The only sound in that moment was the soft clink of Lucas extracting a quarter from the bucket and tossing it with expert and effortless precision to Mark, who caught the shiny coin in his right hand while standing across the room.
The leather jacket wearing Lucas swiftly walked into the backroom towards his fellow employee, the weariness of his night completely erased from his features. The only hint of there being anything amiss was when a booming voice called his name.
"Lucas!" Joe yelled loudly and with an air of relief, as he quickly moved from sitting behind his desk in his office to coming to stand within a foot of Lucas, who turned and gave Joe his best-shocked expression.
"Joe," Lucas said is a strangled voice, attempting to back away from his manager as he made his advance. Joe stood in front of him with his hands on his hips, fixing his hard gaze on Lucas in a show of intimidation.
"Where's the money?" Joe asked, his eyebrows raising with the question, both men knowing that it was missing and only one of them knowing why.
"Joe, the money is gone," Lucas answered, his more casual demeanor returning while pointing his finger in Joe's face to make his point clear.
"Gone?" Joe asked incredulously as the two began to walk backward across the room, Joe not giving Lucas a chance to stand his ground. "Where is it?"
"In Atlantic City," Lucas quipped, in an obvious tone, attempting to swallow his usually smile and make light of a bad situation.
"What's it doing in Atlantic City?" Joe asked through gritted teeth. He had stopped moving around the room and he and Lucas were squaring off next to the couch, while Mark and Corey attempting to fade into the background invisibly.
"Recirculating," Lucas said smartly, as he watched Joe face move from curious anger to pissed off with an impressive jaw clench. Lucas swallowed and meekly held up the plastic bucket in his hands, a silent offering and his attempt to make up the money.
"Recirculating," Joe muttered under his breath. After a tense beat of silence, Joe snatched the bucket out of Lucas's hands and Lucas watched it hit the ground with the coins scattering haphazardly around the carpet.
Lucas was broken from his gaze when he felt Joe grab onto the lapel of his jacket, pulling him closer to whisper harshly in his ear. "I told Cheryl that you forgot to deposit the money," Joe explained with calculated ease, before pushing Lucas easily down onto the couch cushions.
"Now you are going to sit on this couch unless you leave to get me nine thousand dollars," Joe practically yelled, getting his point across to Lucas who was still muttering ideas about where the money could be by now. Joe retreated back to his office, attempting to come up with a plan.
'Joe, it's going to be okay," Lucas said assertively, from his position on the couch, while he made no move to get more comfortable or adjust his jacket, which had been dislodged by Joe's handling of it.
"What makes you say that, Lucas?" Joe asked seriously.
"Who knows where thoughts come from, they just appear," Lucas said cheekily, his teenage humor seeping back into his features. Joe just rolled his eyes and slammed his office door behind him, effectively ending the conversation. For his part, Lucas stared after him as Marc offered from a small golf clap of success and a giddy smile for the outcome of that conversation. Corey remained engrossed in her homework.
Outside in the parking lot, a loud rumbling rang out, as a canary yellow moped pulled around the corner and careened down the street before stopping abruptly in front of the front door. Sitting on the moped was a lanky teenager with loose and faded blue jeans and a simple back hoodie that was zipped up halfway. A worn white helmet sat awkwardly on her head. Her name was Deb.
Moments later she got off the moped and pulled off the helmet as she entered the front door quickly, shaking out her dark, brown locks as she avoided the gazes of Corey and Gina who manned the register and attempted to greet her. Deb ignored them as she stomped towards the back room, although she did glance up at and make eye contact briefly with Jughead, who was still sitting on the stairs with Betty.
Deb also ignored A.J., Mark and Lucas's greetings as she flipped them off, slammed her helmet down on the table and locked herself in the small bathroom. The boys exchanged bewildered looks, which were broken when Joe re-emerged from his office.
"Lucas, are you in trouble?" Joe asked seriously, clearly attempting to rationalize his night manager's behavior. "Did you need the money? Because if you are in trouble you can talk to me," Joe continued softly, sitting down on the couch next to Lucas, his posture relaxed.
"Joe, we're all in some kind of trouble. Am I the only one who sees it?" Lucas asked sardonically. "Deb's in trouble. And A.J.' in trouble…" Lucas continued with his rant, although A.J. chimed in to explain that he wasn't in trouble in a weak attempt to stall Lucas's argument.
A.J. was busy crouching down on the floor around the quarters that still lay there, after being thrown from the bucket Lucas was holding before Joe dislodged it. He had begun to tune out the Lucas and Joe argument until he felt a presence next to him, and looked up to see Jughead reaching for a nearby quarter as well. At A.J.'s questioning glance, Jughead shyly smirked and shrugged before reaching for the glue that was still in A.J.'s hand. After watching Jughead expertly glue down his quarter the duo continued with their mission to secure all the quarters, passing the glue between them without another word.
Joe and Lucas continued to argue quietly, Lucas easily avoiding any real reason why he took the money in favor of jokes and evasive looks before Joe grew tired of his tactics.
"A.J., I need you to close," Joe stated authoritatively to the young man, as they both stood up.
"Joe, I opened, man," A.J. reasoned, trying to get out of it. Lucas suddenly jumped into the conversation and offered to close, which made A.J. laugh and earned him a stare from Joe.
Clearing his throat to buy time and adjust his grey sweater, A.J. confirmed he could close. "They raised my rent, so I could definitely use the money," A.J. revealed.
"Well, damn the man," Lucas offered in support, as Joe huffed in frustration and locked himself in his office once again.
In the bathroom, Deb stood in front of the mirror, running her fingers harshly through her messy brown hair, his face a picture of anguish and she tried to keep the tears circling her eyes at bay. With no hesitation, she reached for the old scissors resting next to the sink and lifted them to her hair.
With a blank stare in her eyes, she assertively began cutting her hair off as short as she could with the small scissors, not speaking a word. However, as the hair began to fall into the sink, a small twinkle of hope appeared in her eyes and her confidence grew. She surveyed her handiwork and a shy smile, before picking up the shears and expertly making herself completely bald.
Outside the bathroom, A.J., Jughead, and Lucas were discussing the intricacies of love.
"Listen, do you think it's possible for someone to be in love with someone else and not even know it," A.J. asked mysteriously, breaking the silence of the coin gluing.
"Absolutely," Jughead answered confidently, looking up at A.J. to make his point for known, an almost regretful tone in his voice.
"In this life, there are nothing but possibilities," Lucas answered philosophically from his perch on the couch. A.J. took that answer with a grain of salt as he considered his words of love for Corey in his head.
In the next moment, Deb emerged from the bathroom and debuted her new look for the trio of boys, before moving to punch her timecard.
Exchanging curious glances, A.J. was the first to speak. "You did have hair when you went in there right?" he asked. "Yeah, it's still in the sink if you wanna glue it," Deb asked astutely, before heading off to the storeroom without a second thought.
"Wait," A.J. stated loudly, jumping up from his spot on the floor and moving over towards Deb. Jughead, who had been silently watching her, came to the same conclusion as A.J., and moved to stand behind him, a look of mild concern on his features.
Deb came back into the back room and stopped in front of both boys. "What?" she asked rudely, trying to move past.
"What is this?" A.J. asked seriously right in Deb's face, as she held up her right wrist and pulled down her jacket sleeve to reveal a long white bandage around her wrist. Deb immediately tensed and refused to make eye contact, which only fueled both Jughead and A.J.'s concern.
"I decided I'd rather kill myself than meet Archie Andrews," Deb quipped sarcastically, nearly trying to avoid the question and get to work.
"That's not funny!" Jughead roared from behind A.J., grabbing his beanie in frustration as A.J. put his hands up to stop Deb from walking away. "No, I'm not letting you through until you tell me what's going on," A.J. said angrily, raising his voice.
Lucas broke the tense moment when he came to stand next to Deb, softly caressing her scalp with his left hand. "She's fine," he spoke softly. Deb took that opportunity to thank Lucas and walk out to the main floor for work.
A.J. just stared at Lucas while Jughead glared at him briefly, before following Deb out to the front. "What's with you today?" A.J. asked incredulously, throwing his hands up at Lucas.
"What's with today? Today?" came Lucas's response, to which A.J. had no answer.
Deb walked up to the register pointedly ignoring Jughead who followed too close behind her, although once she came to stand behind the counter, she saw him move to stand next to Betty, who was happily chatting with Corey in front of her register. Upon seeing Deb, Corey quickly removed her register and have Deb her spot, the group of girls not exchanging words.
"Oh, before you hear about it, look," Deb announced suddenly, showing off her bandaged arm like a prize for all to see while glaring at Jughead, whose face was a mixture of shock and annoyance as he huffed loudly. Betty grabbed his arm to get his attention, her eyes glowing with questions. A look passed between them that suggested this was not their first entire with this issue, and they were silently deciding their next step together.
"That's supposed to be a joke, right?" Corey asked seriously, looking Deb right in the eye. But Deb just shook her head, and Corey walked off towards the back room with a knowing glance and a raised brow at Gina.
For her part, Gina simply glared at Deb, as she watched the bald woman start her register as though nothing had happened and there weren't three pairs of eyes on her. "Well, Sinead O'Rebellion!" Gina teased, attempting to get on Deb's nerves. "Shock me, shock me, shock me, with that deviant behavior!"
Deb managed a small smile, shaking her head at Gina's cleverness in the face of self-deprecating humor on serious issues. "That is so clever. I swear to God you get smarter the shorter for skirt gets," Deb answered.
"And you get smarter the shorter your hair gets," Gina quipped back as the two stared at each other in a sarcastic stand-off. Betty and Jughead witness it in silence, before Betty tugged Jughead away, losing patience and needing answers.
Elsewhere in the store, Mark and some other guys were headbanging and moshing to some metal music. They were making a ruckus with their movements but nobody else paid them any mind. Lucas was still sitting quietly on the couch, while Joe was holed up in his office, on the phone with police to report the missing money as a robbery.
Gina took a moment to walk over and shut off the music, to the ire of Mark. "What'd you do that for?" he asked curiously, following her around the record player.
"It's too early for that kind of music, it makes the customers all crazy like," she answered, waving him off. "That's the point," Mark replied, watching her go with slumped shoulders.
Mark's spirits were immediately lifted though when Eddie appeared in front of him. His friend and fellow employee, Eddie quickly greeted Mark before handing him a new tape mix, to expand Marc's musical horizons. Upon closer inspection of the tape, Mark realized Eddie included everything from classical to Pink Floyd, which made him giddy with apparent joy.
"Oh, one more thing," Eddie leaned in and whispered, pushing his long, brown hair over his shoulders and glancing around the store once before looking back to Mark. "I made you these. They are my special recipe. Lots of sugar," Eddie revealed happily as Mark took the tin foil covered package from him to reveal a batch of delicious looking brownies that made Marc's mouth water.
"You need to understand something man. Without this music, life would be meaningless," Eddie continued trying to get Marc to focus.
Mark blinked up at him, his attention finally pulled from the brownies. "Dude, did you hear about Lucas?" Mark asked quietly.
In the backroom, A.J. was busy adding new sketches to his notebook, Corey was back to studying calculus, Lucas was silent and still exiled to the old couch, and Betty and Jughead were seated on the floor sorting through a pile of records that wasn't out on the floor for sale yet.
The silence of the group ended when Eddie and Mark came swinging through the doors, Eddie immediately ranting about Lucas's illicit adventures to Atlantic City the night before. "So, I heard you like, married a mobsters wife?" Eddie trailed off, expecting Lucas to expand on his nighttime adventure.
Lucas kept his stoic demeanor and tone, despite Eddie's apparent excitement for the story. "Not entirely," he answered flatly, looking between Eddie's happy expression and Mark's slightly guilty one. Eddie opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted by the loudspeaker.
"This song goes out to our employee of the week, Lucas," Gina's voice boomed sweetly over the loudspeaker, as Eddie and Marc clapped for their friend's tribute. Lucas crossed his arms over his chest and appeared to relax a bit, enjoying the beat of the song.
The eclectic tune of Money (That's What I Want) by the Flying Lizards began to play, and it was rather fitting. All the employees seemed to be enjoying it and even both Betty and Jughead had fun grins on their faces as the song continued. That happy moment ended though when Gina ad-libbed "Joe's money" into the song and the manager was not impressed.
Without a word, Joe left his office and moved to the storeroom, picking up a new cardboard box and placing it under his arm, and grabbing a set of orange flyers laid on top. He left the room and moved to Corey first, since she was closest, and placed on the orange flyers on the desk in front of her, before moving over to A.J., he continued to pass out the flyers to Eddie and Marc before placing the box on the table in front of the couch where Lucas sat.
"What the hell is this, Joe?" Corey questioned, reading over the sheet quickly, her confusion growing.
"Rules and Standards for Music Town Employee Conduct" A.J. read loudly, the disgust in his tone evident. "We're not a Music Town," A.J. continued adamantly.
"No, we're not a Music Town. Yet," Joe replied, pulling an orange apron from the cardboard which was adorned with the Music Town logo in fancy red lettering across the front. Joe continued to remove them and tossed them to Lucas, Corey, and A.J., although he let his drop to the floor as he continued ranting about the flyer.
"Isn't Music Town a chain, Joe?" Mark asked in a scared voice, which was immediately drowned out by A.J. loudly reading out the rules he felt were the most offensive to the entire group.
'Why didn't you tell us?" Mark asked Joe, who had listened to his employee's concerns in silence up until that point.
"Because I was trying to stop it," Joe reasons, placing his hands on his hips and glancing around at everyone. "I got together enough money to make Cheryl on offer. I was going to buy this place so it wouldn't be a Music Town," he explained adamantly.
He was immediately cut off by Corey, A.J., Mark and Eddie all exclaiming how happy Joe buying Empire would make them. "You think it's going to happen now?" Joe yelled incredulously to the others, looking down at Lucas on the couch who wisely avoided Joe's gaze.
"I have to pay for what Mr. Brilliant here did. It's over kids," Joe explained, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Damn the Man!" Jughead yelled loudly, pumping his fist on the carpet, a look of fury on his face, while Betty stroked his other arm lightly.
Joe just let out a huff and ran a hand through his thick hair before turning away. "We're going to be a Music Town," he finished, retreating back into his office.
Back at the register, Gina and Deb had finally found common ground on something to hate. While Gina recited some of the rules with fake enthusiasm, Deb just stared at the flyer in abject horror. "Let's just rip," De stated flatly before both girls grabbed their flyers and ripped them to shreds right there at the register.
The somber tone that had invaded the employees didn't last long. It was Archie Andrews Day after all, and there was still much preparation to be done. Corey pushed a life-sized photo of Archie, complete with a letterman jacket and goofy grin from the backroom to the main floor with a gigantic smile on her face, and when Betty saw it both girls ascended into deep giggles. Jughead spotted the photo and was staring at it in mild horror before he slowly slinked away into the music shelves until he was no longer in Archie's eye range. A.J. was busy fixing the banner to hang behind Archie during the signing and welcome people to the store. Mark struggled to assemble the table where Archie would sit, the old school engineering getting the better of him. Lucas stayed by himself on the couch in silence but kept leaning out to watch.
A long line of middle aged woman and young moms had been building outside, and now that everything was set up, the line was migrated to weave in and out of the store. Each woman held their own copy of Archie's music or their favorite photo of him, so dozens upon dozens of Archie's were visible almost anywhere anybody looked in the store. The entire line was a buzz with excitement, women making noises that were more suitable for teenage girls with celebrity crushes or first-time pop concert tickets. They were so wrapped up in their own dreams and hopes they didn't notice the young man in the large coat. No one did.
He was a kid, that much was obvious. A young teenager, maybe 15, with short and spiky red hair, much more subdues than Marc's. He was wearing a large marooned colored zip-up jacket, dark blue jeans, and sneakers, and was currently browsing the rap section of the store. He was looking around a lot, glancing behind him and at the other patrons closest to him, but no one looked back. Had he bothered to look towards the back room, he would have seen Lucas's gaze locked on him though.
Lucas was standing up, one foot still on the couch, and watching the kid with increased curiosity. Then he glanced over at Joe, who was pacing in his office. "Joe, I'm going to leave the couch now, okay? I'm leaving the couch." Lucas bent down to grab a couch cushion. Joe still hadn't even acknowledged him, so Lucas left the couch like it was no big deal.
Mark snickered when Lucas emerged from the back room. "I thought you couldn't leave the couch," he giggled. "The whole couch," Lucas muttered, gesturing to the couch cushion under his arm. "That's a technicality!" Jughead ribbed from nearby, having overheard the exchange.
"I've decided I'm going to start a band," Mark announced proudly, although Lucas's face remained blank.
"The first thing you need is a name," Lucas revealed, his philosophical wisdom returning to his tone. "Then you've know what kind of band you've got," Lucas finished, while Mark suddenly looked stricken with fear and got lost in thought.
"Yeah…I know…I was kind of thinking about Mark," Mark revealed more to himself, just thinking out loud. Lucas took that moment to turn towards the teenage boy in the maroon jacket, who he could watch much better in the main room than in the back. Lucas moved to sit on the stairs, retying his shoes in the process and dropping the couch cushion beside him. "Is that with a C or with a k?" Lucas asked Mark with interest. "Well my name is with a k, so I was thinking my band could be with a c," Marc giggled out.
"Always play with their minds," Lucas said confidently as he stood to watch the teenager again before moving away from Mark. Lucas got within a foot of the boy, who was in the process of stuffing a CD discreetly in his jacket pocket before he noticed Lucas.
"That's a big coat you're wearing," Lucas said stoically, not moving away from the boy. "Can I help you with anything?" he spoke again, but the boy just shook his head and looked down at the closest records to him. Lucas leaned in real close and started muttering weird anecdotes of wisdom near the boy's face, enough to freak him out.
"What are you some kind of weirdo?" he asked, moving away to examine more records. Lucas just glanced around, clasped his hands behind his back and followed the boy. Clearly sensing he was caught, the boy moved to walk away, throwing out a "See ya," at Lucas before turning his back.
"I'm sure I'll bump into you," Lucas spoke politely, a tone of fake politeness in his tone. The teenage then all but ran from the store, knocking into patrons eagerly awaiting the arrival of Archie Andrews before running around to the back of the store.
Meanwhile inside, Lucas ran full speed through the store and launched himself up the stairs three at a time, making Jughead chuckle and Betty yelp before moving out of the way. Mark, who had passed Lucas on the stairs got a big grin on his face at the action.
"SHOPLIFTER!" Mark yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking awkwardly.
Outside, Lucas jumped down the back stairs and landed in front of the teenager, shocking him and sending him looking frantically for another way to go. In a panic, he reached for the closest door, which happened to be the back door of the record store. He ran back out onto the main floor, knocking down some of the decorations for Archie Andrews Day and pushing patrons out of the way, which slowed this progress. Outside, Lucas had opted instead to run around the side of the store and wait patiently near the front door, blending in a bit with the waiting customers.
Gian took that opportunity to once again get on the loudspeaker and explain that the excitement they were all witnessing outside with a shoplifter.
"To your left, you will notice a shoplifter being chased by night manager Lucas. This man will be caught, deep fried in a vat of hot oil and served to our first 100 customers. Just another fun day here at Empire Records," Gina quipped in a joyful tone before jumping down from the counter and resuming work at the register.
Meanwhile outside, the teenager had emerged from the store and had nearly run straight into Lucas, before darting off into the street to get away. The kid ran in front of cars ran around aimlessly, while Lucas exposed his excellent and (up until then secret) parkour skills for the crowd. The teenager lost sight of Lucas chasing him and immediately ducked down behind a car to see if he was in the clear.
The kid jumped up after seeing the coast was clear and ran into a nearby parking lot. He was stopped abruptly when a car door opened in front of him suddenly. The kid yelped loudly and did a front flip over the door, landing hard on his back and groaning. To his left was Lucas, lounging in the passenger seat of the car, a proud smile on his face at his success.
Back at the store, a nondescript black town car entered the parking lot in the back. Inside with a middle-aged man wearing a yellow and blue letterman jacket, with shockingly red hair and a middle-aged woman with raven locks, a pristine black skirt, heels, a pale blue shirt and a small string of pearls. Both occupants exiting the vehicle and turned towards the store.
"Oh god, look at this place," Archie whined, his frustration growing with each passing second.
"Hey, it looks fine. Small town America buys your records and they came here to see you," Veronica reasoned, adjusting her purse strap and flipping her hair as she came to stand beside Archie. With a huff, Archie walked towards the building and Veronica followed.
Inside, Lucas hauled the teenager through the store by the back of his jacket, as Joe was on the phone with the local authorities. "Yeah, this is Joe Reaves from the Empire Records Store. We have a shoplifter in custody," Joe said into the phone receiver. The kid dropped down onto the couch as A.J. dropped down beside him as Lucas came to stand behind him.
"How old are you?" Joe asked the kid.
"Old enough to kick your but old man," the kid said proudly, But Joe was unfazed, while A.J. tried to hide his snigger.
"Yeah, he's a juvenile," Joe continued into the phone, as he examined the CDs the kid had in his pocket. "What's your name?" Joe asked quickly.
"Warren Beatty," he quipped sarcastically. Joe just smiled and walked closer.
"Okay, Warren. Why don't you stand up," he asked with a fake smile on his face. Warren begrudgingly stood and then A.J. stood and pulled him towards the back wall, which made it easier to take a photo. Lucas took the CDs from Joe and placed them in Warren's hands, as A.J. readied the camera for Warren's store mugshot.
Suddenly, the store room door slammed open and there stood Gina, clad in nothing but an orange Music Town apron, which barely covered her thin frame. "And they said no revealing clothing," Gina quipped sarcastically, as Joe, Lucas, A.J. and Warren all stared at her in shock. Lucas attempted to cover Warren's eyes and Corey chose that moment to re-enter the back room, with Betty and Jughead in tow. Corey pushed play on the tape deck on the table as she passed and both girls started to rock out to the sound, much to Joe's dismay.
The chaos was broken when the back door opened slowly and two people emerged from the parking lot. Standing before them were Archie Andrews and his manager Veronica Lodge.