“I swear to God if you don’t get off your ass and actually enjoy yourself, I think I’ll have to put you out of your misery.” Marc scoffs frustratedly and sighs as he plops down next to his best friend. She pays him no mind, pretending that her headphones are playing music too loud, her eyes trained on the dark skyline before her.

She pretends to notice him out of the corner of her eye and does a quick double-take as if she’d just noticed his presence. “Oh, jeez Marc, you scared me.” She gives a heavy sigh and lets an eased smile out, as if he’d really startled her. She’d acted it perfectly. If Marc was anyone else, he would’ve been smoothly fooled. But Marc wasn’t anyone else, he knew very well how Lola played her little games.

“Oh, scared you, did I?” Before she could blink, he snatched at her Zune. She sputtered helplessly as he pressed a button, making the screen alight. He pressed another button and found what he needed. With a knowing smirk on his face, he turned the music player’s screen back to Lola. In the top, right corner of the screen was a little volume bar, and he was showing her just how low her volume was set. “Like you couldn’t hear me on your…hm let’s see…oh yeah… two volume levels?” He scoffed, handed back her Zune and smiled. “I know how you roll, girl, so don’t try to pull one over on me.”

“Oh shut up. So…” She paused, then looked up at him with a smirk. “How was my performance?”

He snorted at her, “Great… you little snot.” She gave an insulted gasp and smacked him playfully on the arm. They both laughed. “I’m surprised your battery isn’t dead on this thing…” Marc commented while handing Lola’s Zune back to her. “I don’t think I’ve seen you a second without it since Christmas…”

Lola snatched up her beloved music player and cradled it like a baby. “You know how much I love my music.”

“Well I know how you like to pretend to be listening to something while you’re really just listening to the conversations around you.”

“Shhh…” She said with a smirk, bringing a finger to her lips and winking.

“Fine, you hide behind your little music box. If you really want to party and maybe have a life again, come find me.” He looked at her seriously and she got the point. He then added with a silly whisper “I know who keeps the booze and it is New Year’s.” With that, Marc reluctantly left Lola to rejoin his girlfriend who was hanging around by the sliding glass door that separated the house from the large balcony.

Lola signed deeply and turned her Zune off for what seemed like the first time in days. She dropped onto a lounge that was set up on the balcony she was hiding on. Marc’s words weren’t meant to make her think, but they did. She was hiding behind her Zune.

It was a gift from her Dad for Christmas and she loved it. Lola knew that it was just a bribe to keep her on his side during the divorce. Yeah, fat chance, but she still enjoyed it. Though lately, more than enjoying it…she was hiding behind it.

Right before Christmas, her parents decided to divorce and not a week after that, her boyfriend of two years broke it off. Having something constantly playing in her ears meant she could ignore everything…every probing question, every worried friend, every passing glance. As the New Year sat before her, not even hours away, she was afraid of what was to come. It would be the first year of a new family dynamic and the first time in a long time that she would be single. Right as the New Year began, her life was in shambles.

To keep herself from slipping into an obscure depression, she turned on her Zune again. This time, she turned up the volume to actually drown out the world around her. Her fingers aimlessly flicked through the many screens on her Zune, trying to find something to entertain herself without actually having to make human contact. On the main menu of her Zune, she found a link that she’d yet to explore in the days she’d owned it. In white lettering, under “settings”it read “community”. Quirking an eyebrow, she explored, pressing on it to see where it lead. The first screen that popped up said “me” at the top. Under “me” it read “Charlotte”. Lola smiled. Charlotte was the name she’d given her Zune when she first plugged it into her computer. Under the name of her Zune it read “online”.

Continuing on her quest, she found something that said “nearby”. Curious, Lola selected it. One name popped up: “Delta”. Under that was “online” and under that was a display that made her snort. It read in those white letters “Currently listening to: “Everybody Wants Ya” by S Club 7”. Sadly, the song popped into her head and the tune along with it.

Suddenly, her fingers were moving on their own accord, flicking through her songs and finding one. She pressed it then went to the option of “send”. Lola had just sent a song to this random person with a Zune. She didn’t know why, but it was already done.

She glanced around to see if anyone was watching or maybe even catch a glimpse of someone else with headphones on.

Lola had sent the song “Hello, I Love You” by the Doors and her way of saying hello through song. There was a thrill that came from sending things to strangers. She got the same feeling when sending applications and contest entries to others. There are always the questions of “What will they say? What will they think? Will this person be in my future?”

Excitedly, she went to her inbox and smiled widely at what she found. It was a song called “Hello” by Maroon 5. Eagerly, she found another song to send back. She didn’t even think how this person had interpreted her message, but she responded. Amazingly, she found the perfect song to send back—“Baby, What’s Your Name?” by Grand Puba. She sat, jittery for a response. Lola jumped with the arrival of the response. It was a song called “Jumpin’ Jack” by a Big Band group called Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. His name was Jack. There was a flutter in her stomach. Then she realized he’d sent the same Grand Puba back to her.

He was asking her name. This was so exciting! She quickly sent back “Copacabana” by Barry Manalow. She hoped the song was famous enough for him to get the meaning of her response. Or that he would listen to simply the first few lines to get the gist... you know “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl”?

For once, her spirits were up and the New Year was less than an hour away. There was hope in this stranger with a Zune. Slowly, her mind wondered if he was a creep…if she even knew him. She remembered that she didn’t know half of the people at the party. Lola checked her Zune inbox and found a response: “Didn’t We Meet” by Alice Cooper. Her breath hitched and a noise from behind her made Lola jump.

It was Carolyn, Marc’s girlfriend. “Oh…hey Carolyn. Do you need something?”

“Marc was worried. You know how he gets. Are you doing okay?” She came to sit on the patio furniture next to me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Hey…do you know anyone named Jack?”

“Well…yeah.” Carolyn made a ‘duh’ face and Lola was not picking up on it. Before she could say anything more, there was another voice, calling from the door. Looking back, Lola was taken aback by the guy standing at the threshold of the sliding glass door, he was looking at Carolyn.

“Hey…Cary..Marc didn’t know where you’d run off to.” She laughed. Lola started at the guy. He looked a year older than her

“I’m right here. Oh hey wait….Lola, this is Jack, my brother. It’s funny you ask about knowing anyone Jack because I introduced you at the beginning of the party.”

Lola flushed and searched her memory for that instance. Finally, the farthest thing from her mind was the memory. Jack was in the shadows at the time and the lighting did him no justice. But now…in the moonlight she could really see his lovely cheekbones and strong face that was so nicely softened by his gorgeously soft brown curls.

His eyes smiled at her and she stood to meet him again. Carolyn had slipped out without them noticing and they stood along on that balcony, noises of the party closed off, leaving them in the night’s silence.

“Hello, I love you…” She said, testing him.

“Hello.” His voice was like honey and she almost shivered.

“Baby, what’s your name?”

He smiled and answered, “Jumpin’ Jack. Baby, what’s your name?”

“Her name was Lola…she was a showgirl…”

“Didn’t we meet?” She smiled sheepishly. Suddenly she was overtaken by a boldness she’d never felt before.

She held out her and with an inviting smile and said, “Come fly with me?”

He took her hand and lead her to the balcony’s railing and they both leaned on it. His hand was warm and strong on hers.

Lola suddenly realized she had another song in her inbox. It was from Jack, the song “You’re So Damn Hot” by Ok Go. She looked at him quickly.

“I sent it when you and Cary were talking. I knew it was you.” His smile was so…hot. It filled her stomach with heat.

“You do know what this song is about?”

“Yeah well I didn’t really have anything else…just take it for title meaning.” She nudged him playfully.

“I don’t even know you.”

“Well, now you do. And if you’re not against it, I’d like to really get to know you…”

“I’m certainly up for that.” She smiled for real for the first time since she opened her Zune.

Things were looking up for Lola.