Chapter Two – Welcome, Vinyl Scratch
“You don't have to sign anything here. Just be you."
Vinyl almost couldn't believe it. Here was a record store owner – a fan, no less – and he was saying she didn't have to autograph her albums for him. Her head was spinning and her heart was starting to thump louder than the bass in some of her songs. Wait, was that right?
“Are... are you sure?” Vinyl asked. “You'd probably be the first to say that to me. Wherever I go, people practically beg me to sign them.”
“People like Savannah over there?” Beats asked.
“Yeah,” Vinyl said with a chuckle.
Beats smiled at her before turning back to Savannah with an icy glare. As she continued to ramble on and on about how amazing Vinyl was live, Beats merely waked slowly past her, and behind the counter where “Pennyroyal Tea” was ending. Without a second thought, he lifted the needle off the record, causing Savannah to stop and turn to face him.
“Why'd you turn off the music, Beats?” she asked, a little confused.
“I had to get your attention,” Beats replied. “Now, Savannah. Vinyl is here to relax, and buy some records before her concert in a couple of days. While she's here, we will treat her as a customer, and a fellow music lover. Nothing more. No DJ Pon-3 here. Understood?” Beats said all this as he rounded around the counter, stopping right in front of Savannah.
Savannah looked down at her toes before mumbling a “yes” only Beats could hear. She went to the back to start unloading the shipment of singles while Beats chose another song to play, choosing to put on “Knives and Pens” by the Black Veil Brides. As he laid the record on the turntable, he turned back to Savannah before laying down the needle.
“That doesn't mean you have to act all depressive. I just want you to control yourself is all,” Beats said, turning to see Savannah smile again. “That's better, now,” he said as he dropped the needle, filling the shop with heavy guitar riffs.
Vinyl felt herself start to sway with the melody at the chorus, losing herself in the rhythm, not taking heed that Beats was watching her with interest. As she started to get more movement in her little dance, he turned up the volume, singing along with the lines “with knives and pens” especially.
“What is this one? I don't think I've heard it before,” Vinyl asked as the song reached it's hook.
“It's called “Knives and Pens” by the Black Veil Brides. It's one of my favorites, and I can relate to it a lot. Wanna know what it means?”
Vinyl nodded, as Beats came over to lean against the counter in front of her. “It's about how we choose between two paths. Knives – destruction. Pens – creation. The singer wrote it in how he was going to make something of himself, and write songs instead of causing any form of destruction to himself and those around him.”
Vinyl looked at him with wide eyes. She knew a lot of songs held a good deal of meaning, but never anything like that. She slowly started to remember how she wrote one song for an old friend of her's. She felt herself smile at the memories she shared with her.
I wonder what she's doing now, she thought to herself as the song ended.
Beats walked to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Looking into her eyes, he didn't even get to ask if she was feeling okay. Why? Cause at that moment, the door opened, and in walked Barry and Picks, arguing over the others top five list on a topic. Again.
“No way can “Sail” go with those weak ones, Picks. There's just no way!” Barry exclaimed.
“Only a metal head like you would think that,” Picks replied. “Not my problem you can't see that my list beats yours out of the park.”
“No way is that true, you indie loving little...” Barry stopped once he saw Beats and Vinyl staring at them.
“Care to elaborate further, Barry? Or do you want to go help Savannah put out the new singles before I take your monthly bonus off? Again?” Beats asked with an icy glare like before.
“I'll... I'll go help her,” Barry grumbled as he slumped to the back to get the remaining boxes.
Before Picks could so much as grin smugly, Beats shot him the same glare. “You, Picks, are to make sure our metal section is well stocked. Get a move on it, or else you lose your bonus as well.”
Picks merely nodded as he went to the back to get his box of vinyl as well. Just as he got to the door to the stock room, he heard Beats yell, “And I don't want to hear about either of you giving Savannah a hard time with your arguments!”
Vinyl giggled as Picks went to the back, just as Barry and Savannah were coming out with the singles. That was when Barry caught full sight of Vinyl. As he cut open his box, he kept shaking his head, as if he couldn't believe something was going on. Finally, he came back over to the counter, giving Vinyl more than enough reason to feel uneasy.
“You know,” Barry started, hand on his chin. “You look a hell of a lot like that DJ that's performing in a couple days. Hey Picks! What's that DJ that you said was playing this week?” Barry yelled back to the stock room.
Picks came out with another box of records, putting it on the counter before he mumbled back, “DJ Pon-3.”
“That's the one! DJ Pon-3. She's performing in three days, and you look a whole lot like her. Just your clothes and the fact you don't have the glasses. Weird right?”
Barry looked at Beats, who looked at the ground. Confused, Barry looked to Savannah, who had started to giggle. Barry looked back to Beats, and then to Vinyl. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a pair of red tinted sunglasses, and placed them on her face. The reaction was just what she expected from Barry and Picks.
“Holy crap man! She's DJ Pon-3!” Picks yelled.
Barry didn't seem convinced. “She's a good lookalike, but I don't believe it still. How can we be sure you're not an imposter, hmm?”
“I shook her hand, Barry. Trust me. She's the very real, DJ Pon-3,” Beats answered as Vinyl put the glasses back into her bag and Picks was struggling to take a breath. “She's just here to relax and pick up some records, Picks. No autographs if she doesn't want to. Got it?”
“Y-y-yeah, Beats,” Picks finally said finding his breath.
Beats nodded, as he went to make sure that no-one was staring in the windows. Mondays were always slow, so the shop normally had only a few things to do before they closed up early. Mixie didn't even bother showing up on a Monday, so the shop closed at about 2 o'clock and everyone met up at a club, or hung out in Beats' place above the shop.
“You know,” Beats started. “If you want Vinyl, we normally close early on Mondays. You wanna hang with us tonight? We just head to my place upstairs, but we're always spinning something or playing some kind of song.”
Vinyl's ears perked up for a second time that day. “Are you saying you all play something?”
“Yeah. We're just a cover band mostly, but people do pay us to keep the parties from getting boring. They all know us, and we don't usually ask for payment. Mixie and Savannah are backup vocals and Savannah does rhythm guitar. Barry and Picks are drums and bass guitar, respectively. I sing mostly and play the lead guitar, but if there's a song I can't play, Savannah does lead while I sing and Mixie does her parts. We call ourselves The Outsiders, cause well, we're mostly a group of just that. Outsiders, that don't follow the norm.”
Vinyl started to form a grin, and it just kept getting wider. Not only did she meet a fan of her music, but he was amazingly calm about her stardom. What's more, he seemed to have a love for music to match her own. And speaking of music...
“Beats? What kind of music were you raised on? I told you some of mine, so what was yours?” Vinyl asked a slightly stunned Beats.
“Well... a little of everything, I guess. I learned all about country from my mom, and my dad exposed me to some great old rock n' roll. From there, I listened to other things that were either growing popular, or that would help me through a situation. Especially after a break up, though those have been few,” Beats answered after thinking.
Vinyl looked around at everyone working, placing out records. Savannah loaded up on singles. Barry and Picks arguing about which record to play next. But it was Beats that stirred something in her. She didn't know what she was feeling, but she only knew one way to find out.
“I'd like to hang out tonight. Actually, if you want, I'll help around the shop too. I'm sure that you could use a rising star to attract people and help choose amazing tracks. Right?” Vinyl asked with a wink.
Everyone was stunned at what she had said. Looks were exchanged and they turned to smiles. Beats walked up to her, placing a “Stray Vinyl” lanyard around her neck.
“Well then, welcome to the family Vinyl. Time to sell some tracks.”