Rhythm and Ray: A DJ’s Journey

[Chapter 39: Watch Out]

Ryan found himself chased from the living room to the study, and in a moment of panic, he locked the door behind him.

"If you think you can just hide in there forever, go ahead!" Trey pounded on the door, only to storm off after tossing out her frustrated remark.

It was just over a little disagreement, right?

Ryan opened his laptop. Instead of making music today, he was checking out the buzz online about the Harlem Shake video that had just been released.

The response was surprisingly good. Most people seemed to be in it for a laugh, commenting with "Lol," "Lul," "Lmao," and "Lmfao." There were hardly any critics.

He then opened his email and saw that Elizabeth Olsen had sent him another message. In it, she mentioned three more versions of the Harlem Shake filmed by NYU students in the girls' dorm, classroom, and cafeteria.

Besides that, she noted that five other universities had also decided to film their own versions.

The Pi Beta Phi sorority had so many chapters across the country. With the vice president helping Ryan out, he figured that if he sent gifts or cash, a few chapters would agree to participate. Sororities often had connections with the school's marketing representatives, which could result in his Harlem Shake video making it onto the school's official YouTube channel.

To put it differently, the Harlem Shake was already going viral in America to the point where even street dogs were tired of hearing it. What Ryan was doing was simply speeding things up by a few years.

As for Elizabeth Olsen, she had effectively become Ryan's liaison with the sorority. The vice president merely dealt with gifts and had meetings with Piero; all the real work fell on Elizabeth's shoulders.

After a few days of interaction, Ryan increasingly felt that this college girl with wealthy sisters was pretty impressive.

After some thought, he wrote back, "Are you interested in managing my social media?"

The staff at Big Machine Records that Taylor had introduced him to were asking for way too much, and Ryan was still struggling a bit. Now that he had a willing college intern in front of him, he figured he might as well take advantage of it.

...

Next, he casually opened Facebook, but unfortunately, this "Leg Girl" hadn't posted any new updates in the past couple of days.

The reason Ryan called her "Leg Girl" was because she had stunningly long legs. From what Ryan could gauge in Florida, she was about six foot three. However, she listed herself as six feet in her bio, probably thinking that was tall enough. With her fair, cool-toned skin, she looked dazzling under the lights. Her face had a square shape, and her vibe was even a bit more low-key than Elizabeth Olsen's. She would be perfect for taking those calm, artistic photos.

If there was a downside, it was that she had a similar "always hungry" vibe as Taylor, although she seemed a bit more put together.

Ryan didn't hesitate for too long and shot her a message.

[Calling LEG GIRL.]

He felt like the moments stretched out as he waited, and after a few minutes, her response finally arrived.

[?

Is that how you're going to call me?]

[I don't know your name.]

[I'm in class.]

[Well, go to class then,] Ryan thought it was polite to wait until she was free.

[If you need something, just say it now.]

[Uh, let's see your legs.]

[...]

To his surprise, she actually sent him a picture of her legs sitting cross-legged. But today, she was wearing loose wide-leg pants, so the view wasn't all that great.

[I was just joking! I actually wanted to ask if you and your classmates could shoot a music video.] Ryan laid out his proposal, then shared the video concept.

She took another few minutes to respond.

[No problem. Anything else?] She regularly posted selfies on Facebook, so she wasn't exactly against this sort of thing.

[Could you wear some hot shorts in the video? Please?]

[Are you nuts? It's fall!]

[Then never mind.]

[Elizabeth,] she replied.

[What?]

[You can call me Elizabeth.]

Ryan felt he'd heard that before. [You better tell me your last name.]

[Elizabeth Debicki.]

With Elizabeth Debicki on board, along with Joel and Dead Mouse whom he had contacted earlier that day, the only one left for Ryan to rally was the toughest nut to crack.

...

Ryan saved the hardest for last. He dialed the number, and this time it didn't go to voicemail.

"You're calling me this late? Were you talking to Abigail that long?"

Ryan initially thought of denying it, but then switched gears, "Of course I was chatting with her; she's right here. Do you want to talk to her?"

"I'm going to bed!!" Taylor shouted, sounding a bit angry.

So she was that quick to get fired up? Ryan chuckled silently.

"I wanted to ask for a favor. Have you listened to my new song?" Ryan inquired.

"It's amazing! You're going to blow up tomorrow!" Taylor's tone shifted as she became more animated.

Ryan didn't get sidetracked by her teasing and stated his purpose directly.

"So now you think of me? Didn't you go looking for Trey?" Taylor said lightly, amused.

"Trey already helped me contact Miley."

"Miley Cyrus?" Taylor's tone immediately changed.

"Yep, she's been quite into shooting videos to put online lately with her friend, calling it The Miley and Mandy Show."

"What do you need me for if you've got Miley? I'm just a small-town singer, I can't compete with her." Taylor's voice turned automatically cold, dripping with jealousy.

And she was getting anxious.

"Having one more person wouldn't hurt."

"What do you mean by one more? Do you think I'm just an extra?" Taylor's tone spiked.

"Of course not! I've reached out to everyone I could mobilize, and you're the last. I saved you for the end because I value you the most. As for Miley, that was just a bonus; I don't even know her." Ryan quickly clarified, sensing her mood.

"Now we're getting somewhere. In that case, just don't have Miley join in." Taylor chimed back nonchalantly.

"Not a chance." Ryan immediately rejected.

"You have to choose between her or me. You can only pick one." Taylor was completely unyielding this time.

"Choose what? A marriage partner?" Ryan teased, thinking she was overreacting.

"Ryan, you need to understand, we don't just represent ourselves -- we also represent our supporters. If I do this, her fans will say I'm copying her. That's not okay. I don't care about my own reputation, but I don't want my fans to feel cheated," Taylor explained.

Teen idols had a whole lot on their plate.

"Well then... I choose Miley. She's more famous." Ryan made a decisive choice.

"That's not going to happen! You need to choose me!" Taylor shouted. "If that doesn't work... You could let me film first, and then upload it the moment it's done. That way, it won't be me copying Miley; it'll be Miley copying me! For you, it would yield the biggest benefit. What do you think of that plan?"

'You're such a clever one.'

"I remember you saying that you were going to be a guest star in Hannah Montana movie's The Best of Both Worlds. Do you really think you're clever enough?"

"I'm going to be appearing in a Disney film. The connection is with Disney, which has nothing to do with her or you. Why does it matter to you?" Taylor shot back immediately.

Clearly, Ryan hit a nerve.

"You don't have time to prepare. You'd better come over to my place in the morning, and the sooner we upload it, the better!" Taylor hung up without hesitation.

*****

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