Thorn was still in a dreamy state of mind from last night, in disbelief that her band's song had been played on the radio. The black-haired goth was so happy that her dad, and her friends' families, had been there to enjoy the incredible moment with them.
The girls were currently sitting out on the couch together, each eating their cereal whilst doing something else. Dusk was reading a book, and Thorn was reading the newspaper, whilst Luna did the crossword section of the paper which she had removed.
As Thorn's bowl of cereal neared its end, she quickly shoveled it down, recognizing that today couldn't be as leisurely as mornings had typically been for her. She had to go to her dad's office for her first day of work!
"Does anyone need the bathroom?" Thorn inquired, putting her cereal bowl by the other dirty dishes near the sink.
"Already used it." Dusk said, briefly looking up from her book.
"I can use it after you." Luna said.
"Okay, thanks." Thorn smiled. "So what order are we dropping people off in? Someone's got to take the car and pick everyone up once we're done with our shifts."
"Well, Jack's is closest to our apartment. My shift lasts an hour longer than yours, too." Dusk informed.
"Then the dentist's office is about a mile away from that." Luna pointed out.
"So I guess I'm taking the car then?" Thorn shrugged.
"Yeah. Maybe you two could have lunch at Jack's while you wait for me." Dusk suggested. "I'll get a meal on my break, I think."
"That's a great idea!" Thorn exclaimed, as she headed towards the bathroom to get ready. It would throw off their routine of taking turns driving, but Thorn didn't mind always being the one to drive. It made the most sense anyway, given the order of where they were going.
For as much as Thorn previously detested having to work a second job, because it would take away from their time writing music, she actually was sort of looking forward to working for her father. Perhaps having a bit of variety where she wasn't just thinking about writing music all day could give her more creative drive with the time she did have left to write music.
The Soccer Mom Van pulled up to the sidewalk next to Jack's. A cold breeze could be heard whistling as Dusk opened the left rear car door.
"See you later, Dusk." Luna waved.
"Have fun at work!" Thorn smiled.
"Bye! You guys too!" Dusk waved back.
Once Dusk was out of earshot, Thorn blurted "I feel bad for her. We both get to work with our parents, while she's stuck working in a restaurant."
"Well, to be fair, Jack's probably more of a father to her than her actual one." Luna said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Ha!" Thorn laughed, as she shifted the car into drive and continued heading to the dentist's office. That statement was a bit of a stretch, but both of the girls knew that Dusk's father had a tremendous issue giving warmth to his children.
"I hope you enjoy your first shift, Luna." Thorn said, as the dentist's office was in sight. The black-haired goth pulled into a parking spot so that Luna could get out of the vehicle.
"Thanks, I hope you do too! Who would have ever thought we would have had to go into the professional world? Yuck." Luna jokingly chuckled.
Thorn waved to her fellow Hex Girl while driving away to get to the pharmacy. As much as she joked about the girls getting "professional jobs," she really wished there could be a world where people could just pursue whatever career they wanted, instead of worrying about whether or not it would be profitable. Her passion was writing music, so it made her a little sad that she had to take time away from music just so she could afford to live. Oh well, that was life, she supposed.
The black-haired girl felt a bit nervous as she headed into her father's pharmacy. It was an odd feeling because she loved her father and was excited to work with him, but she had never had a professional job before, and worried about screwing up.
She was taken out of her worrisome thoughts by the sound of her father's voice.
"Good morning, Sally!" her father exclaimed warmly. "I'm so excited to be working with you!"
"Me too!" Thorn responded.
"Well, this job is pretty straightforward. Typically, your duties will include doing paperwork and filling pill bottles based on instructions I provide you. We always manage to keep busy, though, so you'll never have a dull moment. This isn't one of those jobs where you'll be bored and reading a book while the day passes by." Mr. McKnight chuckled.
"That's okay, I haven't been reading much anyway." Thorn laughed.
"You haven't?" Mr. McKnight questioned in surprise. "You always used to love reading, though."
"Yeah...I just haven't been into it as much lately, I guess." Thorn shrugged.
"Did you ever read that Wicca book your mother gave you before…" Mr. McKnight trailed off. He didn't have to finish his sentence for Thorn to know what he meant, though.
"No, I didn't." Thorn sighed. She always intended to read it, but never got to it.
"Oh okay, I was just curious!" Mr. McKnight's tone lightened as he switched the conversation back to the original subject. "Today, I'd like you to print out this paperwork for the following list of customers."
He handed Thorn a list of about 25 customers. It certainly wasn't work that required any sort of deep thinking, but it would keep her busy.
"You can print all of these off by opening each document on the computer in the 'Documents' folder, then bringing your mouse up to 'file,' then click 'print preview' to make sure it displays right, and if it does, then hover your mouse over the 'print' button, and click it." Mr. McKnight explained.
"I know how to use a computer, daddy." Thorn giggled.
"Oh...yes, you kids are always so adept with technology." Mr. McKnight looked a little embarrassed for overexplaining. "Then, after you're done with that, you can fill the pill bottles for each of the orders that you print out. Now, do you have any questions?"
"No, everything sounds pretty straightforward, just like you said." Thorn agreed.
This didn't seem anywhere near as scary as Thorn thought it would be. All her tasks seemed quite manageable. For the first time since she'd begun seriously realizing she'd have to get a job to make ends meet, Thorn realized that she could get used to this.
The shift had passed incredibly quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that she was surprised when her father said "Alright Sally, it's noon! Your shift is over."
"Wow, already?" Thorn exclaimed, as she slapped the label on the final pill bottle.
"I told you the day would pass by quickly!" Mr. McKnight laughed. "I hope you're enjoying working here. It's nice to have someone else help me out for a change."
"Thanks, daddy. I'm really enjoying it!." Thorn smiled.
"Good!" Mr. McKnight replied. "So, any plans for the rest of the day?"
"I'm going to pick up Luna, and then we're going to go to Jack's to get lunch." Thorn shared.
"Well, I won't keep you here any longer then, and I hope you girls have fun!" Mr. McKnight said.
"Thanks daddy, we will! I'll see you tomorrow morning at 8!" Thorn waved, as she began walking outside.
"Bye, Sally! See you tomorrow!" Mr. McKnight waved back.
Thorn headed out to the Soccer Mom van, taking the key out of her pocket to unlock it. For the few moments she had alone whilst driving to get Luna, the black-haired goth enjoyed just peacefully driving and looking at the tops of the trees, which were all speckled with orange and yellow leaves. Oakhaven always had the most beautiful autumn scenery.
Within a matter of moments, Thorn saw Luna standing outside the dentist's office. She quickly pulled over to let her friend in.
"Hey! How was your first shift?" Thorn excitedly inquired.
"You know, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Luna said. "I thought I'd hate doing something other than writing music for work, but I didn't really mind it. The time passed by super quickly, given I was just answering phones and stuff."
"I felt the exact same way. It was almost a little fun to have some variety. Like it will make the moments of writing music even more precious." Thorn started driving again and headed for Jack's.
"Yeah, I can see why you'd think that." Luna acknowledged.
"Hey, speaking of that, I've got a song I've been writing that I keep meaning to share with you both. I'll share it with you over lunch at Jack's." Thorn promised.
"Sure! Maybe we could even have a mini-writing session over lunch?" Luna offered, as Thorn pulled into a parking spot in front of Jack's.
"Absolutely!" Thorn unbuckled her seatbelt, as her stomach let out a growling noise. "Oh god, I'm so starved."
"I could eat too." Luna agreed, as she held the door into Jack's open for Thorn.
"Thanks." Thorn appreciated. Looking around, it looked like it was a busy time...or at least, busy for Jack's. There were around 15 groups of people sitting at tables, either currently in the midst of eating, or waiting to be served.
"Hey, girls!" Jack jovially greeted. "Do ya want a table or a booth today?"
"Hey Jack! A booth would be nice!" Thorn informed. "We're thinking about having a writing session, so we might be here for a little while."
"Wonderful! What can I get you girls to drink?" Jack said, as he walked over to the booth nearest to the door with them.
"Just water would be great." Luna said.
"I'll take a lemonade!" Thorn ordered.
"Great! I'll have Dusk bring them out to ya in a minute!" Jack said, as he handed the girls some menus before scurrying off to help the next customer.
"Okay, thanks!" Thorn said, before turning her attention back to Luna. "Okay, so I've been writing this love song called 'It's a Mystery'. Here's what I've got so far."
"You remember the exact lyrics without having to write it down for reference?" Luna said in surprise.
"Yeah, I guess." Thorn shrugged. Thorn always had an excellent memory, so it didn't feel shocking to her. "Anyway, I've written the chorus, and this is what I have: It's a mystery what he does to me. Can I make him see how I feel? It's a mystery. Could he care for me? Will my fantasy ever be real? Or will he stay a mystery?"
"Ooh! I like it!" Luna exclaimed. "Very mysterious and...oh my gosh!"
Thorn spun around so she could see what Luna was so shocked about. It was Dusk, wearing something that Thorn never expected to see the edgy, tough Hex Girl wear: a bright pink waitress outfit.
"Hey guys, here's your drinks." Dusk handed each respective drink to her friends.
"Ummm...Dusk, your outfit is…" Thorn wasn't sure how to put her comment into words.
"Oh, shut up!" Dusk snapped, with a slight hint of playfulness in her voice. "It was the only outfit Jack had. Now, what do you two want to order?"
"I'll take a cheeseburger." Thorn ordered. Jack's cheeseburgers were always cooked to perfection, with the cheese just slightly melted on top and the burgers cooked to be just the right amount of juicy.
"I'll do a tuna melt." Luna said.
"Okay, got it." Dusk wrote their orders down. "Are you writing a song without me?"
"No! I mean…" Thorn stuttered, trying to explain. She'd never finish an entire song without Dusk's consent. Even if the girls wrote alone sometimes, they always worked together on at least part of a song before finishing it. "I'm just sharing something that I've been writing with Luna."
"Well, good, because I liked what I heard." Dusk complimented.
"I'm glad!" Thorn exclaimed. "I was actually just going to mention I got a start on the first verse, too. Do you have a minute to listen, Dusk?"
"Okay, yeah. If it's just a minute. I've got to get these orders back to the kitchen, though." Dusk informed.
"I promise it will be quick." Thorn hurried. "I was thinking the first verse could sound something like this: He's such a mystery, wandering in the lonely nights. I'm scared I might wake up. 'Cause if I should wake up, then I'll be lonely tonight."
"I like it...but the last line needs work." Dusk said. "The repetition of "lonely night" and "lonely tonight" just doesn't work."
"What about changing the second one into 'lonely in the morning light'... or 'alone in the morning light'?" Luna inquired.
"I like that." Thorn's ears metaphorically perked up.
"Hmm...I still don't like how one line ends with 'nights' whereas the next ends with 'light'. Can we remove the 's' from 'nights'?" Dusk suggested.
"Maybe we could edit that one part of the lyric...He's such a mystery, that...wanders around... each lonely night?" Thorn's voice had a hint of uncertainty.
"That haunts each lonely night?" Luna offered.
"Yes!" Thorn's eyes lit up. "That's so much better."
"I agree, but sorry, I've gotta get going so I can get these orders in." Dusk informed, as she rushed back to the kitchen.
"I think we've got ourselves another great song." Thorn proudly stated.
"All we've got to do now is write another verse." Luna added.
Luna and Thorn could hear the door swing open, and felt a brief cold gust of wind. They quickly recognized the man from his curly red hair: it was Mayor Corey.
"Oh! Hello girls!" the mayor said, sounding surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you two here!"
"Hi." Thorn laughed. "We're just here waiting for Dusk. She's got about 45 minutes left of her shift."
"That's actually who I was looking for! But you two will do just perfectly." Mayor Corey ambiguously stated. "You see, for this year's Autumn Fest, we had a band named Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics lined up, and…"
"Well, it might be a little hard to make that work, given they're dead." Thorn bluntly stated, before immediately feeling a little bad and worrying she had been insensitive.
"Exactly my problem. It was a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to those boys." Mayor Corey shook his head. "So young. Anyway, it's been hard to find anyone to play the Autumn Fest on such short notice. I was wondering if you girls might be willing to play the Autumn Fest again this year!"
Thorn felt a little bad being excited about filling in for people who had died, but she was quite elated at the opportunity.
"Of course we would." Thorn said, as coolly as possible as to not give off any vibes of inappropriate excitement. "If Dusk's okay with it, of course. I'm sure she will be once she hears, though."
"Yeah, it'd be our pleasure." Luna agreed.
"Excellent! I really appreciate you girls. People really loved your music last year, so I have no doubt you'll be a hit again this year!" Mayor Corey said. "Anyway, I've got another meeting planning the Autumn Fest that I've got to be at, but you girls have a wonderful day now!"
"You too!" both girls said at the same time.
Thorn waited until the mayor had exited the restaurant and the door had shut before making another comment.
"Gus didn't tell us the band's passing was that recent." Thorn observed. "I assumed this was in the past year, but Mayor Corey made it sound like it was weeks ago."
Before Luna could respond, Dusk brought out their meals.
"Alright Luna, here's your tuna melt." Dusk handed her the plate.
"Thank you." Luna responded politely.
"And here's your cheeseburger, Thorn." Dusk handed Thorn a plate garnished with french fries. Unfortunately for her, Dusk clumsily lifted the plate at such an angle that caused half of Thorn's fries to fall off the plate and onto the floor. "Shit!"
"It's okay." Thorn laughed.
"Ugh, this waitress shit has been so hard to get the hang of." Dusk sighed. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a burger right now."
"You didn't eat yet?" Thorn asked.
"No!" Dusk passionately stated. "My shift has been so freakin' busy that I haven't even had time to sit down! Anyway, I saw Mayor Corey come in here, so I guess I've gotta go wait on him too."
"He actually already left. He just came in here for a moment to tell us something." Thorn informed. She could barely hold back her smile, because she knew how happy it would make Dusk.
"Well...are you going to tell me what it is or not?" Dusk sarcastically said, in a half-playful, half-annoyed way.
The smile on Thorn's face got bigger as she informed her blonde friend: "We're playing the Autumn Fest again this year."
Night had fallen, and Thorn was enjoying some much-needed downtime in her bedroom. She felt the day couldn't have gone any more perfect. She had an excellent first day on the job, and she loved that she still had time to write music in the afternoons, even if she had to work in the mornings. Sure, it meant she couldn't go to the arcade anymore, but she could always do that on weekends. Surprisingly, she didn't really mind.
Thorn still felt very alert from the excitement of being invited to play the Autumn Fest again, but she knew she should probably go to bed. The goth decided in favor of getting some sleep, and thus went over to her dresser to put her pajamas on. As she was about to open her bottom drawer, she noticed a book precariously set on top of the dresser. She didn't have to look at the title to know what it was: it was Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wicca, a book that her mother had given her a few weeks before she died. Thorn knew her mother was a strong practitioner of Wicca, and while Thorn was certainly interested in Wicca, there was very little she knew about it.
She thought about her dad asking her this morning if she'd read the book, and she'd said no. The book had sat there untouched for so long...maybe it was time she finally read the book. She had nothing to lose, right? If she hated it, then she could just store it somewhere and never look at the book again, instead of looking at the book on her dresser every day thinking about how she didn't have time to read it.
Instead of changing into her pajamas, Thorn picked up the book and opened it. She began reading the first lines.
Wicca is a religion based on nature. Wiccans consider themselves in tune with the environment and its main four elements: earth, water, fire and air.
Thorn loved nature, so this religion seemed like it could be a good fit for her.
The religion focuses on spiritual energies and auras, and how they align with people's everyday behaviors and emotions. Wicca is a religion of great diversity: some people believe in one god, multiple gods, or even no gods. Some people even think that gods are archetypal symbols, rather than actual beings.
This was so interesting to Thorn. She had never heard of a religion where there was such a variety of beliefs that were allowed, and she liked the flexibility the religion provided.
Equinoxes, solstices and phases of the moon are valued in Wicca.
Ooh, Luna would love that. Luna had a bit of a fascination with the moon, because as she always said, "it's so cool that just a big rock in the sky could have so much power."
Thorn had a feeling she was going to fall more in love with this religion with every sentence she read. She loved the emphasis placed on spiritual experience, as she had never been a big fan of the religions assuming that everyone has the exact same relationship with higher powers. People are unique and place different levels of value on their spirituality, and thus, everyone has a different way of practicing and interpreting spiritual beliefs. It felt like this religion fit perfectly with her interests and beliefs.
Knowing she would be sacrificing a bit of sleep, Thorn's eyes continued to remain glued to the book, simply taking in all the blissful knowledge.
The week had passed. It was now Friday, and Luna and Thorn were hanging out in the same booth near the door at Jack's. It was slowly becoming a tradition for them: every day after their work shifts, they sat in the same booth waiting to drive Dusk home, working on 'It's a Mystery' or discussing what they did at work. They'd started bringing their own lunch, as continuing to purchase lunch from Jack's would defeat the whole point of getting a job. Given he knew them so well, Jack was quite understanding of the girls doing so, particularly since Dusk was working there.
"He's such a mystery, why can't I let him know just how much I love him?" Thorn read the first lyric of the second verse.
"How much I think about him?" Luna continued.
"Umm...how much I think of him sounds smoother." Thorn critiqued. "Or at least, I think so. What do you think?"
"Yeah, 'of' is better." Luna agreed, crossing out "about" in the notebook where she'd written the lyrics. "I think I remember Dusk said she didn't like that lyric either, so maybe she'll like that better."
They'd always discussed the lyrics with Dusk in the car ride back to their apartment. Dusk often suggested significant word changes, so it still very much felt like she was a part of the songwriting process. Besides, the girls often wrote songs on their own and would later bring them to the whole band for revision, so this felt no different. Even though Thorn wrote "It's a Mystery" on her own, it very much felt like the entire band's song. In fact, every single one of their songs did.
"I think it needs one more line." Thorn suggested.
"How can we build off of 'how much I think of him?'…" Luna brainstormed.
"But I'm scared to tell him?" Dusk playfully added, as she walked by the girls carrying a plate with someone's sandwich and a glass of water. She must have overheard Luna. All of a sudden, the glass of water came toppling off her tray and onto the floor, causing Dusk to shout in annoyance "Argh!"
"Doing okay over there?" Luna asked.
"Yes!" Dusk said in an annoyed tone. "I'm getting the hang of it."
"I like that line!" Thorn returned to the original subject. "I've got just a minor change though...but I'm scared to tell him so."
Luna nodded. "Yeah! That's it. That makes it feel really complete."
The girls felt a cold gust of wind as the door opened once again. Three sets of footsteps could be heard walking in. Thorn immediately recognized their faces.
"Oh my gosh! It's so great to see you girls here!" Bridgit exclaimed.
"Hey! Good to see you too." Thorn smiled.
"How have you guys been?" Nia inquired. "It's been a hot minute since we've seen you."
"We've been pretty good." Dusk said, as she plopped down in the booth next to Thorn and Luna. Thorn looked up at the clock, surprised that Dusk was sitting down during her shift. She quickly realized though that it was already after 1, meaning Dusk's shift was over.
"We just finished writing a song." Thorn informed.
"Oh that's so cool!" Sam complimented.
"Not only that, but we've got some incredible news! We're gonna be playing at freakin' Autumn Fest this year!" Dusk shared.
"Oh my gosh!" Nia practically shouted with excitement. "I can't believe it!"
"You girls are going to totally rock this year's Autumn Fest...no pun intended." Sam blushed a little bit at her unintentionally cringey pun.
"See, I told you guys that the necklace I gave Dusk was good luck!" Bridgit smiled, her eyes briefly glancing to see it was still around Dusk's neck.
"Aww, thanks, but I think it was just a coincidence. We weren't even Mayor Corey's first choice." Thorn laughed.
"Oh no, it's definitely good luck." Sam disagreed.
"I mean, think about it, you guys have had so many incredible things happen ever since I gave it to you. My dad signed you guys, your song is being played on the radio, and now you're playing Autumn Fest!" Bridgit reasoned.
"Well, I guess so." Thorn chuckled. "We only met your dad through you, and he got our song played on the radio. The Autumn Fest thing was just a coincidence."
"Why are you guys so into that necklace, anyway? You bring it up an awful lot. If you want it back or something, I can give it to you." Dusk offered.
"No...it's not that." Nia said.
"Should we tell them?" Sam asked.
"I guess there's no harm in them knowing the truth." Bridgit sighed. "The reason we always talk about the necklace is because it's a moldavite stone, which is a legendary jewel that we believe brings good luck to whoever wears it. It has real magical powers."
"I guess what we're trying to say is…" Nia stuttered.
"We're Wiccans." Sam finished.
Author's note:
So this was a pretty short and straightforward chapter, but I hope you still enjoyed it. All of the history in Thorn's book behind Wicca were actual aspects of the religion, which I've done extensive research on. This includes the moldavite stone mentioned at the end. Moldavite stones are popular among Wiccans and witches, as it is considered to be a stone that has high spiritual vibrations. The warmth of this spiritual energy is believed to be so concentrated into this stone that it gives anyone who carries it good luck. The stone is believed to have originated from a meteorite that crashed in the Czech Republic. The remnants of that meteorite were supposedly cooled down into a gaseous vapor, then changing to liquid form, before finally solidifying and condensing into moldavite.
Favorites, follows and reviews are always appreciated. Thank you to those who have done any of these so far, or even simply read the story. I hope you enjoy what's to come in the story!