Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“One, two, three, one, two, three.”

The clashing notes of the jam session filled the garage space, causing some cans and items on the shelves to shake. It wasn’t the most glamorous space, but it was their space.

Luz hummed to herself as she strummed on the violet guitar in her arms, running her hand up the fret board and playing some kind of tune. She didn’t have any particular track in mind and just played what came to her.

To her side, Anne was doing the same. The low strums of the bass guitar bounced off the walls just as the other notes had done. She was doing a vocal warm-up in lieu of singing lyrics, which was fine because she also didn’t know what they were actually playing.

Then behind them was their drummer, or more accurately, their third drummer, a young blonde woman named Rapunzel, or Raps for short. She could hold a tune fine enough and seemed eager enough to join up with them.

The errant guitar notes and drum beats and cymbal crashes meshed together until one of them stopped.

“Whoops, sorry, guys. Got to take this!” Rapunzel said, pulling up her phone and dashing towards the exit door.

Luz nodded and held up her hand. She sighed as the door closed and she ran a hand through her short brown locks.

“What do you think?” she asked Anne, who was doing a quick tuning.

“There’s you and me. Maybe Raps and then…” Anne’s words trailed off as she tapped her fingers against the top of the guitar.

Luz counted off each person as Anne listed them before walking around the garage. She liked the notes she and Anne were playing, there was no denying that, but they were probably a ways off from sharing it with anyone.

“You know, we could-” Anne began before the door swung open again.

“Hey, guys, sorry again. I got to go. Have to go meet up with some of the others before tonight,” Rapunzel hurriedly explained as she retrieved her effects.

Luz frowned as she watched their drummer prepare to leave, the old practice set now being pushed off to the side. “Oh, okay then.”

And then she was gone, just as she had shown up a bit late. She was nice enough for sure, but there was something about her impulsive attitude that made both Luz and Anne unsure about letting her stay on full-time. Or at least as close to full-time as they were.

-----

The next day, Luz was performing her duties around the local library where she’d worked as she recalled the shortened jam session. Despite the abrupt ending, there was no denying she had enjoyed herself.

It was the result of years of practice. She had met Anne back when they were both in middle school and shared a mutual fascination and love for music. They first talked about any and all kinds of tunes, from the classics to the contemporary hits to new discoveries. Then it became talking about everything else around them. Luz was an only child, but in some ways it helped make her her connection with Anne even stronger.

Somewhere along the way, with old practice instruments in hand, Anne suggested they play together. And they kept at it when many of their peers picked up similar interests and dropped them. There was since the odd community performance or talent shows, where regardless of the outcome they could tell they each enjoyed the ride.

Now on the cusp of full adulthood and not just young adulthood, the question about what they would do next came to mind. Anne had her family’s Thai restaurant to help out in while Luz had gotten a job at the library. It wasn’t glorious, but it helped her and her mother out well enough while she considered her full options for the future.

“Hey, Luz!”

She was snapped from her thoughts by the quietest shout Anne could muster. She walked up to the desk where Luz sat, adjusting her short curls as she did so.

“Oh, hey.” Luz answered nonchalantly. “Done with work?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t too bad today. Some guy came by and cleaned out the supply of pad thai spring rolls, so that was something,” Anne recounted.

Luz smiled and nodded, her wistful thoughts briefly forgotten as they spoke about their days. Luckily it was another slow day at the library, perhaps because some of the nearby kids were still in school.

“We still on for this evening, then? I have our stuff in my ride.” Anne asked.

“I think so. Long as she shows,” Luz answered, tilting her head towards her phone.

Anne let out a short chuckle. “She swore she’ll stick around this time. Just like she did last time.”

“If she says so. I still think we need something else though…” Luz said as she got up from the desk to begin her rounds.

“Someone for big note strings and solos?” Anne playfully suggested as she followed Luz to the nearby stacks and rows.

“Sure? That could be neat,” Luz said. She ran her hand along a row of books of varying sizes as she considered the option.

Neither of them said anything as they walked through one row after another. They had rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and drums. A lead guitar to add those touches that Anne mentioned was certainly another key part. But finding Rapunzel was difficult enough, and she was seemingly only partway committed. This could have been another hurdle altogether.

“What is that?” One of the nearby patrons muttered, looking up from a newspaper. “Some of us want to read in peace!”

Luz looked up upon hearing the grumbling. She’d know a sound like that anywhere: it was a guitar, one that was tuned to deliver bombastic notes.

“Sorry about that, I’ll take care of it,” Luz said in the direction of the complaint. She inhaled as she nearly ran for the entrance.

Luz pushed the doors to the library open, gazing back and forth for the source of the sound. She just had to know where it was coming from.

“Luz!” Anne shouted as she followed her. The girl seem unfazed as she dashed down the stairs and to her right.

The pair rounded the corner and saw the apparent noisemaker. Perched on one of the blue wooden tables, often used by library guests for outside reading or snacking, was a young woman, perhaps around their age. Her arms held a purple and white stripped guitar, one hand plucking the strings while the other moved up the fret board to play the chords. She bopped her head lightly to the notes, her short black ponytail swaying with each movement.

Luz approached the girl slowly, throwing a quick glance toward Anne perhaps to see if she was also seeing it. They both stopped several feet away from her. She lifted her head and abruptly stopped playing, her eyes craning towards Luz.

“Am I being too loud? Sorry, I just had to get some steam out. Another callback denied.” she patted her guitar, a meek smile on her lips.

Luz cleared her throat and stepped closer. “No, it’s fine. I’m not even on the clock right now.” she jiggled the band around her neck that held her library worker ID as if to identify what the girl was looking at. “Say, uh, you’re pretty good at that.”

“Oh! Thanks.” she rested her arms atop the base of the guitar. “Well, I guess some of the groups I auditioned for didn’t think so. Just want to share my stuff but none of them are looking for a lead guitarist.”

“You play lead?” Anne interjected, her eyes widening.

“Yup.”

Luz exchanged an intrigued look with Anne and then cleared her throat again. “Hey, what’s your name?”

The girl tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “That’d be Molly.”

“Molly, great. Nice to meet you. Listen…” Luz said, patting her fingers together. “I’d like to try something real quick if you don’t mind.”

“Uh… sure?” Molly answered slowly.

The next moment, Luz and Anne nearly sprinted back to Anne’s van where they retrieved their respective instruments. Molly watched them with an intrigued face as they each quickly tuned their guitars.

“Hey, uh, we’re both going to play a short verse we wrote. See if you can see what we’re doing and join in.” Anne instructed, leaning against one side of the table.

“O-okay.” Molly coughed, sounding a touch nervous.

“Relax, we’re not going to bite your head off or anything. We just…want to see how this goes,” Luz assured her.

Molly nodded as she returned her hands to the fret board. Luz looked at her and then to Anne and then nodded. She murmured her countdown before striking a soft chord on her rhythm guitar.

Anne added an equally soft bass line after several strums. Molly’s eyes looked upward as she took in their sound, whispering to herself about the subtle note changes that Luz was playing.

“Let’s try this…” Molly said, strumming her first notes at the same time as Luz. The two guitars joined together in a newfound harmony.

“Not bad.” Luz nodded, continuing to strum gently. “Now how about this…”

She shifted the chords, adding more energy into her melody. It was now leaning back toward the bubbly tunes that she and Anne had gotten used to playing. The bass notes went from somber to energetic, providing a foundation for the rest of the strums.

Molly’s eyes narrowed as she took in the new sound, tapping her fingers against the strings before picking up on the new rhythm and striking the new chords. She adjusted just as quickly as they had.

Anne looked at Luz, who returned her gaze with a growing smile. Perhaps she was onto something after all.

Then without warning, Molly strummed a sustained note and then added her own flourishes. Luz and Anne both filled with excitement as Molly’s impromptu solo allowed her to add her own touch to the melody they’d been trying to pin down for days.

Molly played the rest of the solo with the same energy, seemingly lost in her own world. Anne and Luz exchanged intrigued, excited glances as they continued to play. Eventually all their notes trailed off.

Everything was quiet for a moment. Then Molly cleared her throat. “Sorry, got a bit too into it.”

“No, don’t apologize. That was...great!” Anne said, her voice low.

Luz could only nod and smile in agreement. Maybe this was the next step. Maybe it was all coming together.

But then she was snapped from her thoughts by the same voice from earlier.

“For crying out, now the noise is even louder!”

-----

“Really, Raps? You’re taking off now?”

Luz couldn’t hide the annoyance in her voice as Rapunzel hastily crammed the drumsticks into her bag. She only responded with a small shrug as she strode towards the door.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to leave Cass hanging. Besides, we already have a hand on it.” Rapunzel answered back, half-distracted.

“You sounded completely out of sync with the last drum roll!” Anne retorted, arms going up in the air.

Another half-shrug. “Yeah, well they won’t notice it during the show. All right, later!”

And then she was gone, out of the practice space in Luz’s garage. The remaining three shared confused, exhausted glances.

“Uh, is that how all your rehearsals end?” Molly asked awkwardly.

Anne wove a hand in midair to say “sometimes”. None of them said anything for a moment.

“All right, that’s lunch, I guess.” Luz huffed a sigh, setting her guitar down on the side.

The impromptu lunch break wound up taking most of the afternoon. After a brief stop at the nearby sandwich shop, the three young women continued their loop around the music shop. They each already had their own instruments and equipment but thought that stopping by and perusing their selection of new sounds and accessories might spark some ideas within them. And also give them some breathing room with the earlier frustration.

“So, do we just throw in the towel yet or nah?”

The question from Molly made Luz hesitate. She drummed her hand against one of the racks of guitar panels as she looked at the floor.

“I mean… Maybe we just see if anyone else is available for this,” Luz said, sounding more hesitant than she expected. “Raps was good but she’s… well, not good with commitments.”

Anne raised her eyebrows in agreement. She and Luz had both conceded that Rapunzel was a decent drummer but her busy schedule and other duties (i.e. her partner) made her unreliable. Anne had enjoyed her company but she also knew that Rapunzel wasn't someone they could rely on should they find steady gigs. The same had also been the case for the drummers before her, Star and Elena.

Luz absentmindedly ran her hand on one of the guitar straps before turning to the others. "Do you know anyone?"

They exchanged quiet glances with a shrug from Anne. The sounds from the other patrons in the store buzzed as they continued their contemplative silence.

Then Anne heard it, her ear perked. From one of the demo rooms in the back of the store where customers could try out one of the provided instruments. It was unmistakably a drumming track, someone who was staying on rhythm with well timed snare taps and bass drum beats.

"Anne?" Luz asked, seeing her step away without a word. She looked back to Molly as the three of them all walked in the direction of the sound.

Anne picked up the pace, thinking she wanted to see the source as quickly as she could. The light from the demo room poured out into the hallway as Anne turned and looked inside.

He looked to be maybe around their age, perhaps a year or so younger than Anne. His short brown hair swayed as he tapped and hit the drums to a rhythm only he could hear. Anne stood in place, her eyes growing wide as she was joined shortly by Molly and Luz.

A moment passed before the young man noticed them, pausing his beats.

"Op, sorry," he began sheepishly. "Forgot how long I've been in here when we're supposed to share this stuff. You want to try this?"

"No, we're good," Anne said, stepping inside. She seemed to be sizing him up behind the drum set. "You play drums?"

"Uh, kind of," he answered. He stood up, revealing a moderate build beneath a black T-shirt over a gray undershirt atop fading blue jeans. "I haven't done it much in a group or anything. Well, except for a backup once or twice for some school pals, but I have plenty of practice with my own makeshift set back at my family’s farm. Lot of old car parts can sub in nicely for drums!"

The young man chuckled at his own remark, not noticing the three girls exchange intrigued glances.

"What's your name?" Luz asked, stepping into the room.

"Name's Cricket," he answered, adjusting his disheveled locks.

"Cricket, hi, nice to meet you." Anne tapped her fingers against her side as she motioned to the others. "Anne, Luz, and Molly. Say, would you want to learn more about drumming in a group?"

------

The newly met quartet later convened in the empty basement beneath Molly's house, which she had offered to them after her impromptu audition from some days prior.

“Okay, so the set is a bit worn and one my brother used for maybe a week or two before he got bored a few years ago,” Molly said as she finished setting up the last cymbal. “But it should do for now.”

Cricket nodded as he twirled a drum stick between his fingers, a nervous smile on his lips as Luz prepared one of their previous recordings next to him.

"Okay, so we recorded this take without our last drummer," she explained. "See if you can find the rhythm and just... I dunno, play along with it."

"Er, all right," Cricket answered slowly.

Anne shared an anxious stare with Molly. She couldn't escape the feeling they were on the verge of something new and exciting with their sound. If they could just get that crucial part down, she knew they had something worth sharing.

"And let's begin," Luz said.

She pressed the play button and the notes began to flow from the speaker. Strums of a rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and the lead guitar followed shortly by vocals from Anne filled the room. It sounded like a simple tune, one about a quick, almost impulsive hook-up. Common for someone around their age, perhaps.

Then harmonies from Luz and Molly followed, along with the interesting choice of a harmonica. Luz insisted on it after hearing her mother talk about it, she had said. Cricket's eyes moved across the space before him in thought, from the walls to the three girls and then to the speaker.

"All right, I think I have it..."

He adjusted himself in the chair he’d pulled in front of the set. With a steady tap against a cymbal and beats of the other drums he began to play. The girls stood back and watched as he followed along with their recording. Repeated taps of the snare and beats to the bass drum that were similar to what they had heard in the demo room filled the basement.

A smile crept on Cricket's face and he began to bop his head to the tune. He continued to play for several seconds, adding a short drum roll and double cymbal clashes every few chords.

"You guys are good!" Cricket shouted over his own beats.

Anne smiled and held up a hand in appreciation before she looked at the Luz and Molly. She felt they each had the same realization at the same time.

"He's good at that," Molly murmured.

"Really good," Luz agreed, her eyes going wide.

The rest of the song played and he continued his tapping and clashing. The others stood in silence for the remaining notes. Then it ended, which he followed with a closing clash. Cricket stared at them with an apprehensive grin.

"How was that?"

The girls looked at each other once more and then back toward Cricket.

"Not bad at all." Luz nodded. "Now let's try a live take."

Cricket chuckled, readjusting himself on the stool. The three girls looked at each other with a burst of anticipation of playing that neither of them had really felt before.

Anne slung the bass around her shoulder, looking as Molly took lead guitar and Luz grasped the rhythm guitar while also slinging the harmonica cord around her neck. They stood in front of the drum set, taking a moment to tune their respective instruments.

"It's the same song, just a new take now," Luz announced. "Ready?"

With a nod from each of the others, Luz counted down on her fingers. She struck the first note and they were off.

This was beyond any jam session that they had done before. Any previous hesitation about their sound flew from Anne's mind immediately as the music came forth. Cricket's drumming helped pushed the song to a level she never felt before. His beats seemed to strengthen the pulse of her bass. Molly's fingers danced across her frets as she added her own bursts of energy while Luz's own strums guided the song.

The vocals, simple as though they were, flew from Anne's mouth with a renewed spark, with harmonies from Luz and even Molly blending in seamlessly. They seemed to be playing for each other rather than just with each other. In that moment, Anne felt like they had all been doing it together for ages.

Then just as quickly as it began, it was over. With one final cymbal clash and strum, the song ended. Each of them stood breathless for a moment. Anne turned to face the rest of them.

"I think we have something here," she smiled widely.

Chapter Text

Getting their music out into the world was a daunting step, but one they knew they had to take anyway. Posting their performance videos and recordings online was akin to throwing a pebble into an ocean, but it was an option.

Then when Molly told them one of the nearby clubs was holding one of their music nights, she told them about a half-hour opportunity.

"It's a start," Molly had said.

With this mentality, each of them prepared. What began as impromptu jam sessions that turned into minutes of noise in alternating basements or sheds or garages became extensive rehearsals of some of Luz and Anne’s previous original tunes. The two newcomers were brought up to speed with the mix of light rock, pop, and anything else they had tried before.

“So, the chords go like this…” Luz told Molly, strumming the notes while glancing up to see if their new lead guitarist was following her. “Think you can add onto it?”

Molly’s eyes narrowed and she patted her fingers against the base of her purple and white striped guitar. Then she reached one hand up to the fret board and repeated the same chords, adding on her own brief flourish afterwards.

“I think I’ll manage,” she answered, her lips curling into a grin.

Anne, in the meantime, was peering over the practice drum kit, which Cricket used when transporting the main one in Anne’s van wasn’t possible.

“How are your drum rolls?” Anne asked.

In lieu of an answer, Cricket twirled one of the sticks in his hand before hitting one drum rapidly with both sticks. Then another, and then the third one. And he punctuated it with a cymbal clash.

“Eh, I think I might be able to get it,” he said sheepishly.

Anne nodded softly, unable to keep the smirk from her face. “Don’t worry. You’ll manage.”

She walked to the front of their practice space, this time a shed behind her house. Luz had stepped back and was watching Molly continue to practice the chords that Luz had shown her while going off on her own brief solos.

“She’s got a lot of energy to spare. Could be good for those,” Luz remarked quietly.

Anne nodded, tilting her head towards Cricket. “He’s really good with the rolls. Kept the beat pretty well in the last run too.”

The pair looked at each other and nodded. It looked like it really was all coming together.

Then before any of them knew it, it was show time. The early summer night was muggy, thanks to some rain they’d gotten the day before. The club was an older building but one that attracted a variety of goers due to its location and colorful menu. Some soft neon sides outside cast a vibrant glow onto the streets with some of the loudest notes making the walls shake just a bit.

They coordinated outfits at Anne's behest with each of them wearing dark trousers and a white shirt beneath a different colored vest.

“I think they suit you two!” Anne said, patting Molly on her shoulder.

The girl replied with a slightly awkward smile. She fastened the last button on the pink vest one more time. Cricket kept patting the material of his dark green vest and murmuring about the feel of it. Meanwhile, Luz and Anne adjusted theirs one more time: purple for Luz and blue for Anne.

“All right, folks! Let’s hear it for our next performers!”

The soft applause made Luz wince. She looked at the mauve curtain that led to the stage. She gulped and craned her neck.

“Here we go…” she whispered to Anne, then looked back to Molly and Cricket.

"Okay, now to just not blow it..." he said blithely, earning a nod from the others.

They stepped out onto the stage to more soft applause and whispers from the crowd, possibly about their somewhat unorthodox dress. Luz only realized then how old-timey they may have looked next to a bunch of the other performers around their age.

Their equipment had already been set up for them and they each took their spot. Luz stepped towards the center microphone with Anne to her left and Molly to her right. The drum set was placed behind them where Cricket took his place. The three girls grasped their respective guitars, each one strumming softly to ensure they were properly tuned.

The clock began ticking on what felt like their make-or-break moment. Some of the crowd offered polite applause along with several nods for some hopefully enjoyable tunes.

Luz cleared her throat, which felt more difficult than usual lately because of some changes in the weather, and spoke into the microphone. Her nerves were shaking but she pushed them down.

“Good evening, everyone. I’m Luz. That’s Anne, Molly, and Cricket,” she spoke as clearly as she could, motioning with her head to each of her band mates. They all offered a short wave or hand raise in return. “We, uh, hope you enjoy.”

With one last inhale, Anne leaned to begin the countdown.

"One, two, three, four-"

They immediately launched into the opening notes of their first song. Anne led with a rapid bass track, with timed strums from Luz on rhythm guitar and Molly adding flourishes on lead guitar. Cricket tied everything together with a drum track as Anne belted out the first vocals, followed in harmonies by Luz and Molly.

Anne knew within seconds that their energy that night was different. The mix of Molly's lead strums and Cricket's drumming may very well have been the missing pieces of their musical puzzle. Some previously softer notes now had a new burst of energy with Molly taking the chords and making them her own. Then Cricket kept the rhythm better than their previous drummers had, perfectly hitting drum rolls and cymbal clashes at the right times. It provided a perfect backing to each track along with Anne's energetic, thumping bass lines.

Despite her initial nervousness, Luz powered through her vocals with gusto. And the notes flew nearly effortlessly from her rhythm guitar, bouncing off the walls of the club. In the following moments the response was instant. Many people in the crowd perked and turned as they heard the notes. Even some of the other performers, both previous and upcoming, couldn't help but be entranced by the energy, the enthusiasm, and the excitement the group seemed to emanate.

Their opening track was a simple tune about feeling out-of-place in a big pond but still finding their own role. It was a trait that had drawn Luz and Anne together, after all. But the two newcomers also picked right up with it. Molly’s smile remained as wide as the others as she hit the lead flourishes. Then as Anne was in the midst of one verse she winced as she realized what was about to come. It was about to be all her for a moment.

The loud energetic shout from Anne was the cue. Molly shut her eyes, the nerves briefly overwhelming her. But her hands moved across the fret board just as she’d practiced repeatedly over the past few days. She opened her eyes again and saw she was doing it, she was playing the solo to (near) perfection!

The others picked up on her energy as her notes filled the room. It carried each of them through the rest of the song.

A requiem about feeling held down and trapped resonated with some of the audience. A ballad about returning to a lost love made others swoon. A tune of holding onto feelings made some bounce along to the beat. Through their notes and vocals, each of the quartet felt as though sharing a part of themselves for the first time.

The minutes flew by in a blur. Luz felt she had slipped up more than once with a chord change here and there, but no one else had noticed. She was sharing a part of herself with other like-minded souls and that pushed out any apprehension. And then it was upon them: their closer. With one final harmonized held note by the three girls, followed by a closing lead guitar strum and cymbal clash, the performance ended. The crowd stood silent for a second before bursting into a shared cheer and applause.

Luz's throat burned, a combination of something she probably ate earlier that day and her excited singing. Her voice was nearly gone. But at that moment, she didn't care. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she took in the applause that bounced off the club walls. Some of the patrons even stood and made their cheers louder. She looked at the rest of her band mates and they shared another smile before standing and taking a unified bow to thank their audience.

The quartet stepped off the stage as the applause continued and eventually subsided. The host stepped up and thanked them for their performance and announced the next act following the break.

But the next act didn’t matter to one member in the audience some rows back. A middle-aged woman dressed in a scarlet blazer that was unfastened over a black undershirt. Her large tufts of spiky hair bristled with each person that walked past.

She pulled the cigarette from her lips and extinguished the tip in an ashtray on the table next to an empty glass. She drummed her fingers, running a hand on her chin and tapped her foot on the floor. Her gaze remain fixed on the curtained door to the backstage.

“Anything else for you, miss?”

The voice snapped the woman from her stupor. She glanced at the server, her amber-tinted eyes seeming to flare as she shook her head. She got to her feet, retrieving a large folded bill from her person and tossed it to the server, who caught it in mid-air.

“Keep the change.”

“Oh geez, we did it, guys. We really did it!”

The shared cheers from Anne, Molly, and Cricket were met with an excited nod from Luz. The burning in her throat intensified and she thought she should conserve her voice lest she lose it. They each danced in a small circle backstage, briefly scooting to the side as the next act moved past.

“Hey, you guys rocked!” One of them said. The compliment made their eyes shimmer even more.

“They did like us, didn’t they?” Molly asked, her words tinged with uncertainty.

“You kidding? You heard them cheering!” Anne said, patting her on the shoulder.

They each nodded and stood close to each other, letting the moment set in. Luz smiled as she watched the other three chatter with excitement, their words buzzing in her head. No matter what happened before or after, they performed for an audience that liked them.

“Luz, I never expected you to rock so hard.”

The young woman’s ear perked at the familiar voice, one she hadn’t heard in years, entering her head. She whirled around and her eyes lit up.

“Eda?!”

Luz spoke with as much fervor as her strained voice would allow. Her old music teacher, the one who’d gotten her to really consider if she had a future in music, strode towards them, tucking something inside her blazer pocket.

Eda took a look around at each of them before chuckling, “Never thought I’d bump into you here. What are you up to, kid?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just playing for a crowd for the first time,” Luz said casually. She thought about running forward to embrace this key person in her life until she suddenly remembered Eda wasn’t one for physical affection. “Oh, uh, this is Anne, Molly, and Cricket.”

Each of the other three held up a hand as Luz introduced them. Eda responded with her own soft wave.

“Anyway, what brings you here?” Luz asked, clearing her throat despite how much it hurt to do so.

Eda leaned against a nearby shelf of equipment, drumming her forearm on it. “It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it brief. Last group of promising upstarts flaked on me and so I came here to drown my sorrows and maybe see how bad things could get. Some of the early guys were rocky, to put it mildly, but then you all took the stage and...”

She glanced back towards the curtain, seeing the new act setting up but probably still imagining Luz and her group up there.

“I just got this feeling. Like you all played from yourselves. For yourselves.”

Luz’s eyes widened, not being used to such earnest praise from Eda. She looked and saw the others appeared just a little less in awe of her compliment.

“Anyway, I’ve got to run. But, uh, good luck with any future shows or stuff.” Eda smiled and patted Luz’s shoulder, giving the others a courtesy glance. “Oh, uh, nice meeting you all too.”

“Yeah, okay. Later.” Luz spoke, still sounding as though she were in a stupor.

The older woman turned from the group and walked away, their excited murmurs filling her ears once more. Eda maneuvered through the backstage of the club out to the front and then the street. The whispers of the guests in front of the bouncer filled her ear as she turned and walked towards the club’s parking lot.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She pressed the screen to get to her photo album and found it: a video she’d taken of Luz and company mid-performance. Their sound, their emotion still rang through even though her volume was muted.

“...We might really have something here,” Edalyn murmured to herself. With several more taps, she started a call.

“…Edalyn. I imagine you need something.” A somewhat stern male voice rang out.

“…Hey, Bump. Ede here…” Eda began, unable to keep a slight slur from her voice.

“Oh great. Again?”

“…What?…” Some of the passersby couldn’t help but turn their head as Eda began a conversation they couldn’t fully hear.

Bump sighed, possibly doing some annoyed gesture she couldn't see. “All right, Eda. Were you getting wasted on company time? Again?”

“…Okay fine, I had… what comes after two?… Three. I only had three drinks this time. So I’d appreciate if you could get a ride for me,” Edalyn said, pinching her temples between her two long fingers.

“You know you’re on a short leash, don’t you?" Bump asked, his stern tone growing. "After that Faerie Wings group you pushed on us fluttered out, it's not looking so good for you."

“Yeah. Yeah. I know.” Eda responded almost nonchalantly, swiping at her phone screen as she spoke. “Anyway, watch the video I’m about to send you. Some group performed here tonight, I know the lead singer and…”

She looked up across the lot and then back to the club. She exhaled through her nostrils.

“I think they have something.” Her voice softened for the first time that night.

A sigh echoed through the speaker. “Fine. I’ll take a look… And the ride’s on its way.”

“Great. Thanks.” Eda said, craning her neck. "Talk to you later."

The call disconnected. Then in some office across town, Bump shook his head as he tapped the top of his phone against the desk. He was the last one in the studio that day as was often the case. His eyes drifted to the walls where some of their previous hit labels were displayed. He found himself getting wistful as he glanced around. Yes, Faerie Wings started off solid. But then their later efforts in their admittedly brief run became so baffling that many wondered if the label could take another blow. They weren't in danger, at least not immediately, but having a group that was a hit affiliated with them wouldn't hurt either.

Then the beep of the message notification snapped him back to the present. Bump pressed the link that was sent to him and turned his phone to get the video to full screen.

At first glance, they looked like any young group with stars in their eyes. He wondered how long it would be before one of them stumbled or they fell back on the boring, the mundane. But as he watched the surprisingly stable video of Luz, Anne, Molly, and Cricket on stage and got just a taste of their energy, their excitement, he had an incredulous thought.

Maybe Eda was onto something.

The buzzing jolted Luz awake, her dream of distant islands vanishing in an instant. She muttered something as she fumbled on her nightstand for the source of the buzzing. She glimpsed her phone screen, the brightness temporarily blinding her.

“2 am…?” she whispered, rubbing her face. The name on the screen made her even more confused. She tapped the screen to answer. “...Eda? What is…?”

“Luz! Hope I didn’t wake you,” Eda sounded wide awake, somewhat unusual for the dead of night. “Anyway, I just had to call real quick to tell you something.”

“Wuzzat?” Luz answered, failing to stifle a yawn.

“So, I feel a bit bad for admitting this, but I actually recorded a bit of your group’s show last...night. Yeah, it was yesterday,” Eda’s voice drifted off as she confirmed her own detail. “Anyway, I showed it to a good pal at the label I work at and then after asking very nicely and calling in...uh, several favors, I got you and your little group a day at one of the recording studios in town. What do you say?”

Luz’s eyes snapped open and she shot straight up in bed, all fatigue forgotten.

“A recording studio? Like, to record music?” she breathed, her eyes getting even wider.

“...That’s what they do at studios, yeah. It's mostly a test to see if you guys really do have more tricks up your sleeve and you're not just a bunch of posers. Do you and your little friends there have enough songs to put together at least a demo? Or do you guys think you can fill a whole album?” Eda prodded.

Luz felt her heart nearly drop into her stomach. “A-album? Like an album with songs?”

“Yes, that kind of album. Were you asleep?”

Luz pushed the thin purple blanket off her and leapt to her feet. She paced back and forth in her disorganized room. Her eyes went up to the rack near her desk that held her guitar and case, which were the only things that were neatly displayed.

“Y-yeah. Yeah. Yeah! We can do an album,” Luz stammered, running a hand through her hair.

“Great! Thanks, kid. I’ve always had a good feeling about you so I hope we can make something from this. I’ll send you the deets once I have them,” Eda said.

“C-cool. See ya.”

Luz ended the call and brought her hands to her head. Her eyes remained wide and her heart was pounding in her chest. She turned and spotted the partly empty bottle of water on her nightstand. She picked it up and pulled the top off, splashing a bit onto her face. No, she was definitely awake.

“An…an album. Album!” she repeated in awe. She held her phone up again, quickly pressing the screen multiple times before it holding it back to her head. The buzzing rang several times for nearly a minute before there was finally a click.

“…’lo?”

“Anne, Anne! Wake up!” Luz practically shouted into her phone, then quickly lowering her voice realizing her mother was probably still asleep. “I have to tell you something!”

“…You know it’s after 2 in the morning, right?” Anne said through a yawn. “Can it wait…?”

“It could but I don’t want to,” Luz continued, eyes still wide as she looked at the walls around her. “Eda just woke me up to say she recorded our performance last night and she showed it to one of her producer friends and she got us a shot at a studio! She said we could record an album!”

“Oh, auburn. That’s nice…” Anne murmured again. Luz was so excited that she didn’t catch her friend’s misspeak.

On the other end, Anne had stretched and rubbed her face after responding. Then her eyes shot open and she sat straight up not unlike Luz did. “Wait, what?!”

“An ALBUM, Anne! Eda thinks we have enough stuff for an album! It’s what we’ve dreamed about for years!” Luz said, her voice growing louder again.

Anne blinked several times, her own dream and fatigue dissipating in an instant. She paced in a circle, eyes drifting to her bass guitar atop her desk. It was truly a dream they had shared in all their jam sessions. Sure, they had a few rough recordings of some original songs, but the opportunity to record them in a professional setting felt light years away.

“W-what does this mean? What do we do?” Anne finally gasped.

“Okay, okay. First, we have to get Molly and Cricket on board. We wouldn’t be here without them.” Luz counted on her fingers as her mind raced. “Then I think we have to decide what songs we should rehearse ahead of the recording day so we make the most of our time. Then… uh… I think we just see where it takes us.”

“All right, we have some idea. That’s good,” Anne said, running her hand across her face incredulously. She stopped at her window, pulling the curtain back and looking out at the darkened cityscape with the lights filling the air. “Luz… Is this our shot?”

Neither one of them spoke for a moment. Luz inhaled before wiping at her eyes and nodding. “I think so, Anne. Let’s get it.”

Some time later it was Molly’s turn to be woken up by a buzzing. She groaned as she stirred, wiping her face as she pushed herself up. She was still mostly dressed on her bed with several of the psychology books scattered about. Oh right, she’d been thinking about how to respond to a question for her program enrollment. Needed something to do with herself after all.

Molly sleepily pressed the screen and held her phone to her ear. “…Luz?”

“Molly, finally! I waited long enough to tell you this!”

The young woman blinked again, looking at the phone screen. It was just after 6 am. “You’ve got a lot of energy…” Molly mumbled.

“Well, I’ve barely been able to sleep because I’m so excited! Molly, Eda from the club said she showed a recording of our performance last night to one of her buddies and she got us a day at a recording studio! She wants us to record an album!”

The words entered Molly’s head and it took her a moment to process them. Then just like the other two, she snapped awake and leapt to her feet. “A what?!”

“An album! Dude, we need you there with us! We wouldn’t have gotten this far without your lead skills!” Luz spoke quickly and loudly.

Molly jumped up and down on the spot, the books and her dreary application process forgotten for the moment. They would still be there later, she thought.

“O-okay. Okay! I’m in! What do we do now?”

Several minutes later, Luz prepared to deliver the news yet again. The click made her exhale.

“‘Yello?”

“Cricket, hey! Hope I didn’t wake you,” Luz began.

“Nah. I’ve been up for an hour now. Got to get an early start or else the fam’ gets upset. What’s up?” Cricket spoke in a sprightly tone.

Luz paced around her room, hastily packing up some of her gear into her backpack. “Okay, I’ll make this short. Eda, from the club last night? She showed our performance to one of her friends and she got us a spot at a studio in town. She said we could record an album!”

“An album?! Wha?!”

“Yeah, an album! Like with music!” Luz replied.

“Hoo, that’s something!” Cricket responded. A clattering through the speaker showed he might have dropped something. “…Okay, so what now?”

“I’m going to meet with Anne and Molly now. We gotta start figuring out some stuff for this.” Luz was now slinging her bag over her shoulders, leaning forward to speak into her phone. “And man, you were crucial for us finding our rhythm so we need you there too. As soon as you can, that is.”

“Shoot, I’ll be there! I needed something to motivate me through this stuff here anyway.” Cricket said, a hint of mischief in his voice.

“Great, thanks. Later!” Luz ended the call and picked up her case containing her rhythm guitar. She looked at herself in her mirror and exhaled again. “It’s really happening, Luz.”