Chapter Text
Lapis was glad she had lived in Texas her whole life; otherwise, she would have surely died of heat stroke by now. There was a water bottle at her feet, but it had grown progressively warmer over the last few hours. She knew that if she took a sip of it now, it would just taste like hot plastic. She sighed internally as yet another group of wine moms passed by without throwing a second glance in her direction, much less a dollar into her guitar case. Her face, however, was painted with a friendly smile as she played Coldplay’s “Yellow” for what was probably the billionth time in her life.
I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
Her voice was airy without being breathy, simple but not unpolished. Every now and then, people would stand and listen, the more generous throwing a few dollars into her case. For the most part, though, people simply sped by without pausing, too focused on their own lives to consider the existence of anyone else’s.
And you know
For you I’d bleed myself dry
For you I’d bleed myself dry
The tree overhead provided the barest of shade, and Lapis couldn’t help but return to how stupidly hot it was, even in her halter top. She was honestly glad she had trimmed her hair short last week, the navy strands now barely reaching past her chin. She finished the song and, after a pause for water (which did taste like plastic, uck ), she launched into Bon Iver’s “Flume”.
If she was being honest with herself, one of the reasons she wasn’t pulling as much money as she could have was because of her musical choices. She knew she’d have better luck playing the more popular stuff that everyone knew, the Ed Sheeran songs you heard five times a day on the radio. It wasn’t even that she didn’t like them, but she just never enjoyed playing those songs as much. She loved “Take Me to Church” as much as anyone else, but “In A Week” was so eerie and fun. She paused her internal monologue with a small groan. God, Azura was right, she was a pretentious hipster.
By late afternoon, it had cooled down to the low 90s, practically chilly compared to the noon sun. Under her tree, it was even cooler, and a breeze had picked up. The crowd had definitely thinned out, and Lapis decided to play some original music. It wasn’t like anyone was actually listening to her. She tuned her guitar down and began to strum much more slowly than she had for anything else she had played that day. She sang in a low voice, any airiness now completely gone.
Maybe it’s the way she wrinkles her nose
Or maybe the grin when she’s touching her toes
To show off
For me, for me, for me
Lapis stared down at her fingers as she played, her mouth barely moving. She was playing for herself now and didn’t care about performing.
So, when someone clapped after she finished, she couldn’t help but jump a little.
Lapis looked up to see a woman about her age, applauding and grinning. She had messy blonde hair that stuck out wildly in every direction, only held back from her eyes by a comically large pair of thick glasses. If her hair wasn’t so wild, she would have appeared even shorter than she already did. Lapis couldn’t help but stare at the bandages covering her fingers. Had she tried to thumb wrestle Freddy Krueger? Her outfit was equally chaotic, several different shades of lime-green thrown together in an assortment that could be described generously as careless.
“Ahh! That was so good! Did you write that yourself?”
Lapis had to remind herself to speak actual words. “Yeah, a few months ago. Still working out the kinks.”
“What kinks? It was so pretty!” Lapis smiled a bit at the praise but said nothing else, tuning her guitar back up. “How come I haven’t seen you out here before?”
“I dunno, I’ve been playing at this spot for a few weeks now.” Every day, like clockwork. Otherwise, she’d be at her mom’s coffee shop, and that would suck immensely.
“Well, I hope to see you again soon, you did really well.” She smiled earnestly at Lapis, whose own small smile broadened to match hers. The woman started to walk away, but turned back at the last moment, carefully placing a twenty into the guitar case.
“What's your name, by the way?”
“Lapis.”
“Neat! I’m Peridot!” With no “good-bye”, she immediately set off, her face still plastered with a dorky grin. Lapis rolled her eyes without malice and started to pack her guitar away. She looked at her phone and stifled an angry noise when she remembered that she had promised her mom that she’d work in the coffee shop tomorrow. At least her sister was working as well; the load would be lightened and she was fun to work next to. She hoisted her guitar onto her back and began the short trek home. Perhaps the one nice thing about living in a small town was that she could get from anywhere to anywhere in a matter of minutes.
She passed by what had been a bookstore when she was a child, now converted to yet another tacky boutique, and had to resist the urge to throw a rock through the window. The bookstore had never had the greatest selection, but it was cozy in a world of fewer and fewer cozy spaces. Maybe she’d write a song about it later. An angry punk piece entitled “Fuck Your Overpriced Purse, Karen”. Lapis giggled at the thought as she turned into the street where she lived.
Her house was tiny by most definitions, even with only three people living in it. Her mom was already asleep (shocked she was, truly shocked), but her sister sat on the couch, watching an overly spirited infomercial with a beer in her hand.
“Careful, Azura, that stuff will rot your mind.” Lapis set down the guitar and hopped over the back of the couch, landing roughly by her unflappable sister.
“The beer or the TV?”
“Yes. Speaking of, is that the last one?”
Azura grabbed a hitherto unseen beer from under a pile of clothes, passing it to her sister. “No, but this one is.”
“Best sister ever.” Lapis twisted off the cap, clinking the neck against her sister’s drink before taking a large swig. “So, what are they hawking tonight?”
“This guy can give you a six-pack in ten days, apparently.”
“No shit?”
“None at all.” Azura’s eyes were all but hidden under her bangs, powder blue in comparison to Lapis’ dark navy hair, but her older sister knew she was rolling them.
“And I’m sure he’s generous enough to share this knowledge for only half your paycheck.” Lapis snorted and took another swig of beer.
Azura smiled but was otherwise unresponsive. “So, how was today’s haul?”
“Haven’t counted yet. This girl gave me a twenty at the end of the day, so that was nice. Other than that, the usual crowd. Parents dragging their kids away, some dudebros making very sure I saw that they were giving me money.”
Her sister did laugh at that. “Did you tell them they were barking up the gay tree?”
“Why would I do that to myself in Nowhere, Texas?”
Azura’s smile faded a little. “Good point, but we’re hardly nowhere.”
Lapis rolled her eyes, taking large gulps of her drink. “Says you. You’re off at UT half the time anyways. If I weren’t out playing I’d be stuck in the coffee shop all day, and I’d really have nothing to look forward to in the morning.”
Her sister said nothing, only sipping at her beer. The two sat, watching the men on TV talk about how all you needed in this world was a solid six-pack.
The next morning came far too early for Lapis, as did every morning. Her eyes fluttered open as an alarm from her phone shoved a needle into her eardrums, and her sister stood over her bed with an amused look on her face.
“Ah, the Sleeping Beauty doth awaken.” Lapis said nothing, merely flinging a pillow in her sister’s direction. “So violent. Mom’s already been at the shop for an hour setting up.” With that, Azura left the bedroom, leaving the light on and the door wide open.
Lapis groaned but managed to pull herself into a sitting position, only staying upright through sheer force of will. She shared her bedroom with her sister, a fact that ranged from benign truth to horrible punishment, depending on how they were feeling that day. Anyone who walked in could see the sharp divide between the two personalities: Azura’s half was fairly tidy, with a few artsy posters and a small library that she was quite proud of. Lapis’ side was chaotic, with shirts all over the floor and an unmade bed piled with even more clothes. A tower of CDs at the foot of her bed threatened to fall every time someone passed by it, and the only posters she had were a couple detailing different chords and scales, and one larger one depicting Hozier.
She staggered into the bathroom, splashing her face with water and brushing her teeth, running her fingers through her hair until it looked somewhat satisfactory. Sitting on the counter was a folded shirt, the newest design for her mom’s coffee shop. Thankfully, there were no puns this time, just the place’s name in a chic script: Blue Diamond Coffee . Below was a simple drawing of a diamond. Lapis nodded in restrained approval and put on the shirt.
Outside, Azura was waiting in the car, a small silver sedan. It had been a gift from Aunt Yvonne one particularly generous Christmas, and Lapis and Azura had never fully figured out who it belonged to more. Lapis hopped in, immediately turning her attention to the radio. When she found a station she liked, only then did she bother with her seatbelt. Azura sighed but said nothing, backing slowly out of the driveway.
The coffee shop was a ten minutes’ drive outside of town, part of a random cluster of buildings seemingly dropped from the sky. Down the road a little was a tiny white-wall church; across the street was a community center that housed a Montessori kindergarten. Truly, it took all types to make a village.
Lapis made an unhappy noise as they pulled into the coffee shop’s parking lot, a force of habit on her part. Azura put the vehicle in park and looked over at her sister expectantly.
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.” Azura didn’t even bother looking over as she made her response.
Lapis made an even more unpleasant noise, but trudged out of the vehicle, leading the way into the tiny, brightly-colored shop. Inside, rows of pastries sat freshly baked, and a large urn of coffee sat ready for the customers and themselves. Posters on the walls advertised various local charities and one band that was playing at the local bar that weekend. In the back room was a giant chalkboard for everyone to draw on, situated behind a deep wingback chair and a decorative birdcage.
At that moment, Bronagh Lazuli stepped out, her apron covered in flour, her long white hair tied back delicately. She was tall and slender like her children, but her expression was considerably more gloomy. Her daughters, however, managed to bring a smile to her face.
“Right on time. Thank you for helping today. Especially you, Lapis.” Her brogue had softened after decades away from Ireland, but there was no mistaking its soft ringing for anything else. As she looked over Lapis, her smile faded in the slightest and she stepped back into the kitchen.
Lapis grabbed a broom, grumbling, while Azura stationed herself behind the counter, patiently waiting for the morning rush of soccer moms.
“Seriously, Lapis, thank you.”
Lapis simply waved a hand at her sister. “If I don’t do this at least once in a while, she’d never let me play. Where would I be then?” In this godforsaken coffee shop dealing with godforsaken customers and my godforsaken mother . She stepped into the back room, letting out a squawk of frustration. “Can we please strangle these children?”
“Toy car in the birdcage?”
“Toy car in the friggin’ birdcage!” There was a small grunt as Lapis wrestled with the offending object. “Got it!”
Azura could hear their mother giggling in the kitchen at their commotion, which brought a small smile to her face. She didn’t understand Lapis’ irritation. Mom could be a little gloomy, sure, but no one could accuse either of the sisters of being the most cheerful either. Besides, they were paid decently and got to eat leftover pastries.
The ding of a bell pulled Azura from her thoughts, and Lapis quickly disappeared behind the counter and into the kitchen, snatching an apron. She stood quietly next to her mom, waiting for orders.
“So, dear,” Bronagh inquired gently, “how was yesterday’s pay?” Her words were innocent enough, but Lapis could feel a certain edge underlying them.
Her daughter stared straight ahead, shrugging. “Not too bad. Made a little over fifty. The heat kept everyone inside.”
The older woman pursed her lips and rubbed her necklace thoughtfully, but stayed silent. Lapis looked over at the necklace, the coffee shop’s namesake. It was the color of a stormy ocean and hung from a fine silver chain. It had been a gift from Bronagh’s younger sister decades ago, when her mother was still a young woman herself. Now, her aunt was as much a memory as those far away days, and Bronagh was as likely to be in those days as she was in the present.
Azura appeared with a ticket for a sandwich and a smoothie and disappeared back out front, ringing up the unseen customer. Lapis stared at the ticket with unhidden frustration, daring to steal a glance at her mother, who seemed present enough. Yesterday had been a good day playing; now Lapis Lazuli had to face the real world in all of its sucky splendor.