15IndieDiscs
Chapter One
"Each shade of blue, is kept in our eyes.
Keep blowing and lighting, because we own the sky.
Secrets from the winds. Burnt stars crying."
We Own The Sky - M83
Of course it was raining that summer day so she was completely soaked when she came into IndieDiscs. The rain being so unpredictable in Seattle, Washington doesn't mean it's not the same in Clyde Hill.
"Man! It's like raining cats and dogs out there!" Trixxi exclaimed. "Did I really just say it's raining cats and dogs? Who am I? My mother?" she mumbled to herself shaking the rainwater out of her hair.
She brushed away the dark brown almost black bangs that were stuck to her forehead, and started walking with her beat up converse sloshing towards her favorite section of the record store. This is the only record or CD store in Clyde Hill and she absolutely loved coming here.
She was practically coming everyday, now that it was summer. She browsed through the different CDs already knowing that there was nothing new. Tuesday was the day when the new shipment came in from Seattle. She had nothing better to do, but spend her time thumbing through all the artists that she never really heard of.
Even though the stores name implied that they only sell Indie artists' CDs, it was really not the case. Trixxi always wondered why the store was named IndieDiscs. She figured they used to only carry those type CDs, but then business wasn't going very well so they started to stock up on all the other famous artists. Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Linkin Park, Lil' Wayne, and any other big celebrity.
Though Trixxi stuck with going to the section that, she was guessing, was the last of the remaining stock from the original merchandise, she did venture over to the other sections. Getting some copies of Coldplay, Hellogoodbye, Relient K, and Brand New not to mention many others. And she always went over to look at some of the Greatest Hits CDs that would come out for The Beatles, Guns & Roses, Journey, Queen, and other momentously known musicians.
After searching for anything that looked interesting and coming up empty, she decided she was going to head out back into the rain. As she walked by the register she heard grunting and mild cursing. She noticed a stack of boxes that were kind of wobbling in the air.
She then realized that they were being held by someone when she also notice legs coming out from the bottom box. Legs that looked like they working really hard to balance the body that they were connected to. Even though she didn't really know what to do, she thought she should help before the boxes tried to take the plunge to their boxy death.
"Uh, here, let me," she said and reached to take the highest box and slide it on the counter almost dropping it herself in the process.
"Oh, thanks so much. I thought I was about to be crushed to death…" he trialed off, his voice fading away when he looked up at her. He just stood there staring, but not in a creepy way. More in a completely zoned out, not even on the same planet kind of way. Trixxi stood there trying to wait patiently while he made his journey back to Earth.
"Erm… Hello? Are you okay?" she asked waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked a couple of times and got a confused look on his face, like he had no idea what just happen. He was still standing there holding the rest of the boxes.
"Umm…yeah. Uh, sorry," he answered. He quickly tried to occupy himself by setting the other boxes next the one on the counter. "Erm. Thanks, for uh, helping," he murmured smiling a shy smile.
"No problem. Do need any more help? I mean is there anyone else that works here to help you?" she smiled kindly.
"Oh. Uh, well, yeah, um," he stuttered. "I am the only one here today. My boss' wife is sick, and Phoenix is out of town till next week, I think," he said and started opening one of the boxes. "And well, I guess if your offering, would you wanna help me take all these How To Play…" he paused. "Guitar, Bass, Drums…For Dummies to the shelves over by that window?" he asked pointing to the other end of the store where there were empty shelves begging to be put to use.
"Yeah, sure no problem. Oh, I'm Trixxi by the way," she held out her hand.
"Oh, um, nice to meet you… Trixxi?" he inquired shaking her hand gently. She could tell that he played some sort of guitar by the calluses on his fingers.
"Yeah, Trixxi with two X's and two I's. I'm not sure where my mom got the name but I've learned to love it," she shrugged her shoulders with a smile still on her fair face.
"Oh! No, I didn't mean anything bad! I've just never heard-"
"Relax," she interrupted his frantic explanation. "I completely understand, I know you weren't trying to be rude or anything, you were just curious. Which makes perfect sense when it comes to name like that," she laughed.
"Oh, okay good. I seriously didn't mean-" he stopped when she held up her hand the palm facing him, clearing stating for him to stop talking.
"You never told me your name," she said smiling still.
"Oh, right sorry. I'm Chet."
"Nice to meet you, Chet."
"Um, nice to meet you too, Trixxi," he replied still sounding a little nervous. He was never good with this sort of thing. Girls. He had no idea what to do or say. He hated how well Phoenix was in that department. Phoenix would have her swooning in less than a fraction of a second. Chet on the other hand couldn't even stop himself from insulting her in the seconds they've known each other. It was like it was a talent of his or something.
"So are all these boxes filled with books?" she asked moving one of the cardboard flaps to look inside the box he opened.
"Yeah. This one's just How To Play Guitar," he said starting to point to the boxes, "and that one is How To Play Bass, How to Play Drums, and then the last one is just a bunch of Tab books for the guitar and bass."
"Oh, okay cool. So you do play anything?" she asked grabbing the opened box and making her way over to the empty shelves.
"Yeah, I play the bass and sorta the guitar," he replied now walking beside her with the rest of the boxes. And the littlest of confidence he was able to muster from the mention of one of his very few talents. And it was a lot easier for him to see when he only had three boxes in his arms.
"How can you sorta play the guitar?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I first taught myself how to play the bass and then I thought how hard could it be to learn the guitar? And, lets just say that I bit more off than I could chew."
"Who even says that anymore? I bit more off than I could chew?" she questioned a little teasingly, smiling a slightly smug smile at him.
"Well then. When you put it that way," he answered feigning hurt and pushing out his bottom lip a little.
"Aw, I was just kidding!" she laughed. Trixxi couldn't help noting how adorable he looked when he pouted like that. "Ooh. I love this song!" she yelled-whispered like if she spoke too loud the song would get scared and run away. When really it was because she had so much respect for the artist and the song itself.
"You like Incubus?" Chet asked with what sounded like excitement in his voice.
"Are you kidding? They're only the first real band that really got into," she exclaimed.
"Have you gotten they're newest album yet?" he asked as started to stock of the top shelve with 'How To Play Bass Guitar For Dummies' books.
"Actually no, I haven't. I was waiting for it go on sale. I don't really have that much moo-la at the moment. And if I buy another 'ridiculous rock band' CD with my mom's money she's going to throw another fit and go into how much she wished I'd stop listening to this 'wretched music'," she replied rolling her eyes.
"Wow. Harsh. So you don't have job?" he asked glancing at her.
"No, not at the moment. I was thinking about applying at the pet store across the street. But Jimmy, or I mean Rad, works there, so I don't know if really want to put myself through that."
"Put yourself through what?" he asked turning to looked at her. She wasn't looking at him so he watched her place the books on the shelves, as she made sure they all lined up.
"Oh, um. Well me and Jimmy - when he was still called Jimmy - used to best friends all throughout the sixth to eighth grade. But when we started high school, Jimmy Radnor became Rad," she spat. "The infamous sports-star, while I was the invisible weird art-nerd-girl.
"And yeah I know what you're thinking it sounds like every drama filled night-time-soap-opera, but I never I had a high school girl crush on him or anything. And he never just stood in the background when all his friends would pick on me. It was worse actually, him and his friends just completely ignored me." she paused.
"Not once did Rad even look my way, but I guess it doesn't matter now. With us being finally done with high school. We can just forget about all the annoyingly embarrassing moments of the high school experience." she finished stacking the books against the back wall of the shelf above her head and started working on the one below that.
"I can see why you wouldn't want to work there with him. I never did like that kid," he said. There was a weird tone to his voice that she couldn't place so she just shrugged and continued shelving the books.
"It doesn't look like that rain is stop anytime soon does it?" she asked desperate to change the subject. She didn't know what possessed her to tell him all of that, but it was already said and done. Nothing she can do about it now.
"Yeah, I think you're right. It hasn't rained this hard in a while. I guess it's the first summer storm," he replied looking out at the window watching people in rain-gear and with umbrellas walking briskly. Trying to get to where ever they're going and out of the rain.
"Yeah…" she sighed. "I've always loved the rain. It always looks so peaceful, even if it's thundering. I've always thought there was beauty in the booming and crackling sounds. And then the earth looks so green and renewed when the rains gone." She didn't realized that she had gone into a dazed explanation of how much she loved the rain until she felt Chet staring at her.
She could never explain how watching the rain and listening to the angry voices of the skies enveloped her into a calm sense. Almost like it was an atmosphere in itself. She never understood why people were afraid of thunderstorms. When she was little she would always beg her parents to let her sit in the back small screened-in porch to watch the incoming rain.
She will never forget when she was around six years old, she was at the beach with her parents. They were visiting family that lived at the coast of Aberdeen, and went out to have a day at the beach. After hours of fun her parents noticed clouds rolling in, clouds that looked full of hate and anger. They thought the storm was going west along the coast instead of coming inland so they stayed a little longer. Trying to please they're daughter they stayed longer than they should have.
She can still remember the beauty of the raging clouds coming in. The sounds of the lighting slashing through and into the water below. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Her young self wanted to stay longer and watch the clouds and pretty flashing lights. While all the other little children were screaming she was begging her parents to stay and admire the storm.
Her mom of course said no and her father reluctantly agreed. He always like storms, but understood the danger if they stayed. So they packed up and left. And still till this day she wishes she was able to stay and watch with her weird fascination.
As Chet watched her stare out at the clouds he noticed how peaceful she seemed, looking up at the sky. He didn't say anything. Just watched her, her light moss-green eyes almost glowing with wonder. They stood there for a several minutes. Him watching her, her watching the dark clouds.
"Um, I-" She looked over at him they're eyes meeting. She saw that his eyes were a deep stormy blue, but not dark. No, they were light, bright, but so deep. He looked away and cleared his throat.