Author's note:
I can't believe this fanfic has reached its conclusion. Thank you to everybody who has read this fanfic, and I'd like to especially thank those who have favorited/given kudos, followed/bookmarked, and reviewed this story. This has been one of my favorite fanfics to write so far. It was so much fun researching all the various places the girls traveled to and connecting the story to pieces of history from 2000. I'll definitely miss researching all that stuff and writing this story. This story had a darker tone than either of my previous fanfics, and while it was a bit different at first, I grew to really love writing a story with a more serious tone.
As of posting this, it's Earth Day 2022, and I can't think of a more fitting day to post the final chapter of Hexed. I really hope you enjoy it!
"Wait, what…you mean none of this happened?" Dusk started to panic.
"I wouldn't say none of it happened, because we vividly remember experiencing it. It's simply just that no one else does anymore." Gus replied.
"How can we go from the whole world knowing our name to nobody knowing who we are?" Dusk questioned. "I mean, I know how…but…shit."
"It's pretty mind-boggling." Thorn was still trying to process all of this. She'd barely processed Bridgit being a witch. None of the events of the last three months actually occurring didn't feel like something she could handle adding to the list of things she needed to process.
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel just so we can wrap our heads around what to do next?" Luna suggested.
"I don't know if we still have a reservation. I imagine not, if you're no longer famous and touring." Gus presumed.
"Wait…what about our stuff? We left all our luggage there this morning." Thorn reminded.
"We'll have to go there and ask if we can get up into the room to get our stuff back." Dusk suggested.
"Perhaps I should call first." Gus said, pulling his clunkily-large mobile phone out of his pocket. "I believe I have their phone number written down in the van."
"How are you feeling about this, Luna?" Thorn said, as she began following Gus back to the tour van.
"I don't know. I hate to say it, but as weird as this is, I'm also a little bit…" Luna went silent for a moment, her face looking like she was pondering the best next word to say. "...relieved?"
Thorn gave Luna a look of confusion. Why in the world would Luna be relieved that everything they thought was real for months was fake? The answer to that question hit Thorn like a heavy weight on her chest, just as Luna began speaking.
"I really didn't like touring and being in front of screaming crowds every night. Don't get me wrong, I like making music and I want to be in the band. I just know what I want isn't touring." Luna revealed. "I guess it doesn't matter now that the entire reality of the past few months has ceased to exist…but I didn't like how it felt like you'd become a completely different person, Dusk. You were totally consumed by fame and what other people thought of us. One of my favorite things about you has always been that you don't care what others think of you or how they judge you. You're just unapologetically yourself…but it felt like you lost some of that when we decided to go on tour."
Thorn tensed up a bit inside. It was rarely a good idea to challenge Dusk or make her deeply reflect on her emotions, especially lately. Even though Dusk loved the two of them like sisters, she was someone who hated being vulnerable with others. Regardless, Luna seemed like she needed to get it all out, and realizing that nothing from the past few months had been real was the perfect opportunity.
"You've been kinda bossy lately too. Like when you just quit Jack's permanently a month before we went on tour…or like telling those fans we were going on lots more tours after I'd just said that I wasn't sure if I wanted to tour anymore." Luna continued. "I know you're going to be really angry at me for pointing this out, but I feel like I have to, because it's left me unsure about if I want to be in the band anymore."
"You're right." Dusk plainly said. There was no anger or disdain in her voice. Rather, she gave off an aura of understanding and regret. "I have been acting like a prick lately. I guess…"
There was a long pause where nobody said anything, anticipating for Dusk to continue her sentence. After a few moments of silence, she continued.
"I guess my parents have always railed on me about choosing music as a career after we graduated from high school. My dad's always saying that I need to get a 'real job.' That really bothers me, and sometimes my parents make me feel like I'm just never good enough. When Gus said we were popular enough to go on tour, I was so excited, because it finally felt like I could make something of myself and prove my dad wrong." Dusk explained.
Thorn's heart sunk for Dusk. She hadn't meant to be boorish or narcissistic at all. She was just trying to fill the hole of her parents not being proud of her, saying she wasn't going anywhere with her life.
"I promise I never meant to hurt anyone." Dusk started to tear up, which shocked Thorn because in all her years being friends with the blonde, she had never, ever seen Dusk cry. "I guess…I just liked feeling important for once in my life. I didn't mean to make you feel so uncomfortable that you wanted to leave the band. I'm so sorry!"
This was all Dusk said, but not because she intentionally tried to stop. She became so consumed by tears she was unable to get a coherent word out.
The girls had reached the van now, and Luna got in the passenger's seat next to Gus. Thorn and Dusk got in the middle seat together, as the black-haired goth motioned to Dusk that it was okay to rest her head on Thorn's shoulder. Still unable to stop crying, Dusk did so for a moment, until she was able to compose herself.
"Hello, my name is Gus Boggs." Gus said on the phone. Thorn had been so distracted comforting Dusk that she hadn't noticed he'd made the call. "I'm just calling to ask if you have any reservations for The Hex Girls tonight?"
Thorn could hear a loud male's voice on the other end, but she couldn't understand anything that was being said. The man sounded quite upset.
"Okay, sir. I'm very sorry to bother you." Gus replied to the shouting man, as he hung up the phone. He quickly turned his attention back to the girls. "It appears they don't have any reservations for us, as I suspected. I'm glad we didn't go there in-person. It seems the desk clerk thought I was pulling some kind of joke."
"So we have no room? What about our stuff?" Luna panicked.
"I presume maybe our belongings are at home." Gus guessed. "I don't know what's been happening in the past few months, but it's clearly not what we think has happened."
"If our stuff is at home and none of this happened, then how is this van still here?" Thorn wondered.
"I hardly know how this sort of thing works, as I can't say I've ever experienced a rift in the cosmic timeline before." Gus chuckled.
"Maybe that's what Sofia meant by 'all things will be as they should'. I'm not sure if she has this kind of power, but is it possible she made sure we still had the van to get home, even if everything else reverted back to how it was before Bridgit, Nia and Sam interfered?" Thorn pondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Luna shrugged.
"Now that we have no place to stay here, what are we supposed to do now?" Dusk inquired.
"Go home, I suppose." Gus shrugged. "Perhaps we can try to mentally make sense of all of this on the 16-hour drive home."
"Can we maybe stop off to get some coffee and rest first?" Dusk said. "I'm still trying to process that Bridgit, Nia and Sam are witches, so there's no way I'm going to be able to process our literal reality not being as it seems without some coffee."
"I'm down for that." Thorn agreed.
"Sure." Luna chimed in.
"Yes, I think that would be quite nice, particularly if I'm driving." Gus said. "I know of an excellent coffee place a few blocks away from the road we're on now called the Frothy Monkey. I've never tried it myself, but I've heard it's wonderful."
"Are we sure it's still going to be there?" Dusk panicked. "What if it's disappeared too?"
"Although this is pretty surreal, I think the only stuff that's changed are things specifically related to us that Bridgit manipulated." Thorn argued. "I'm positive that's what Sofia meant by that 'all things will become as they were intended' remark right before she went back in the portal."
"I think the more likely possibility for its disappearance is that it will be replaced by a Starbucks." Gus chuckled. "Their stores are really taking off and buying up everything, you know."
"Oh, hey, it's right there." Luna pointed out the window on the passenger's side, as Gus quickly applied the brakes.
"Ah, you're right. I hadn't realized we were so close to it." Gus replied, as he quickly pulled into the singular open parking spot by the storefront. The building looked more like a house than a coffee shop. The blue-sided building was surrounded by a number of trees, of all of which had nearly lost all the red and orange leaves dangling from the branches. The building had a golden plaque with a monkey on it affixed to the top of the house. Right next to a bike rack, a sign was planted on the lawn reading "The Frothy Monkey Coffeehouse." The house had a large front porch for customers to sit on while enjoying their coffee; however, the area was completely empty at the moment. Thorn didn't blame anyone for not wanting to sit outside with the chill in the air that was nearly as brisk as the chill she felt in her heart from the events of the past few days.
The cold wind caused the girls to bustle inside quickly. Upon entering the building, Thorn noticed it was relatively quiet. There appeared to be around two dozen tables in the coffee shop, only three of them occupied by people. Thorn noticed the TV affixed above the fake fireplace had Math Is Dopetastical on, which she remembered seeing before their music video premiered on television. A gray elephant once again rapped over a generic trap-style beat.
"Uh, yeah, three times three is nine, hey, don't you love the rhyme?" the elephant rapped on television.
"Not really." Dusk sneered. "In fact, it's one of the most annoying pieces of noise I've ever heard called a 'song' in my life."
"How can you think about math when there's so much social unrest in the world, Mr. Trunksworth?" the red monster asked in a depressed voice.
"That is quite a discomforting point of conversation, Stanglewoovius." the cartoon elephant responded, before continuing to rap.
The girls approached the counter as they glanced at the drink menu, and saw a girl with dirty blonde hair appearing to be about their age. She donned jeans and a red sweater. A purple apron was worn over her red sweater, with a name tag reading "Sami" affixed to it.
"Hi, welcome to the Frothy Monkey! What can I get you today?" the barista inquired.
"Can I try your large raspberry white mocha with soy milk?" Dusk ordered.
"Of course." the barista replied. "Do you want the whipped cream and chocolate drizzle on that?"
"Yeah, that'd be great." Dusk answered.
"Wow, Dusk, you've really changed!" Thorn joked, remembering how much the blonde used to mock coffee orders like that.
"Shut up, I've had a hard day!" Dusk snapped in a playful manner.
"We all have. I'm really going to need this coffee for the drive home." Gus said.
"Oh hey." Sami the barista greeted with a bit of an awkward inflection in her voice. She was specifically looking at Gus.
"Hi Sami. It's certainly been a while." Gus smiled.
"You two know each other?" Thorn asked.
"I thought you'd said you had never been here before." Luna pointed out.
"Do you remember when I first met you all in my office, I mentioned a band I signed in a Taco Bell that broke up?" Gus inquired.
"Oh god, don't remind me." Sami rolled her eyes.
"You were one of the people in that band?" Thorn wondered.
"Yeah." the dirty blonde haired barista responded. "Are you still managing bands, Gus?"
"Yes, in fact, I've actually been managing this lovely band composed of these three amazing women right here. They're not well known yet, but someday, I hope The Hex Girls will be a household name." Gus dreamt. Thorn's heart felt warm from Gus's sweet compliment. Despite that he was manipulated into signing them, he clearly still loved and cared about the band.
"Oh yeah, The Hex Girls. I remember you guys. You had that song "Hex Girl" that charted on pop radio for a little while. It got to #26, I believe." Sami responded, causing Thorn, Dusk and Luna's jaws to drop.
"How do you know about that? Nobody remembers us anymore." Thorn gasped.
"I'm a chart watcher." Sami blushed a little. "I just love seeing what factors make certain songs super popular, and why other songs perform terribly. It's been a hobby of mine for a little while now."
Thorn didn't want to say anything aloud so as not to make the barista think she had lost grips with reality. However, she remembered #26 was the chart position Gus said their song was at right before releasing their album. Was it possible only the month since their album had been released had been changed? It had to be, if this barista remembered the song. Thorn also remembered Bridgit saying something about how they didn't alter the charts until the album was released. Maybe they had been at least a little popular, even if it wasn't nearly as much as they thought.
"Have you guys thought about releasing another single?" Sami questioned. "Nobody's really heard from you after 'Hex Girl' fell off the charts and the album didn't perform well. I really like 'Earth, Wind, Fire and Air,' personally."
"That's actually the next single we were thinking of releasing." Thorn informed. At the moment, she had no idea what the future of the band even was. However, to be fair, they had discussed making "Earth, Wind and Fire" the second single before all the touring stuff popped up, so it wasn't completely a lie.
"Oh, neat!" Sami said. "I'm so glad you guys are going to keep releasing music. I know not many people remember you with how short-lived your chart run was, but I really appreciate you girls and relate to your music. I was worried you guys had broken up or something."
"Wait…what made your band break up?" Luna blurted before adding a sprinkle of politeness to her blunt question. "If you don't mind me asking, of course?"
"If you want me to make your orders quickly, I can take a break and chat with you guys for a few minutes. It's been quiet today anyway." Sami offered.
"That would be awesome." Luna smiled. Thorn wondered if her red-haired friend was asking this so she could get another perspective on how to handle the band, now that she knew she didn't want to tour. "I'll take a small iced vanilla latte with a cherry flavor shot. Also, could you make that with skim milk, please?"
"I'll take a medium pumpkin spice latte with soy milk and an extra shot of espresso." Thorn ordered.
"I'll just take a medium mocha." Gus stated.
"I'll have that right up." Sami smiled, as she grabbed an empty cup and began making one of the drinks.
"That was really sweet of you to say, Gus." Thorn remarked, referring to his previous compliment about how their band name should be known by everyone.
"I hope you know that I mean it." Gus smiled. "Even after all that's happened, I still want to manage you girls when we get back to Oakhaven. You are the most hard-working, dedicated band I've ever managed, and you have so much potential. I would have signed you regardless of whether Bridgit, Nia and Sam tortured me into it. Although only you'd like me to continue managing you, of course."
"Would we? You've been such an amazing manager, and we've been through so much with you." Thorn complimented.
"Yeah, there's no one I'd rather have managing us than you. You're badass!" Dusk smiled.
"Absolutely!" Luna chimed in. "You've been incredible to work with, Gus."
"Thank you all. I can't wait to see how your careers evolve…for real this time, of course." Gus added at the last minute. "I've got lots of connections you know, so even if you aren't famous, I can still try to get you publicity. For example, I have a friend named Nick who works at a television station named ZPOP. Perhaps I could reach out to him for another televised interview like the one you did in Milwaukee. Granted, ZPOP is in Ohio, but perhaps we could work something out."
"Alright, here are your drinks." Sami handed each of the drinks to the girls one-by-one. After she had finished handing out everyone's drinks, she set her apron to the side and began sipping a drink that she had apparently made for herself. "So, you were curious about what happened to my band?"
"Yeah." Luna replied, looking like she was experiencing a little delayed embarrassment for asking such a blunt question. "If you don't mind, of course."
"I don't mind sharing. I guess what happened is the band's priorities just shifted. We had a song that was a moderate hit, not unlike yours, and then for Sam and Savana, it became all about the fame." Sami revealed. "They were writing songs that were just quick publicity stunts to get people to like our music, rather than things that actually meant something to us personally. I wasn't happy anymore, because I missed the days of sitting around and writing art that was important to me, and important to us as friends. I brought this up one day, and they didn't seem to care…until I said I was leaving. They were really upset with me, so much that we don't really talk much anymore. They let the direction of the band affect the direction of our friendship, which really hurt. They're still making music now, I believe, but it's still more about the fame than the art for them."
"That's really sad." Dusk said. It made Thorn feel a lot better that Dusk didn't agree with the direction that Sami's former band members had taken things.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry to hear that." Luna sympathized.
"Have you been doing okay?" Gus asked.
"Yeah, I have been; thanks for asking. I'm still just trying to figure out what I want to do now." Sami informed. There was a short pause before the dirty blonde haired barista resumed speaking. "I have a question for you guys, if you don't mind."
"I guess that's fine. I asked you a pretty personal question, after all." Luna acknowledged. "Ask away."
"Okay, my question is just why did you want to know? Were you, like, a fan of our band or something?" Sami asked. Her tone was one of curiosity, rather than accusation or annoyance.
"No. I was just curious, because…you know…I just was wondering what I'd do if our band ever broke up or something." Luna awkwardly stumbled over her explanation.
"I appreciate you trying to protect me, Luna, but I'll admit it." Dusk opened up. "I was acting like a jerk and got lost in the fame. I let it affect our friendship and that was such a stupid decision. I just wanted to feel important, but that only made me mistreat the people who were most important."
"You're already lost in the fame and you only made it to #26 on the charts? Oh boy. You better watch this one." Sami teased.
Dusk slouched back in her chair and looked a bit hurt. Thorn assumed it probably was a subconscious movement, but it was noticeable.
"Oh hey…I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I was just trying to make a joke." Sami apologized.
"It's fine. I deserve it." Dusk sighed. "I'm sorry I was acting like a jerk. Luna, if you stay in the band, I promise I'm going to try to do better. I treated you especially badly when we were fighting, and you deserve better than that. That was really stupid of me."
"You guys are thinking of breaking up?" Sami gasped.
"Shit!" Dusk swore. "That just slipped out. I didn't mean to say it, I promise. God, I'm so dumb!"
"We all make mistakes, Dusk. You don't need to be so hard on yourself." Gus comforted.
"It's fine! You can tell her if you want, I seriously don't mind." Luna promised. "I just was kinda debating whether to stay in the band or not. Dusk had changed a lot, and I didn't really care for touring very much…or I mean, I don't like the idea of touring…if we hypothetically ever did that."
"You can always just be selective of whether to play shows or not." Sami suggested. "Our band just played around town, before we moved to Nashville and started playing at some venues nightly."
"She's quite right, you know." Gus added. "When I suggested a tour, it's just one option. Most bands do it, but it's not something you have to do. I'm sure if you rise to fame, you'll be able to come up with a great explanation for your fans if you decide not to take the touring route because of Luna. I would have said that earlier, but you know…"
Thorn knew exactly what he meant: Bridgit would have killed him if he would have said anything to deter Luna from touring.
"I guess if this experience has taught me anything, it would be that it's not a big deal if you don't want to tour, Luna. We're a band together, so we all have to make the decisions together. We'll figure it out. And most importantly, our friendship is not the band. I'm so sorry I ever made that horrible comment about not being friends if the band ended." Dusk apologized.
"It sounds like you guys are a really solid group of friends. I have no doubt you'll do great as a band." Sami smiled. "Anyway, it was so nice to meet you guys, but I should probably get back to the counter. I see someone just came in."
"Thanks so much!" Thorn appreciated.
"Yeah, nice to meet you!" Dusk waved goodbye.
"Great to see you again, Sami." Gus said. "Glad to hear you're doing good."
"Really nice to see you again too, Gus." Sami warmly replied, as she went back up to the counter to help the customer.
"Ready to go?" Luna asked.
Dusk quickly chugged her coffee and got a smirk on her face. "Fuck yeah!"
Thorn and Luna both laughed, remembering how she had done the same thing right before one of the final concerts before the album was released, when she had first tried an elaborately sweet coffee drink, or a "milkshake" as the blonde drummer always called it.
Thorn was happy they had stopped to talk to Sami. Even though she was still very emotionally confused as to how to think about the events of the past month not actually occurring, the conversation at least gave her a little hope for the future. They didn't have any of the fame that they thought they had, but their friendship was strong, and they were all dedicated to the band.
Thorn held the door open for Luna, Dusk and Gus, letting it shut once all of them were outside.
"She seemed really nice. I'm glad we talked to her. It made me really confident in our friendship and this band. This is definitely what I want: a return to how it used to be. The three of us making music that's important to us, without all that extra fluff of fame and touring and stuff. Maybe I'll be open to touring someday, who knows, but for now, this is what I want to focus on." Luna replied.
"To the band?" Thorn said, holding her coffee cup up. The others quickly realized that Thorn was proposing a makeshift toast, and prepared to bump their coffee cups together.
"1, 2, 3…" Gus began, before everyone joined in. "HEX GIRLS!"
"So…" Luna said, with a somewhat lengthy pause after saying the singular word. "Were we actually famous?"
"Well, nobody remembers it, so I'd say no." Dusk laughed.
"We remember it, though. I'm not sure if everyone thinks we've just been at home all this time, but all we remember is traveling the country and playing concerts. I think we were definitely famous, albeit for nine days." Thorn analyzed.
"People rarely remember short-lived fame anyways, so I suppose it's sort of a similar phenomenon." Gus chuckled. "These days, it's in one ear and out the other. You can be the most famous artist in the world for a month, and in a few years, it's like nobody remembers your career."
"Most people with short-lived fame don't have their fans' minds wiped by a rift in the cosmic timeline." Luna pointed out. "I guess maybe this gets at the paradox of if something isn't collectively remembered, does that mean it never happened?"
"Well, I think it happened." Thorn confidently stated. "Even if others don't remember it, it's an experience that happened to us, and we'll always have the shared memory of it."
"Yes, I suppose that is indeed a good philosophy to have." Gus realized. "I don't think any of us will ever forget this experience."
"I don't consider it as really happening." Dusk counterargued. "Nobody remembers it, and we're in exactly the same place we were before all of this happened. I choose to believe that the timeline changed, and because we got caught in it, we'll never know what really happened to us."
"I think we know what really happened to us, though. All of us remember experiencing the concerts and the whole thing with Bridgit, Nia and Sam, so therefore, it happened." Thorn rebuked. "What do you think, Luna?"
"I'm not really sure." Luna replied. She took a moment before responding further, looking deep in thought. Finally, she crafted her response. "Maybe whether we had this experience or not isn't what matters."
"You're right." Thorn smiled, as she pondered Luna's musings for a moment. "Whether or not we had the experience isn't important. What really matters is how we use this shared experience - or what we believe it to be - to shape the direction our lives go in the future."
Author's note:
That's all, folks! Maybe that wasn't the conclusive, heartwarming ending you were looking for, but I've always found endings that really make you think to be some of the most compelling conclusions, and I wanted to try my hand at it here. I have my own idea of if the girls' experience really "happened" or not, but rather than just telling you, I thought it would be more enjoyable to make you think about it yourself.
I'd like to give a big thank you to Grumpydrawer and B for proofreading a number of the chapters to this fanfic before I posted them. They were both a big help!
There were some cross-fanfic references here. Gus's friend Nick from ZPOP is the same Nick from Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake, and Sami was a character in Fangs for the Memories.
The Frothy Monkey is a real chain of coffee shops in Tennessee, mainly located around the Nashville area. I would like to note that the Frothy Monkey wasn't quite open in 2000. However, it was almost impossible to research timelines of coffee shops from back then, since they come and go so quickly (or are replaced by Starbucks, as Gus joked). Given this, I took a small shortcut and included it anyway even though the timeline was slightly off.
I've got some ideas for some more fanfics, so if you enjoyed this story, I'd love it if you checked those out once they're published! And as per usual, favorites/kudos, follows/bookmarks, and reviews are always greatly appreciated so I know what I'm doing well, or what I could be doing better! Thank you so much again for reading, and I truly hope you enjoyed this fanfic.