"This week?" Gus asked. "When you called me and asked for an impromptu meeting, this isn't quite what I was imagining."
"Well, what were you imagining?" Dusk inquired curiously.
"I'm not exactly sure, but certainly not that you were releasing your album at the end of the week." Gus chuckled. "If you're releasing it on Friday, that's only four days!"
"Are you saying we shouldn't?" Thorn looked confused.
"Not at all." Gus assured. "There is no right time to release an album. It's all up to the artist and the vision they have for the album. No one knows what's better for the art than the artists themselves."
"Okay, so you think it's the best idea for us to release it now." Luna attempted to paraphrase.
Gus chuckled. "How many times do I have to say it's not about what I want? It's what you want. Why exactly do you want to release the album now?"
"I just got a gut feeling that now was the best time." Thorn explained. "The amount of interest in our music is growing every day, and we have to capitalize on that before the interest fades. Releasing an album so suddenly is only going to increase the interest."
"Besides, it feels like we've been working on this album for so long." Dusk added. "Now, that journey has finally come to an end and we're ready to share it."
"That's excellent reasoning, girls." Gus explained. "I continue to be so proud of you girls. You've made a huge amount of progress on this album in a month, and it's impressive how much work you've put into this."
"Thanks, Gus." Thorn appreciated.
"Yeah, we really appreciate you being so supportive." Dusk thanked.
"Is there anything left we need to do?" Luna questioned.
"Nothing that's required, but there are a number of things you can do to even further promote your album." Gus suggested. "You can record an announcement about the album coming out on Friday to be played on radio stations, which they can broadcast after every time "Hex Girl" plays."
"That's a great idea!" Dusk exclaimed.
"Excellent!" Gus replied. "I think that will be quite helpful in spreading the word that your album is coming out. If I could just find where I put my tape recorder…"
Gus dug around a bit in the bottom drawer of his desk, before exclaiming "A-ha! Here it is. Now, I'm ready to begin recording whenever you girls are."
"We're ready." Dusk said, looking at her other two bandmates, who gave her nods of agreement.
"3, 2, 1…" Gus counted down, as he pressed the 'record' button on the tape recorder.
"We're The Hex Girls!" all three girls said at once.
"And we're excited to announce the release of our debut album, Hex Girl." Thorn chipperly stated.
"You can get our brand new album in stores this Friday." Luna elaborated.
"You won't want to miss this, because it's going to be wicked!" Dusk put extra emphasis on her final word.
Gus pressed the stop button on his tape recorder.
"Wonderful!" Gus exclaimed. "I'll send out the recording to radio stations later this afternoon, after I send out the request to put your CD in production. If I get the request out today, that should be barely enough time to have it in stores by Thursday night, for release on Friday."
"Thank you so much, Gus." Luna responded.
"Is there anything else we should do to promote our album?" Thorn inquired.
"Well, perhaps one other thing." Gus looked thoughtful. "Do you girls happen to have any performances around town this week?"
"Just one. We're scheduled to perform at a coffee shop tomorrow afternoon after our work shifts." Dusk responded.
"Well, besides obviously mentioning the album release at that performance, maybe you should try to schedule another performance this week before the album releases, as another method of promoting the album to the town. I know you girls and Jack know each other well, especially now that Dusk is a waitress there. Perhaps you could ask him." Gus suggested.
"Sure, I think Jack would love to have us perform sometime this week." Thorn replied. "It always helps boost his business."
"Stupendous!" Gus exclaimed. "I'm glad you girls came to talk with me today. If it's alright with you, even though we've already met this week, I'd still like to meet on Thursday. Just to talk about how you girls are feeling releasing your first album, and answer any last minute questions you might have."
"We'd love that." Thorn smiled. "Thanks again for meeting with us on such short notice."
"It was my pleasure!" Gus exclaimed.
As the girls departed their manager's office, they still couldn't believe that before the week ended, their first album would be released for the world to see.
Thorn could tell the weather was beginning to get colder. The black-haired goth could feel a cold chill in her legs, as well as a brisk breeze swaying her hair back and forth, as she and Luna walked into Jack's.
"I wonder if Dusk has talked to Jack about the concert yet." Luna wondered aloud.
"Looks like we're about to find out." Thorn said, as Jack came out of the kitchen, heading towards them.
"Hey girls!" Jack greeted. "Dusk just told me about your concert, and I wanted to let ya know that I'd love to have ya perform here! I suggested 6:00pm tomorrow, and Dusk said it worked for her. Does that work for you two?"
"Yep, that works for us." Luna replied.
The three bandmates were almost always together anyway, so generally, if something worked for one of them, it worked for all of them.
"Great!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm so excited that you girls are putting out your first album! I still remember the day Thorn's mom told me that you and Dusk were going to band camp for the first time, and now, look at how far you've come!"
"Yeah." Thorn nodded with a subdued tone to her voice. Jack of course didn't mean any harm, but it definitely caused a pang of sadness to have that memory brought up. It was not too long after returning from band camp that her mother had tragically passed away.
"Here's your sandwich, ma'am. Please let me know if you need anything else." Thorn could hear Dusk saying from a few tables away. Once Dusk finished serving the woman, she headed towards Thorn and Luna.
"Hey, you did it without dropping the sandwich on the floor this time!" Luna teased, causing Thorn to giggle. Out of the corner of her eye, Thorn could have sworn she saw even Jack snickering a little bit while trying to hide it.
Dusk rolled her eyes. "For your information, I've actually been getting much better at waitressing. I haven't dropped anything all week."
"Are you almost done with your shift, Dusk?" Luna asked. "We've got to get to Haylee's by 1:30 for our concert."
"Yeah." Dusk checked the clock to see that it was only a few minutes before her shift was up. "Let me just grab my coat and hang up this apron."
"Oh, I keep forgetting to mention this to you guys." Thorn suddenly remembered. "I looked at our earnings from our jobs last night, and as of today, we've made enough money to pay the car repair charge off of the credit card."
"That's awesome!" Luna exclaimed.
"No thanks to that asshole at the Larcom Theater making us pay an extra $135." Dusk sneered.
"That's wonderful, girls!" Jack smiled, while also looking like he was hiding a bit of disappointment. "So...guess that means you won't need to work here anymore then."
"Oh…well, I wouldn't mind working here longer." Dusk replied. Thorn wasn't really sure if she was being truthful, or just saying it because she could tell Jack was sad. "It's a great source of extra money, and gives us a little variety instead of sitting at home all day."
"Yeah." Luna nodded. "I wouldn't mind continuing to work with my dad."
"Me either." Thorn acknowledged. She wasn't trying to spare Jack's feelings either; she was being completely truthful. "I've really come to enjoy the routine, actually."
"So you'll keep working here and helpin' me out?" Jack looked excited.
"Yeah. Of course." Dusk smiled.
"That's great!" Jack elatedly exclaimed. Everyone in town knew that Jack had sometimes struggled running the restaurant mostly on his own, since he only had his other waitress, Caitlin, to help out in the evenings. Dusk liked Jack and had a certain nostalgia around his restaurant. Her parents took her there all the time when she was younger, so Dusk felt quite happy whenever she was in Jack's. Thorn assumed it was a place of comfort for her.
"Well, we'll see you later Jack." Thorn said. "We've got to get to our concert."
"Have a great day, girls! I'll see you all tomorrow and I can't wait for the concert!" Jack waved, just as the girls were leaving.
Thankfully, Haylee's was only a couple of blocks from Jack's, so it wouldn't take long for them to get there.
"Did you mean what you said about wanting to keep working for Jack?" Thorn's curiosity got the better of her.
"Yeah, of course I did." Dusk looked a bit surprised. "It's fun helping Jack out, and I'm just starting to get the hang of the job. Besides, he clearly needs the help. He seems to be able to keep on top of the customers pretty well, but he struggles a bit at the lunch rush. That's always the busiest time."
"I like working for my dad, too." Luna agreed. "Things have been really busy lately, since everyone's trying to get in their appointments before it's too cold."
"My dad clearly likes the help too." Thorn replied, as she unlocked the Soccer Mom Van and got in the driver's seat. Luna got in the front passenger's seat, while Dusk squished herself in between the instruments in the back.
"If we're going to have this extra income now, maybe we should do something special to celebrate." Dusk suggested. "We're releasing our first freaking album in three days! We can't just do nothing."
"I love that idea!" Luna complimented. "Maybe we could have an album release party or something."
"I don't think we're that big yet." Thorn complimented.
"No, that's not what I mean." Luna rolled her eyes. I'm talking about inviting our families and a few friends around town over: Jack, Bridgit, Nia, Sam, and of course, Gus. Without him, none of this would have even been possible. We could invite all of them over for some drinks and appetizers, and listen to the album together. It'd be a fun little way to commemorate the special occasion."
"That sounds really fun." Dusk agreed, as Thorn pulled the van into a parking spot.
"Oh my gosh, we should totally do that!" Thorn exclaimed in excitement.
"Hey!" a familiar voice interrupted. Thorn looked up to see Bridgit, standing next to Nia and Sam.
"Oh, hi!" Thorn returned the greeting.
"I heard from my dad that you guys are releasing your album on Friday!" Bridgit exclaimed.
"Shhh!" Sam shushed. "Don't ruin the surprise."
"It's not a surprise, Sam." Nia rolled her eyes. "They want people to know they're releasing the album."
"Yeah, we just decided since we had all of our songs done, there was no reason to wait any longer to release it." Dusk explained.
"The reaction we've gotten to 'Hex Girl' is so amazing, so we just felt that now was the time to gift our fans with the rest of the album." Thorn elaborated.
"That's so freaking cool!" Sam exclaimed.
"Hey, girls." Haylee said in a subdued voice. Although she could be a bit firm at times, the girls still quite liked her and appreciated her willingness to regularly have them perform. "Thanks for performing here again. You can set up in your normal spot."
"Sounds great." Thorn responded. "Oh hey, Bridgit, Nia, Sam? We're planning on having an album release party at our apartment. I was thinking tomorrow night at 7? We'd love it if you'd come, if you're not too busy!"
"Of course we're not too busy!" Bridgit gasped.
"Yeah, we'll be there." Nia responded. "We wouldn't miss an album release party in honor of our favorite band for the world."
"Is this party open to the public?" Haylee inquired, a rare sense of intrigue in her voice.
"It's just for friends and family, but you'd be welcome to come if you want!" Thorn suggested. "It's at our apartment in Oakhaven Heights at 7 tomorrow."
"Sure, I'll be there."
The girls lugged their instruments over to the main stage area, as one of the baristas stopped them.
"Hi! Can I come too?" the barista inquired.
"Sure! You can come!" Dusk invited.
"That's awesome! I'm so glad to see you girls again! Can I get you girls anything to drink?" the barista inquired. Thorn quickly refreshed herself on the woman's name by checking the name tag, which read 'Anne.'
"Are you going to get another milkshake again?" Dusk teased Thorn and Luna. "Or are you going to try real coffee?"
"I'll try real coffee if you try a milkshake...I mean, one of our drinks." Thorn heckled back.
"Yeah, me too." Luna piggybacked.
"It's a deal." Dusk looked defiant. "What type of milkshake do you recommend? Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?"
"You joke, but they do actually have all of those flavors. Mocha, vanilla bean, and the strawberry white latte." Luna chuckled.
Dusk simply rolled her eyes and ordered as she followed Anne to the ordering counter.
"I'll have a medium blended strawberry white latte." Dusk ordered in a sassy voice.
"She wants that with soy milk, by the way." Thorn chimed in.
"And with an extra shot of espresso." Luna added, to tease her friend.
"While you're at it, put some whipped cream on the top." Thorn added.
Anne looked at Dusk with a confused look, as if to indirectly ask if she actually wanted all these things.
"Yeah. Add all that stuff too. It will only prove even more that your drinks aren't real coffee." Dusk sassed.
"Did you want that with the chocolate drizzle on top?" Anne asked.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Dusk swore, before recomposing herself. "Yeah. Put the chocolate drizzle on top too."
"What about for you two?" Anne inquired.
"I'll just have a plain coffee." Thorn ordered.
"Me too." Luna said. "Can I get a creamer container with that?"
"Oh no you can't!" Dusk immediately snapped, before Luna could answer. "Creamer dilutes the coffee. If we're going to do this, you'll have to drink it black."
"Okay, never mind. Just a black coffee." Luna rolled her eyes. "Geez."
"That'll be $4.78." Anne rang up their orders.
"I've got it." Thorn offered, as she handed the barista a five dollar bill.
"22 cents is your change." Anne said, as she handed Thorn two dimes and two pennies in return. "Your drinks will be ready in a minute! In the meantime, feel free to set up!"
"We better get set up quick, Thorn. Look." Luna pointed at the time. The clock read 1:22.
"Oh shit." Thorn realized, as she quickly scrambled to unzip her guitar from its case and plug it into the amplifier. Luckily, Thorn's instrument didn't take particularly long to set up compared to the other two girls.
"Thorn! Dusk! Luna!" Anne's voice called from the counter. "Your drinks are ready."
"I can grab them." Thorn offered, as she shuffled over to grab the drinks from Anne. "Thanks, Anne."
"You're welcome! I'm looking forward to the performance!" Anne smiled.
Thorn hurried back over to hand Luna and Dusk's coffees to them, taking a sip of her own in the process.
"Eh, it's fine." Thorn shrugged. "At least it has a flavor, even if it's not an exciting one."
"Ack." Luna choked down her coffee. "This tastes terrible."
At that moment, Thorn and Luna glanced over at a mother and her child, who couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old. The child appeared to be asking to take a sip of the mother's coffee.
"It tastes like burnt ashes, mommy!" the child cried.
"I'm with that kid." Luna chuckled.
"Oh my god." Dusk's face lit up as she tried hers.
"Is that a good 'oh my god' or a bad one?" Thorn laughed.
"This is so fucking good." Dusk put extra emphasis on the swear, apparently to denote how good it was.
"So it's not just a stupid milkshake to you anymore?" Luna smirked.
"I don't care what it is. This is some good shit right here." Dusk said, taking another huge slurp of her drink.
A quick check of the large clock on the wall above the fireplace showed Thorn it was time to start their concert.
"Hi everyone! Before we start performing today, we've got a very special announcement." Thorn began.
"We've been working on it for over a year, but now our debut album Hex Girl is coming out on Friday!" Dusk excitedly announced.
Typically when the girls performed at Haylee's, most people simply just kept working on whatever they were doing. This time, however, a number of people looked up from their work and began clapping. Thorn scanned the room a bit and saw only a few people in the coffee shop: the same girl with braided brown hair they'd seen a couple weeks ago, who was about their age, wearing an amber-colored sweater with a leaf on it, an older gentleman in a blue button-up shirt, the mother and her child from earlier, another teenage girl that was slightly younger than them wearing a red t-shirt reading 'Salem State,' and lastly two men in business suits who appeared to be having some sort of a formal discussion. All but the two businessmen clapped.
"Thank you, thank you." Thorn smiled. "Now, it's time for our performance."
"Hit it sisters!" Dusk shouted, seeming even more excited than usual. Thorn presumed it was how quickly she drank the coffee. Glancing over at Dusk's cup, most of it was already gone.
While the patrons of the coffee shop continued to look down and focus on whatever they were working on, the girls began playing the opening notes of "Petrified Bride."
Thorn couldn't believe how quickly the week was flying by. Another day had passed, and only two more days remained until The Hex Girls released their first album.
Whilst the girls walked into Jack's with Bridgit, Nia and Sam following, it hit Thorn a little harder than it had before that this would be the final concert before they released their album.
"Oh my god! Can you believe this is the last concert before you release your album?!" Bridgit exclaimed in an incredibly excited voice. Thorn sometimes found the girls' excitement a bit over-the-top. It was indeed quite an accomplishment that the girls were finally releasing their first album, but Bridgit acted as if Friday marked the second coming of Jesus.
"It's pretty exciting!" Thorn smiled.
"Girls! Long time no see!" Jack chuckled. He had just seen them less than four hours ago during Dusk's shift, though the girls had decided to return home for a few hours before the concert, in order to have a bit of down time and grab their instruments. "I was just telling Caitlin that I wanted to get you girls dinner on the house tonight, to celebrate the release of your first album!"
"That's really sweet of you, Jack." Luna smiled.
"Here you girls are." Caitlin, Jack's other waitress, set down three plates of burgers on the table in the booth where they usually sat at lunch.
"Oh wow, I wasn't expecting them so quickly!" Dusk said in surprise.
"Thank you." Thorn appreciated.
"Can we get you three anything?" Caitlin inquired of the three non-band members, otherwise known as Bridgit, Nia and Sam.
"No, we're good." Sam assured.
"We ate before we came." Nia elaborated.
"So, are you girls gonna start working on your second album right away on Monday?" Bridgit asked.
Thorn fought the urge to chuckle. Sure, they were dedicated to their music, but they weren't machines.
"I'm not sure." Dusk shrugged. "I guess we hadn't thought about it."
For some reason, Thorn realized that the thought had never crossed her mind either. They had been so focused on putting out their first album that they hadn't really thought too much yet about the second one. Thorn imagined they'd take a short break to enjoy the success for a little while, and maybe find some creative ways to promote their first album. Perhaps they'd even film a music video for another song. The girls had already decided to make "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air" the second single; it was just the matter of when that was still open to decision.
"We'll probably do some promotional stuff before moving to the second album. Gotta bask in the glory of the first album for a little while, right?" Thorn joked.
"Heck yeah! Get it, girl!" Nia exclaimed, before pausing for a minute. "I mean, girls."
"This burger is delicious!" Luna commented, as she took a somewhat large bite out of it.
"Thank you again for treating us to free burgers, Jack." Thorn ensured to thank Jack as he scrambled by to take another booth's order.
"Of course, girls! It's my pleasure!" Jack jollily remarked.
Dusk, Thorn and Luna quickly scarfed down their burgers and set up their instruments. As they were doing so, a gentleman walked over to them. Thorn was so focused on setting up that despite seeing him walk over to her, it surprised her to feel the man tap her on the shoulder.
Thorn worried for a moment that this was going to be another Derek Johnson type experience, where the man invited them to a concert that they would have to pay for.
"Hey, you're The Hex Girls, right?" the man inquired. He was wearing a gray button-up shirt and khakis.
"Well, that's what they tell us." Thorn tried to joke, but realized it came off painfully awkward and confusing. She tried to refrain from blushing too much.
"I just heard on the radio you've got an album coming out." the man replied. "Congrats. That's a great accomplishment. I'll definitely be buying a copy on Friday."
"Oh…" Thorn was so shocked she didn't know what to say. She never would have expected that type of compliment from a stranger like that. "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome. Good luck tonight. I'm excited for the concert." the man humbly said, as he walked away, and sat over in a booth where another man wearing a plaid shirt was sitting.
"That was really nice." Thorn smiled at her two bandmates. Even if that was the only person who said anything to them at this concert, Thorn felt like it was a satisfying final concert to have before they put out their first album.
"Yeah. Are we ready to play?" Dusk inquired.
"Yep. Are you?" Luna looked over to Thorn.
"Mmm-hmm." Thorn nodded, as she picked up her guitar and turned to the audience. "Hey everyone! This is a very special concert to us, because it's the final one before we release our very first album on Friday!"
A number of people began clapping, just like at Haylee's. An older woman that Thorn didn't recognize clapped especially passionately.
"We're going to play you a bunch of songs you can hear on our new album tonight. I hope you enjoy them!" Luna announced, as she signaled for the other two to begin playing. It was rare for Luna to publicly speak, because she was so shy, but Thorn was happy that she felt comfortable enough to.
Thorn closed her eyes and inhaled, as the dinner goers at Jack's clapped more enthusiastically than usual for the girls. Even though it was nothing lavish, this was the best last-concert-before-the-album gift that she could have ever gotten.
"You mean your dad actually gave you the day off tomorrow, just for our album?" Luna inquired, slouching back a bit in the booth at Jack's.
"Yep. He said that we'd worked so hard that we deserved a day off to celebrate our album." Thorn responded, as she ate the last bite of the turkey-and-cheese sandwich that she had packed.
"That's awesome. I wonder if I could get my dad to give me the day off." Luna chuckled.
"Ready to go to Gus's meeting?" Dusk interpolated, as she rushed over to the girls' booth.
"We are, but you're not." Thorn responded, elaborating a bit when she saw the confused look on Dusk's face. "You're still wearing your waitress outfit."
"Shit." Dusk realized, as she looked down to see that her black-haired comrade was correct. The busy blonde hurried back to the kitchen to quickly change out of her waitress outfit, which she had on over her t-shirt. She quickly returned wearing her light blue coat.
"Headed out already, girls?" Jack asked in surprise, before getting a look of sudden remembrance on his face. "Oh, right! You've got your meeting with Gus today, don't ya?"
"Yep!" Thorn confirmed.
"Wow! Your last meeting before releasing a huge album! That's gotta be so exciting!" Jack exclaimed.
"It's almost hard to believe." Dusk acknowledged. "It still doesn't even feel real that we could have finally finished this album that we've been working on so long."
"I can only imagine!" Jack jovially responded. "Well, I won't keep ya here any longer. I hope the meeting goes amazing!"
"Thanks, Jack!" Thorn said, whilst getting out of the booth. She started following Luna and heading for the door, but paused when Luna abruptly stopped.
"Oh my gosh, wait! I almost forgot." Luna gasped. "Jack, we're having a party tonight to celebrate the album coming out tomorrow. We'd love it if you came!"
Thorn was embarrassed, but she'd also almost totally forgotten that they hadn't invited Jack yet. Thorn and Luna had told their fathers while they worked, and just assumed that Dusk would take care of inviting Jack. Dusk had called her father, much to her chagrin, to invite him as well. The girls had planned to invite Gus when they met with him.
"Well…" Jack paused. "It is Caitlin's night here...sure! I'll call her to let her know I'll be leavin' a little early today! I'll always support you girls!"
"Aww, thanks Jack." Thorn smiled. "The party's at our apartment in Oakhaven Heights right at 7."
"Alright, I'll be there!" Jack responded.
"Bye Jack!" Dusk waved, as the three girls headed out to their meeting.
"You forgot to invite Jack?" Luna inquired, once the door to Jack's had shut so he couldn't hear them.
"Well, geez, sorry." Dusk snapped. "It wasn't intentional or anything. We've just had a lot of orders today."
"No one's accusing you. Calm down." Luna assured. Sometimes Dusk could get a bit overly worked up about things.
"I wonder what Gus will want to talk about in today's meeting." Thorn tried to change the subject to avoid the discomfort, as she got in the car with the other girls, turned on the vehicle, and began driving to Decade Records. "I still can't believe it's the last one before we release our first album."
"Me either." Luna shook her head in disbelief. "This whole album release process went so fast once we met Gus."
"He's certainly been instrumental to our success, that's for sure." Dusk agreed, before softening her tone. "Sorry for snapping at you, by the way."
"Oh…" Luna was a bit caught off guard by Dusk's rare display of remorse. "It's fine. I wasn't offended or anything."
Thorn was quite heartwarmed by Dusk's apology. Generally, Dusk was quite closed off when it came to such matters and didn't apologize whenever she lost her temper. Perhaps living together these past few months had made the girls' friendship even closer than it was before.
"Don't forget we've got to pick up groceries on the way home for the party." Dusk changed the subject. "I was thinking we could pick up some fruit punch and an appetizer of some sort."
"Carrots and dip?" Luna offered.
"Oh come on, we're releasing our first album, not going to a book club for old ladies!" Dusk rolled her eyes at the red-headed Hex Girl. "I was thinking like chips and dip, sandwiches, cookies; you know, that kind of junk food. This is supposed to be really special, so we deserve to splurge!"
"Can we at least have a fruit platter, though?" Luna asked.
"Ugh, fine." Dusk scoffed. "We can have a fruit platter."
"Awesome." Luna smirked with satisfaction.
Thorn pulled into the Decade Records parking lot, which was relatively empty today compared to usual. Only four cars were in the parking lot, one of which Thorn assumed had to be Gus's.
"Ah shit, we forgot our instruments!" Dusk realized.
"It's fine." Thorn said. "I remembered, but I don't think we need to bring them or anything. Gus probably just wants to talk about last minute stuff with our album."
As the girls walked into Decade Records, Thorn wondered if the other two had the same feeling she had. It was different from the other times they had walked in the building. It felt almost like a sense of finality. She knew they would have other meetings with Gus, but releasing this first album felt like it established them as artists, and accomplished the goal that they had set out to achieve when Bridgit first told them that she could connect them to her record-producing father.
Walking past the posters of Robert Smith, Bon Jovi and Bob Dylan on the way to Gus's office caused her not to think about how cool they were or wondering what it would be like to live their lives; but rather, how they felt when they released each of their first albums.
Luna knocked on the door to Gus's office, which was quickly followed by Gus telling them "come in!"
"Hey Gus!" Thorn greeted, as the door swung open.
"There are my groovy gothic chicklets!" Gus exclaimed in excitement. "It's nearly your big day! How are each of you feeling?"
"I'm doing good. More just in disbelief that this is happening." Luna admitted.
"Same. I'm really excited that we're releasing it." Thorn added.
"Yeah, it's exciting but also shocking. It's been a long time coming." Dusk echoed.
"I wouldn't expect you to feel any differently." Gus smiled. "Almost all of the artists I have managed over the years have felt the exact same way."
"Oh! Before we forget, we wanted to invite you to something tonight." Thorn started. "We're having this album relea-"
"Album release party, yes! That's an excellent idea!" Gus interrupted Thorn.
"How did you know?" Thorn gasped. "We hadn't even had a chance to tell you yet!"
"Oh…" Gus stuttered, his posture visibly stiffening. "Bridgit told me."
"Oh...good!" Thorn felt weird about Gus's reaction for a moment, but then realized Gus must have just felt bad for ruining the fun surprise.
"Can you make it?" Dusk inquired.
"Of course I can!" Gus exclaimed. "I wouldn't miss something like that for the world. This is a milestone moment in your artistic careers!"
"Great!" Luna exclaimed.
"We were just thinking of having some appetizers and drinks, then playing the album all the way through with some commentary about what our inspiration behind each song was." Thorn added.
"Well, to do that, you'll need a copy of the album." Gus smiled, as he handed them a CD. The girls' faces lit up as they saw the picture of them at the Autumn Fest on the front cover.
"Woah!" Dusk exclaimed.
"Our very first CD." Luna said in awe.
"And it's yours to keep! The production company finished producing your discs today, and the rest were sent to stores to be put out tonight at midnight." Gus explained.
"Wow." is the only word that came to Thorn's lips. Her thoughts were a lot more intelligent than that, but she was experiencing so many feelings at once that it was the sole thing that came to mind.
"It'll be so interesting to see how the album does, and if it boosts "Hex Girl" on the charts at all." Luna noted.
"I wonder when we'll have to start thinking about releasing the second single." Dusk pondered.
"Girls, this is a bit of a premature thought, but I feel I should ask it since we're talking about the possibility of the album being incredibly successful. Have you ever thought about touring?" Gus inquired.
"Touring?!" Thorn exclaimed, admittedly a bit louder than she needed to.
"No." Luna laughed. "I can say with certainty - as illustrated by Thorn's reaction - that we've never thought about touring."
"Well, perhaps you should. Your song is getting more popular by the day, and if the entire album is as popular as the song is, then clearly that shows people would have interest in seeing you girls perform." Gus pointed out.
"I -" Dusk stuttered. "I'm not sure what to say. We'd never thought about a tour. I mean, a couple weeks ago, we were still struggling to even finish the album."
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to pick dates now, or even commit to touring if that's not what you want." Gus chuckled. "I just wanted you to start thinking about it."
"Okay, good." Luna seemed relieved. Thorn wondered if it meant she didn't want to tour. Thorn was open to touring, although immediately seemed a bit quick. Perhaps several months after the album came out, if it was successful, she'd be open to doing a short tour. The black-haired goth knew from talking to Dusk in the past that she was more than open to touring - in fact, it was a goal for the blonde to tour at some point. Thorn chose not to worry about Luna's skepticism to tour at the moment. She'd make sure they talked about it at some point later.
"Was there anything else you wanted to talk through about the album before the big release tomorrow?" Gus inquired.
"I don't think so." Dusk shrugged.
"Yeah, we're just excited to see how the album does." Luna responded.
"We can always ask you any questions we have after the album releases too, if anything comes up." Thorn pointed out.
"You most certainly can." Gus smiled. "Well girls, that's all I had for you today. I just wanted to provide a space for you to ask questions and process your feelings if you needed to."
"Thank you for doing that. This was nice, even if it was short." Thorn answered.
"It was my pleasure, girls." Gus responded. "I'll see you girls at your apartment tonight at 7!"
Thorn, Dusk and Luna had quickly made a stop at the grocery store to pick up some fruit punch, sandwich fixings, chips and dip, a fruit platter, and two containers containing a dozen cookies each.
"Alright, the fruit punch is out, and I've got the chips and dip on the table." Luna reviewed. "Are the sandwiches almost done, Dusk?"
"Working on it." Dusk answered, as she finished putting cheese and turkey on the last two buns.
"How about the cookies, Thorn?" Luna asked.
"I'm putting them out on a tray right now." Thorn said, as she organized the cookies into groups. She put the chocolate chip ones on the right, the oatmeal raisin ones in the middle, and the peanut butter ones on the far left so they didn't touch the other two kinds, in case anyone had a nut allergy. "You sure seem organized."
"Well, I just want to make sure everything's perfect for the party. You know, since we've got so many people coming over." Luna explained.
Now Thorn understood why Luna was acting like this. Being an introvert, the red-haired Hex Girl didn't like being in social situations that involved large groups of people, even if they were people she liked. Making sure everything was organized seemed to be her method of distracting herself from thinking about it.
"Okay, the cookies are all out." Thorn informed.
"Yep. As are the sandwiches." Dusk said slowly, to stretch out her words so the sandwiches would be on the table by the time she finished her comment.
Just as Dusk stopped speaking, the doorbell buzzed.
"I can get it." Thorn offered, as she fast-walked over to grab the door, as not to keep the person waiting. Upon opening the door the black-haired goth quickly saw that their first guest at the party was her father.
"Hi, Sally!" Robert exclaimed, embracing his daughter in a warm hug. "I brought a couple of gifts."
"Aww, daddy, you shouldn't have." Thorn smiled.
"They're just small things, I promise." Robert laughed, as he bent down to pick up some things he'd apparently left at the door. He picked up a mixed bouquet of flowers and three bracelets, handing them all to Thorn.
Thorn glanced at one of the bracelets as she handed the other two to Dusk and Luna. They were beads with letters spelling out 'Hex Girl' connected on a string.
"Aww, this is so sweet! Thank you!" Thorn appreciated, as the other two girls thanked him as well.
"Wow, the place looks great!" Robert said as he came in the apartment.
The girls had decorated the place with a banner, reading 'Happy Album Release.' Thorn would hardly say a single decoration meant the place looked "great," but she appreciated her father's kindness.
"Thanks, daddy!" Thorn answered. "Well, you're the first one here. Feel free to grab a drink or some snacks while you're waiting!"
"Let's see what you've got here." Robert observed the table in the kitchen.
"Oh sh…oot!" Dusk caught herself before swearing. "We forgot the fruit platter in the fridge."
"I can grab it." Luna said, as she hurried over to the fridge and took it out. As she set it on the table, Thorn refamiliarized herself with all the options: there were grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe and honeydew melon.
Luna snuck a couple of grapes and a pineapple slice.
"Mmm. I freaking love fruit." Luna said, as her face looked like she was savoring the pineapple.
Robert picked out a moderate amount of food: a sandwich, a few chips and some dip, one piece of each type of fruit, and a chocolate chip cookie. Just as he was pouring himself some fruit punch in a red cup, Thorn heard another buzz at the door.
"I can grab it again!" Thorn said. To her surprise, she saw Luna's parents carrying several containers of food.
"Surprise!" Trish exclaimed. "We figured you'd want some food at your little party, so we brought some pulled pork!"
"It just finished cooking in the crockpot, so it should still be warm!" Mark added.
"Thanks, guys!" Thorn smiled.
"We already have food." Dusk exclaimed, before backtracking a bit when she realized her comment could have come off a bit forward, even though she hadn't intended it to be. "...just some though."
"Well, you can never have too much food when you're celebrating!" Trish exclaimed.
"Where do you want this?" Mark asked, holding the container of pulled pork.
"You can just put it on the table next to the sandwiches." Luna suggested. Clearly she was taking her self-imposed duty as party organizer very seriously. Thorn thought it was sweet that it gave her comfort to have a job to do.
"We brought some buns and cheese as well!" Trish revealed.
"Oh…" Thorn thought a moment. "You can just put them over by the pork on the table."
"Okay, hon." Trish said, as she followed Mark to place the cheese and buns next to the spot where he put the pork.
Once they set down the food, each of them gave Luna a big hug.
"Hi Kimmy! It's so great to see you again!" Trish exclaimed as she gave her daughter a tight squeeze.
"Hello, sweetie! Congratulations!" Mark wrapped his arms around Luna.
Another buzz.
"I can get it this time." Dusk offered, as she scurried over to the door. She smiled as she saw who it was.
"Hi Dusk!" Gus greeted. "What a nice apartment you girls have!"
Thorn quickly saw that Bridgit, Nia and Sam were right behind them.
"Hey!" Bridgit exclaimed. "I can't believe it's finally your special night!"
"Yeah! If you guys want to grab some food, we've got a bunch over there on that table." Dusk informed, as she shut the apartment door. "We've got fruit punch too, or water in the fridge if you'd like it."
As quickly as Bridgit, Nia and Sam headed over to the snack table, the doorbell buzzed yet again.
"Hey there Dusk!" Jack said jovially.
"Hi Jack! So glad you made it!" Dusk replied.
"I hope I'm not late! I know I was cuttin' it pretty close, because the restaurant got pretty busy over the dinner hour tonight!" Jack explained. "So, has the party started without me?"
Dusk quickly glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. "You're not late at all! It's still a minute before 7, actually."
"Great!" Jack exclaimed. "Looks like you guys have got a lot of food!"
"Yeah, we've got turkey and pulled pork sandwiches, some chips, fruit and cookies." Dusk listed.
"Good, because I'm starved! Haven't eaten since lunch!" Jack informed, as he hurried over to the food table.
"My parents aren't here yet." Dusk muttered to Thorn.
"I'm sure they'll be here right at 7." Thorn assured.
"Yeah, they wouldn't want to come even a minute early to have to spend time with me." Dusk rolled her eyes.
"Oh stop it!" Thorn comforted. The buzz of the doorbell demonstrated the black-haired goth was correct in her guess. "See, that's probably them."
The minute hand on the clock in the kitchen moved an inch forward to read exactly 7 o'clock.
"See, what'd I tell you? They didn't want to show up a minute before 7." Dusk said, as she went over to get the door.
Thorn was quite surprised to see that the arriving guests were not Dusk's parents, but rather, Haylee and Anne from the coffee shop.
"Hi!" Anne exclaimed. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you." Dusk said, sounding a bit surprised that it wasn't who she expected.
"Hey." Haylee greeted. "We were a little worried we weren't going to find the place. Anne and I carpooled together, and we got a bit turned around."
"We found it though, thankfully!" Anne added.
"Sorry you got lost. Thank you for coming though!" Dusk appreciated. "If you guys are hungry, there's food over there on the table. Sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies."
"Mmm, that all sounds so good!" Anne commented. "I'm going to go grab some food, but we'll be back over to talk in a moment! I want to hear all about the album!"
"We're actually going to start playing the album here in a minute!" Thorn jumped in.
"Yeah, we're just waiting for my parents." Dusk's tone got a bit more depressed.
"Can you get the CD cued up, Luna?" Thorn asked.
"Already on it!" Luna called from across the room, as she loaded the CD in the player, pressing the 'stop' button so it would be ready to play whenever Dusk's parents arrived.
A few moments later, Thorn heard a knock at the door. It caught her a bit by surprise, as she was expecting them to buzz the doorbell like everyone else.
"Want me to get it, Dusk?" Thorn tried to be supportive.
"No, no, I've got it." Dusk said with a light sigh.
"Hello darling!" Dusk's mother, Debbie, said. She gave her daughter a very light hug which wasn't particularly convincing, particularly since it only lasted for a few seconds.
"Hi, Jane." Aaron said, simply patting her on the back. It was almost uncomfortable for Thorn to watch.
"Hi mom. Hi dad." Dusk tried to fake a smile. She hoped that Dusk's parents didn't notice it, but knowing Dusk as closely as she did, Thorn could tell she was faking it.
"Alright! We're going to start playing our first ever album!" Thorn announced, trying to give Dusk (and admittedly, herself) a reprieve from the discomfort. "Now, remember, the album isn't out until tomorrow, so you all are the first people ever to hear this album!"
Everyone sat down on the couch, as well as some extra folding chairs the girls had pulled out earlier, to listen to the album. Most people had plates of food, some larger than others. Aaron was currently in the process of grabbing a huge plate of food, including a turkey sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich, a big pile of chips, a glob of dip, and one of every type of cookie. Debbie, Trish, Anne, Gus, and Bridgit had smaller plates of food with just one or two things each, whilst Nia, Haylee and Sam had somewhat moderate plates of food with one of everything, except Sam, who had two cookies. Robert and Luna also were in the 'moderate amount of food' club, whilst Thorn and Dusk waited to get food until after listening to the album.
"Alright, you've all heard the first -" Thorn began, before Gus started speaking at the same time.
"If you girls don't mind, I'd just like to propose a toast to you all before we start the album." Gus interjected. "My name is Gus Boggs, and I'm The Hex Girls' manager and producer. Thorn, Luna and Dusk are the most hardworking young women I've ever worked with, and they have truly put their heart and soul into this album. Although I've only known them a month, they are so driven in their vision as musicians, and their artistic voice comes through very clearly in this album. Their first single just climbed to #25, with 2,485 plays this week on pop radio."
Gus paused for a moment while everyone clapped and raised their fruit punch glasses, gently tapping them against the cup of the person who was next to them.
"Having listened to the album, I must say it's incredible, and I couldn't be more proud to celebrate these girls tonight." Gus continued. "This party is not only celebrating this album. It's also a celebration of the girls' futures as artists. They all truly deserve to be recognized for their hard work."
Aaron attempted to subtly scoff. Thorn didn't think others had heard it at first, since she was sitting right next to him and he had done it quietly enough. However, Dusk's eyes began to light up with anger, which immediately proved her wrong. Her assumptions were proved even more wrong when Dusk wasn't the one to respond.
"Um, I don't mean to be rude here, but is there something you'd like to share with us, sir?" Gus glared at Aaron.
"Not particularly." Aaron sneered.
"Good." Gus nodded his head in defiance. "It seemed to me like you scoffed at my toast, but perhaps I was wrong."
"Well, as a matter of fact, you weren't wrong." Aaron challenged. "I hardly see what the big deal is here. Yes, it's nice that Jane and her friends made some music, but I wouldn't exactly call that hard work."
"I can confirm that your daughter is no run-of-the-mill singer. She's an artist with a vision, and she and her bandmates have put in countless hours making sure this album is perfect." Gus clarified, his tone remaining calm. "As your daughter's manager and producer, I will assure you that she's put a ton of time into this."
"I'm not disagreeing that it's hard to become a singer, it's just not real work." Aaron argued. "Work isn't supposed to be fun and easy!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way." Gus kept an even temper. "Many people do have to work very hard to make end's meet every day. Your daughter has chosen a bit of a less traditional path, but it allows her to express her creativity. I would argue being creative for a living is just as hard and just as valid, as a "traditional" job. Working is the act of tapping into a special skill or talent. So, just like a construction worker uses their physical strength to do manual labor, using your creativity is tapping into mental and emotional labor in order to channel your feelings into an expression of artistry."
"Expressing your emotions isn't labor! What purpose are you serving in life? Do you go home every night and say 'hey family, today I accomplished being sad!'? Doing hard work is having a function in the world; you know, making yourself useful. Personally, I think Jane could be far more useful working in a bank, or perhaps starting a small business." Aaron suggested.
"That's not what I want, dad!" Dusk shouted. "That's what you want! It makes me happy to write songs."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but happiness doesn't pay the bills!" Aaron's tone got more angry.
Thorn couldn't believe what was happening. It was like some kind of nightmare. This was supposed to be Dusk's special night to celebrate all the work she had put in, and her father was delegitimizing all of it by saying creativity wasn't "real work."
"Honey, I think you should calm down." Debbie tapped her husband on the shoulder. "You're making people uncomfortable."
"I'm sorry if I'm making anyone uncomfortable." Aaron lowered his tone to normal speaking level. "I'm glad we all got together to celebrate Jane's little night of popularity. I'm not saying she didn't do a good job, because I'm sure she did. All I'm saying is that it's silly to act as if she just got promoted to CEO. She's just releasing a cute little project her and her friends made for fun. I'm not against this party, but it's similar to a party you'd have for winning a spelling bee or making the honor roll. It's a fun little accomplishment, but certainly not some major life achievement or something like you're making it out to be."
"Work doesn't have to be drudgery." Robert jumped in. "You can have fun while working. In fact, I'd argue the most rewarding work is something that makes you feel happy every day."
"As do I, but only if you're making yourself useful. I personally enjoy taking a hot shower every night, but I wouldn't be so silly as to try to make a living doing that." Aaron cyclically defended. "There's work and there's play, and clearly a few of you do not know the line between that. Unfortunately, that includes my daughter. Now, Thorn, you were saying something before your manager began speaking."
"Oh...yes." Thorn smiled, trying not to look as anxious as she felt. She sure as hell was going to take any deviation from the current topic she could get. "Umm...let's get started with the album! Track 1 is "Hex Girl," which is our first song. We wrote it for fun for a music class project, which is how our band started. It's a fun little anthem of empowerment. I hope you enjoy it."
The whole room fell silent, which Thorn hoped was because they were listening to the song rather than them being uncomfortable with Aaron's rant. Haylee started bobbing her head, and Anne tapped her feet as "Hex Girl" began playing.
"I love this song!" Trish exclaimed. "It's so catchy."
As the song continued to play in its entirety, Thorn got out of her seat and walked over to Dusk and Luna.
"Do you want to give an intro of "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air," or should I?" Thorn inquired.
"I can do it." Dusk offered.
"You want to do the next one, Luna? We can just follow that pattern for the rest of the album, if you want." Thorn offered.
"Sure." Luna shrugged. Thorn figured she probably didn't want to do it, because of the uncomfortable situation with Dusk's father.
"We're gonna put a spell on all of you!" The Hex Girls threatened on the CD, as the song ended.
"This next one's called "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air," and is about our passion for the environment, and staying true to what you're passionate about in general, you know, regardless of it makes you look bad." Dusk said. Thorn felt like that was a subtle diss to her father, but she had no evidence to back that up, nor would she ask Dusk that at a time like this.
"This is my favorite of your songs!" Bridgit exclaimed, as Nia started bobbing her head to the beat. Sam joined Anne in the foot-tapping club.
Luna stood up a few moments before the song was ending.
"Alright, this next one is called "The Witch's Ghost." Enjoy!" Luna briefly commented.
While the song played, Thorn tried to determine if Luna's short introduction to the song was simply because she was shy, or because no one wanted to talk about their encounter with Sarah Ravencroft's vengeful spirit. Thorn presumed it was the latter. Although the three girls were comfortable enough talking about it, they knew everyone else would prefer to pretend it didn't happen. It was difficult for any of them to explain that a citizen of the town from hundreds of years ago rose up from the grave to take over the world.
"This is the first song we wrote after the Autumn Fest." Thorn explained, as the intro to "Who Do Voodoo?" began. "This song doesn't so much have an inspirational backstory, but it's just a fun, catchy, feel-good song and it's one of our favorites."
Thorn scanned the room to see everyone intently listening to the song...that is, except Aaron and Debbie. Debbie simply looked a bit bored, whereas Aaron looked completely disengaged and like he'd rather be doing anything else.
"Now we get into an interesting one." Dusk stood up and said. "Have any of you ever heard of The Cure?"
Robert, Trish, Bridgit, Nia, Sam, Jack, Haylee, Anne and Gus all raised their hands. Only Mark, Aaron and Debbie had their hands down. For all Thorn knew, Aaron and Debbie had completely tuned out and stopped listening to them.
"This is our cover of "A Forest," which is one of The Cure's songs." Dusk introduced, stopping right as the intro to the song ended.
"Wow, this is very dark!" Trish commented.
"Yeah. Dark in a wicked way!" Bridgit nodded, bobbing her head to the beat.
"You might remember the inspiration behind this one, Robert." Luna explained. "You too, Jack. Do you remember those kids we met at the autumn fest last year?"
"Why, yes, I think I do. The four teens and their dog?" Robert asked.
"Yep, that's them! "Those Meddlin' Kids' is the name of this song, and it's about them." Luna explained.
Thorn was finally starting to calm down from the anxiety of Aaron causing a scene. Listening to these songs was beginning to relax her. Thorn hoped that maybe, their music could help calm someone else down in a time of emotional turmoil too.
"This next one is "Trap of Love." We wrote this song to show how love can have a dark side. Most people think of love as something happy, but it can also make you feel trapped when you're in a relationship that isn't entirely what you want." Thorn explained. "It's also one of the darkest songs on the record."
"I love the vibe of this." Nia commented.
Dusk was sure to let the full outro to "Trap of Love" play before she began explaining the next song, as it was arguably a very intense ending.
"This next one is a special song. You've all heard of Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics, no?" Dusk asked.
Everyone nodded except Aaron. He seemed completely zoned out, which wasn't a surprise to Thorn.
"Oh yes, the ones that were supposed to play at the Autumn Fest this year." Robert nodded.
"This song is a medley featuring the last song they ever made, called "Yer Dead Right Mate." We combined it with a demo we'd created, "Good Bad Girls," but only upon our awesome manager Gus's suggestion."
"Aww, shucks." Gus blushed.
"Talented boys, those young men were." Mark said. "It's a tragedy what happened to them."
"Ooh! I like how you combined your song with theirs!" Jack complimented.
"That was excellent." Haylee commented. "That might be my favorite of the songs yet."
"Well, don't pick your favorite too soon, because I think you're going to enjoy "Love's Curse" too." Luna introduced, in a bit of an awkward way.
"Oh! Was this influenced by "I Put a Spell on You?"" Trish excitedly asked.
"Not really, no." Dusk forwardly said. Thorn admittedly would have phrased it a little less bluntly than that.
"Speaking of love, "It's a Mystery" is another love song, but we wanted to highlight the idea of being smitten and pining over someone, wondering if they feel the same way about you that you feel about them." Thorn explained.
Thorn didn't mention the fact that this was inspired by the way Velma seemed to be crushing over Ben Ravencroft...well, until he turned into a homicidal maniac and tried to kill them, of course.
"If anyone's heard of Siouxsie and the Banshees, this next one's a cover of their song "Fear (of the Unknown)." Dusk introduced. "We thought it would be perfect to place after "It's a Mystery" since they both relate to the idea of fear in asking a person out, worrying that it might damage your relationship."
Bridgit started quirkily dancing in place to the bouncy beat, as Nia and Sam began tapping their feet to the beat.
"We've made it to the final song." Luna announced. ""Petrified Bride" is a silly little song that can be interpreted in a number of ways...getting cold feet at a wedding and running away, being worried about moving forward in a relationship, not wanting to settle down in life, or even running away from a non-romantic relationship or concept that you have invested yourself in."
"Oh my gosh, I love this!" Anne exclaimed. Thorn was almost sure they performed it at Haylee's before, but maybe she hadn't paid attention, or just wanted to reaffirm her love for it.
The song went by so fast, but Thorn savored every moment of it. Thorn almost didn't want the album to be over. She was really enjoying giving everyone a little insight into their creative process behind the songs with the people she cared about most, and it felt so good being surrounded by the love of their friends and family on such a special night for them.
"That's our album, folks!" Dusk said.
"I really hope you all enjoyed it. For joining us tonight, we'll make sure all of you get free copies of our album when it comes out tomorrow." Thorn added.
Everyone began clapping. Even Debbie and Aaron clapped, though their claps seemed more obligatory than sincere.
"Before everyone mingles, we have a surprise for the girls." Robert suddenly revealed. "Jack, would you like to be the one to announce it?"
"It'd be my pleasure!" Jack exclaimed. "We wanted to surprise you with a little blast from the past, so we put together a little photo album of all your memories as a band."
Sam handed the girls a present wrapped in blue paper, which she apparently had hidden behind her back this whole time.
"Do you want to do the honors, Dusk?" Thorn offered. She figured Dusk had gone through a lot tonight with her father's upsetting disapproval of her life, so she deserved to have the special honor.
"Sure!" Dusk eagerly replied, as she tore the wrapping paper off. "Oh my god!"
Thorn's reaction was internally similar, as she looked over Dusk's shoulder to see the present. It was a homemade photo album with a picture of Thorn, Dusk and Luna performing at this year's Autumn Fest on the front. The cover was donned with the words "I'm a Hex Girl!" spelled out in stickers.
Dusk opened the book to see a picture of the girls performing at the Autumn Fest the first time. Looking to the second image to the right, Thorn got a sudden rush of memories. It was a picture of the girls singing together in Robert and Thorn's basement.
"Oh my gosh, I remember that night." Thorn replied. "That's when we came up with "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air," right after we got an A on that music class project for "Hex Girl." We were so excited."
"Yeah! We performed at Thorn's house so often." Dusk reminisced as she turned the page.
"I remember that!" Luna exclaimed. "Robert's basement had flooded, so we had to go to my house to hang out."
"I remember this too!" Thorn turned the page to see a picture of the girls at Jack's, eating burgers and fries while they wrote a song. "We wrote part of "Petrified Bride" while we ate that night."
The next picture was one from a not so distant memory: it was a still-shot from the "Hex Girl" music video, as Thorn, Luna and Dusk all pointed their hands toward Gus, as it looked like they were casting a spell on him. But no one would have had that picture except…
"Gus? You were in on this too?" Dusk asked.
"Yep. Jack contacted me right before our meeting to ask if I wanted to help with this photo album, so I put a couple of still shots from our music video in here." Gus smiled.
"So that's how you knew about the party before we told you!" Thorn realized. "I thought you were acting weird."
"Yep." Gus smirked. "I wanted to make sure I kept it a surprise."
"Thank you for putting all this together, everyone. Especially you, Jack. It was so sweet of you to coordinate this." Thorn beamed.
"Of course! It's so exciting to see you girls finally putting out your first album after so long. I still remember when the three of you used to come into the restaurant sometimes after school when you were 14. Heck, I still remember when you came in as kids with your folks!" Jack reminisced. "Look how far you've come now."
"Hey, you remember this one, girls?" Robert asked playfully, as he pointed to the picture on the next page. It featured Thorn making a goofy face, while she, Luna and Dusk were writing a song in their brand new apartment. "You'd just moved into the apartment, and you girls were so into writing music that you sat down after you'd finished unpacking to write about how it felt to be out on your own!"
Thorn remembered it well. It was one of the songs that didn't make the final cut of the album, but not because it wasn't good. It was one of those songs that the girls didn't want to share with the world. They only wanted to share it with close friends and family, because it was so personal.
As Thorn, Dusk and Luna continued looking through the photo album, they couldn't help but feel filled with love for the rest of the party as they reminisced, mingled, and celebrated everything that was The Hex Girls. And once the party had died down and everyone had left, that happy feeling lingered as Thorn laid back in her bed, closing her eyes to the thought that when she woke up, the world would be able to hear the girls' first album.
Author's note:
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. This felt like a very special chapter to write, as it marks a milestone in the girls' careers, and I hope you all feel that I did it justice. Also, I want to quick apologize for the repeated scene in last week's chapter. I decided to move a scene earlier in the chapter last minute, and apparently copy/pasted without deleting it from the original spot. I've corrected the error now.
I'm looking through my notes that I always write myself when writing these, to remind myself of any references there were for these author's notes. It appears the only note I have with this one says "$5 for three cups of coffee? I wish!" In fairness, I believe I'd just paid nearly $7 for a bit of a fancier one at Starbucks shortly before writing this, so I guess I was very passionate about it at the time lol. There weren't any other references in this chapter.
As I mentioned at the end of the last chapter, I'm going to take a little break from posting for the next two weeks since I will be traveling to celebrate the holidays. There won't be any new chapters for the rest of the year, but I will resume posting these every Friday in January!
Happy holidays to all those celebrating, and thank you so much to all the readers who have been following this fanfic!