Restocking the shelves was like a game of Pick Up Sticks…if you made one mistake, the littlest move could cause all of the displays to collapse and there goes a hundred dollars from my paycheck.
Once I completed stocking, the rest of the shop was really simple. I just stood behind the counter and handed the receipts to people as they leave the store with their beautiful new instrument that my dad would refuse to buy me.
I've secretly learned piano in my dad's storage room. It definitely could use some tuning, but it's a wonderful instrument. If he ever found me playing it, I'd be dead. My parents had recently divorced and ever since my dad doesn't want to see or hear anything that reminded him of mom. Which means, no music.
I stand across a giant, glossy, black grand piano as I slump on the counter. With my eyes focused on its shimmering surface, the customer blocks it from my view to get my attention. I glanced down to see the highlighted yellow converse that the customer and realized they were waiting on me.
Startled, I jump back and notice it seems like someone slightly older than I am.
"Are you gonna help me or are you gonna make me wait on you?" The tall brunette spoke as tried clearing my thoughts.
"Dude, relax. We have all day," Austin from school approached the counter as well and for the first time in a while, I was conversing with decent looking men.
"Sure, what do you need help with?" I questioned as the tall brunette glared at me with a blank expression.
"Well since you finally asked, I was wondering if you could repair an instrument for me," The brunette wondered as he placed a dull black and white guitar on the counter that had tiny letters inscribed on the white stripe.
"Miami Mobsters?" I asked seriously. That might have been the stupidest name I've ever heard, especially when looking at the guy that belonged in that band.
"Yeah, we're pretty well known around the area," The brunette replied with the pop of the collar. Behind him, Austin was shaking his head and mouthing "no" while his hands swung back and forth in front of him.
I'm guessing the guy realized I was watching Austin, cause within seconds he smacked Austin on the forehead.
"Go be an idiot somewhere else," He insulted Austin as he chuckled.
"My pleasure," Austin began to roam around the store as I got stuck with his stuck up….brother?
"Well it's kind of hard to replace the wiring of the strings.." I informed as I glanced up to meet his eyes, which didn't look satisfied at all with my sentence. "But I'll do whatever I can to fix it."
He smiled as he shoved the guitar in my direction, forcing myself to grab it.
"Heading out, Austin!" he called out as Austin maneuvered around the customers and towards the door.
"Whoa! Hold up!" I screamed, attempting to grab their attention. The brunette sighed as both him and Ross returned to the counter.
"I cant just do this for free…" I stated and the second I did, his face morphed into rage.
"You expect me to pay you after receiving such sucky service, to adjust a couple of little things on an instrument?" He asked as Austin fled the counter once more, probably not wanting to deal with our little argument. I sighed, not wanting to deal with this guy either.
"It's not a couple of little things…It's the strings of a guitar. It's kind of how they make noise in the first place," I reminded as he rolled his eyes and slipped his wallet out from his back pocket.
"What do you want? A 20?" He suggested as he held a $20 bill out towards me and replied with a chuckle.
"A fix like this could be up to a couple hundred," I informed, then the dude completely lost it.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me?" He inappropriately asked.
"Excuse me?" I questioned as Austin ran to the guy's side and gripped his arm.
"Rocky, we can go somewhere else," Austin tried to reassure as Rocky attempted to walk out of the store.
"Wait!" I hollered as the guitar still rested on the counter. I examined the strings and they brutally jacked up. Someone would literally have to cut the strings off with scissors to get them in this condition.
"Excuse me," A lady called me over to the counter holding a smaller sized guitar than average. "I was wondering if you offer lessons, preferably in the afternoon?"
"Sure! I get Saturdays off and the store wont be crowded, so that would be a good time," I mentioned as the ladies face morphed.
"Well, I was actually wondering if that young man that worked here could teach my son lessons," The lady asked as I arched my left eyebrow.
"The blonde one? Austin?" I questioned as the lady responded with a nod. "Actually he….." I didn't want to lose a customer and even then, maybe I could get to know Austin through this. He did have a tendency to know more about me than I did, considering our little conversation at school. "I'll let him know."
"Great!" The lady took a slip of paper out from her purse and wrote her number on it. "Give me a call when he gives you an answer."
I took the number from her and put it in the bin behind the desk, wondering if one of them is going to realize they left the guitar behind.
I waited all day behind that counter, having the guitar set on the floor carefully, hoping to see one of them barge through the door so that I could give Austin the number.
Soon enough, my head hung, the store was empty, and I started seeing the tips of my lashes flutter. I couldn't help it. I crashed.
What felt like seconds later, I felt a light tap on my head and flung it up from the counter, spotting Austin standing with a scared expression in new attire. Attire that didn't make him look half bad. A muscle shirt exposing his tan and toned biceps and a pair of jeans that had a chain on the side like the ones he wore to school…..why do I know that?
"Well, someone's sleeping on the job," Austin reminded as I realized I feel asleep at the counter with guitar still behind the counter.
"Well when you work at a store your whole life, it technically becomes your second home," I joked as adjusted my hair and grabbed the guitar. "I think this belongs to you?"
The smile of relief on Austin's face when it rose from the behind the counter. I was just glad to get rid of it.
"Thanks, that what I came back for! Rocky has a performance tonight and he finally realized he was missing something," Austin informed as I narrowed my vision on the guitar strings.
"That's gonna be kind of impossible to play," I noted as he chuckled as he glanced at the shredded strings.
"Promise me, he'll be too drunk to notice," Austin said as that one statement caught my attention.
"So he performs at bars….clubs?" I noticed Rocky's yellow sneakers from earlier, but it couldn't be possible. If Rocky knew who I was, would he have been treating me like he was.
"Yeah, he performs anywhere that sells alcohol. His favorite place is the Mystic Lights Club," Austin began to lower his voice and mumble as he examined the guitar then set it against his leg. "I'm sure you've heard of it."
Something about the way he said that made it feel like he knew something. Maybe I did kiss Rocky and Ross was there to see it all. All I did was glare into his line of vision as he held this disgusted expression towards me.
"You were there weren't you," I muttered as I fumbled with my thumbs and felt my chest get heavy.
"Cant say I wasn't," Austin did anything but look me straight in the eye.
"That's why you were being all friendly towards me at school. Cause you saw what happened," I began as his face morphed into guilt. "You just had to tell everyone didn't you?" I folded my arms as his eyes widened.
"Whoa, okay, yes I was there, but I didn't tell anyone anything, it could've been anyone. You'd be surprised what kind of sluts from school go there," Austin defended as he just realized what he had just spilled from his lips. Wow, this kid was not good with words. "Not to offend you in any way…."
"Too late for that," I mentioned as I locked the cash register and walked towards the back door to lock it. "Why were you there? How'd you even get in?"
"I could ask you the same question?" Austin brought up as I turned to see that he followed me to the door. "Rocky gave me a fake I.D and temporary tattoos that looked permanent. Plus I could pull of 20 any day." Austin flipped his hair with a smolder as I released a scoff and folded my arms.
"More like a immature adolescent who could look up to 16 at most," I insulted as I walked to the storage room door and locked it.
"For your information I'm 17," Austin once again informed with a pop of the collar.
"And cocky," I spoke as I brushed right passed him towards the front door. "I need to close up shop, so if you don't mind-" I turned and Austin was technically in my face and slammed his palm against the glass door while the other hand held the jacked up guitar.
"Look, I know I cant convince you that I didn't do anything, even though I didn't," Austin repeated, feeling his warm breath hit against my skin. "Just know that." He then, opened the door and paused once he was on the opposite side of the glass.
We stared at each other for a few seconds until I slid the key in the slot and turned it. He flashed a half smirk before pulling a skateboard out from under a bench and speeding off on it.
I'm not sure if I can trust him, I'm not sure if I can trust anybody. I never even gave him the lady's number.
Fortunately it gives me a reason to speak to him tomorrow and maybe I can learn to trust him.
"Dude, you got that guitar last week," I reminded Rocky as we strolled through the Miami outlet mall. We visited 2 stores already and neither of them repaired guitar strings.
"Well it's the price you pay for being an epic guitarist," Rocky dumbly stated as I glanced up in his direction.
"No, that makes you an idiot," I insulted as he wrapped an arm around my neck.
"C'mon, everyone dreams of breaking their first guitar," Rocky spoke and as always he was wrong.
"Maybe that would be true, but I don't," I said, shoving his arms away from me. Rocky always had that scent as if he bathed in alcohol and cigarettes, and it always made me choke a little.
"What about that store?" Rocky pointed to the building with "Sonic Boom" written above it.
"Fine, we'll check it out. But if they cant do anything here, just use the money that you don't deserve from my parents and use it t buy a new guitar," I suggested as we didn't even step foot in the store and I instantly panicked.
"Dude what the hell?" Rocky said as he glanced inside the glass. "What? Does this store give off an evil presence?" He teased as I came to the conclusion that Rocky probably wouldn't remember anything from that night. Hopefully he didn't, bring that night up.
We casually strolled inside, I was hesitant to approach her but Rocky went straight up to her and leaned against the counter, thankfully she was oblivious and gave me a couple of seconds to catch up with him.
"Are you gonna help me or are you gonna make me wait on you?" Rocky rudely questioned Ally as I smacked him in the arm.
"Dude, relax. We have all day," I reminded as I finally had the confidence to look at Ally in the eyes.
"Sure, what do you need help with?" Ally finally attended to us.
"Well since you finally asked, I was wondering if you could repair an instrument for me," Rocky asked as he placed his trashed guitar on the counter, I tried not to laugh from the expression on Ally's face.
"Miami Mobsters?" Ally questioned.
"Yeah, we're pretty well known around the area," Rocky replied as I scoffed and stood behind Rocky, shaking my head back and forth and mouthing "no" as she slightly smiled. Rocky turned and smacked my forehead.
"Go be an idiot somewhere else," He insulted as I grinned. Finally getting the chance to leave this conversation.
"My pleasure," I began to roam around the store and look at the different instruments. I was never into the whole music thing. I always preferred sports over music any day. But being stuck with Rocky, I learned a couple of things. I know note names, different chords, but I've never set my hand on an instrument and actually played it.
I noticed a woman was having a problem with reaching for a guitar. I ran up beside her and carefully snatched It off the display.
"Thank you," She replied. "I'm getting one for my 12 year old son and I thought this one really stuck out.
"Oh," I glanced at it, noticing it's size and comparing it to a 12 year olds size proportion. "This one would be best in the next couple of years, but for a kid his age, I suggest…." I glanced at the different guitars and noticed a black and blue bass. "This one."
I held it out towards her and she examined it, still not convinced.
"It saves half the price of the other one and once he picks up bass, he can technically play any other stringed instrument," I informed as her eyes lit up and smiled.
"I'll take it," She grinned as she retrieved it from my grasp. "Thank you."
"Heading out, Austin!" Rocky called out as I maneuvered around the customers and towards the door.
"Whoa! Hold up!" Ally called out to us as Rocky sighed, returning to the counter.
"I cant just do this for free…" Ally stated and I noticed Rocky's grip on the counter. Which means he wasn't satisfied.
"You expect me to pay you after receiving such sucky service, to adjust a couple of little things on an instrument?" Rocky asked as I fled the counter once more, not wanting to deal with their little argument.
I noticed how the way Ally's lip shined in the reflection of light, all I could think of was that night. The taste of her lips, the force put into it, but yet neither of us could have enjoyed it with hundreds of people watching.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Rocky's obnoxious voice ruined my trance, and when Rocky cusses, that usually means he needs to get the hell out of here.
"Rocky, we can go somewhere else," I tried to reassure as I gripped his arms and shoved him towards the door.
It was silent for a few seconds, then he started mumbling to himself.
"Stupid people expect me to pay for things," Rocky mumbled as we strolled down the outlet mall sidewalk. I didn't live too far so we usually walked everywhere we went, even gigs.
An extremely loud scream escaped from Rocky's pocket as I slightly jumped at the sound. Rocky slid his phone out from his pocket and answered the call.
"How's it goin, Rocky," Rocky had this weird greeting every time he answered the phone. Obviously the person calling knew it was him, so I found it extremely pointless. "Hell yeah, we'll be down there tonight!"
The call ended and Rocky's attitude instantly changed.
"That was Emanuel," Rocky informed.
"Your manager?" I asked, not really remembering names, half the time I zone out when Rocky speaks.
"Yeah and he got us a gig for Mystic Lights tonight so I hope you don't mind getting your arm tatted tonight," Rocky said as we approached the pathway to my house.
"Of course not, it's technically a drill now," I spoke with such a gloomy tone. I honestly hated going to concerts. They're long, boring, loud and could give me a seizure from all the lights they flash in the audiences faces.
In less than a couple of hours, we were ready to go. I was tatted up with my muffled hair and edgy attire that gave me that 20 year old look. I was frequently texting Dez to meet me up at the Club, but knowing him, he'd probably blow my cover.
I trudged down the steps of the stairs as Rocky was leaning against the front door frame with his finger sliding across the screen of his phone.
"Shit!" Rocky exclaimed, forgetting I have neighbors. "I left my guitar at that store at the mall."
"Well don't they have extras at the venue?" I reminded as I knew that he was going to put me up to something.
"Well I have to get it back someday, and I'm not dealing with that agitating chick, you go get it and meet me at the venue," Rocky demanded as he headed out the front door with me following behind.
"The venue is a half hour from here," I complained, which I had the right too.
"Take your skateboard," Rocky unlocked his car and casually slid in, acting as if I didn't even exist. I sighed as I began heading in the malls direction, feeling the wind of Rocky's mustang brush against my skin as he sped by.
I was guessing that all the stores would have closed already, hoping I wouldn't have walked all this way for disappointment.
Fortunately, the lights at Sonic Boom beamed throughout the area as I hid my skateboard in the bushes beside the entrance. I silently opened the door, noticing Ally had fallen asleep on the counter. Her head dug in between her folded arms on the counter and was completely oblivious that I had entered. I didn't see the guitar, guessing she placed it somewhere after we left.
I lightly tapped her shoulder to see if she'd react and she did. Her head flung up, causing her hair to toss back and have the wavy bounce to it.
"Well someone's sleeping on the job," I teased as Ally glanced around at her surrounds, probably just realizing that she fell asleep in the shop.
"Well when you work at a store your whole life, it technically becomes your second home," Ally spoke as she adjusted her hair and reached from under the counter. "I think this belongs to you?"
My stress level lowered as I saw the guitar placed on the counter top.
"Thanks, that what I came back for! Rocky has a performance tonight and he finally realized he was missing something," I informed as Ally glanced at the guitar with a confused expression.
"That's gonna be kind of impossible to play," She noted as I glanced down at the jacked up strings.
"Promise me, he'll be too drunk to notice," I joked seriously as I glanced down at the guitar that I realized I had to drag all the way to the club.
"So he performs at bars….clubs?" Ally asked curiously as she began fiddling with her fingers, a sign that she was nervous about something.
"Yeah, he performs anywhere that sells alcohol. His favorite place is the Mystic Lights Club," The second that name escaped my lips….the more guilt that piled in my stomach. "I'm sure you've heard of it."
"You were there weren't you," Ally spoke from the silence as I avoided eye contact.
"Cant say I wasn't," I confessed as I felt my heart rushing, I really hope she didn't realize why I was there.
"That's why you were being all friendly towards me at school. Cause you saw what happened," Ally spoke what came to her mind and it was correct. "You just had to tell everyone didn't you?"
Wait…never mind.
"Whoa, okay, yes I was there, but I didn't tell anyone anything, it could've been anyone. You'd be surprised what kind of sluts from school go there," I defended myself as I realized what I just said. "Not to offend you in any way…."
"Too late for that," Ally said as she locked the cash register and walked towards the back door. "Why were you there? How'd you even get in?"
"I could ask you the same question?" I brought up, actually wondering why she was there in the first place. "Rocky gave me a fake I.D and temporary tattoos that looked permanent. Plus I could pull of a 20 year old any day." I flipped my hair with a smirk.
"More like a immature adolescent who could look up to 16 at most," Ally insulted as she brushed passed to lock another door.
"For your information I'm 17," I informed with a pop of the collar.
"And cocky," Ally added as she locked another door and headed towards the front door. I was getting real sick of this girl. "I need to close up shop, so if you don't mind-" I switched the guitar to my right hand as I followed her to the door and technically trapped her until she actually listened to what I had to say.
"Look, I know I cant convince you that I didn't do anything, even though I didn't," I spoke for the last time. Our faces inches apart just like they were a few nights ago. I bit my lip, fighting the urge to lean in closer. I inched closer but then as I was almost near her lips I backed off. "Just know that."
Without saying goodbye, I decided to just leave before anything else would happen. I felt the cool air hit the exposed skin of my arm once I exited the building.
I lifted my skateboard out from the bushes and planted it on the ground, glancing at the ground spotting a shadow. Within a second, I looked up to see Ally still there with her eyes locked on mine. The only thing I could think of was casually smile as I tossed the guitar strap over my shoulder and disappeared into the darkness on my skateboard.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the long update! I had finals and I was workin on my other fanfic, I don't want them to fall instantly in love with each other just yet…so they might have to get used to each other first. Next chapter next week!