Chapter Text
The titles of the records blurred together into colours and images of people Marie didn’t recognize. She let the firm cardboard covers slip through her hands as she fingered through them.
The Rolling Stones? No, too basic.
Lana Del Ray? Too modern.
Taylor Swift? Absolutely not, too cringe. Although it was probably the only record in this store that Marie might actually listen to. But no, it wasn’t cool enough.
She shifted behind a tall shelf of video games and peeked around the corner at the girl behind the counter. The girl gave a piercing look at a teenager trying to slip a game into his bag. She called out a reprimand and the teenager spun around, sheepishly putting the game back and slipping out of the store. The girl seemed so chill about it, Marie wondered if that was a frequent occurrance.
The record store had become Marie’s safe haven over the last few weeks since she’d stumbled across it on her lunch break during work. It smelt a little like mould but Marie liked to think it was just the smell of authentic vintage things. They were always playing songs Marie didn’t recognize that felt like driving on big empty country roads or getting drunk with your friends in a basement or kicking up fallen leaves on the side of the road. She felt a little like a protagonist in a romcom when she walked through the shelves with her handmade tote bag covered in quotes from her favourite books, her baggy jean jacket, a cute plaid skirt, and her combat boots that she started wearing on as soon as the weather hinted that it might start to get cool.
This was why Marie had started spending her lunch breaks wandering the shelves, however, what drew her back was, in truth, the girl who worked here. The girl leaned over the store counter, resting her head in her hands as she looked down at a book laying open in front of her. Marie took the chance to study her. The girl had dark black hair cropped in messy layers around her face. She wore dark purple, nearly black lipstick and eyeliner sharp as a knife. Her finger gloves paired with the fishnet stockings Marie had glimpsed earlier made her look a little like a bisexual character in a 90s teenage romcom. She walked around the store like she owned it, which actually, Marie wouldn’t be surprised if she did. The corner of her mouth turned down as she flipped a page in her book, relapsing into the unimpressed expression she wore 90% of the time.
A soft hissing by Marie’s ear had her ducking back behind the shelf.
“You’re gonna give us away,” she muttered under her breath at the small green snake now looking at her. The snake gave a flick of her tongue in indignant defiance and Marie rolled her eyes. The rest of the snakes curling around her head like hair shifted in curiosity, trying to get a glimpse of the girl behind the counter themselves but Marie pulled back further out of sight. Marie tuned out the ever-present shushing noises they made and turned her attention back to her predicament.
Marie hadn’t actually ever talked to the girl, despite having come into the shop nearly every day this week and watched her from behind the shelves like a creep.
But that stopped today. Today was the day she was going to buy something and actually work up the courage to introduce herself. She just needed to figure out what. Marie let out a short sigh and pulled out her phone with the intent to google what ‘cool’ records were nowadays. She turned back toward the records and promptly tripped over a box of DVDs.
She flailed for a second and sent her phone flying across the aisle. She tried to catch herself but the thick sole of her boot caught on the box and sent them both toppling. She landed hard on her ass, snakes hissing and spitting, and watched horrified as the box tipped and fell with an echoing crash, the DVDs scattering halfway down the aisle and under the shelves.
“Shit. Fuck,” Marie exclaimed, horrified.
Someone cleared their throat harshly and Marie turned to see a lady pulling her child away from Marie, covering her child’s small pointed ears and glaring at her.
“Oh my god, sorry.” Marie clapped a hand over her mouth before she could accidentaly swear again. She felt her cheeks heating and ducked her head. The bell on the door sounded as the lady and child left and Marie raised her eyes to the ceiling, begging an uncaring universe that this wasn’t really happening.
“You okay?”
Marie dragged her eyes down to the cute black-haired girl now crouching beside Marie and picking up DVDs. She tossed them carelessly back into the box.
“I’m so sorry—it was an accident—I didn’t mean—” Marie let out all in a rush.
“It’s fine, chill. I know you didn’t mean to knock over a whole box of DVDs,” she interupted. She raised an amused eyebrow when Marie didn’t respond and Marie floundered. “Unless this was really a ploy to steal an original Blue-Ray edition of The Muppets Christmas Carol.” She held up the DVD to show her and Marie let out a bark of surprised laughter. It did actually sound like a dog barking and was shockingly loud. Marie reddened further but the girl just let out a soft huff of laughter and turned back to the DVDs.
Marie came back to her senses and pulled herself to her knees to help clean up. She had a pile of DVDs in her hands when a loud ringing filled the shop.
“Fuck,” Marie said, dropping the DVDs to look for her phone. She bent down to look under a shelf and glimpsed it in the far back corner, vibrating on the hardwood floor with a call. As if Marie hadn’t been embarrassed enough, now she pressed herself down to her stomach to reach an arm under the shelf, covering her jean jacket in dust and who knows what else. She ignored the persistent hissing of her upset snakes, muttering, “Calm down,” under her breath. Her fingers brushed the edge of her phone and she slid it across the floor toward the edge of the shelf. She finally sat up again, the phone in hand. The call went to voicemail but not before she glimpsed the caller ID of her boss.
“Shit.” What time was it? Was she late for work already? “Sorry,” Marie said to the girl, realizing that was the fifth time she’d sworn in the last five minutes.
The girl raised an eyebrow, her mouth pursed together with the corner raised ever so slightly in amusement.
“You don’t need to apologize to me,” the girl said. Her eyes flitted around Marie’s face, obvious curiosity painting her features. “Cool snakes,” she said.
Marie nodded. You would think after twenty-two years Marie would get used to people staring and figure out some sort of clever response that didn’t involve diving into the Medusa family tree and a genetics lesson.
“Do they have names?” the girl asked.
Marie started in surprise, releasing a huff that could’ve been a laugh. She usually only got that question from kids before their parents could pull them away.
“Yeah,” Marie said. “They’re kinda stupid though.”
“What are they?” she asked, unperturbed. She kept cleaning up the DVDs as she talked.
“Well, the older ones I named when I was a kid, so this one’s Bluey—because he’s blue,” she pointed to a long snake by her left ear and smiled when the girl laughed. “And this is Monkey and Cat because I wanted a real pet. Then I went through a Greek phase so here’s Hera and Aphrodite and—”
Maire’s phone started buzzing again and she saw her boss’s ID.
“Shoot, sorry, I should take this,” Marie said.
The girl waved her on and continued cleaning up, bending down to reach under one of the shelves.
Marie moved to the edge of the aisle and took a deep breath. She swiped a finger to answer the call.
“Where the fuck are you?” Dean’s voice rung in her ear and Marie recoiled and turned down the volume on her phone. Bluey shot an angry tongue out at the phone.
“Amhed—the idiot—broke the milk machine and now there’s milk everywhere. Come back quickly.” Dean said.
“I’m on my way. Be there in 5,” Marie said. Dean hung up and Marie tucked her phone in her jean jacket pocket. She turned back to find the girl had finished cleaning up and replaced the box of DVDs. The girl got up and moved back behind the counter, bracing her forearms against the counter and looking down at her book again.
Shit. Marie had wasted time introducing her snakes—starting with the most embarrassing ones no less—and hadn’t even gotten the girl’s name. Marie approached the counter, she wasn’t going to let an embarrassing moment stop her.
“Thank you,” she said to the girl.
“Welcome.” She didn’t take her eyes off the book.
Marie sucked in a breath. “I’m Marie, by the way.”
The girl looked up. “Billy,” she said.
“Nice to meet you. I’ve gotta run but… I’ll see you around?”
“I’ll be here,” Billy said. She looked down at her book again and Marie turned to go. “Like I’ve been here all week,” Billy said under her breath.
Marie looked over her shoulder and saw the hint of a smile at the corner of Billy’s mouth. Marie opened her mouth but couldn’t think of a good excuse to explain herself. Billy lifted her gaze and arched an eyebrow in a challenge, willing her to deny it. Marie felt her cheeks start to heat, but she held her ground and smiled sweetly at Billy.
“I know,” Marie said with as much nonchalance as she could muster.
Billy broke out into a full smile and shook her head. She looked down and Marie turned back to leave. She looked back when she reached the door, noting Billy’s face had fallen back to its usual unimpressed frown. Marie smiled and walked out, the autumn air cool and fresh on her flushed cheeks.