Why?
Gangle stared at the paper, its scuffed up emptiness staring right back at her. She had been banging her head against a metaphorical wall since she got back to her dorm. It shouldn't be this hard to draw, especially when given a prompt, but work was sucking the life out of her. Sleep had become more and more elusive as the days passed by. Early classes followed by long shifts or early shifts followed by afternoon classes, combine that with school work and you end up with a sleep deprived, burnt out artist with no social life. She needed to go outside, she hadn't done anything for herself since the concert, and the only people she had talked to since, were Pomni and Ragatha. Even then it was only because they were often in close proximity to each other. It wasn't like she knew anyone else outside of those two. Technically she knew Jax and Zooble, but that was more along the lines of knowing of them, not actually knowing them. She wishes she did though. At a glance Jax had the kind of personality that was painfully intoxicating, the worst kind of high. A rush of adrenaline that courses through your veins when your body goes into a fight or flight response, knowing that it's going to run its course and when you crash, all the fun is gone, but the danger still remains. Intriguing at the very least. Then there was Zooble. They seemed cool, but distant, like a piece of art you can't quite understand. The more you look at it, the cooler it appears, but the less it makes sense until all you're left with is an emotion you can't describe and a piece of art that is no longer what you once perceived it as.
She knew there was more to them than that, but she hadn't gotten the chance to learn what else there was, neither of them existed in proximity to her, and if they did, she hadn't noticed them.
Maybe I'll get to know them better at the next show, they have to play somewhere close again.
She closed her eyes and lightly hit her head against the wall, her bed shaking slightly beneath her, and sighed. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared into the white void once more. With a simple shake of her head she closed the sketchbook and stood up.
I need to do literally anything else.
///
Gangle stepped out of the car and stood in the coolness of the autumn breeze. It had steadily been getting colder and she could tell that winter was slowly arriving, she could practically feel the snow dancing in the wind, threatening to fall in due time. Not today though, today it was nice, the sun was shining and the breeze was cooling everything down. Clouds loomed in the distance, threatening to pour down on the small town in the hours to come. This was the perfect weather for Gangle, she loved staring out the window and listening to the rain hit the glass as she drew. It was a perfect atmosphere for creativity, it was calming to the soul, and provided silence to her mind.
She inhaled the air, letting the coolness coat her lungs before she stepped into the building. The scent immediately changed as she entered the store. She couldn't smell the rain anymore, it had been replaced with pine and birch wood. Wooden bookshelves lined the walls, filled with vinyls from top to bottom, there were cases of CD's and cassette tapes everywhere. It reminded her of the record store she had frequented back home, thumbing through cases trying to find that one specific CD from 2005, letting hours slip away as she got lost in the hunt. It was one of her favorite pastimes and she couldn't think of anything better to do today.
“Welcome in, looking for anything in particular?” A voice to the right of her inquired. It was the cashier, she looked to be in her late twenties, long black hair that had pink highlights riddled throughout it. Her arms were covered with tattoos, and she was riddled with piercings.
“Just looking for something new, yaknow?”
“Yeah I feel that, let me know if you need help finding anything.’
“will do.” Gangle said before walking directly to the back of the store. The CD's were organized alphabetically and by genre so finding a specific band wouldn't be hard, but she didn't know what band she was even looking for, so she simply started at letter ‘A’ in the rock section and thumbed through the cases.
She stopped on various artists: Green Day, Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, Alanis Morissette, The Veronicas, Billie Eilish, etc. She had long since left the rock section and was now nearing the end of the punk section on the opposite side of the store.
“Damn girl, you weren't kidding when you said you were looking, huh.” The cashier pointed to the stack of CD's Gangle had collected through her search.
“Yeah, I just wanted to get music I know I enjoy and maybe find something new.”
“New huh, let me see what all you've got there.” Gangle brought the stack of CD's up to the register and the cashier began to scan over them.
“This is a nice little collection, there's only like 3 other people in town that pick these types of bands up. I think I have something.” The cashier walked onto the store floor, and went to the side of the store Gangle hadn't gotten to yet. She came back with a CD that Gangle had never seen before. “Here, this is our local band, Digital Hell. They played at the Void a few weeks ago, they're pretty dope. They give a Sex Pistols mixed with Bikini Kill kinda vibe, if you know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean, I went and saw them, they're pretty dope, even opened a small pit.” The cashier simply chuckled and nodded her head.
“Sounds about right, crazy that they're just college kids.” Gangle nodded her head.
“I heard one of them is a tattoo artist.”
“Oh yeah, their drummer. They work at the shop down the block, they did half my sleeve.” She said pointing at her arm, the abstract art and excellent coloring leaving Gangle in awe. She swore she could've heard a scoff, but she didn't care, art was her whole thing, and this art was really clean.
“No shit.” She said simply. “That's really good.”
“Thanks” a voice to the right of them said. The tattoo artist themself was standing next to them, arms crossed, a slight smirk dawning on their face.
“Speak of the devil and they shall arrive.” The cashier said with a smile.
“Good to see you too, GQ” Zooble responded as she walked up to the counter, glancing at Gangle and her stack of CD's. “Shit man, that's one hell of a mix. You've got Night Club, The Veronicas, and Violent Femmes all in the same stack, that's dope.” Gangle was confused.
Why are they talking to me? We don't actually know each other, Pomni and Ragatha aren't here, so why are they bothering?
“Thanks. I just like music and wanted to grab enough stuff to last me a week or two.” She was surprised when Zooble let out a slight chuckle.
“A week? Do you listen to music 24/7? Cause that's a lot for just one week.” Gangle smiled, this was a conversation she could handle, a comfortable topic. Maybe I can actually get to know them, at least a little.
“Yeah, If I'm not at work or in class, I'm listening to music.” Or playing it.
“I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing you a lot then, huh?” GQ said with a smile, she feigned annoyance but she seemed to be happy about this.
“Probably, I didn't even get to the vinyls or cassette today, let alone half of the store.” She pointed to where GQ had grabbed the CD from earlier. GQ nodded her head and glanced at Zooble, who was still wearing a slight smile.
“I look forward to it, you seem interesting enough. Are you getting anything else today?”
“Don't you guys close in like 30 minutes?” Gangle asked.
“I mean, I own the place so I don't really care, but yeah.” GQ responded.
“I'm not gonna hold you up, I can always come back later.” Gangle held her hands up as she spoke, trying to show how absurd the idea of staying open longer than needed, just so she could shop, was.
“I like you.” GQ said as she began to scan Gangle's stack of CD’s.
“Are you actually getting that?” Zooble asked as they pointed to the CD that displayed their band's name.
“Yeah? Why wouldn't I?”
“Cause we're just some crass local band, most people don't actually take us seriously, they just like being able to say they know someone in a band.” Zooble rolled their eyes as they said that last part.
“Well” Gangle paused for a second. “I take you guys seriously.” Gangle watched Zoobles expression falter, just for a second, before returning back to their semi neutral face.
“I don't see why.” Zooble said simply, but there was more to it than that, and Gangle could tell.
“Cause I liked the show. I liked the music. Do i really need anything else? I respect the art, so I'll take the artist seriously.” Zooble just stood there for a second, letting the words sink in, before sighing and shrugging. Gangle listened to Zooble talk as she paid for her CD’s and grabbed the bag, letting it hang at her side.
“I guess not huh?” Zooble smiled the same small smile Gangle had seen earlier. Gangle smiled at Zooble and a comfortable silence filled the air.
“You know,” Zooble spoke slowly. “I'm the drummer for the band, not the bassist.” Gangle nodded.
“Yeah, she mentioned that when we were talking about her tattoos. Why’d you play bass at the show then?”
“Bassist didn't show, so Jax had me cover.” Zooble spoke, clearly annoyed at the whe debacle.
“That's stupid, there was a drummer there. Why not just let you play the drums and find someone to fill in for bass?”
“Thank you!” Zooble threw their hand in the air. “That's what I said!” Gangled smiled at the outburst.
They're cute.
“Are you going to drum at your next show?”
“I'll kill Jax if he tries to make me play Bass again.” Zooble said simply. “So yeah.”
Zooble paused again, clearly thinking.
“Do you wanna come to the next show?” Gangle was surprised. Zooble seemed like the distant type, she was already surprised that they talked to her in the first place, but inviting her to a show was even more wild.
“Uh, yeah” Gangle responded, trying not to let her surprise show. “When is it?” Zoobles eyes widened slightly.
“I don't know yet. But I can let you know when we figure it out.”
“That sounds good to me.” Gangle opened her phone and handed it to Zooble. “I know you're Pomnis roommate and all, but I never see you, so this should work better.” Zooble nodded their head before they took the phone, entering their number and handing the phone back to Gangle. Gangle smiled and put the phone back in her pocket as the silence filled the room once more. “Well on that note, I've got to get back to my dorm and work on my art assignment. Thanks for your help GQ, see you around Zooble.” Gangle said as she waved and headed towards the exit.
“No problem short stack.” GQ said.
“Tell Rags I said hi.” Zooble said quietly.
Gangle nodded her head and exited the record store, she swore she heard the sound of laughter behind the now closed door, but she didn't care, she was happy. There was only one thing on her mind as she got into her car.
I got her number.