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The opening of the Starcourt mall was the best thing to happen to you this summer.
For the past few years you went to the only record store in town. It was a small place with limited options but you shopped their anyway. The place was cozy and now it felt like home. The owners knew you as a regular and always let you know about new things coming to the store. While you loved that store the mall had brought another record store. A bigger record store.
When the mall first opened, the news did a segment about the new stores that were there. Their talk about new clothing stores, shoe stores, and the food court didn't interest you. It wasn't until they mentioned Indiana Records that he payed attention to the TV. From what they showed, it was huge compared to David's Music Store. You could see the hundreds of records that were displayed on the racks. As soon as you saw it you went to take a look. After that first visit you couldn't stop coming. You always found a new record to buy.
Even today, you were heading down there to find the new Talking Heads album that just came out. The radio stations were playing the songs all the time and you knew that you needed a copy of it to add to your collection. The mall was busy as you walked in; it has been since its opening. Your path was directed to the record store's location. All the other shops didn't get a glimpse from you. Finally, you stepped in the store. Your once fast pace was then slowed down. You looked at every section while walking to the rock albums. There were a few items in your arms when you reached the section. The album was front and center. There were only a few copies left, so you got the chance to look at pick the best looking one. You then slowly made your way to the checkout counter, standing at the back of the small line.
Tearing your eyes away from the music you looked at the person at the register. Your eyes widened slightly at the sight of Eddie Munson standing behind the counter. From the dozens of times you've been here you've never seen him working. You didn't even know he had a job other than drug dealing. But then again, you didn't have a close relationship with the boy. You only knew him from his theatrics in class and his club. You've spoken a few times but only for school related assignments. He wasn't your friend but you didn't treat him like others usually did.
Eventually, it was your turn to check out. As you walked up you noticed he looked a little shocked to see you. He said your name if a surprised tone in his voice.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he said his scripted line.
"Yep," you responded.
He then grabbed your items, taking a look at each one.
"Woah, I didn't know you were a Talking Heads fan?"
"I only really listen to '77."
"What about Cyndi Lauper?" he said holding the album up. "It's a completely different genre than them."
"Not everyone just listens to one genre Munson."
He put a hand on his chest. "I'm wounded! Do you take me as something who just listens to one thing."
You smiled. "Maybe."
"I have you know I listen to different genres."
"Oh really? What ones?"
"Metal, rock, and uh," he trailed off, trying to think of another one.
"That's it?" you said challenging him. "Only two?"
"Well how many do you listen to?" he said with a laugh.
"Eight."
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Well do you listen to metal?" he asked putting your items in a paper bag.
"Haven't listened to it yet."
"Let me give you some recommendations then."
You thought for a moment before agreeing. He then listed three songs for you to listen to. To Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica, Rainbow in the Dark by Dio, and Breaking the Law by Judas Priest.
"Okay, I'll listen to them."
He smiled before telling you the total of your purchase. You paid before he handed you your items.
"Have a nice day," he said with a large smile on his face.
"You too!"
You then walked out of the store with a smile on your face. You repeated the songs that he said over and over so you wouldn't forget. You were definitely going to find a way to listen to those songs as soon as possible. Let's see how good his music taste is.
A few days later you found yourself making a trip back to the record store, however this time you weren't there to buy more music. After getting recommendations from Eddie you immediately asked if your friends owned any of them. Luckily, one of your friends said that they thought their uncle owned that kind of stuff and was able to borrow it for you to listen to. The songs were different than your usual taste but it wasn't to unusual. Rock music has a genre you enjoyed and these songs were somewhat similar. You ended up enjoying them after listening to them a couple of times.
Which is why your going to the store. You just couldn't wait till you needed to buy something to tell him your thoughts about his recommendations. With ease, you made it to the front of the store and saw him at the register. The store had a few customers in it but none of them were ready to checkout. Taking the chance, you walked up to the counter.
"Hey!" you greeted.
"Hey," he said, noticing your lack of items. "Are you buying anything?"
You laughed out a no. "I listened to your recommendations."
His eyebrows shot up. "Oh, what did you think?" he said nervously.
"They were good. I especially liked Breaking the Law."
"Really," he said surprised.
You eagerly nodded. You talked all about the beat and the meaning of the song. All of your thoughts and feelings about the songs were just coming out. You didn't even realize that he wasn't saying anything in response. You definitely didn't notice the memorized expression on his face as you talked. It wasn't until you got to the talking about the last song that you realized. You stopped abruptly, putting a shy smile on your face.
"Yeah, I liked the songs you recommended," you concluded.
"Well I'm glad you did," he finally said. "Didn't expect you to actually listen to them."
"Why?" you were confused. Why would he recommend them if he thought you weren't going to listen to them?
"I don't know, it's just most people don't take my recommendation seriously."
"Really? Well they're missing out!"
He agreed with a big smile on his face.
"Do you want more recommendations?" he asked.
You lit up agreeing. "But I need to give you some recommendations as well," you said before he could speak.
"You're going to give me song recommendations?"
You nodded. "It's not fair that you get to just share your music. I gotta share mine too."
He laughed out an okay before telling you his next batch of songs. He wrote them down on a piece of receipt paper, giving you a piece to do the same. When you both done you exchanged.
"Enjoy your next round of listening!" he joked.
"And you as well!"
Just then a customer started to make their way up to register. You gave a brief goodbye before exiting the store. You folded the paper carefully and put in your jeans pocket. You hoped that your friend's uncle had these songs as well.
This trip to the mall was long overdue. You had planned to visit Eddie a few days ago but it seemed like time would never let you fit it in. As you were walking through the mall, something else caught your attention. There at the counter of the small ice cream shop was none other than Steve Harrington. You knew the boy from the previous supernatural events that happened. You didn't talk much but you had to go in there to get a closer look at what he was wearing. He caught the smirk on your face as you approached, rolling his eyes at the sight.
"Oh no, what do you want?" he grumbled out.
"Needing to get a closer look at that outfit you're wearing," you laughed out. "I didn't know you started working here?"
"Yeah, I didn't tell you for this exact reason."
"How could you! I've been missing on this entertaining sight every time I come to the mall."
The bickering would have continued but a girl walked out of the back of the store. She was wearing a similar uniform and hot short hair. Her eyes were immediately focused on you.
"You're the first girl to actually talk about the ridiculous uniforms," she smiled at you. "Every time Steve here tries to talk to one they make an excuse to leave when we all know it's the sailor uniform."
"How could no one talk about it? It's practically begging for you to look at it."
Steve quickly interrupted the two of you from continuing to talk about him and his awful look.
"I don't need two of you commenting on me every second, I already have one," he said looking towards his co-worker.
She simply rolled her eyes before giving you a smile.
"I'm Robin," she introduced herself.
You gave her your name as well. You could already tell that you would be talking to this girl more each time you visited. However, Steve started to get irritated with your presence. He tried to get you to go but to further your time there you bought a small cup of ice cream.
"Why do come to the mall so much?" he asked you while scooping your ice cream.
"How do you know I come to mall a lot?"
"I see you pass by the store every time. Most of the time you're walking out with nothing in your hands."
"Have you ever thought I come just to browse?"
"Well where are you going?"
"The record store."
"The record store is what's making you look giddy when you leave?"
You looked at him with confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Every time I see you leave you got a big smile on your face. Is looking around at the record store that good?"
"Just give me my ice cream Harrington, I've got somewhere to be," you dismissed.
"Where the record store?" he said with a teasing smile. You gave him a glare.
Once he handed it across the counter, you finally left and went back to walking to your original location. You didn't understand what he's was talking about. What did he mean you had a big smile after leaving the record store? You would've continued thinking about it but the taste of the ice cream distracted you. The ice cream was good, another reason to stop by more often. You would just have to ignore Steve's pestering. In no time, you walked through the entrance of the record store.
You immediately walked to the hip hop section, taking a glance at the register counter. Eddie was there ringing up a customer. He hadn't seen you yet but you would be up there soon. You looked through the records and genres until you found the the album you were looking for, AC/DC Fly on the Wall. You didn't a bit of browsing but you were more focused on the counter. As soon as the line cleared up you walked up there.
The tired expression on his face wiped away once he saw you. You two shared a smile as you made eye contact.
"Back again?" he said.
"Yep, can't miss a release," you said. "I also finished listening to your songs."
"Great! I finished listening to yours too."
Your face lit up. "What'd you think?"
"They were okay," he said teasingly.
You rolled your eyes with a smile. "Just okay?"
He nodded trying to stop the smile forming on his face.
"What about Babooshka? Did you like that one?"
"That one was surprisingly good," he said.
"Well I have more songs just like that to share," you suggested.
"I'd love to hear them."
You were about to give him the titles when he interrupted you.
"Before you tell me, how about you call me about them instead?" he asked nervously, handing over a piece of paper.
Her eyes widened slightly. "You want me to call you?"
"Yeah," he said, his hands fidgeting with the paper. "So you don't have to come down here all the time just to talk to me, instead you can talk to me whenever you want."
A soft smile formed on your face. "Okay."
You took the piece of paper as he handed you your items back.
"Call me later will you. I get home at 7."
You nodded, giving him a shy goodbye.
"Tell me about that record you just bought tonight!" he called out as you left.
"I will!" you excitedly said back.
You gave each other one last look before you left the store. You kept looking at the piece of paper in your hand as you walked out. You couldn't believe it. Eddie Munson's number was sitting in your hand all because you talked about music. Whatever you were going to do today was out the window. You couldn't wait until 7.
That first call with Eddie was filled with shaky voices. For some reason, you found it harder to talk to him than when you were in person. But, while that first call was awkward, you both found it easier the more you called. Now instead of nervous laughing and stuttering, your calls were filled with playful arguing and discussion.
"Love is a Battlefield is way to cheesy," he stated.
"No its not," you clapped back.
"Yes it is! 'I'm trapped by your love and I'm chained to your side' is entirely cheesy," he said, referencing a line in the song.
"Okay, I guess its a bit cheesy," you caved. "But that doesn't mean its not fun to listen to!"
"I guess," he said, a smile present in his tone.
You started looking forward to your guys' talks. However, you did miss seeing him. You didn't have the excuse of talking about his recommendations to go to the record store. Every time you thought about going to talk to him worry bubbled in your head. What if he gave you his number because he didn't want to see you as much? Did you come off as annoying?
You didn't think that Eddie was a mean person like that, but it didn't stop you from worrying about it. The phone calls did help distract you though. But that one thought kept bugging you. You wanted to see him in person again. Which leads you now to your current phone call.
"You definitely got to check it out," he excitedly said after recommending a new song. "I think you'll love it."
You nervously spoke out a response. You waited a few moments before asking, "Hey Eddie, would you want to come over to show me the song?"
You listened to the silence on the other end of the line as you waited. Your mind was spiraling. Why wasn't he saying anything?
Finally, his voice appeared on the other end. "You want me to come over," he stuttered out.
"Yeah, I think it would be easier if you just showed me the song instead of me trying to find it," you said in your most confident voice.
There was another moment of silence again before he spoke. "Sure, yeah, that sounds good."
The weight on your chest lifted and a relieved smile took over your face.
"Great!"
"When do you want me to come over?"
"When's your next day off."
"Friday."
With that, you agreed to meet at your house on Friday. It was a couple days away, so you had some time to prepare yourself for his visit. Your call ended that night with you giving him your address. For the rest of the night your thought about him coming over. Those thoughts followed you all the way to today.
It was now Friday and he was coming over in a few hours. As soon as you woke up you started cleaning. You haven't had anyone over in a long time so there was a lot to be done. You didn't want him to think that you kept your house a mess. Your excessive cleaning took up the most part of your morning. When you finished you only had about an hour to eat and unwind. As you were looking through your cassette tapes to show him, you heard a knock at your door. He's here.
You quickly walked over and opened the door.
"Hey," he nervously said.
You let out a greeting as well before stepping aside to let in him. You both stood next to each other awkwardly as he look around your living room. You played with your fingers as you watched him.
"You have a nice house," he said after a while.
"Thanks," you simply said.
After a few more moments of awkward silence you spoke, "All of my music is in my room."
He followed you as you led him to your room.
"Do you live in this big house by yourself?" he asked as he followed you.
"No," you said. "I live with my parents. There at work right now."
He didn't say anything after that. Soon enough you made it to your room. You watched as you looked around impressed. He checked out your music set up, which included of a record player and a cassette tape player. Your walkman was on the table as well. Surrounding the equipment was a bunch of records and cassette tapes. You had them all organized by genre. He let out an impressed whistle at the sight.
"You got quite the collection here. More than I have," he said, his eyes still focused on your set up.
"Do you have a lot?" you asked curiously.
"Yeah, bins and bins of cassette tapes."
You were curious to see what his collection looked like. Maybe one day you go over to his place to see his collection.
"Well, what tapes did you bring?" you asked, switching the conversation.
He finally looked away from your stuff to pull out the tapes from his jacket pocket. He handed them to you and you excitedly looked them over.
"More Dio?" you asked.
"Yeah, you liked their other songs, so I thought you might like these ones," he said, fidgeting with his sleeve.
"What one do you want to play first?" you asked, curious if he had a certain order to play them in.
"Which ever one," he simply said.
"There's not a certain one you want to play me first?"
He paused for a moment. "Well, we could listen to Ride the Lightning first," he decided.
You smiled at your correct assumption. Handing him back the other tapes, you moved to play the first one.
"You can sit on bed if you want," you said as you put the tape in the player.
You didn't hear a response back, just some shuffling behind you. With the tape in, the first sounds of the guitar cords played through the speakers. You moved to sit next to him on the bed. The two of you sat on silence as you listened to the track, you in concentration and Eddie put of nervousness. About half way to the song you turned to him.
"This is pretty good," you said impressed.
"You like it?" he exclaimed, slight shock in his tone.
"Yeah, the guitar sounds amazing."
You watched as his eyes lit up.
"Right! They play so fast. When I first heard it I thought you have to be the greatest to play like that," he rambled. "Not to mention the deep lyrics as well."
Your focus wasn't on the song anymore. It only was background noise at this point. You couldn't stop staring at him. It was like after your comment he became a whole new person. Like he put down the act and started being himself. Your conversation about the song drowned out any other noise. You two didn't even realize that the tape had stopped playing. Just hearing each other's thoughts was enough.
For the next two hours you guys played music and talked. That nervousness from earlier had completely disappeared. Now you talked like you've been friends forever. It just felt so easy to talk to him. You didn't even realize how much time has passed. A call of your name further in the house disrupted your guys conversation.
"My mom's home," you said, nervousness overcoming you again.
He simply nodded before checking the time.
"I should probably get going," he sighed.
You both awkwardly got up, a little sad that your time together was over.
"I'll walk you out," you said, leading him out of your room.
You hoped that you wouldn't run into your mom on your way, but just your luck you did.
"Hi, sweetie," she said, hearing you come near. But she stopped when she noticed Eddie behind you. "Who's this?"
"This is Eddie," you gestured to him. He gave out a quiet hello with a wave. "We were listening to music together."
"He's the one you've been getting recommendation from?" she asked.
"Yes."
Your mother gave you a look that you ignored. You were not having that conversation right now. You continued walking Eddie to the door with a brief apology. He said he didn't mind but you couldn't shake the embarrassment off.
"We should do this again," he said before he walked out.
"Yeah, we should."
"We can try my place next time," he suggested.
"That sounds good," you shakily spoke out.
"I'll call you."
With that, you watched as he left. He gave you once last wave before getting in his van. When you shut the door, you released a breath you were holding. A smile immediately took over your face. You enjoyed the time you spent together. You couldn't wait to hang out again, this time at Eddie's place.
Visits with Eddie had become more frequent now. It didn't matter if he came over to your house or he came over to yours, you two always found a way to hang out. Your conversations have shifted over time. What was once just simple recommendations to each other, now evolved into discussing new releases. If any of the artists you two liked came out with a new album, you would get together and discuss. It was nice being able to experience them with someone else instead of by yourself, like you did before.
However, besides the music you noticed that you have become more comfortable around each other. Sitting closer to each other, touching each other's shoulder when you get excited about music, you even knew where everything was in each room. You noticed all of these changes. You weren't sure if he did though. He always acted the same way. He didn't act nervous like you did when you guys got close. You couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Even right now, you two were sitting on the bed next to each other. Your backs were to the wall and your knees were touching. Every time you were in this situation you always thought about making a move. Lay All Your Love On Me was playing in the background. The song was making you think that this was some sort of movie that was playing. Except for the Eddie's act.
"I had this lady today get mad at me for what her kid wanted to buy," he animatedly talked about his day at work. "It's not my fault that her kid picked it up, but she wasn't cussing me out for 5 minutes!"
You laughed, but it was a bit strained. Your eyes fitted back onto his face. The lift of his smile, the crinkles on his eyes, and the enthusiasm in his eyes. Everything was captivating your focus.
"What is it?" He asked, noticing your staring.
"Nothing," you said with a smile, turning away from him.
"No, what is it?" He continued to asked.
He leaned closer, trying to catch your eyes. You kept turning away, avoiding his attempts. Giggles from the both of you filled the air over the music. You both started wrestling on the bed, playfully fighting each other. Back on forth you guys went until he suddenly dropped his body on top of you. Your back hit the bed with a bounce as you froze. As soon as you both hit the bed you stopped. Your eyes locked into each other. His dark brown eyes were wide as he stared at you. Dilated pupils piercing through your own.
It was like time stopped. The music faded away to a point where it was like it wasn't even there. They only thing you could hear was the heavy breathing from the two of you. His hair fell down, caging both of your faces from the outside world. Suddenly, his face moved slightly closer. The movement was small but your proximity made you see it.
Confidence then surged through you. Your hands moved up to grab his arms, wrapped around his biceps. You lifted your chin, looking him in the eye.
"Kiss me," you whispered.
He gave you a surprised look before leaning in. Your eyes closed as soon as his lips met yours. It was awkward at first but you both easily melted into it. It felt like all the worry and anxiety had vanished as soon you felt him. Both of your bodies had relaxed into each other fully. The kiss didn't last long, before you slowly pulled away from each other.
You stared before you let out a small laugh, with him following immediately after. The giddiness consumed your body.
"I've been wanting to do that for a while," you confessed.
"Really? How long."
"Since you first came over."
He let out an exasperated laughed, which confused you.
"I've been wanting it since I gave you my number," he confessed.
A look of surprise made you gave at him.
"I had wrote it down long before I gave it you," he continued.
You both smiled at each other at your obliviousness.
"So you're telling me, I've been worrying and hyping myself up this whole time when I could have done it that first visit?" You joked.
He laughed with you.
"Well, no more waiting," he announced before leaning in again.
Finally after all this time, you got what you wanted. Who knew that this would have all started with this a song recommendation.