Haylee's was relatively quiet this morning, but such was to be expected on a Saturday morning. There was an old couple reading the paper in the far right corner of the coffee shop sipping their respective cups of joe. A middle-aged man and woman also sat and talked at the table closest to the register whilst drinking their morning brew. Another brunette girl who looked to be around 25 drank her iced coffee at a table in the far left corner whilst doing what appeared to be homework.
Dusk was still a bit annoyed with Thorn over last night. She thought the group was quite hospitable in allowing newbies to join, and deepening their knowledge about songwriting. Nonetheless, she tried to forget about her frustration and just enjoy this time with her potential new friend.
She headed up to the front counter to get her usual black coffee, and saw that Anne was running the counter today rather than Haylee. Dusk felt like it'd been a lifetime ago since she'd seen Anne, even though upon giving it further thought, she realized it'd only been since their album release party. The tour was so emotionally all-consuming that anything before felt like a completely different chapter of her life.
"Hey, Anne. I'll just take a black coffee. No sugar or cream." Dusk informed the barista.
"Sure! I'll get started on that right away!" Anne promised.
At that moment, Dusk saw Dawn walk in the front door. She was wearing a salmon-colored shirt and gray shorts.
"What's up?" Dawn greeted.
"Hey! Where do you want to sit?" Dusk asked, prompting Dawn to glance around for her preference of spots.
"We can take the spot over there by the brunette, across from that big TV." Dawn suggested. "Go ahead and sit down; I'm gonna get my drink first."
Dusk headed over to claim the spot by the girl doing homework before anybody else took it. She casually glanced up at the TV, which was airing some news show, whilst she waited for her new acquaintance. In a matter of moments, Dawn joined her.
"Okay, I ordered my usual." Dawn informed, quickly elaborating. "A dark roast with a little bit of creamer and sugar."
"Hey, I love black coffee too!" Dusk exclaimed. "Thank god you're not one of those people who orders a milkshake and calls it a coffee."
"Yeah, I could never get into those. If I wanted a milkshake, I'd just go buy one instead of slipping a little caffeine in there and calling it my morning coffee." Dawn joked. "So, I know you're in that band, but what else do you do for fun?"
Dusk immediately felt a little embarrassed. Admittedly, besides hanging out with Thorn and Luna, reading, walking in nature, and writing songs, she didn't really have much of a routine outside of working at Jack's. She didn't go out to any clubs or do anything that felt nearly cool enough to share with Dawn. Perhaps that's why she was feeling a hole in her life recently - she barely had anything going on.
"Oh, you know. When I'm not working around the clock at a restaurant or writing songs, you know, I go out." Dusk purposefully left her remark vague, hoping Dawn would believe "going out" implied doing something cool.
"Neat. Where do you work?" Dawn inquired. Dusk was glad she hadn't inquired further about the "going out" remark.
"Have you ever been to Jack's?" Dusk asked.
"Oh yeah, I think I've been there a couple times. You mean that place downtown?" Dawn wondered.
"Yep, that's where I work." Dusk nodded.
"Oh, that's cool! I work at Oakhaven Books." Dawn informed. "I don't really like working there, but you know, I make it work."
"Why do you stay there if you don't like it?" Dusk questioned.
"I needed to get a job so I could move out. I couldn't stand being there with my old man a moment longer." Dawn admitted.
"You don't like your dad?" Dusk had to stop herself from adding either at the end of that sentence; she wasn't quite ready to share that part of herself yet, even if she felt like her and Dawn were getting along quite well.
"Oh, god no! He's so judgmental! He doesn't agree with my songwriter lifestyle and says I should be going to work somewhere normal like a good girl would." Dawn's voice almost took on a growl. Clearly she was very passionate in her hatred for her parents.
Dusk wouldn't typically reveal this to a stranger, but given Dawn experienced a similar issue with her parents, maybe she also would sympathize with Dusk's parental issues.
"Yeah, I'm in a similar situation. My old man's always judging me and saying being a musician isn't a real job." Dusk admitted.
"Well, fuck him, and fuck my dumb old man too." Dawn's voice remained bitter and aggressive. "Hopefully we'll both become successful so we can prove our dads' worthless asses wrong."
"I'm definitely trying." Dusk admitted. "What are you thinking of doing for a career? I mean, do you want to perform songs too, or just write them for other artists?"
"I'm not sure yet." Dawn confessed. "One thing's for sure though, I certainly don't want to be working in a dusty old bookstore like I am now. It's literally the worst, just stocking shelves and helping customers find books all day. I feel like such a fucking geek."
Dusk admittedly didn't have a bad connotation associated with being a geek like Dawn did, but she certainly understood how working in a bookstore day in and day out wouldn't be a fulfilling job.
"I'm nowhere near committed to this, but honestly, if songwriting didn't pan out, I kinda think doing something with the environment would be cool. I don't know what that job would be, and I imagine the job would require me to go to college and do a lot of science, which I'd hate. I think it'd be cool to work with the environment, though. I've always liked it." Dawn shared.
"I can see why you'd like it. That protest yesterday was pretty wicked!" Dusk responded.
"You should totally come to another one! Julia said the next one would be whenever the mayor announces the rescheduled excavation." Dawn invited.
"Yeah, I'd totally go to another one." Dusk agreed, before adding a caveat that she hoped would make her seem cool. "Somebody's gotta teach that old timer Mayor Corey that people prefer to take their children to a park, not an oil rig."
"Ha!" Dawn chuckled. "You know, you're pretty cool, Dusk."
All of a sudden, the TV on the wall across from them had the words "breaking news alert" flash across the screen, with an urgent-sounding jingle that Dusk remembered hearing throughout her childhood whenever her dad had the news on. The usual news announcer for Oakhaven, Nancy Chang, then quickly popped up on the screen. The anchor had black hair and donned a purple button-up blouse.
"We interrupt this weather report for breaking news from the mayor's office regarding the oil pipeline." Nancy announced. "Mayor Corey has just released an official statement sharing that construction for the pipeline scheduled to run through our town was halted on Friday due to some unfortunate circumstances with protesters. However, he's happy to announce that construction will continue as scheduled on Monday afternoon at 1."
"Dammit. My shift goes until 3 that day." Dawn swore.
"Actually, my shift will have just ended. I'll be there and fill you in afterwards." Dusk offered. "I can tell you on Friday at the next group meeting."
"I mean, if you have time, you can feel free to stop by the bookstore." Dawn offered. "My shift will probably just be ending when the protest is over, and even if it's not, I could use a visitor to make the job not so fucking boring."
"Sure! I'd love to fill you in." Dusk exclaimed.
She was so happy that she and Dawn seemed to be bonding over so many things. Dusk had the feeling that this was just the beginning of what could become a beautiful friendship.
Dusk couldn't believe how fast the weekend had passed. It was already Monday, and she'd just wrapped up her shift at Jack's for the day. As per usual, Thorn and Luna both headed over to eat lunch at Jack's, although today, they didn't have anything music-wise to discuss like they usually did, which was admittedly a bit odd for Dusk given how accustomed she'd grown to that ritual. They were now on their way over to the protest in the park, which was set to start in just a few minutes. She'd asked Jack to be able to leave 15 minutes early, but it still wasn't quite enough time. To compensate for lost time, Dusk drove seven miles per hour over the limit, and hoped she wouldn't get caught.
"Are you both excited for the protest?" Thorn inquired of her bandmates.
"Yeah! I can't wait!" Dusk exclaimed. She couldn't believe she'd been so down about the state of the band just a few days ago, and now it felt like everything was looking up for her. She'd found a cool group of people who liked writing songs as much as she did, and even made a new friend.
"Moderately." Luna said, before promptly elaborating. "It was kind of an intense environment for my liking with the confrontation, but the impact we're making is worth it."
The Soccer Mom Van quickly rolled up to the stop sign near the parking lot. Dusk had admittedly not been paying attention as closely as she should, but she wanted to make sure they all got there by the time that the protest started at 1.
"Geez Dusk, you pulled up a little fast there." Luna remarked.
"We'd preferably like to make it to the protest alive." Thorn commented.
Luna definitely wasn't wrong about her stopping a bit abruptly, and in hindsight it wasn't a smart thing to do. However, Dusk was admittedly too annoyed in the moment to intelligently respond to the comment, so she snapped instead. "Well, sorry!"
"I see the protest! It's by the bench this time." Luna pointed out, ignoring Dusk's outburst.
Dusk took a look out the driver's window and saw that her redheaded friend was correct. The group of protesters were all gathered around the bench, where the same construction worker was preparing to break ground with his bulldozer. The blonde quickly parked the vehicle, and all three girls got out of the car, rushing over to see the commotion.
"Oh, so it's you dames again!" the same construction worker sneered. "I'm gonna have to ask you to move."
"We already told you, we're not moving." Julia challenged.
"Well, if you're not moving, I came prepared this time!" the construction worker wore a sly grin on his face.
Dusk had absolutely no idea what the guy was going to do, but she assumed it was going to be something dumb that wouldn't actually prevent them from moving or protesting.
"Pfft, what's he gonna do?" the brown-haired teenage kid that Dusk remembered from yesterday snarled.
"May I have everyone's attention please?" a familiar voice asked. Thorn and Luna's jaws had almost dropped to the floor at this point, and while Dusk's jaw stayed sedentary, she was quite shocked as well when she saw who it was. The town's mayor had come out to end their protesting.
"This is a city-approved project, and I'm going to have to ask you to stop protesting." Mayor Corey requested. His voice was kind, with a slight hint of sternness.
"Oh yeah, and what if we don't?" the brown-haired guy snapped.
Mayor Corey was quite soft spoken and was never all that negative about anything really, so his response was expressed in a relatively gentle way, even though his idea could be received as a tad threatening. "Well, I'm afraid we'd have to phone the authorities to escort you off the premises. We've already lost a full day of work, and well, quite frankly, I don't see the purpose in losing more."
This got everybody's attention. Everyone began disbanding and walking away disgruntledly in a semi-orderly fashion, including Julia. Thorn and Luna also began walking away, but in a much quicker fashion, almost as if they were embarrassed. They quickly stopped when they heard their names exclaimed in shock.
"Thorn? Luna? Dusk?" Mayor Corey gasped. "I never thought I'd see you mixed up in something like this!"
"We're…sorry." Luna stuttered.
"We just saw the commotion and headed over here. We weren't sure what was going on, honest!" Thorn said in a panicked voice.
"Oh! Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better. These protesters delayed us drilling last week, and I came out today to hopefully prevent it from happening again." Mayor Corey informed.
"Out of curiosity, what's the deal with this oil pipeline anyways? I'm surprised you didn't want to put it somewhere crappy and out of the way. Not that I'm agreeing with the protesters or anything, I'm just wondering." Dusk inquired. She personally could care less about whether or not the mayor thought she was in cahoots with the protesters or not. However, she knew Thorn and Luna's families had good relationships with the mayor, so she didn't want to incriminate them.
"Well, to be honest with you girls, I'm not a huge fan of putting it here either. However, it's the best and most efficient place to have the pipeline run through, according to the company that's building it. They're having it run through multiple cities, so I didn't really get much of a say over it. The county who made those decisions, and we just have to go along with them. We'll just have to make the park smaller to accommodate the pipeline coming through here." Mayor Corey shared. "There's not much I can do, unfortunately, since it is safe to have the pipeline run through here, and it's more convenient for the company."
"Okay. Thanks for explaining." Thorn replied in a monotone voice, although Dusk could tell that the lack of passion in her voice stemmed from frustration rather than disinterest.
"I'm glad we got these protesters to disband. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to my office. I've got a very busy day ahead. So good to see you girls again!" the mayor exclaimed, as he headed back to talk to the construction worker briefly.
Once they were sure the mayor was out of hearing distance, Luna breathed a sigh of relief. "That was a close one."
"I was freaking out that he was going to figure out we were a part of that protest." Thorn agreed.
"I honestly don't give a crap whether he finds out if I'm involved, because what he's doing is still wrong." Dusk admitted.
"It doesn't sound like he has any control over it, though. It's the company that chose to run it through here." Luna pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but he could have stood up to them and said no!" Dusk defended. "That's what I'd do if I were mayor."
"You'd likely have a very short term in office then." Thorn chuckled.
"Ha ha. Very funny." Dusk snipped. "Anyway, you two can head home without me. I'm gonna go meet Dawn at the bookstore."
"Oh…okay." Luna said, seeming a little surprised.
She'd admittedly forgot to bring it up to her two bandmates previously, but she didn't see how it mattered whether they were in the know about what she was doing. It was her life after all, not theirs.
"I guess we'll see you later." Thorn responded.
"What's the problem?" Dusk questioned, noticing her friends' awkward tone.
"Oh, no problem. I think it's just a little surprising to both of us that you haven't spent any time with friends, and you're hanging out with Dawn practically every day now. I'm glad you two are getting so close, though!" Thorn remarked.
"So am I." Dusk smiled.
As Dusk approached the bookstore, she was admittedly a bit surprised by how large it was. She, Thorn and Luna never spent any time there, so she had no idea what the place looked like. The last time she remembered being in there was when she was perhaps in high school, so she didn't particularly remember much about it.
Upon coming in the front door, she was impressed by how expansive the place was. The place had at least 15 different aisles with all kinds of books on both sides organized by genre. In the right corner, there was a small café where it appeared you could order coffee as well as a few fresh bakery items.
"Hey Dusk!" a familiar voice called to the blonde. Dawn was standing in one of the aisles, stocking books on a shelf and looking a bit depressed. Dusk quickly headed over to her friend.
"Hey! Wow, this place is - " Dusk started, before she was cut off by Dawn.
"Boring? Yeah, I know. I hate being here day in and day out, among an endless sea of books. I don't even like reading." Dawn lamented. "At this point, I can't wait for my songwriting career to blow up."
Dusk was going to compliment the bookstore, but she didn't want to disagree with her new friend or make her think she was some book-loving nerd, so she simply went along with what Dawn said.
"Yeah, I'd hate to be working in this dump. So dusty and old-school." Dusk disgenuinely dissed. "At least you've got a café, though."
"You'd think that would be the good part, but the lady there is grumpy and out-of-touch." Dawn sighed. "Oh well."
"So, what do you do all day in here?" Dusk inquired.
"Well, sometimes they have me stock shelves; other times I'm a checkout clerk. Today, I'm stocking shelves." Dawn shared.
Admittedly, that did sound pretty boring to Dusk. She wouldn't enjoy putting books on shelves all day. Even though her job at Jack's was pretty menial, she at least got some enjoyment out of talking to the different customers and serving their food.
"Yeah, I can see why you don't like this job." Dusk said.
"Sometimes, if I finish early, I'll pass the rest of the day by looking at the music. I'm really into music, so it helps the day go by a little faster." Dawn shared.
"What kind of music do you like, besides ours?" Dusk inquired with a small chuckle.
"I'm really into rock. Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden. I like a little goth music too, like Bauhaus." Dawn said. "Some of the 80s rock bands are great too. Tears for Fears, Starship, Simple Minds. Artists like that."
Thorn and Luna weren't particularly into the more mainstream stuff, but Dusk quite liked most of the bands listed, with the exception of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who she'd never quite gotten into. "Those bands are all awesome! I lean a little more into the goth stuff, like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure. Some of the 80s bands you mentioned are awesome, though. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" are great!"
"Right?!" Dawn exclaimed. "I'm so glad somebody else likes them as much as I do. I don't know too many people who are into the 80s stuff."
"Those people in the group aren't?" Dusk asked.
"Deyton is, but I don't know about the others." Dawn responded.
"Oh, I thought you were friends with all of them or something." Dusk questioned.
"Some of them. Deyton has been a friend of mine for a while, and I kinda know Kelsey, but not the rest. They're a part of the group, but I haven't hung out with them outside of the group or anything." Dawn replied.
Dusk was admittedly a bit surprised, as she'd assumed they all were close friends, but she realized she had never actually asked until now.
"So, we should definitely talk more about music in a moment, but right now, I'm dying to know. How'd the protest go?" Dawn said.
Before Dusk could get out a response, a man in a red shirt behind them cleared his throat and spoke up. "Excuse me, ladies. I'm just trying to get through."
Dusk hadn't realized that she was blocking the aisle, so she promptly moved out of the way. "Oops, my bad. Why don't we go get something in the café and I'll tell you?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm getting pretty hungry, to be honest." Dawn said, as she headed over to the right towards the café. There were a few tables and chairs over in the corner next to the café, one of which was taken by a couple who were chatting over a coffee. Nobody was currently staffing the café.
"Is anyone around?" Dusk turned to Dawn.
"Yeah, she's somewhere. Probably just in back cleaning." Dawn shrugged.
"Well, while we're waiting, there's not much to tell. The construction worker brought Mayor Corey, and he said that he was gonna call the cops if we didn't stop blocking construction." Dusk shared.
"What?" Dawn snapped. "That dumb old bastard."
"We did get a little tidbit out of him, though. I guess some company is constructing the pipeline across multiple cities. The park was apparently the most convenient place to run it." Dusk shared.
"Yeah, like that alleviates him of any responsibility." Dawn replied superiorly. "How in the world did you get him to tell you that?"
"Thorn and Luna's dads are friends with him." Dusk answered.
"Really?" Dawn gave her a strange look. "Thorn and Luna don't like him, do they?"
Dusk honestly didn't know the answer to that, but they did seem to sympathize with him, and based on their last interaction, it seemed like they didn't think it was his fault about the pipeline. She didn't want Dawn to think badly of her friends though, so she just fibbed a little. "No. They hate his guts too."
"Oh, I see what you guys did. Thorn and Luna pretended to like him to secretly drill him for info. Nice!" Dawn smirked.
"Yeah." Dusk plainly said. Not wanting to dig herself further into her fib, she was prompt to change the subject. "Hey, this coffee reminded me that we've got a concert at Haylee's on Wednesday at 1. If you wanted to show up, you'd be welcome."
"I didn't know you guys performed there! Sure, it'd be neat to see you guys perform live." Dawn agreed.
At that moment, the coffee shop lady came to the counter.
"Hello, how are you?" Dusk greeted.
"What can I get you?" the woman robotically said. Dusk admittedly found it a bit rude, but she more so took it as the old woman beaten down by her monotonous job than a personal insult.
"I'll just have a black coffee." Dusk ordered.
"Same. I'll do a cookie as well." Dawn chimed in.
"That's $4.41." the woman said.
Dawn handed her the money for the cookie and coffee, whilst Dusk handed her a $1 bill for the coffee.
"Have a good day." the woman sighed, sounding miserable.
At that moment, Dawn turned her back to the woman and leaned over to Dusk.
"I will, no thanks to you, you old biddy." Dawn muttered.
Dusk's jaw nearly dropped when Dawn said that, but she tried to keep herself contained. She couldn't believe anybody would say anything like that so close to the person whom the insult was intended for.
"What'd you say?" the woman asked. Dusk couldn't tell if she actually overheard the comment or was just asking for them to speak up.
"I said, I'm giddy for this cookie." Dawn said, followed by a mischievous giggle.
Dusk was used to being the edgiest one of the group, but Dawn was even a bit more edgy and intense than she was. She honestly found it more entertaining than anything, as she'd never met anyone who spoke their mind quite as much as her new friend. She admired that quality in Dawn though; Dusk loved that she wasn't afraid to call people on their bullshit.
It'd been a pretty idyllic day with her new friend, whom Dusk found herself connecting with more and more. They'd talked about quite a few things in the past few hours - everything from music, to lamenting about their parents, to talking about their jobs. They'd now been walking around town and chatting for about 30 minutes. They were just walking on the boulevard past Jack's, which Dusk promptly pointed out.
"Hey, since I checked out your workplace, do you want to see mine?" Dusk suggested.
"Sure! That'd be cool. I'm getting hungry anyway." Dawn agreed, as she headed towards the restaurant.
The parking lot didn't look overly busy, just the normal dinner rush that Jack always had. She wasn't sure how Dawn would react to her workplace given how critical she was of her own, but when they headed in the building, Dawn looked quite awestruck.
"Woah, this place is pretty nice! How's your boss, though? Does he suck as bad as mine?" Dawn inquired.
"Oh god no, Jack's great." Dusk assured.
"That's good. Do we have to wait to be seated?" Dawn asked.
"No, Jack doesn't care. We can just find an open booth and Jack will find us." Dusk replied. "Oh, actually, there he is now!"
"Hey, Dusk!" Jack greeted, as he walked by holding somebody's entree on a platter. "Oh, hey, that's not Thorn or Luna! Who's your new friend?"
"Jack, this is Dawn. Dawn, this is Jack." Dusk introduced.
"Good to meet you." Dawn smiled.
"Nice to meet you too! I can't remember the last time I saw you in here with somebody other than Thorn and Luna." Jack commented.
"Yeah, we met at the - " Dusk caught herself before she said protest, given she didn't know how Jack would feel about such a thing. " - at the bookstore the other day. She's really cool, and we're into a lot of the same music."
"That's great! Sorry to run, but I gotta deliver this plate before it scalds me. Hot soup, you know!" Jack jovially chuckled, as he hurried in the other direction.
"He seemed nice." Dawn smiled. "Speaking of music, so, what's next for the band? You said you released that second single, which I checked out and it's great. Surely you're doing something to promote it though, right?" Dawn asked.
Dusk hadn't considered it before, but this could be the perfect chance to get somebody else's feedback on their dilemma with the music video. Dusk was still so conflicted on whether to release the video, but Dawn seemed really cool and knowledgeable about music, so maybe she'd have some advice.
"Actually, I'd love to get your input on something." Dusk said. "We're debating on whether to release a music video. We filmed one, but we're just kinda not sure on whether it's good enough to release. Our first music video is us challenging our manager and convincing him to sign us. This music video that we've got filmed is also us challenging our manager, dressed up as some old dude who hates the environment. We challenge him, and then we kinda move around a lot while performing the song in a threatening way."
"So you're saying your music video is just you dancing around the same guy that you threatened in your last music video?" Dawn asked. "No offense, but that'd be lame. Don't do that. People are gonna think you're out of ideas if you replicate your first video."
It admittedly hurt a bit to have Dawn be so blunt, but Dusk appreciated her honesty. Clearly Dusk was right about the general public not liking the video if Dawn felt that way too.
"Yeah, that's what I was arguing too. Luna kinda wanted to release it, but I don't think it's a good idea. Thanks for your feedback!" Dusk answered.
Dusk was glad that she had somebody outside of the band to bounce her ideas off. She supposed she'd never have to worry whether or not Dawn was being honest, as she seemed to just speak her mind. This time, however, Dusk felt Dawn's response was a little over the top negative, but eh, it was probably just Dusk being too sensitive. She was now settled in her belief that they shouldn't release the music video.
If Dusk were honest with herself, the amount of thought she'd given to performing at Haylee's today was next to none. After performing packed arenas and sold-out shows, doing a concert in front of a few people drinking some coffee practically felt like a joke. The girls were beginning to spend more time at Haylee's lately, so at the very least, she was doing this concert at some place she respected. As the girls performed, there were around ten people who were listening, although only a few of them were actively watching them. There were a few teens and twenty-somethings doing work, and some older folks chatting with friends amongst the concert, which Dusk wasn't offended by as she remembered that being the dynamic last time they'd performed there.
"We're gonna put a spell on all of you!" The Hex Girls concluded in unison. There was no smoke screen or fans cheering like at their now non-existent concerts, but they did get a few claps, which Dusk supposed was better than nothing.
"Thank you, everyone!" Thorn concluded. "I just want to end with a special announcement that our new single, "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air" is out now! You can buy our debut album to listen to it. I've also heard some exciting news that they've been playing it on the radio!"
"Great job, girls." Haylee came up to the girls, very understated in her compliment. Dusk didn't take offense to it though, as she knew Haylee wasn't trying to be rude or dismissive. She simply just didn't have a very effusive personality.
"You did so amazing!" Anne chimed in from behind the counter, as she appeared to be making a caffeinated milkshake. "I especially thought you guys did a great job doing "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air."
A familiar voice came up and began talking to the girls. It was the same old man whom Dusk didn't remember the name of who had been to so many concerts before. He donned gray cargo shorts and a black shirt. "You girls really had me tappin' my foot today! Oh, I just know you girls are going to be huge any day now!"
Dusk couldn't help but smile at the sweet old man. "Thanks!"
"Did you enjoy our first CD, Elmer?" Thorn inquired. At first, Dusk wondered why she'd ask that, since she'd already remembered having this conversation. However, she quickly realized that seeing him at the store buying the album was a moment that no longer existed; it was right after the rift in the timeline.
"Woo-ey! You bet I did! Tell 'em how much I love it, Martha." the old man turned to his wife, who was just approaching the girls walking with a cane to help her balance. She wore a white shawl along with a blue t-shirt for some sort of lake resort, and black pants.
"He listens to it every time we take a Sunday drive." Martha smiled.
"That's awesome!" Luna smiled.
"That's really sweet." Thorn chimed in. "Thanks for being such a big fan, Elmer."
"Of course, ladies! Now if you'll excuse us, Martha and I have gotta get to 2:00pm bingo! Oh, I just know I'm gonna be a big winner today!" Elmer asserted, as he and Martha slowly walked away.
Even for the feelings Dusk had about performing in a coffee shop for 10 people being beneath her after performing sold out arenas, she had to admit it was sweet how much of a fan Elmer was of them. It made her happy to know that the music she created resonated with somebody so much. If only the rest of the world could feel like Elmer did.
Dusk spun around when she saw Dawn walk up to them.
"Hey! I unfortunately only caught the second half of your concert because I bumped into somebody I knew on the way here, but I liked your performance! You had great stage presence, even though you were just performing in a coffee shop."
"Yeah." Dusk was a little embarrassed due to the way Dawn phrased it. It was a pretty meager accomplishment to be performing your music in a coffee shop, and not even a particularly popular one. She tried to redeem herself by turning it into a positive. "Well, we really like Haylee and Anne, so we wanted to help them out."
"That's nice. Well, you'll get to perform on a stage someday, I just know it!" Dawn smiled. "Anyway, I've got a shift here at 2, so I've got to get going. Good to see you girls!"
"Good to see you too." Dusk responded. She'd not talked to her friends yet about not wanting to release the music video, but after doing this concert, she was 100% convinced that she didn't want to release anything that would risk subjecting them to only being able to perform at places like this for the rest of her life. Given the meeting with Gus was tomorrow, she felt she needed to tell Luna and Thorn what she was feeling about the music video. "This is random, but I've been thinking about the music video and I don't think we should release it. It's too much of a risk putting out something that's so similar to our first video."
"Like I said before, I'm in complete agreement." Thorn nodded.
"Hmmm…" Luna looked a bit uncertain. "I guess I don't think it would be a bad thing to put it out, but I totally get your concern. It's a cute video and I really like it…but if you two don't want to put it out, I'm fine scrapping it. I guess you're right that it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Okay, good, so we're all agreed. We'll tell Gus tomorrow that we're scrapping the video." Thorn responded.
Dusk was quite happy that the discussion had gone so much easier than she'd anticipated. If they were going to ever get back to being super famous and performing in venues that real artists would perform in, they needed to come up with something incredible to promote their second single, so that the band could get the attention it deserved.
Dusk, Thorn and Luna had just headed over to Gus's office for their accustomed meeting on Thursday afternoon. She'd told Thorn and Luna about not wanting to release the video, and Thorn had agreed, while Luna had respectfully conceded. They were just about to break the news to Gus, as they walked through the hallway at the record studio. As Dusk glanced over at the pictures of all the famous musicians, she felt all of them would have done the same thing if they were in her situation. They were making the right decision to preserve their image, as far as Dusk was concerned.
"Hey, girls!" Gus greeted. "How's your week been so far?"
"A bit chaotic at the beginning, but it's improving." Thorn responded. Dusk presumed the "chaos" she was referring to was the embarrassment that had happened with Mayor Corey, but for her, it wasn't even hardly a blip on her radar. She didn't give a crap about what the mayor thought of her.
"Yeah, I'd give it the same assessment." Luna shrugged.
"The week's been great!" Dusk chimed in. "One of the best in a while."
"I'm glad to hear it!" Gus smiled. "I've got some good news and bad news. The good news is that the big contemporary hit radio station in Salem has added your song to their playlist, but that was the only station that added it this week. I wish I had a bit better news to share with you, but your song isn't too much above where it was last week. It's at #142 on the contemporary hit radio chart with 50 plays on the radio. It would have been #141, but it was overtaken by "Turnin' Me On at the Jimmy John's" yesterday."
"Nice!" Dusk sarcastically said. "I was really hoping a literal joke would be more popular than us."
"I'm sorry, but come on, Dusk." Thorn snapped. "#142 is still good. Not everybody could write a song that would be played 50 times on the radio in one week."
"Well, we had a song that was played 16,000 times on the radio, so 50 is incredibly meager." Dusk snapped.
"And that was in an alternate reality." Thorn argued back. "We can't hold all our songs up to that standard or we'll drive ourselves batty."
Dusk was pretty much done with this argument, so she let out an annoyed sigh rather than responding to Thorn. She was in agreement with Thorn that they couldn't hope every song was a number 1, or even top 10, but she wanted to put out something that could at least make the charts. What was the point of celebrating making #142 on the charts if nobody could see it?
"Anyway, we made a decision on the music video, and we're not gonna put it out." Dusk changed the subject to something more enjoyable. "It's just too similar to our first video. We've got to do something more innovative if we're gonna make this song into a hit."
"I'm proud of you girls for making that decision. I'll save the old footage just in case, but I think it's a fair decision to scrap it and come up with something different." Gus answered. "However, I will say that I think the raw concept you had was decent and quite usable. I know you girls are really passionate about the environment, and I think approaching the video from that angle will really give the general public an excellent idea of who you are."
"We actually went to an environmental protest the other day." Luna shared. Dusk didn't mind that she had shared that information tidbit with Gus, but Dusk was admittedly a tad surprised that she had. Luna was the most private of any of them, so she must really consider Gus a friend to share such a controversial piece of information with him.
"That one on the news?" Gus asked, his tone nonjudgemental. "I read about that. I don't much care for them tearing up most of the park either, if I'm honest. Oh well, I suppose that's progress."
"Oh! I've got an idea!" Dusk's face lit up with a slightly mischievous smirk. This was the type of thing that Dawn would love, so she was curious what her bandmates and Gus would think of this idea. "What if we re-filmed the video, but instead of sassing Gus, we have some guy dressed like Mayor Corey that we harass?"
Thorn's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Before she had a chance to respond, Gus chimed in. His tone seemed a bit surprised, but he attempted to remain objective and unbiased. "Well, that is one path, I suppose. I will say, though, I've known a few artists who have tried to boost their success off of drama, and it rarely works out well for them. Either they burn themselves out trying to be more and more shocking and dramatic, or the drama dies down, and the decline of their career quickly follows. I've always taken a managerial style that is more of a mentorship than telling you what you can and can't do, but if I may put in my two cents: do not go down this path. You girls are way too talented to build your image around that. In fact, I would argue that building one's career off of drama is often a cover for lack of talent or artistic direction."
"And if I may put in my two cents: Dusk, NO." Thorn firmly said. "Making our single a smear campaign against the mayor would not only cause unnecessary drama between us and our parents, but it's also just plain wrong. The mayor said he doesn't even have any responsibility for the pipeline. He's just following the county's orders."
"Okay, then we find out who is in charge of the county and we dress a guy up like him." Dusk said with a biting laugh.
"You're missing Thorn's point, Dusk. It's a trashy look for the band to build our career off of causing drama for others." Luna argued. "We're so much better than that."
Dusk could see the logic in what Luna was saying, and she was right. Causing drama would only divide their fanbase and lessen the number of fans they had. She didn't agree with Thorn however, as she did not consider the mayor to be innocent in this matter given he didn't exactly seem to be challenging the people at the county who were responsible for letting this oil pipeline be put in. It seemed everybody disagreed with her, but she was too prideful to admit she was wrong.
"Geez, I was just kidding. Sorry." Dusk harrumphed.
"Kidding or not, I think Dusk's idea of having it be something about the protest is a good one. Perhaps you just can't be as blunt as Dusk suggested and call out people." Gus suggested with a chuckle. "Remember, you're trying to get across a concept that is meaningful to you, without blaming any specific person."
"I actually like that idea." Luna remarked. "Maybe we could somehow make it a representation of our frustration about the oil pipeline going in."
"The most frustrating part for me is that construction worker just didn't get it when we were explaining how the pipeline would hurt all these animals." Thorn stated.
"Well, I hardly expect him to suddenly have a moral epiphany and jump off his bulldozer. It is his job, you know." Gus chuckled.
"It wasn't even just that." Thorn chimed in again. "He didn't act like it was 'business as usual.' He littered right in front of us, like he was being defiant. He didn't even care about what he was doing to those animals by destroying the park. He was so caught up in thinking we were rebellious kids causing trouble, that he didn't even consider what his actions were doing."
"Yeah, I totally agree with that." Dusk nodded. "The extent of his thought process was basically that advocating for the environment is just dumb kids being rebellious. He was so caught up in judging us that he didn't even consider what we were saying or take our ideas seriously."
"I think you girls have got yourself a great concept there. You just need to develop it a tad more, and I think you'll have yourselves an incredible video." Gus provided his perspective.
"Thanks so much for the insight, Gus." Thorn appreciated. "Maybe we could go hang out at Haylee's again after this and talk about how to develop the music video further."
"If you girls want to head over there, those are the only two things I wanted to talk with you about today. I don't have anything further." Gus shared.
"Yeah, that's a great idea." Dusk agreed.
"Thanks so much for the help, Gus!" Luna thanked.
"Anytime." Gus smiled.
It was colder today than it had been any day yet this season. The outside temperature was forecasted to top out at a chilly 45, and a frigid breeze made it feel even colder. Dusk personally never minded the cold, but Luna and Thorn were all bundled up in their jackets as they entered Haylee's.
"Hey girls!" Anne greeted them from behind the counter. The coffee shop appeared pretty quiet today, with just one other person sitting at the table in the back. "Just the usual?"
"Yep." Thorn answered, glancing at her two friends to ensure they also wanted the same as normal, to which they both nodded in return.
"Do you guys want to sit at our usual table near that couple?" Luna inquired, pointing at the open table they usually sat at.
"Sure." Thorn agreed, heading over to the table. "So what are you guys thinking about this video?"
"Maybe we could make it a reenactment of the protest." Dusk suggested. "Most people haven't been to an environmental protest, so it'd be a cool window into an unknown world for them."
"I think it should be more of a representation, though, rather than just showing us at a protest." Thorn argued.
"Thorn's right. If we show a protest, we're going to have the same issue with some of our listeners that we had with the construction worker. They're going to see "protest" and instantly be turned off." Luna pointed out. "The whole purpose of our video is to show people how passionate we are about the environment, but we can't do that if their brain instantly turns off when they hear 'protest.'"
"So I guess the question now is how do we create a representation of that?" Dusk asked. Thorn looked like she was going to chime in, but she was interrupted by someone shouting Dusk's name.
"Hey, Dusk!"
Dusk looked around to see where the voice was coming from, and quickly discovered it was Dawn, who was coming over towards them. She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans.
"Oh hi, Dawn. I'm surprised you didn't just get coffee at work." Dusk asked.
"Eh, I didn't really feel like putting up with that old biddy today." Dawn shrugged.
"Old biddy?" Thorn gasped.
"Oh, yeah. There's a grumpy old geezer who works at the coffee shop at my work. Dusk met her and can attest to what a crotchety old timer she is." Dawn said. "Right, Dusk?"
Dusk admittedly didn't find the old woman to be nearly as bad as Dawn made her out to be. In fact, she felt Dawn's insults were a tad over the top given the lady seemed more miserable than mean. Nonetheless, she thought it would be socially awkward to countermand Dawn's insult, so she simply went along with it.
"Yeah. I wouldn't want to work alongside her!" Dusk asserted.
"You can say that again. Anyway, are you guys here working on that music video?" Dawn switched subjects.
"Yeah?" Thorn seemed surprised that she knew what they were doing.
"Oh, nice! If you don't mind the feedback, I for one think it's a good thing you didn't put out that music video with you guys dancing and taunting your manager again. I love your band's music and I know you're capable of making something so much more amazing!" Dawn responded. "Anyway, I'm so sorry, but I've gotta get back to work. I just slipped out on my break. Good to see you guys!"
Nobody said anything for a moment until Dawn had walked away, which Dusk admittedly found odd. Typically silences between the group weren't awkward like this. They all knew each other so well that they were comfortable being in each other's presence, even if they weren't saying anything. However, as each passing moment continued to pass in silence, it increasingly felt like there was a tension rather than a lack of anything to say. Dusk didn't feel anything particularly awkward had happened, so she restarted the conversation after a few moments of silence had passed.
"So anyway, how do we want to start the video?" Dusk asked.
There was another second of extraneous silence, but Thorn quickly spoke up. "Uh…we can get back to that later. To my knowledge, Luna isn't becoming friends with Dawn and neither am I, so Dusk…how did Dawn know the exact concept for our music video?"
"Simple: I told her." Dusk said defiantly. She didn't quite understand Thorn's angle yet, but she could tell Thorn was frustrated about something related to her sharing the music video concept with Dawn.
"And you didn't feel the need to check with us first?" Thorn asked.
Now Dusk was mad. Who was Thorn to try to control who she did and didn't tell about the music video?
"I didn't realize somebody made you the leader of our band." Dusk challenged. "Last I checked, it's as much my band as it is yours. I can tell whoever I want about what I'm doing."
"I didn't say you couldn't." Thorn clarified. "I'm just saying you should have told us before you did. You've known Dawn for less than a week, so we don't know if we can trust her not to spread the word around."
"Dawn wouldn't tell anybody. We were just talking about music and it came up. I didn't say 'hey Dawn, you wanna know about this crazy secret project my band's working on?'" Dusk mocked.
"Understood." Thorn said firmly. "Let's have a conversation about it now. Luna, do you think we should be able to share what we're working on with other people?"
"I think vague details are okay, like 'we're working on this music video,' but I think it's the respectful thing to do to check before sharing entire projects with other people." Luna responded.
"I think the same." Thorn said, her tone stern and controlled. The three girls would argue like this sometimes, but they all knew that they loved and cared about each other, and they were close enough to be comfortable with each other's strong disagreement. However, this fight felt different. Things were much more tense than they ever usually were. Luna was at least civil even if she was a little frustrated, but Thorn seemed more upset and hurt than Dusk was used to seeing her.
"Fine. I won't say anything else without checking with you guys first." Dusk conceded, even though it felt like a chore to agree to having to ask each other in order to be able to share any little detail about the band with somebody else. She supposed it had never been a problem before since none of them really had close friendships outside of the band, but still, it was her band too, and she felt she should be able to speak freely about something she was devoting a significant amount of time to.
"So we're all agreed then. I'm really glad we got that settled." Thorn said, her tone relaxing a bit.
"I'm sorry if this makes things awkward again after we resolved them, but is it just me, or does Dawn seem kind of…not so nice?" Luna said, wearing a weary look on her face, looking like she was terrified of the response she was going to get.
"Don't worry, you aren't alone in thinking that." Thorn replied.
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Dusk challenged. She felt quite frustrated at this point, because it seemed Thorn was trying to demonize Dusk's new friend at every turn, simply because she decided she didn't like Dawn for whatever reason.
"I mean, she puts on a nice face and is friendly, but all of a sudden, she'll get a mean streak." Luna clarified. "Like with that lady at the bookstore she was talking about. It's sad she doesn't like her coworker, but calling her every insult against elderly people in the book was kind of excessive."
"I mean, I met her, and the lady isn't good at her job. I don't think she's as bad as Dawn makes her out to be, but Dawn just has a speak-your-mind kind of personality. She doesn't actually hate the lady's guts or anything." Dusk defended.
"There's a difference between complaining about somebody you don't like and being disrespectful, and Dawn was leaning heavily towards the latter." Thorn remarked.
It was Dusk's turn to be brief and stern. "Well, I'm sorry you both feel that way. I think Dawn is cool, personally."
Thorn's tone seemed to soften, as she uncrossed her arms. "I'm sorry if I'm coming off like I don't like her. She seems cool, I guess, and I like that she's invested in the environment and got us involved in that songwriting group. There are just those vibes I get from her that she may not be the nicest person. I don't actively dislike her like I do Deyton, though."
Although Dusk didn't agree with Thorn's assessment, she could tell Thorn was speaking from the heart, so she didn't feel right about continuing to argue with her friend. It would certainly be interesting to see how Thorn would continue to react as she got to know Dawn more. No matter how much Thorn softened it, it seemed she didn't really care for Dawn, and now it seemed Luna didn't either. Dusk couldn't understand where they were getting the idea that Dawn was mean…perhaps they just weren't used to people speaking their mind. Dusk had always been the most forward of any of them, and she was happy to have met free spirits like Dawn and the others regardless of what her other two friends thought.