloe closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Nope, all from me."Steph, smiling, pointed out the bull to her friends, "You're in Chloe's Fantasy Land again."Dana, the food lover, gushed out, "Oh, did she make her burgers?"Rachel smiled back, knowing her co-worker's love for food. "Yup yup.""Ooooh, they're soo good."With a pout, Chloe pipped up, "They are not like - Two - Whales - Burgers."Rachel giggled. "You gotta defend mom's cooking."Chloe pointed at Rachel, "It's a family thing."Steph leaned over her soundboard and pressed a switch to her microphone as she laughed. "Crew, we gotta move on. Cause ya know we are doing a radio show."Chloe turned back to her tablet's work itinerary. "Oops," she chuckled as she announced, "It's 6:05am."Rachel smiled at Steph. "We get easily sidetracked."Dana, also looking at the itinerary, smiled at Chloe and added, "It started with the weather, which led to sea monsters, Steph stoned and burgers."Chloe smiled widely and spoke into her microphone, "I'm Chloe with the one and only…" she looked at her co-host, "Rachel."With her mug of tea back in her hand, Rachel smiled and greeted the listeners, "Mornings."Chloe then turned to her other co-host and continued, "And also with the one and only, Daners."Dana smiled. "Morning, everyone."Chloe turned her head for a moment. "And our Producer plus technical official button pusher and 'keep everything on track lady,' Steph."Steph smirked. "It's sometimes like wrangling a bunch of overstimulated confused puppies."Rachel giggled. "We need a good song to start the morning."Dana pressed a few buttons on her touchscreen. "I have one already queued up.""Awesome."Dana spoke into her microphone as the song started to play. "To all the morning surfers out on the water right now. Stay safe and enjoy the waves." She then blurted out before the lyrics began, "And keep a lookout for sea monsters! This is 87.9 STYR Bay radio and welcome to the morning show!"Chloe hollered out, "Wooo!" After a few minutes of songs, Dana flicked her live audio switch to hear the current commercial in her headphones as she prepared.
…We still use the best state barley handed down from generation to generation to produce an uncompromising beer that can only be found here.
Thank you for your support and we raise a glass of Old Mill Amber Ale to you.
Chloe glanced at Steph, and when the producer gave the nod, the crew were back on-air. "Those were some awesome songs for a morning on the beach."Dana agreed, "Mmhm. Sooo ladies, today is the day."Chloe, confused, replied, "The day?" Then her memory came to her. "Oooh, the contest!"Rachel chuckled. "Yeah, ya know, the one we've been running for the entire month."Steph added to the conversation, "It's been so ingrained into the show now-"Dana nodded. "It's like second nature."Rachel sang out, "🎵The neverending con-test."Chloe announced, "We have…" she looked at her monitor. "66 names. Wow."Rachel looked over at Chloe. "Woah, that's a lot."Dana excitedly cheered. "All the names!"Chloe explained to the listeners, "If someone is new to the station or has been hiding under a rock for the past month…" Her co-worker chuckled. "We've been running a Secret Concert Location with the one and only Firewalk. For the past month, three times during the day, we would play Firewalk sometime around the morning, afternoon, and evening and all you had to do was phone in at 1-888-879STYR. If you were picked and told us what Firewalk song had been playing, you were automatically entered. That's it."Rachel added, "Supa easy."Dana agreed. "Easy Peasy."Chloe nodded. "Indeedy… Buuuuut…"Dana raised an eyebrow. "There's a but."Rachel giggled. "Smackable."Dana smiled. "Not that butt."Chloe chuckled at Rachel's fun. "Your wifey has an influence on you, Rach."Rachel giggled again. "Butt!"Chloe smiled. "The but, as in B-U-T, not the B-U-T-T that's on Rachel's mind." Rachel smiled behind her mug of tea. "Buuuutts."Chloe lightly shook her head at her coworker's silliness. "The but in this instance is that we now pick two people. We weed them down…"Rachel blurted out, "Weed!"Chloe replied, "Not that type of weed." She tilted her head, chuckling, "What has gotten into you?"Dana, drinking her coffee, answered, "Think the caffeine has hit yah."Rachel beamed as the giggling continued.Chloe opened her mouth to continue, but another thought came quickly. "You- wait..." she smirked, looking at her blonde-headed friend. "Did you smoke up or nom on a gummy before coming to work?"Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh, gods no."Dana squinted her eyes. "You sure. Hmmm, I dunno. I know you make the 'special brownies' on occasion."Rachel put down her tea, still smiling. "No, no weedies today."Chloe tilted her head, knowing. "They're all gone, aren't they?"Rachel replied, not missing a step, "Not even a crumb left from a week ago."Steph chuckled. "Why am I imagining you licking the brownie plate?"Chloe laughed, "Wouldn't be the first time."Rachel replied, "Like I said, the wife is a great cook. She puts peanut budda in them."Dana bit her lower lip. "Oou, that sounds yummy."Chloe, seeing where the topic was swaying, got them back on track, "Ladies?""Sorry. Off-topic again," Rachel said.Dana added, "Butts, food, and weed.""Woo!" Chloe cheered.Rachel looked over at Chloe. "Sooo, did we get two random names for the Secret Concert Location with the one and only Firewalk?"Chloe nodded. "Yes, we did, and we will-" Chloe stopped and looked at Steph. "I'm gonna have to explain all this right now?"Steph agreed. "Yeah, best to do it now."Chloe looked at her tablet and swiped to bring up another screen. "K. Sooo, With the 66 names we have, we at STYR randomly chose two."Dana asked, "Wait, who chose the names?"Rachel, also interested, spoke up, "We have a specific official person to do it?"Chloe replied, "Our official person was the maintenance dude working in the office yesterday." Dana giggled as Chloe explained, "He put his hand in a bin of names and hauled out two."Rachel grinned, "Sooo official."Dana giggled. "So professional here at STYR."Chloe added, "He has a Lil official badge. Well, it's a Chiquita banana sticker that Steph stuck on him as she officially deputized him as 'Picker of Names.'" Her coworkers laughed as Chloe kept the conversation to the contest knowing that it was so easy to get everyone off-topic. "Soo, to our listeners out there. You may have just said. Two names?" Chloe clarified further. "Yes. Two. Because now these two fans will go head to head to find out who is the biggest and only, ultimate Firewalk superfan!""A battle," Dana said.Steph chimed in, "To the death."Rachel abruptly stopped sipping her tea. "Wut?!"Chloe added, "Mortal Kombat!" Steph smiled into a chuckle. Chloe continued, "These two fans will be put into a ring to battle… No. No, they won't, kidding."Steph replied, "Why do I think some of our listeners are a little upset that they will not see a physical battle?"Chloe chuckled. "Well, it's a battle of sorts, though. Just with no blood and tears.""Dammit," Steph whispered, grinning."Well, maybe some tears to the person that will lose," Dana said to Steph's happiness.Chloe continued, "We have come up with a test or multiple tests?"Steph added, "They're just questions. Chlo, you're gonna have people thinking that they have to sit in class and do a test.""Auugh, I hate that feeling," Dana stated.Rachel thought out loud, "I never had that feeling when it came to tests for school."Chloe replied, "Of course you didn't, Miss 4.0."Dana, surprised, looked at her coworker. "Seriously, you had a 4.0 average?!"Rachel nodded like it was nothing for her to have accomplished. "Yeah?"Chloe thumbed over in her friend's direction. "Miss Smartypants, that one there in university."Rachel shrugged. "Stuff just sticks in my head. I dunno. I found it easy to remember things like lines for my theatre class. Now…" Rachel giggled. "I forget stuff as soon as I read something. Or I walk into a room and just stand there asking, 'why did I come in here?'"Steph frowned a little. "I hated it in school. If I had to read something once, I had to read it hundreds of times for it to stay in my head for a test."Chloe waved her hand to get her friend's attention. "Oi, Contest going on here."Steph and Rachel apologized. "Sorry."Dana lightly shook her head at her friend and teased, "Steph, you're falling into the abyss of not keeping us on the subject.""Heh," Steph replied, smiling.Chloe tried getting everybody on track, "Okay… wait. Where was I?…" She looked down at her tablet. "I already forgot." Her co-workers laughed as Chloe found where she had left off. "Oh, here we go. We're gonna have two peeps go head to head with questions?" She looked at Steph for confirmation. Steph nodded, then swayed her head from side to side. "Pretty much. I think."Rachel asked with a smile, "You think?"Steph looked at her monitor. "Hold on, checking what was sent me this morning. There was some legal stuff that had to be changed cause one of our last contests, someone that didn't win had," Steph used air quotes. "'an issue.'"Chloe nodded and gave Steph some time to reread her email. "K, as you're looking stuff up, I'll just remind the listeners that the winner will be jetted away with someone-"Dana grinned. "I'm sure the winner will have a lot of friends pop up on their socials to try and get that extra ticket."Rachel nodded in agreement. "For sure."Chloe, a little blue, added, "I'm still bummed that no one here got tickets." She looked at her microphone. "Peeps, when I say this is an exclusive concert. I mean exclusive." She then glanced at Rachel. "No tickets have been given to the media." She then looked at Dana. "No one has access or even knows the secret concert location."Rachel sighed, looking back at Chloe. "It sucks, both you and I; when we heard about the concert, we were gonna play rock, paper, scissors to see who got the media ticket."Chloe remembered when they found out. "Auuugh. I'm still a sad panda over that. No tickets for the media." Chloe looked at her microphone again. "Firewalk wants YOU, the listeners out there, to be their media. So to the future winner, take all the pics and the vids of the concert. And enjoy the new album's official release night."Rachel added her small frustration, "I can't believe we're not going."Chloe nodded, feeling her pain. "I know. I know, don't rub it in."Steph spoke up, looking up from her monitor, "K, I got some clarification." she chuckled, looking at her monitor again, then squinted. "I think."Dana smiled. "I love how you say, 'I think,' with a confused look.""Heh," Chloe smirked.Steph scratched the back of her neck. "K. Sooo. The Bossman just brought up a point that twenty questions would take up too much time for the show. Even though most of these questions are not hard for the die-hard fan. So I'm going through them quickly and picking out the ones I think will stump people. Cause we do have a time limit here."Chloe nodded. "True."Steph announced. "We're gonna have them do a sound fx to buzz in when they know an answer, and the first to get three questions right, wins."Dana asked, "Oh, so It's gonna be like the same way we play our trivia game?"Chloe put up her hands before things got confusing. "Hold up, let me clarify. Just to make sure we're all on the same page here and our listeners know what is going on." She looked at Steph for clarification. "Two people's names have already been chosen."Steph replied. "Yes.""K. Then we get both of them on the line and someone here will ask the questions?""Yes.""They buzz in like we do for our trivia game."Steph nodded. "Yup. Come up with a sound fx."Rachel added. "With a 'Ding' or 'Boop.' Something like that?"Steph nodded again. "Yup."Chloe followed up for the listeners. "K. So listeners that have not heard our trivia game rules, the first to make a sound fx gets to answer the question. And the first one to get three questions right wins.""Yes." Steph nodded, agreeing.Chloe nodded. "K." Dana asked. "We gonna do this at nine, ooor?"Steph answered. "Yeah, give me some time to phone them and get 'em on the line."Chloe spoke up. "I think we should make it hard for them. Wake them up outta the blue, right now.""Sleepy and groggy," Rachel added.Chloe nodded, looking back at her friend. "Exactly. So they will answer all the questions wrong," Chloe smirked at Rachel, then looked at Steph. "So they forfeit their tickets which will then have to go to me and Rach, just because we're the most superest of fans." Chloe looked back at Rachel with her friend nodding and adding. "I agree; you can't let these tickets go to waste." Both fans looked at their producer, who looked back at them and stated. "Yeeeah, that is not gonna happen."Rachel's body slumped, and she loudly whispered. "Dammit."Dana giggled. "The look on Chloe's face. She looks so sad right now.""I'm a sad panda," Chloe replied with a fake sniff.Steph tilted her head to the side, looking at Chloe's acting. "Sorry, Chloe." She then smiled. "But I do like the idea of them being tired and not awake to answer questions. So I'll cue up the news and we can do it after that."Ooooh," Chloe perked up, liking that her idea would be used.Dana chuckled at seeing Chloe's new excitement. "Awesome."Steph looked over towards another booth. "Luke, you ready?"Rachel looked over her shoulder and smiled with the three other ladies welcoming the man in another booth. "Morning, Luke."With his headphones on, Luke had been quietly going over his morning routine. He suddenly looked up like a scared animal hearing his name with a donut hangout of his cheek-filled mouth.Dana furrowed her brow and grinned. "Look at him there, eating."Chloe smirked and joined in the fun. "Dude, you didn't even bring us any. What the hell?"With his microphone off, Luke pulled the donut away from his lips and mouthed, "I'm sorry."Rachel lightly shook her head. "Tsk tsk tsk. Oh, buddy." She then giggled, putting her finger up by her lip. "You have some chocolate on the corner of your lip."Luke wiped his mouth with his thumb, swallowed everything that was stuffed in his cheeks then drank a big gulp of coffee before turning on his microphone for everyone to hear. "Morning. I'm sorry I didn't bring in more. I'll bring in a dozen tomorrow.""You're saved," Chloe replied with a smile.Steph asked. "You ready, or do you need to get burped after swallowing all that?""You scared me," Luke replied. "And I panicked!"Dana chuckled. "That's what you get.""Auuugh, dozen donuts tomorrow, promise." He smiled back at the ladies, then looked at Steph. "Ready."Chloe spoke into her microphone, "Okay, listeners, we're gonna do the news, then play a few songs. Aaand then, peeps, we're gonna announce the two contestants and play the Secret Concert Location with the one and only Firewalk!"Both Dana and Rachel excitedly yelled out. "Woo!" Luke stood comfortable in his workspace and began. "Morning Bay area. It's 6:10am, and here's the morning news…As Luke continued, Steph confirmed the time; and logged onto Firewalks media site at the requested time given to her by the promoters. Everything was going to schedule; she saw the update and instructions to download an audio file. The three ladies in front of her behind the glass occasionally watched her as they talked amongst themselves. Once Steph had everything ready to go, including the two contest names and their numbers. She waited for Luke to mention the scores from last night's sporting events. She flicked a switch, hearing the trio chatting in the other room. "We're ready." The three stopped their conversation and had her attention as the producer continued. "Chloe, take the lead, please. Rachel, you will be doing the questions; the files are now in the morning folder." Rachel looked at her laptop and nodded, seeing the file. "Dana, you're announcing the finalists; check the doc in the folder." Steph then stated, "Weather," noting that Luke had just started talking about today's weather and the forecast for the week. It was the crew's cue to be ready. Steph's hands hovered over the audio board as she readied herself to do the switchover as Luke came to the end of the news…"-And that is your weather for today. It's 6:15 am, and good morning and have a safe day out there, everyone."Steph clicked Luke's microphone off, then mouse-clicked an audio file. A new Firewalk song began to play in the background as an announcer's voice boomed over the music.
Welcome to Firewalk's secret concert location contest. One person and a friend will fly round trip to a secret location on June 21st to see and hear Firewalk's new album release: Walk With Me. And it all happens here on STYR, your alternation station.
Steph pressed another switch, opening all microphones, then finger-gunned Chloe.Chloe: Wooooo, welcome back; we're live!Rachel: WOooOOoo! Let's get this started!Dana: I have the two names. Ready.Chloe: Dooo it!Dana: I got butterflies right now; I can't stay still.Chloe: I know; You've been walking around your little area since the news.Dana: Woo, here we go! Finalist number one is… Sheldon Pike of right here in Oregon!Rachel: YaY Congratulations, Sheldon!Chloe: Wooo!Dana: And finalist number two is Max Caulfield of Seattle!Chloe: Congrats, dude!Rachel: Yay to the finalists!Chloe looked over at Steph, seeing the woman with her hands on the audio board. "You're phoning them now?"Steph nodded. "Yep. Outside line with blocked ID."Rachel, holding her mug with two hands, looked on, excited. "Oooh, so they will get surprised."To keep the chatter going, Steph let everyone know what was happening, and she turned on the microphone to her telephone call. "That's one ringy dinghy… two ri-" A man outside a building looked at his phone, confused at the number he still answered. "Who's this?"Chloe asked, "Sheldon Pike of Oregon?"Sheldon replied and again questioned the caller, "Yeeeah? Who's this?"Chloe smiled as she stated, "I'm Chloe from STYR Radio. You had entered the Secret Concert Lo-"Sheldon froze, then blurted out, "OH MAN! WOO! I'm a finalist!" He looked around for anyone near him. "Me and my co-workers have the radio on right now! I just stepped out to have a quick smoke."Dana asked. "You ready for this, Sheldon?"Sheldon replied, excited. "Hell yeah, I am!"Rachel inquired. "So, what do you do? If I can ask?""I work at a distribution warehouse, nightshift."Dana added. "So I guess you're wide awake."Chloe loudly whispered. "Dammit."Sheldon chuckled, hearing Chloe's remark. "Yeah, I'm at the end of my shift. I heard you wanted your finalist to be sleepy, but I'm wide awake! I'm wired on everything right now, including adrenaline."Chloe laughed along with the others as she instructed her first finalist. "Sheldon, stay on the line; we gotta get you your opponent for this contest.""This is freakin' awesome!" Sheldon replied.Rachel added. "Do some stretching for the battle. You don't wanna pull a hammy."Dana giggled. "A brain hammy."The crew and Sheldon laughed as Steph phoned up the next contestant. "K, here we go… One ringy dingy… two ringy dingy…three ringy ding..." A phone's screen lit up and vibrated on a bedside table…Rachel grinned as the ringing continued. "Think we might be waking up this dude from his slumber."Chloe rubbed her hands and let out an evil laugh. "Hee hee hee." Steph continued her count. "Five ringy di-A small groggy voice spoke. "-ello?" Chloe asked the caller. "Can I speak to a Max Caulfield?"Dana quietly spoke to her crew. "Ooooh, she's supa sleepy. I kinda feel bad for waking up someone now." She then giggled.The caller replied with a small unhappy groan. "Mmm, speaking."Chloe smirked. "Hey yah, Max."Rachel tilted her head to the side with a soft smile. "Aww, Max, you sound so tired." The woman on the other line, not fully awake, made another unhappy noise as she yawned. Rachel lightly laughed with the others, hearing the response.Chloe leaned towards her microphone. "Wakie wakie, Maxie. Do you know who this is?"Max, lying on her stomach, still half in Sleepland, had her phone resting on the side of her face; replied with a grunt. Chloe smiled at the sound. As Dana noted, looking at Steph, who was laughing behind the glass. "We definitely got a sleepy one."Chloe, using a soft voice, continued as the others held their laughter. "Maxie? I'm Chloe, and I'm here with Rachel and Dana from STYR Radio.""Mmm."Dana snorted into a chuckle.Rachel whispered. "It's like we woke up a Lil rabbit. We're all talking quietly."Chloe continued. "Maxie, do you remember entering a contest for the Firewalk Secret Concert?""… Mmm… k," Max muttered into another yawn.Chloe took a big breath and then announced. "You're one of our finalists, sleepyhead. Wake up!"Dana encouraged the girl on the line. "Wake up, Max!"Max's eyes sprung open, and she coughed. "Wut?"Dana laughed. "She's waking up."Chloe replied with a chuckle. "We probably scared her."Rachel smiled widely, looking at her co-workers. "Sweetie, you are a finalist in the Firewalk Secret Concert!"The three radio hosts cheered loudly to wake the caller. "WooOoooo!!!"Max flinched at the loud cheer as her phone fell away from her face. She scrambled to pick it up as it seemed to keep fumbling from her hands. "Wait, wut?!"Dana replied. "Oh, I think she's fully awake now."Rachel continued laughing as she sang out the caller's name. "🎵Maaax."Chloe moved away from her mic and mouthed to Rachel. "She sounds so adorable." With a mean case of bedhead hair, Max quickly sat up in bed. "Wowsers!"Chloe looked back at her microphone, hearing the woman's reply. "W-wowsers?! I haven't heard that phrase in, like, since I was a tween," Chloe's smile widened, adding. "We're totally cereal, Maximus!"Max blurted out. "Y-you're Chloe from STYR radio!"Chloe leaned back from her microphone with an impressed look at her co-workers. "Oooh, someone knows me."Rachel lightly shook her head. "Oh no-"Chloe lightly boasted. "I am known throughout the lands. I am a goddess of radio!"Dana looked at Rachel. "Oh, jeez."Rachel added. "I think you've given Chloe an even bigger head than she has."The caller giggled, and Rachel watched Chloe stop her boasting to listen to it. The blonde grinned, watching her.Dana looking at Chloe, glanced at Steph, noting that Chloe was not paying attention. She seemed to be carefully listening to the caller's voice. Dana stepped in to move things along, "Max, what do you do for a living, if I can ask?"Max pushed her hair away from her face. "I'm a student at Seattle U."Rachel mentioned. "Oh, I guess we did get the right sleepyhead. Exams are going on right about now.""Yeah," Max replied. "I'm into the final week of it."Chloe blurted out a question. "Are you into your last year?"Max's eyes widened hearing Chloe's voice. "O-oh, uhm, yeah."Chloe nodded to herself, getting the answer, then didn't move the contest along.Dana again spoke up. "Alright. Sheldon, you still there?" She glanced at Rachel, seeing her with a wide grin watching Chloe."Yep," he replied, chuckling."Awesome. We will get this final contest set up in just a few. We will be right back after this."
🎵1-877-Bikes 4 Kids.
B-I-K-E-S, Bikes for Kids. 1-877-Bikes 4 Kids.
Donate your bike today.🎵
Rachel nodded to Steph, getting her cue. "We're back. And we have our two finalists, Sheldon and Max, for the Ultimate Fan Super Secret Concert Contest with Firewalk! Do you both know how we play our trivia contest?""Yep," Sheldon replied.Max nodded, then realized she had to verbally say something. "Yes," she spouted out.Chloe cleared her throat, then instructed. "Okay, for our listeners and for you both, just to review. Rachel will ask the questions that are all about Firewalk. If you know the answer, make a sound fx and wait for us to say your name before answering. Are you ready, Sheldon?"Sheldon replied, letting out a breath of held air. "Yup.""Maxie? You still with us, or are you gone back to Dreamland?""Y-yes," Max anxiously replied. Chloe let out a cute giggle, which had the crew, including Luke, with his mouth full again of food, look at Chloe's expression. Max realized her answer and corrected herself. "Sorry. I mean, I'm here."Chloe continued to giggle. "K…"Dana's eyes went over to Steph's, who was already staring at Chloe, seeing the display of goofiness from her punk friend. She then glanced over at Rachel, who had her arms crossed across her chest and with a wide smile, enjoying what she saw.Dana again spoke to get the contest moving along as Chloe seemed distracted. "Sheldon, what's the sound fx you wanna do for your buzzer?"Sheldon replied. "Ladies, I'll do the classic Ding.""Old School," Chloe remarked as she blinked a few times.Dana then asked Max. "And you, Max? Your buzzer sound?"Max was caught letting out a yawn. "Sorry. I'll say… Oi."Chloe let out a little gasp. "Oi? Like from one of Firewalk's new songs?"Max smiled and wiggled her butt as she sat at the edge of her bed. "Maaaybe.""A lady after my own heart, using a Firewalk song for her buzzer," Chloe remarked.Max giggled again as Chloe sang. "🎝You and me running around the streets!"The song's next verse was sung by not only Max but also Sheldon and Rachel. 🎝"Oi Oi Oi!"Chloe smiled at the crew. "I love our Firewalk fans!"Rachel cheered and raised a hand. "WOoooOOo!" Steph raised her hand and wound her wrist in a come here motion that Chloe knew was to keep moving things; the show had to keep on time.Chloe nodded, then looked at Rachel. "Ready, Rach?""Yus!" Rachel replied excitedly.Chloe announced loud and clear. "Alright, peeps. Let's do this. Let's find out who is the Ultimate Firewalk Fan!"Rachel read from her laptop. "In 2010… Firewalk did a one-night concert event at an Old Mill located in what t-?"Ding!" Sheldon called out, followed by Max's sound fx."Oooh, Sheldon got in first," Dana said.Chloe agreed. "Yeah, so close, and before Rachel finished the question.""Sheldon, your answer?" Rachel asked."Arcadia Bay, in Oregon," Sheldon replied."Correct!"Chloe and Dana cheer at the correct answer. "Woooo!"Dana noted. "That's one for Sheldon."Sheldon added. "It was an awesome concert. Too bad the mill burned down a few weeks later."Chloe looked at her microphone when she heard Sheldon comment. "Wait, you were there?""Hell yeah! I spent some time around that town in my mid-20s, and we heard about them playing there one night. Thought it was BS." Sheldon chuckled as he continued to explain. "We thought it was going to be a cover band or something. Not actual Firewalk."Rachel, wide eyed, replied. "Woah. That's one hell of a surprise!""Heh, the crowd went crazy."Chloe agreed with Rachel. "Oh, dude, that must have been awesome."Sheldon nodded to himself, standing outside his workplace. "It was a rock-solid gig they did."Rachel moved on but added. "Max, we haven't forgotten about you. You were so close."Max replied, kicking herself that she wasn't quicker. "I know, I know. I'm still sleepy and behind."Dana confessed to her workmates. "Now I think we've put Max at a disadvantage with Sheldon working the night shift."Sheldon chuckled. "I need all the help."The crew laughed as the contest continued. "Okay. Question number two," Rachel said, then repeated as she looked at her screen, "Numba twoooo. What song is dedicated to one of the band's family members?""Oi!" Max blurted out before Sheldon."Auugh, man," Sheldon said with a bit of frustration.Dana chuckled. "Max got it.""This Is Me," Max replied."Correct!" Rachel announced.Chloe added. "And the band's family member is Keeffe's sister, who was their sound manager for years and an outspoken member of the Lgbt+ community."Rachel looked at Chloe. "I remember him and his sister did a duet of the song on stage during the ALTEFFIGY event a few years ago in Seattle."Max spoke up. "Yeah, It's a pretty big song played here during Seattle's Pride week. Tons of people in the crowd were singing it with them. I make sure it's on rotation at the cafe where I work."Chloe raised her eyebrows and replied. "O-h, oh yeah?"Rachel grinned, rolled her eyes, then shook her head at her friend's curiosity, who seemed to always be on the prowl. Dana quickly started typing on her laptop as she spoke into her microphone. "The two of you have seen some great events with Firewalk."Max nodded to herself and agreed. "Mmhmm."Sheldon replied. "If there is a concert in Oregon, I'll definitely go."Chloe commented. "Well, you might have a chance to go outside Oregon to see them if you win."Sheldon replied. "I know, I know. I'm shaking here. This smoke is not helping."Chloe chuckled. "You need some of Rachel's weed."The crew and Sheldon laughed as Max quietly chuckled. Once they settled down, Rachel continued. "Question threeeee… Here we go… We're tied at one... What song did Firewalk refuse to release as a single right after their hugely successful album, The Owls Are Not What They Seem."Sheldon paused, thinking out loud, "Auuugh." It was drowned out by an 'OI!' on the conference call.Chloe announced. "Right in there with a loud OI! Max. What's the answer?"Max replied. "Black. They felt it was too much of a personal and emotional song to be out on its own.""Correct!" Rachel declared. "And with the extra deets."Dana mentioned with a smile. "You know your stuff." She gazed over at Chloe, who spoke up again, "I gotta agree with what the band did and without their record label backing the song up with extra commercial stuff for it being a single. It got to number three on Billboard's alternative charts the year it came out. It's a great hard-hitting song."Sheldon blew out smoke from his cigarette. "It is."Max added. "Hits right in the feels."Chloe agreed. "Yeah, definitely. Think a lot of people can associate with the song.""Yeah," Max said.Chloe repeated again as she tilted her head, hearing Max. "Yeeah." "Alright," Dand said, looking from Chloe, who seemed to be staring into space. She continued on, looking over at Rachel again. "It's 2 to 1 for Max. Sheldon, you gotta get the next one."Sheldon whispered to himself over and over. "Okay, okay, okay.""Max can take the win with the next correct answer if you can't get in there quick enough," Dana added."I'm shaking here," Sheldon confessed."And Max, you are so close!" Rachel said.Max blurted out. "Oh, dog! My heart is so loud right now."Chloe commented with a smile. "Don't have a heart attack, Maxie; seriously, I don't want anyone dying in this game."Max giggled, and Chloe's smile grew. "Okay," she replied, then took a couple of heavy breaths to help calm her nerves. Rachel again read off her laptop, "Okay. Here we go. Question four… Their song "Ain't No Fun was used in wh-"Sheldon called out before the question was finished and answered right away, "Ding! Dirt 4!""Correct!" Chloe pointed out. "That was fast."Rachel read the entire question. "The full question was: Their song "Ain't No Fun" was used in what 2017 video game… which was indeed Dirt 4."Dana noted. "Wow, I did not know that. Did you, Max?""Auuugh," Max confessed with a groan. "I knew, Ain't No Fun was the song that was used, but I drew a blank at the game."Chloe let out a nervous breath. "Oh man, it's tied!"Dana excitedly hopped in the balls of her feet. "I need something to calm down."Chloe offered her mug to Dana. "Here, drink my double shot of bean juice." She grinned at Dana, who had her hands out to grab it, then clued in. "Chloe!"Chloe laughed as she took a sip. "Caffeine is life."Rachel watched her bouncing friend. "You are really wired right now, D."Chloe mentioned to the listeners. "Daners is here pacing back and forth."Dana chuckled as she shook out her excitement with her hands. "I can't take this."Steph leaned towards her microphone and clicked a switch. "Rach, you better get to the next question before Dana passes out."Rachel laughed as she looked at the next question, "Oooh, I know the answer to this one." She looked up at her friend with a smile. "Cause of you, Chloe."Chloe, interested, lifted her brow. "Oh yeah?"Dana smiled as she shushed Rachel, hoping not to give away any hints. "Shhh, no giveaways."Rachel continued. "Question five and the tiebreaker, aaand for the secret trip to see and hear Firewalk's new album release!… What is the name of the song that is hidden on the only vinyl-"OI!"Rachel announced. "Max, for the win!..""When We Were Kids," Max stated.Rachel watched Chloe raise her arms in celebration, knowing the answer. "Woo! Max wins!Max excitedly yelled out. "Aah!"Dana cheered. "Yaaaaaah!"Rachel quickly clarified the answer to the question for the listeners. "Yep, There's a hidden song, When We Were Kids, on side B of Firewalk's only vinyl album, Falling." Chloe offered some condolences. "Sheldon, you gave a good fight, my man, but there can only be one.""Yeah, thank you," Sheldon said, then admitted. "I had no idea. Congrats Max. And thanks for giving me a shot."Dana smiled. "You're welcome, Sheldon. Have yourself a good day.""You too, ladies.""Laters, Sheldon," Chloe said."Bye, Sheldon," Rachel added. "Thank you for playing.""Bye."Chloe looked over at her producer. "Steph, you have the release tracked up?"Steph nodded. "Yup, here we go."Chloe leaned forward towards her microphone. "Max. This is for you!""Oh my dog!" Max squeaked out.Steph double-clicked on her second audio file, and the official announcement started.
Congratulations! Firewalks welcomes you and a friend to celebrate their new album release:
Walk With Me! On June 21st, you will fly non-stop to the Netherlands via Delta airlines, where you will arrive in Amsterdam, rock star style, with free service courtesy of UberX luxury cars. You will stay for four days and three nights at the exclusive Movenpick Hotel right in the city centre and 1500 Euros in spending cash! Then, on June 22nd at 9:00pm, you will be driven via UberX luxury cars to a secret location to be part of Firewalk's exclusive new album release, Walk With Me. Congratulations! Chloe hollered. "Oh hells yeah!"Max gasped. "Are you cereal?!"Rachel cheered. "Woah!"Dana was surprised at the location, as was everyone. "NO way!Chloe, laughing at Max's reaction, added. "Hella cereal, Rockstar!"Max felt her heart beating so hard as her body trembled with excitement. "Oh, my dog! Thank you!"Chloe announced. "You're going to the land of weed! And now Firewalk's new album release!" Rachel admitted. "Your friends are probably gonna bombard you once you hang up."Dana asked. "Do you have someone in mind to join you?"Max's body tensed up, and she answered. "Yeah? Kinda.""You wanna say who it is?" Dana then added, "or you don't have to; we shouldn't ruin the surprise."Max replied. "No, I do. It's just… my heart is beating so fast right now. I can't think. I think she might be busy, and I dunno if she even has a passport, and it's a little crazy for me to ask her-"Rachel offered some encouragement. "Oh, Max, just ask her!" Chloe nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah. It's a flight to Amsterdam to see Firewalk and see the sights with some big cash! Ask her, girl! How could she say no? I wouldn't!""So, uhm. That's a yes, then?" Max asked. Steph's finger froze over the audio board, and she looked up at the crew. "Wait, wut?"Rachel, surprised, looked over at Chloe. "Oh my gods, are you asking Chloe out on a date?!"Chloe stood still as her workmates all watched. Her eyes widened when she realized what was happening, and she stared at ther microphone. Max added. "Uhm, y-yeah? Will you go with me to see Firewalk?"With her mouth open, Steph blurted out. "This is like the best 'Ask me out on a date,' ever!"Dana had her hands over her mouth, looking at Chloe, then Rachel, then back at Chloe. She lowered her hands a little and loudly whispered before she placed them over her mouth again. "Max has just set the bar for anyone asking someone out."Rachel, with a huge open smile, burst out. "Chloe! Oh my- Chloe is stunned!" She looked at Dana, then back at her surprised punk friend. "She's stunned!"Dana snapped her fingers towards Chloe. "Earth to Chloe." She added, still looking at each of her workmates. "I've never seen her like this."Steph pointed out. "Max, you have silenced our lady."Rachel waved at her friend. "Chloe, girl, answer."Dana smiled, looking at her friend. "She is so blushing right now." Chloe glanced at Dana, then quickly looked away. Dana moved a few papers on her desk, searching for something. "I gotta get a picture of this. Where's my phone?!"Rachel explained. "Max, I have… Max, I've known Chloe for a long time and I have never in my life seen her like this. She's so-"Steph interrupted. "I'm now streaming this on our site, thestyr.com."Rachel leaned forward to get into Chloe's view. "So, what's the answer?"Chloe noticed Rachel looking at her and looked away, feeling embarrassed. The awkward woman swallowed and scratched the back of her neck. "Uhmm, ah… I-I think I'm gonna need some time-" Steph grimaced at Chloe, who was put on the spot and stalled her answer. The producer did admit to herself that it was a little weird for a stranger to ask Chloe on a trip. Dana quickly looked at Rachel, Max was going to be turned down, and her co-host whispered. "Oh no."Max felt her stomach drop and her inner voice yelling. Oh my dog! You just asked her out, and she's turning you down cause she doesn't know who the hell you are. Oh my fuck I'm a creep! WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!!! OH FUCK, EVERYONE IS LISTENING TO THIS! Chloe continued and slowly spoke, looking at Steph. "yeah, I'm uhh… I'm gonna need sometime… off in June, Steph!"The crew went up in cheers. "OHHH! Woo!"Max blurted out. "That's a yes?!"Chloe widely smiled and answered. "Yeah. Yeah, I will go with you.""Yeah?!""Yeah!"Rachel pointed out to the listeners, but more importantly to Max. "Chloe can't stop smiling! Max, you can't see this, but she is all smiles and blushing!"Dana watched Steph point at the clock and took the cue. "Hey, Max, where can you win exclusive concert tickets, then ask Chloe out on a date?"Max excitedly called out. "97.9 STYR Radio!"Chloe hollered. "I'm going on a date!"Dana flicked a switch, and a new Firewalk single started to play. Chloe clicked off her microphone and took off her headphones as Dana and Rachel celebrated."I gotta talk with her," Chloe, still dazed, walked passed her coworkers.Steph, talking with Max on the phone, saw Chloe walk towards her booth, and she lightly chuckled. "-Yeah, I think she wants to talk with you."Chloe opened the door, walked through and whispered, pointing at the phone next to Steph's ear. "Dude, can I talk with her?" Steph held out the phone, then placed her headphones on, giving Chloe some privacy. Chloe turned away from Steph and spoke. "Hi.""H-hi," Max replied on the line."Ahh, this is Chloe."Max giggled. Oh god, that giggle is so cute, Chloe thought. Max added, "I know; I've heard your voice many times.""Oh.. right, duh." Chloe chuckled at her cringeyness, then lightly cleared her throat. "So are you sure you wanna do this? I know I've been complaining about not getting tickets and I didn't want you to think that I was guilting the winner into giving me one of them."Max stumbled over her words, not knowing what to say," I-I." She didn't really think things through, and she felt the heat in her face along with her heart pounding, not from excitement but from panic once again. "I can be-," Chloe started to say, then paused once she heard a knock against the studio window. She turned to see Rachel smiling and standing. "-I can be a bit of a talker…" She watched as her friend placed her phone up to the glass and spoke behind the soundproof room, articulating her words, "She's. Cute!"Max hesitated a little. "I didn't take… I, you. I mean, I didn't take it like you were guilting me into anything. I uhmm, I thought that…" Max slumped, sitting on the edge of her bed and let out a quiet sigh. "Oh, dog. Yeah, this is kinda crazy for me, a stranger, to ask-" Max coughed, feeling her throat tighten as her actions of what she did came rushing in. Oh my god! "Y-you are a huge fan, and I listen to the s-show…"Chloe's eyes widened as she stared at Rachel's phone and Max's social TEXTuя Pix account she had found. Chloe saw a picture of a woman standing with a group of people as she accepted a photography award. Chloe stood straighter, still staring at the photo, and replied with an unwavering voice. "Yes. Yes, I'm totally all for this. We're gonna have a hella time." "Yeah?!" Max replied, feeling her excitement again.Chloe stared at the next picture Rachel scrolled to. Chloe nodded and kept nodding as she answered. "Yup, yeah. I'm sooo there with you." Damn, she is really beautifully cute. Rachel looked at her phone, then mouthed to Chloe like she knew what her friend was thinking, "I know right?!"Chloe turned away and her eyes searched as her brain tossed up an idea. "So, uhmm, I have something that is also kinda crazy."Max giggled. "And what's that?"Chloe chuckled. "Well, I can't even compare to asking you to another country on a date." Steph looked out the corner of her eye, seeing Chloe, her punk friend, in ripped jeans, a skull shirt, and blue hair, scuffing her worn army boots on the floor as the woman scratched the back of her neck, looking nervous. Steph glanced at Rachel, still standing outside the booth, grinning at her friend's posture. Chloe continued. "-But, ahh, do you wanna meet up to officially meet?"Max smiled, and even though she was not there with Chloe, she looked down, suddenly feeling very shy. "Yeah, I would like that." Chloe smiled at the answer as Max added. "Kinda seems like the right thing to do before you're jetted away with me." Max felt uncomfortable immediately and needed to explain. "Oh dog, that sounds creepy!""Heh," Chloe chuckled."I-I don't mean to. Oh dog, that was weird to say that. I-I…" Max started to ramble, and Chloe lightly laughed as she cut in. "Take a breath, Max, it's okay. I didn't take it as you being creepy." Max nervously giggled again. Chloe, hearing her giggle, placed the phone receiver on her chest and looked up towards the sky. Oh, my gods, this girl is gonna make me so goopy . She then put the phone back to her ear. "So I know it's short notice, but with my schedule, I have my weekends off.""Oh?" Max again felt her excitement rise."Would. I mean, we could meet in Seattle if you want?" Chloe asked."I-I'm off this weekend also.""Yeah? I can come up there for, say, Saturday or Sunday for lunch? If that's okay.""Yeah, yeah, that is good. Ahh, have you been to Seattle?"Yeah, a few times," Chloe replied."K, uhmm, ahh." Max still couldn't think straight. Everything was happening so fast."Heh, you're still sleepy, aren't you?"Max's inner voice spoke out loud, "Oh, my dog, if this is all a dream, I'm gonna be sooo pissed when I wake up." AHH, I said that out loud! Chloe chuckled. "Nope, this is real life… I'll tell you what," Chloe asked, already knowing one of the answers, seeing as Rachel had already done the quick detective work. "Are you on TEXTur, FaceNod, or Wyvern?""Yeah, TEXTur. My ID is MadMax.""K, are you following STYR's server?"With her phone out in front of her, Max started clicking away, then brought her phone back to her ear. "...I just did.""Heh, K, I'll jump on there in a bit and add you as a friend, and we can DM a Lil bit. If that's okay?""K." Max felt a smile across her face that wouldn't go away.Chloe rubbed the back of her neck again. "Ahh, okay, uhmm. Whew, this is a lot to take in." She lightly chuckled."Tell me about it." Max giggled, looking at her hand trembling."Heh… K. Uhmm, I gotta go. Ya know, work stuff, live on air and all that.""Oh yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to haul you away!" Max felt like she had to apologize. Oh, is she going to get in trouble? "Oh, no worries. Seriously, Max. I'll text you in a bit.""Sure thing.""K.""K." Max giggled."Bye." Chloe felt herself nervously laugh again."Bye.""Bye," Chloe repeated, then realized she had repeated herself. Oh my fuck I'm a dummy. Max pressed the phone app to end the call. She paused for a moment as her reality caught up, and she fell back on her bed, giggling. "Oh, my dog!" she said loudly as she kicked her feet and wailed her arms around. Max turned into her pillow, smushed her face in the bedding, and let out a loud excitable. "AAAAHH!" Chloe hung up the phone with a smile that wouldn't go away. She looked at Steph, who smirked at her and gave her friend a thumbs up. Chloe dropped her smile before she walked out the door.Rachel, standing back at her desk, watched her punk friend. "Chloe?" Chloe didn't answer and took her spot back in the studio. Rachel glanced at Dana, who was also staring. She leaned over her station towards Chloe, excitedly waiting. Chloe returned to work, adjusted her microphone, and then put headphones around her neck. She took a deep breath as a feeling washed over her; it was something she had never felt before. Chloe didn't know how to fully accept it; she just let it come over her as she smiled a little. She placed her headphones on her ears then took a sip of her coffee as she made a quick text on her phone. Chloe placed it on her work desk and then glanced at Rachel, who watched her with a soft smile. From the corner of Chloe's eyes, she saw a phone notification. She quickly clicked the app and the friend request as the song came close to its end. Chole's smile widened as she read the message to herself. TEXTuяMadMax#1337 has requested a private message with you.✅ Accept ⛔ Decline📷MadMax: Hey, I just wanted to show you who I am. Sorry not sorry, for my sleepy look. You kinda woke me up 😛Chloe flicked on her microphone as she continued her day with a picture of Max on her phone. The song ended and the broadcast continued on. "Morning, Bay Peeps. It's 6:25 am." Chloe looked up at her co-workers. "Sooo, what does everyone have planned for this weekend? Hit us up at STYR and let us know. Daners, Rachel, what do you two have planned?"Dana stepped toward Chloe, forgetting that her headphones were on her head. The cord reached its limit and she had to quickly catch them as they flew off her head. "Chloe, you have to tell us what happened with the phone call with Max!"Rachel, leaning over her station table, smiled and brought the microphone towards her. "Yeah, listeners, during our commercial and music break Chloe went to the booth and talked with Max."Chloe smirked, looking down at a picture of Max on her phone and teased. "I have no idea what you two are talking about."Rachel blurted out. "Chlo!"Dana, still caught up in her headphone cord, hollered. "You can't leave us hanging!"Chloe kept her composure and continued with the broadcast, "Like I said, peeps, hit us up with your plans for the weekend. I..." She looked at her friends and a huge grin emerged, "will be taking an unexpected road trip to Seattle."