Finn gave him a flat look. “Have you not heard the song?”
Right. The great majority of songs were going to be about couples, or love, or sex, because romance was part of ice dancing. So Robbie could either get comfortable with that idea really fast or put the kibosh on it now and steer them toward… “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.
Fuck it. He wasn’t going to chicken out now.
But he did actually want Finn’s take. “What do you think?”
Finn swallowed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with Biosteel. “Mm. Queen could be fun. And, uh, topical. It’s got a strong beat, for sure.” Robbie had admitted to a slight lack of confidence at being able to keep time.
Queen would be fun, Robbie agreed.
“But,” Finn went on before he could say so out loud, “‘Crazy Little Thing’ is all kind of the same tempo. If we had something that’s got a slower introduction that leads into a big, loud, exciting kind of chorus, it gives us a more dynamic source material.”
Robbie understood half of those words.
But Stef nodded in obvious consideration. “So what are you thinking?”
He chewed on that for a moment, literally and figuratively; then a slow smile spread across his face. “Have either of you seen10 Things I Hate About You?”
“Yes,” Stef frowned, and then it cleared as she too slowly smiled. “Oh, yes, I see. Are you thinking similar… vibes?”
“Yup.”
“And,” Stef continued, biting back a grin, “you’re not thinking of giving yourself the male role, are you.”
“Nope.”
Stef turned to give Robbie a considering look. He wondered if he gave Heath Ledger vibes. “Okay, yes, I see it.” He wanted to preen, but before he could, Finn waggled his eyebrows.
“Right?”
“We could—”
“Yes, with the—”
“Excellent.”
“Anyone want to enlighten me?” Robbie cut in, because this mind meld thing was cute but not informative.
Finn gasped dramatically, hand to chest. “You’ve never seen—?”
And Robbie had, of course, but he couldn’t resist. “Ten Things Something?”
Finn moaned. “Robbie! That is a crime, and we need to fix that immediately.”
“Right now?” He arched an eyebrow. This was too much fun.
“Okay, maybe not immediately, but soon. In the meantime, though.”
“In the meantime,” Stef agreed, tapping on her tablet, “the movie has a scene where the romantic lead sings ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’ to his prospective partner.”
“He pulls a stunt,” Finn added. “Enlists the marching band, pays off the AV club, gets caught by the school security and chucked into detention. Very dramatic.”
“Very swoon-worthy.”
Finn waggled his eyebrows. “Well, it is a young Heath Ledger. Be still my teenage bisexually awakened heart.”
“So,” Robbie said slowly, “let me get this not-straight. You want to cast me as the late gay-icon Heath Ledger to play your romantic leading man in a dance drama in which I woo you, because this was responsible for your bisexual awakening.”
