*5 years ago*
______________________________________
"Rayne, time to wake up. You're going to be late for work." My dad yells from the other side of my door. I groan, covering my head with my pillow. I had ignored every alarm I set on my phone and ignored every sign from life. I didn't want to accept today was happening. I simply wanted to stay in bed and hide from it all. Existence was just too much all at once.
I sighed, rolling over to grab my phone. It was 11:38am. I finally caved in and got out of bed, stumbling over to my closet to pick out an outfit for today. I decided to play it safe and wear something normal. Something unnoticeable. Black tank top, black skinny jeans, black converse. I put my blonde hair into a messy bun and made my way out of my room.
"Have you seen my keys?" I ask my dad, yawning.
"Catch! I gotta go. Don't be late. Love you sweetie." He says, tossing me my keys. I put them in my pocket and grab a redbull from the fridge, cracking it open. I quickly chug it and toss the can into the recycling bin before walking outside, locking the door behind me.
"Oh hello beautiful." I say to myself, looking at my blue 72 model Volkswagen beetle. She was old and not in the best shape, but she was mine and I was damn proud of her.
I climbed into the driver seat through the window. The door broke about a year ago and I just never found the time to fix it. I immediately turned the radio on and blasted out green day, singing along to every word. I knew I sounded like a deflating goose but did I care? Absolutely not.
The journey into the city was around a 15 minute drive which I didn't mind at all. It was more time to listen to music and enjoy the peace of being me before I was stuck at work for the next 7 hours. I didn't hate my job, it was just tedious at times. Especially days like today.
Today was shipment today, which unfortunately for me that meant unboxing every single new package that was delivered to the store. Working at a music store definitely had it's perks. You get to choose the songs that play. You can dress how you wish. You can for the most part just be free. But of course there's also the work side of it. Restocking shelves, putting records back where they are supposed to go after some idiot child left them in the wrong spot, random stains all over the place with unexplainable origins. This goes for most stores though so I can't complain too much.
I parked my beautiful blue baby around back and made my way into the store, instantly cringing at the excessive amount of boxes piled at the door. It was definitely going to be a long day. It didn't help that I was the only person working today either. Mason called out of work saying he was "sick" when we all knew he just wanted to stay home and play final fantasy. I couldn't blame him. I would too. Christina was 4 cities away on holiday and Mark was just too lazy to bother to even show up or answer the call in.
I didn't mind working alone. Working alone also had it's perks. Less possible destruction from goofing off, my music being played all day long without fighting for the speaker system, and simply working on my own pace and not being pushed by someone else's demands.
I grab the first box and rip it open to see a unique album design. It's four boys covered in scribbles and doodles. I shrug, grabbing as many albums as I could, carrying them over to the display self. I began to stack them and organize them as neatly as possible before a voice suddenly startled me.
"Hello?" A deep voice asked from behind me. I jump, turning to face him.
"Yes?"
"Do you have any- wait.. Rayne?" The boy asks and I stare at him blankly, trying to figure out how he knows me. Then it clicks. The bright blue ocean eyes.
"Hemmings? God it's been a minute." I laugh some and he smiles.
"Yeah, it really has. How have you been?" He asks and his voice shocks me some. It's so different from what I remember. His voice used to be squeaky in a way and now he is this insanely tall giraffe boy who sounds almost manly.
"Busy. Extremely busy. Between working here and moving into the new house it's definitely been a lot to handle lately." I laugh, rubbing the back of my neck.
"I've been pretty busy too. Which, you could probably tell." He says, pointing towards the album in my hand. I look down at it and my jaw drops.
"No no no, you can't tell me that this specimin right here is Luke Hemmings, the awkward little nerd from year 8. There's no way." I laugh, looking back and forth between the album and Luke.
"Believe it baby, it's me." He smiles, running his fingers through his blonde hair.
"You've changed a lot since gradeschool." He says, eyeing me up and down.
"Says you! You're in a band, practically famous, and you're, well,
You're.." I pause, trying to find the right word.
"Hot. I believe the word you're looking for is 'Hot'. Thanks love." He smirks and I blush, looking away to continue shelving the albums.
"That was cute." He says, moving to stand next to me. He begins to place the albums onto the shelf as well.
"What are you here for, Luke?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I came to pick up some albums for my buddy Michael. He's searched for Enema of the State but can't find it anywhere."
"Well, I don't know this Michael dude but he has a great taste in music. Enema is on the farthest shelf to the left, top row. I just restocked it last week." I explain, pointing towards the opposite side of the store.
"I'm gonna have to tell him you said that. I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Luke grins, walking over to the shelf I instructed him towards.
"Any idea where Nevermind would be?" He yells across the store and I giggle some as he accidentally knocks over a box of rolled posters.
"Same shelf, far right, bottom row." I answer, glancing over towards the blur of a blonde quiff frantically picking up the box. He finds what he needs then goes up to the front register. I meet him there.
"Is that all?" I ask, looking down at the selection. Blink-182, Nirvana, Sum 41, Britney Spears...? I raise an eyebrow and he laughs awkwardly.
"What can I say, she's good!" He defends himself.
"Oh I know but I didn't see you as a Spears fan." I shrug, placing the albums in a bag. He hands me the money and i hand him back his change and the receipt.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."
"Oh I don't doubt it. Well, maybe I'll see you around sometime?"
"Maybe. It was nice seeing you again, Ray. Have a good day." He smiles before turning to leave.
"Same to you, Luke."
I mean against the counter and watch as he walks out. Never in my life did I think I would see him again. Never in my life did I think he would be in a band, a popular band at that! He was different from the Luke I once knew. He seemed alive now.
