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Unintentionally, Nino would sometimes wonder if eating dinner alone or at a silent table was worse.
His Mama, Papa, and Jedda all ate their chicken tagine quietly. Even his little brother Chris, who was sitting next to him, inhaled his meal without speaking a word. Nino picked at his food, taking slow and thoughtful bites. Family dinners were the highlight of his day when he was much younger. Laughing and sharing stories, lots of love– but it was different now.
“Is Alya going to be at this dance?”
Ah, there it was. Nino held back from rolling his eyes. “It’s a school function. Of course she’s going to be there. She’s going with Marinette.”
Chris lifted his head up from shoveling food into his mouth. “Alya’s gonna be there? Can I come?”
“Sorry little dude,” Nino replied, ruffling up the boy’s hair. “It’s only for the peeps who go to my collège.”
Chris swatted his brother’s hand away and pouted. “I’m not little anymore. I wanna go to the dance with all the big kids!”
“No, Chris,” his mother gently refused. “This is Nino’s event. You’ll have your own dances when you go to collège.”
Chris huffed, commenting on the unfairness, then returned to eating his dinner. Papa cleared his throat.
“Your mama and I have invested a lot into you. Your schooling at Françoise Dupont isn’t free. It would be a shame if you had distractions getting in the way of that.”
“Alya isn’t a distraction!” Nino snapped, standing up out of his seat.
“Nino, sit down,” his grandmother said.
He reluctantly slumped back into his chair. “Yes, Jedda.”
“I have been very lenient with you and letting you pursue your interest in… your ‘music’,” his father continued. “But you’re about to go into lycèe. You need to think about your future and what you are going to do as a career.”
“I know papa, I get it. You don’t think I can live off of being a DJ. But I know I can! Being a DJ at our school’s dance is just the first step. Everyone loves music and dancing and singing– I want to bring that to people. I want to write songs and be in a band. Just because my taste in music hasn’t ‘stood the test of time’, doesn’t mean it isn’t real music.”
His father rose his voice, “the band you have with your friends doesn’t replace a good education and job. How do you plan to care for your family with music?”
Nino opened his mouth to retort when Jedda raised her hand to stop him.
“Nino,” she began, her voice low and hoarse. “I understand your passion. Finding a productive hobby isn’t something everyone is able to do.”
She gave a quick glance to her son. It was so fast Nino almost missed it.
“Go enjoy the dance on Friday.”
At the same time that Nino’s face lit up, his father’s screwed incredulously.
“Mama–”
“Hush, Sayeed,” Jedda interrupted. “Nino says this is something he wants to try, how can you say he can’t if you don’t give him a chance?” She fixes her attention back to Nino. “Consider this step one of proving yourself. If you can balance school and your music, then we can continue this discussion another day.”
~*~
Nino took his DJing gig very seriously.
He polled his classmates for their favorite genres of music and also researched the best dance music from the past year. He made sure to make playlists full of classics that fit the vibe of the party, even going as far as making his own mixes. He worked closely with the school to pick out which gear was the best to rent for the occasion. When Friday came, his nerves were on fire. He was shaking as he plugged in his equipment and pulled out his laptop.
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Get ahold of yourself, Nino!” Alya said. She gripped his shoulders and forced him to look her in the eye. “You’re an amazing DJ. You’ve been sharing your mixes online for almost a year now. You know what you’re doing, and you’re going to do great.”
Nino smiled sheepishly at his new girlfriend. “Thanks Alya.”
“Anytime.”
Next to her was a rather erratic-looking Marinette who was darting her eyes all around the room. Alya shook her head at the girl. “M, its an hour before the dance. There’s still plenty of time for him to show up.”
“Are you guys talking about Adrien?” Nino asked.
Marinette literally jumped out of her skin and flailed her arms in surprise. “What? Who? Nooo, of course not. Why would I be looking for Adrien?” She hooked her arm around Alya’s shoulder. “We were talking about… my dad! Obviously! When is he going to show up with the pastries, I’ve been craving macarons for like, years!”
Nino ignored the fact that she lived above a bakery and could get sweets any time she wanted. “My dude said that he has a modeling gig right now and that after he’d have to stay home for dinner and Mandarin lessons. He said he probably wouldn’t make it.”
Marinette visibly crumbled with disappointment. Her best friend nudged her with her elbow. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t have a good time, right Marinette?”
She brightened in response. “Yeah! I could definitely use a break.”
The two of them eventually left, giggling and doing their own girly things. But Nino was still stressed out. The next hour went by slowly as his anxiety increasingly got worse. Ten minutes before the doors opened, it was time to get the show started.
Unlike the hour before the party, the next three hours were an absolute blast. He fell into his music, showing off before all his dancing peers. Anytime he searched the crowd, all he could see were smiling faces and lots of laughter. He always checked for Marinette and Alya. Most of the time, the two of them were part of the dance mob, but they would take snack breaks and sit down every so often. Nino didn’t miss the way that Marinette watched the door, hoping for someone, in particular, to come through.
Every so often, Alya came to check on Nino, usually bringing offerings of punch and food.
“The music is perfect, keep it up!” she shouted over the music.
About two hours in, the party was still going but clearly winding down a bit.
“Still no sign of Adrien,” Alya said to him the next time she walked up to the DJ booth.
“He just texted me about ten minutes ago that he convinced his dad’s secretary to let him come. He said he’d be here hopefully in less than thirty minutes.”
“Wait, for real?” Alya asked with wide eyes. “Oh my god, Marinette is going to freak. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when he marches through the door.”
“You’re not going to tell her?”
“Are you kidding? I think she’ll enjoy the surprise. Besides, I’d hate to get her hopes up in case they change their minds.”
Adrien did end up showing. When he walked over to Alya and Marinette, the latter started flailing her arms and blushed heavily. Alya rolled her eyes and grabbed her friends, pulling them back onto the dance floor. Nino was normally the kind of guy who’d rather be sitting near the snacks and on his phone at dances, but this time he was a little disappointed he couldn’t be down there with his friends. When Adrien finally looked up and met Nino’s eyes, his friend waved and Nino gave him a thumbs-up in return. Maybe he didn’t mind that he was up in the booth DJing– it was his best bud’s first school dance, and Nino was making it one to remember.
The sun had set by the time the party officially ended, and Nino was beat. As he started packing up his stuff, he was ambushed by his friends. Alya threw her arms around him, giving congratulations. “I’m so proud of you!”
Adrien talked on and on about how much fun he had and that the music was great. Marinette nodded and agreed.
“You really found your calling to be a DJ, Nino,” Marinette said.
“You think so?” Nino smiled bashfully. “I love DJing, but I’ll have to see what I end up doing. I want to keep learning about filmmaking too.”
His friends made it clear that he could do anything he put his mind to, and it warmed his heart.
So when the KIDZ+ Network emailed him and asked if he wanted to be a contestant on their gameshow The Challenge, he all but screamed as he wrote an acceptance letter back.