Vinyl Records » L.T.

Chapter 2

Louis's P.O.V.

     "Hey Louis, mind helping me out here?" Jason calls. He was seated on the swivel chair behind the cash register, his feet propped up on the counter as he twiddled with the black pen he was holding while holding today's crossword in the other.

     I flip the countless vinyl records on the shelf against each other, trying to find another record I could play. Not that there probably was anything new. The owners rarely bring a fresh stack of records but on the times they do, it felt like Christmas when I was five years old all over again.

     "Four across; a fruit related to a blackberry." He says again. Another thing about Jason was that even if he is a really good friend, there's a reason he still hasn't graduated college yet... or is still trying to graduate college might be the better sounding term. His brain is about half the size of his fist, to put it bluntly.

     "I tried strawberry but there aren't enough boxes. Maybe it's blue-"He begins but I cut him off.

     "It's raspberry, Jason." I state. I don't even know why he still continues to answer the crossword puzzle when he almost always asks me the answers. "You know, the comic section of the newspaper doesn't use that much thinking." I speak, scanning the cover of the record I'm holding. I don't recognize the red cover or the band's name so I keep it to play later.

     "Ha. Ha." He remarks dully rolling his eyes at me, "Thanks for the tip but I'll stick to what I'm doing." Jason says before going back to his crossword. I chuckle and walk over to the vinyl player we have near the cashier. It's the crown jewel of this place if you ask me. The shiny, bright red of its case and the ivory color of its needle is mesmerizing to look at. In fact, it looks a little out of place in the shop, since it's then only thing that seems to have any color.

     I walk over to it and lift the dust cover, revealing the shiny platter and place the record on it. I then place the needle on the outer grooves of the disk. After a few seconds, the record starts playing an upbeat song.

     I look over to Jason and catch him bobbing his head in tune with the song. I'll admit, the song is really catchy. "New record?" Jason asks, not looking up from his crossword puzzle.

     "I don't know," I respond. "It was buried in the back of the shelf. The cover looks old; I guess we haven't played it until now." I shrug. His lips form an 'o' shape as he nods.

     "You up for a game of poker later with the guys?" Jason asks.

     "Sure." I say.

     "Great. I'll bring the cards and you bring the beer. Sound good?" He asks, looking up at me.

    "What? No," I protest, "I bought it last week. Get Andrew or someone else to do it."

     "It's not buying when your uncle owns a convenience store."

     "I actually paid for those, if you must know, and just 'cause my uncle does own a convenience store, doesn't mean I can just steal from the place." I argue.

     "Still doesn't change the fact that you practically have a lifetime supply of beer." Jason mumbles and I glare at him.

     He groans, "Fine." Jason mumbles as he pulls out his phone and dials who I assume is Andrew.

     "Yeah, hey Drew," Jason greets our friend through his phone. There's a quick pause in their conversation but Jason continues, "We're still up for poker tonight, right?" He asks. There's another pause.

     "Great. Could you bring the drinks too? Louis' being a piss baby about beer duty." He states and gives me a look. "I brought it last week," I say a little louder so that Andrew could hear over the other line.

     He doesn't reply as I hear a soft murmur come through the gadget, he snickers, "That's what I said!" Jason says to Andrew. I roll my eyes and give him the finger before walking away.

     I stroll around the shop, the owners told me there was a box lying around somewhere filled with albums and that I should stack them, which I haven't done until now. Oops.

     There's a medium sized box wedged in between the corner of the wall and a shelf. It probably got kicked into the tiny space. I'm surprised that no one's tried to steal its contents... or that I was even able to notice it. The thing seemed to blend into its surroundings so well that no one would be able to find it unless they were out on a scavenger hunt.

     I pick it up and notice the edges of it are a little worn out and crinkled. It's probably the outcome of being squeezed in a tight space for almost four days already. Nonetheless, I unmask the tape that it's sealed with and start putting it on an empty shelf that isn't occupied by records or other CD's.

     Grabbing an album, I examine its pastel pink cover. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. What kind of crap is this? It looks like the artist barfed out a nursery rhyme book and classified it as music. If this is the big thing right now, I can't wait to find out the new album that's coming out next month.

     Gathering the sorry excuses of composition, I begin stacking them up. I don't know who would even want to buy this rubbish, much less thought of even producing it. It's a good thing the only shelves available were the ones in the back, I'd feel sorry for the next bloke who'd buy this thinking it would give them some kind of eargasm, only to be disappointed in the end.

     Walking back to the front of the store, I see Jason playing a game on his phone. He looks up at me, "I spoke to Andrew, he's got the drinks sorted out." He says

     I give him a look; "I know, I heard."

     "Quit your whining, man." Jason shoots back. I roll my eyes in annoyance. "Does this happen right after work?" I ask him, he nods.

     "I just remembered, I've got a few errands I need to do so you should just go ahead." I explain. He looks up at me, "Ran out of food again?" Jason smirks.

     "What? No, I-"I pause, "Wait a minute, did you raid my fridge again?"

     He shifts uncomfortably and avoids eye contact, "No..."

     I give him a look,"You're a shit liar, Jason." I speak, obviously unimpressed.

     "Okay, so what if I did? I do it almost every day, anyway." He shrugs. Huh. I have now found the reason why I have almost no food in my pantry almost every day, but what could I expect? It was Jason, its normal for him to be comfortable around everyone, sometimes even too comfortable. I sigh and wave him off, I'd just have to deal with this another day.

     "Whatever. Just tell the others I'll be late." I say.

     Before he could say anything back, the bell above the door dinged, signaling a new customer had arrived. We both turned our heads and were greeted by a group of people that had entered.

     And God, how I wish I'd have known that my whole life was going to be turned upside down after this exact moment.

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a/n: this chapter is dedicated to the lovely and amazing @peachola as a thank you for making the cover i'm using right now. go check her and her stories out and maybe even follow if you're feeling extra nice. also, THANK YOU FOR 50 VIEWS!!! -luna x