Harlow Gold | calum hood

Chapter Two

September 4th, 2020

I paced around the little floorspace in my room, twisting a curl of lavender hair between my fingers as I stared down at my phone, my dad's contact information pulled up. It was time I called my family to break the news; to have them hear it from me before it became too late to try and fix whatever mess I was about to create. I checked the time and clicked the call button before I could talk myself out of it, sitting on the edge of my bed as I chewed the skin around my thumb nail. It was around 6 p.m. in Houston, so my parents should both be home for dinner at this point.

"Hi, Lolo" My dad said when the call was picked up, the sound of his voice and the familiar nickname causing something to unfurl in my chest. "Your mom's in the other room. What's up?"

"Hey dad," I said, smiling. It was always easier between my dad and I, a constant I'd be forever grateful for. Still, I sucked in a nervous breath before I let the words tumble out in one breath. "My band's getting signed to a label. I can't do both music and school, so I'll have to drop out. I'm sorry for disappointing you."

"I'm not disappointed, Harlow," My dad promised, his voice low through the speaker. "I'm damn proud of you, kiddo. You're following your dreams! Not everyone can say that. I wish I would've followed my dreams when I was your age."

"You're not mad about school?"

"How are you feeling about it?"

"I—" My voice cracked as a few loose tears broke free, my emotions about everything breaking free from their bounds (they always did when I spoke to my parents). I wiped my nose with the sleeve of my hoodie and cleared my throat, trying to piece together my frazzled emotions. "I'm really sad, honestly. I'm gonna lose this part of me I've been building up for years because I'm going down a different path, but... I have to consider everyone else, too. loose fixture is important to Coral, Seb, and Milo—they want it, and I won't be the one to keep them from it."

"College is just one option of many," My dad reminded me. "There's no reason you'll never be able to go back if that's what you really want to do. And music isn't something you'd have to do forever! Do whatever will make you feel more complete."

"Thanks, dad," I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I let out a breath and tried to steady my heartbeat, rolling out tense my shoulders. "Can you pass the phone to mom? I need to tell her, too."

"Whatever you need. I love you, Harlow, and don't you forget it."

"I love you too, old man," I replied, smiling. "Bye."

"Bye, here's your mother," He passed the phone off, the sound causing static as it was passed from one set of hands to another. I twirled a curl around my finger as my mother's voice came through, "Hey, sweetheart. What's up?".

"Hey mom," I let out a deep breath before continuing, staring at the constellation of art and photos on my wall. "You remember how I told you I joined a band, like, two, three years ago? loose fixture?"

"How could I forget that name?"

I laughed at her teasing, the sound coming out forced to my own years. "Well... This manager scouted us and has been working for us for the past year and a half, and... We're getting signed by Paper Records in a few weeks."

Silence falls on the other side of the phone, my heart sinking in my stomach.

"What does that mean? What about college?"

"I'll have to drop out, most likely. It's pretty fast, I know, but—"

"Did you ever stop to consider how this would affect us?" She cut me off, her voice going flat as her anger seeped through. I closed my eyes and dropped my hand to fisted around my duvet, gritting my teeth together. "We've spent all of this money for your degree—in art, no less—and you didn't even stop to consider how that might affect us financially. Money doesn't grow on trees around here you know. Why can't you be more like your brother? He stayed home and is doing amazing. He's on track to graduate summa cum laude in business on top of playing baseball. Why do you insist on being so selfish all of the damn time?"