Radio Silence. Alice Oseman
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When Aled walked off stage and joined us again I said, “Well done, that was really good!” even though we both knew I was lying again.
He met my eyes. His had dark blue circles under them. Maybe he was a night owl like me.
“Thanks,” he said, and then he walked away, and I thought that’d probably be the last time I ever saw him.
Mum barely had time to say “nice speech” once I met her at our car, before I was telling her all about Universe City. I once tried to get Mum into Universe City by forcing her to listen to the first five episodes on our way to a Cornwall holiday, but Mum’s conclusion was, “I don’t really get it. Is it supposed to be funny or scary? Wait, is Radio Silence a girl or a boy or neither? Why do they never go to their university lectures?” I thought that was fair enough. At least she still watched Glee with me.
“Are you sure this isn’t some sort of giant scam?” said Mum with a frown as we drove away from the Academy. I lifted my feet up on to the seat. “It sounds a bit like they’re trying to steal your art if they’re not even going to pay you.”
“It was their official Twitter. They’re verified,” I said, but this didn’t quite have the same effect on Mum as it did on me. “They liked my art so much that they’re actually asking me to join their team!”
Mum said nothing. She raised her eyebrows.
“Please be happy for me,” I said, rolling my head towards her.
“It’s really good! It’s brilliant! I just don’t want people to steal your sketches. You love that stuff.”
“I don’t think it’s stealing! They’d give me all the credit.”
“Have you signed a contract?”
“Mum!” I groaned exasperatedly. There wasn’t much point trying to explain this to her. “It doesn’t matter, I’m gonna have to say no anyway.”
“Wait, what? What d’you mean?”
I shrugged. “I’m just not gonna have time. I’ll be in Year 13 in a few months, like, I’ve got so much work all the time, and Cambridge interview prep on top of that … there’s no way I’d have time to draw something for every single weekly episode.”
Mum frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought you were really excited about this.”
“I am, like, it’s so amazing that they messaged me and thought my art was good, but … I have to be realistic—”
“You know, opportunities like this don’t come around very often,” Mum said. “And you clearly want to do it.”
“Well, yeah, but … I get so much homework every day, and coursework and revision will only get more intense—”
“I think you should do it.” Mum stared straight ahead and spun the steering wheel. “I think you work yourself too hard for school anyway and you should take an opportunity for once and do what you want.”
And what I wanted to do was this:
Direct Messages > with Radio
Hey!! Wow … thank you so much, I can’t believe you liked my art! I’d be absolutely honoured to get involved!
My email is [email protected] if it’s easier to talk there. Can’t wait to hear more about what you’re thinking in terms of design!
Honestly, Universe City is my favourite series of all time. I can’t thank you enough for thinking of me!!
Hope I don’t sound too much like a crazy fan haha! xx
I had work to do when I got home. I almost always had work to do when I got home. I almost always did work when I got home because whenever I wasn’t doing schoolwork I felt like I was wasting my time. I know this is kind of sad, and I always wished I had a hobby like football or playing the piano or ice-skating, but the fact of the matter was that the only thing I was good at was passing exams. Which was fine. I wasn’t ungrateful. It’d be worse if it were the other way around.
That day, the day I got a Twitter message from the creator of Universe City, I didn’t do any work when I got home.
I collapsed on to my bed and turned my laptop on and went straight on to my Tumblr, where I posted all of my art. I scrolled down the page. What exactly had the Creator seen in these? They were all crap. Doodles I did to turn my brain off, so I could fall asleep and forget about history essays and art coursework and head girl speeches for five minutes.
I switched over to Twitter to see if the Creator had replied, but they hadn’t. I checked my email to see if they’d emailed me, but they hadn’t.
I loved Universe City.
Maybe that was my hobby. Drawing Universe City.
It didn’t feel like a hobby. It felt like a dirty secret.
And my drawings were all pointless anyway. It wasn’t like I could sell them. It wasn’t like I could share them with my friends. It wasn’t like they’d get me into Cambridge.
I continued scrolling down the page, back months and months and into last year and the year before, scrolling through time. I’d drawn everything. I’d drawn the characters – the narrator Radio Silence, and Radio’s various sidekicks. I’d drawn the setting – the dark and dusty sci-fi university, Universe City. I’d drawn the villains and the weapons and the monsters, Radio’s lunar bike and Radio’s suits, I’d drawn the Dark Blue Building and the Lonely Road and even February Friday. I’d drawn everything, really.
Why did I do this?
Why am I like this?
It was the only thing I enjoyed, really. The only thing I had apart from my grades.
No – wait. That would be really sad. And weird.
It just helped me sleep.
Maybe.
I don’t know.
I shut my laptop and went downstairs to get some food and tried to stop thinking about it.