Chapter 1- Life is a Fickle Thing
That's when she said
I don't hate you boy
I just want to save you while there's still
something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But
I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have
Rise Against- Savior
"You get off early tonight? Craig is having a party later," Angela says as I push my hair back into a pony tail. I glanced at the clock before I answered. It was six in the morning. Stupid store sale.
"Are you kidding? Noelle's making me stay until, like, midnight. And I'm not even exaggerating," I say as I slip on my flip flops. Angela nods as she flips the channel on our TV.
Noelle was my boss at the only CD store next to campus, Zone Music. I mean, don't get me wrong, Noelle was my friend. Maybe even one of my best. And getting half off any CD I wanted wasn't too bad either. I was just having a really crappy day.
Why? Because about five minutes ago when I was deciding what to wear, I looked up at my calendar and realized it was two more weeks until Dexter came. I haven't seen him in person for almost five months.
"Are you sure?" Angela asks again. "I mean, we can go torment the new freshmen." I just sighed as I picked up my car keys to get my fill of coffee before I started the day.
X X X
"Is this good?" I called down from the ladder, which was dangerously unstable, in my opinion.
"A little to the left," Noelle called, which seemed like a thousand miles away. I grabbed the ladder with my free hand, in case I fell, and moved my other arm so much to the left that I thought I was hyper-extending it.
"That's perfect," Noelle says as I struggle to tack the "BIG SALE" sign up. As I climbed down, I mentally praised God for creating solid ground. "Ohmigawd! Aren't you totally excited? I mean, just two more weeks, right?" she asks me while she jumps up and down. I also made the mistake of confiding that Dexter and I were together, because she has a tendency to overreact.
I looked her over quickly. She had True Religion jeans on, which was paired with a top she bought when I went shopping with her at Forever 21. "You have a date?" I ask. She nods excitedly. Yeah, I was happy for her. But she was really going to leave me alone for perhaps the biggest store rush ever? Oh well…I worked better alone anyway….
"You and Dexter look perfect together," Noelle gushes. Besides her beauty and heightened fashion sense, she was also extremely hyper.
"Shhh," I said, checking if anyone heard this proclamation. I would more likely be killed in my sleep by the die-hard fans here. We both walked inside to get ready for opening.
"But really! Aren't you the least bit excited? I mean, live a little! We are sophomores, after all!" Noelle says again. I chose to ignore her as I went to the "Rap/Hip Hop" section to straighten out some CDs. I didn't feel the need to answer her question. I already knew I missed Dexter, unbearably so, even. But I couldn't ask him to give up his dream so I could have company. Besides, his tour was almost over, anyway.
Plus, the only reason he was coming in two weeks was to see me, anyway. Also, the school asked Truth Squad to hold a small concert on campus. Well, I wouldn't use the word "Small", because the concert was being held in the football stadium and the only seats left were primarily the nosebleed ones. So it was also an understatement to say that Truth Squad was "kind of" popular here. They were huge.
I quickly looked down at my watch. About fifteen more minutes until we would be bombarded by music fans of all genres. "Do me a favor and pick some background music for me? And please, no heavy metal," Noelle asks me.
I nod as I walk over to our stereo system next to the register. I browsed through some music, unsure of what I should pick. I was between Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers before Noelle called out, "Hey, we got a shipment! Can you check it out?"
I put both CDs down as I looked at the package on the mat outside. I picked it up and brought it in. Before long, it was opened. After a few moments of digging through the packing peanuts, I found a single CD. I took it out, curious. There was no cover art, but instead a bright yellow post-it. It read:
To Miss Remy Starr
Be there soon…
-Dexter
I opened it up with a smile on my face and popped that CD inside the stereo instead. The room was instantly filled with Dexter singing the "The Potato Opus". I laughed to myself as Noelle opened the door to let in the crazy music fanatics. It was going to be a long day.
X X X
And a long day it was. We sold out of our stock of Truth Squad CDs in a matter of minutes, along with most of our stock of other genres. The only reason we were doing this was because Noelle insisted that we need more merchandise. So we held the sale. And now it was eleven at night. One more hour to go. We had a couple of people pass through, but I counted and re-counted our earnings twice.
We earned two thousand dollars. I was sucked out of the quiet of the store when two guys came in here. And I immediately smelt trouble.
"I'm telling you, dude. These guys rock," Guy #1 said loudly as they moved over to the "Rock" section. Were they drunk? "See here? I went to their concert a couple weeks back. So freaking awesome."
I strained my neck to see what they were looking at. I decided to go over there to offer them assistance. "Can I help you guys with anything?" I ask them.
"Oh, no. Were good," Guy #2 answers. He looked sober. But I distinctly smelt smoke and beer on Guy #1. I peek over his shoulder at what they were looking at. Spinnerbait. The only artist (if you could call them that) that sold only three copies max. I heard the bell ring from the door, indicating that I should go greet the next customer.
"Spinnerbait rocks," Guy #1 says passionately.
"Hate Spinnerbait," I murmer to myself, a knee-jerk reaction. And as soon as I said it, I knew it was a mistake.
"What did you just say?" Guy #1 says. He grabs my arm and turns me around until it hurt. Only then did I realize that he was wearing a Spinnerbait t-shirt. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Hey, Zach, just let her go, man," Guy #2 said.
"Shut up." Zach said as he glared at his friend. I had no possible way of escape. Plus, Noelle left over three hours ago with her date. What did I get myself into? The only option now was to beg.
"Please let me go," I whimper as the pain gets more intense. I close my eyes trying to ease it. Out of nowhere, the pain is suddenly gone.
"I think she said to let her go," a voice next to me says. My eyes snap open as I hear that voice.
"Dexter?" I ask as I turn to him. He smiles at me as he takes off the hood from his blue sweatshirt. My eyes then wander to that Zach guy who is now lying on the floor, moaning. Zach's friend helps him up as they both rush out of the store.
"Hey," he smiles at me, revealing his white teeth. I don't wait to say "hi" back. I practically tackle him as he laughs around my lips on his.
A/N: I know there are not a whole lot of "This Lullaby" stories out there, so I wanted to make this one. I LOVED "This Lullaby", so I thought I should make this. Next chapter coming soon. Please, please, please Rate and Review!
-Daisy
