The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25 dot com
Prompt: 14
Pen Name: Glitterb1234
Pairing/Character(s): Edward+Bella
Rating: T
Word Count: 410
Photo prompts can be found here:
thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts
Music stores have always been my safe haven, and from an early age I was fascinated by the vinyl section. Growing up in the height of the digital age, such a bulky, antiquated method of storing music should probably have seemed alien and strange to me. My mom thinks I'm a child out of time, born in the wrong era, and that I should have lived in a time when drug stores had soda fountains and waitresses on roller skates would serve you in your car at fast food restaurants and a hot date involved the back seat of a car and a drive-in movie. Not that I was that kind of guy, but whatever.
Now, trying to settle into my new college dorm room, it wasn't surprising to anyone who knew me that I found my way to the nearest record shop before I even went looking for the bars. Even in an unfamiliar city, in an entirely new state, I felt I could count on my records to be just the same in Seattle as they were back home in Chicago.
After my third day of classes, I made my way to Pacific Rhythms, desperately in need of something to counteract my overwhelmed state of mind. The store was almost empty, and I might my way to the boxes of vinyls assuming I would be able to browse in peace.
I was wrong.
There was a girl standing there, thumbing through the sleeves intently and biting her lip in concentration. Her dark brown hair was all pulled over one shoulder, falling all the way down to the strings on her dark red hoodie, and her dark eyes were intent on the covers flipping past.
I dithered for a minute, not really wanting to socialise – I was a solitary shopper – but I left it too long and she looked up. She seemed as startled as I was to find another young person in this bit of the store, but after a second she smiled.
"Hi," she said, her voice sweet and shy and utterly enchanting. "Am I in your way?"
struck dumb, I could only nod mutely and try to distract myself with the box of eighties rock opposite where she stood. We stood in silence, and then she spoke again.
"I'm Bella."
I looked up, and she was holding out her hand. I took it, shaking gently.
"Edward. Nice to meet you."
Biggest understatement of my life.