"If there's one thing I've learned from the movies, it is to never move to New York."
"What?"
"Think about it. In every comic book or end of the world movie, everything catastrophe happens in New York or any major city in the United States. Godzilla with Mathew Broderick, Spider-Man, The Day After Tomorrow, The Day The Earth Stood Still, the list goes on, man."
"Sometimes I think you think too much."
"I think that, too."
Most of our conversations were like that. I would make witty, sarcastic, it's-so-obvious-that-you-don't-even-realize-it comments, and he would sit there and listen, sometimes make his own comments, and ultimately, we would achieve nothing. We would still work in the hole-in-the-wall movie/record store, and we would still be social outcasts. That's just the way it was, and we accepted it. Sort of.
A customer came in, interrupting another one of our conversations. She was pretty, blonde, and tan, with little shorts and a tank top on, just like the other ninety-five percent of the female population here. She sauntered up to the counter and gave Brandon her best flirtatious smile. I rolled my eyes and sat on the back counter, watching with a smirk as she leaned toward him. Poor girl doesn't stand a chance.
"Hi…" wow, she even had that high, bubbly voice to go with the looks. How wonderfully cliché.
"Hello." Brandon said in a nearly bored voice. I held in my laugh by taking a bite of my licorice.
"I was just looking for a movie…" what was with this girl trailing off sentences?
"Well, I figured that. There's a fifty percent chance that a customer in this store was looking for a movie, seeming as the only other thing we sell are records, but the percentage rate of you looking for a movie went to about ninety seeming as you don't look like the kind of girl that even knows what a record player is, let alone own one."
"Ha-ha, you are so funny!" The thing is, her laugh actually sounded like that. "Ha ha." Completely fake.
She put her hand on Brandon's arm and he turned around to face me, effectively knocking her paw off him.
"Want to handle this one?" He asked, his eyes pleading.
"Nope. She's all yours, buddy." I replied, swinging my legs and taking another bite of my Red Vine. His eyes narrowed and he turned back to face the girl. She looked like a Becky…maybe a Shelby…
"What movie are you looking for?" He asked her in a forced professional tone.
"One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." She answered, looking down at the glass counter, and quickly scanned over the items placed in there. She didn't find anything particularly appealing, though, and looked back to Brandon. I was laughing at this point.
"Have you read the book?" He asked.
"No."
"Do you know who wrote the book?" He asked next.
"No…" She looked a little scared.
"Did you even know it was a book?" I could tell he was irritated. He gets like this when people see a book-to-movie, without reading the book first.
"Well…no…not until my teacher-" He cut her off with a sigh and looked down briefly. I could this was hard on him.
"Let me guess…one of your teachers' assignments was to read the book and then write a paper on it, but you were too busy 'partying' to actually read the book, and you realized 'hey, it's easier to just watch the movie then buy cliff's notes!' a day before the paper is due?" Her silence, and the way her mouth opened and closed repeatedly like a mentally disabled gold fish, proved his theory correct.
I decided now was the best time to step in, so I jumped off the counter and took the five steps to get where he was standing. I smiled sweetly at her.
"I'm sorry, but we currently don't sell that movie. You can try any other movie store, though, I'm sure they have it." I said in a falsely sweet tone, even though we had about twenty copies of it. She just nodded sadly and exited as quickly as possible.
"And for that…I'm making you move to New York." He told me once she was gone.
"No you're not." I told him, walking away. I walked around the counter and to the record/CD shelves, trying to find something else to listen to. We had been listening to the same Belle & Sebastian CD for the past four hours. I scanned the racks while Brandon still stood at the counter, pinching the bridge of his nose where his glasses lay. He forgot to put his contacts in this morning, so he was subjected to wearing them.
"Oh, she wasn't that bad. Remember the girl who asked if we sold the new Miley Cyrus CD?" I reminded him. He cringed and looked down at the display case. I put on a new CD and walked around the store, absent-mindedly looking over the rows and rows of movies that were lined up against the east wall. I was trying to find a movie that I hadn't seen without any luck.
"You ever get the feeling that we are the living incarnation of the guys in High Fidelity, except in a movie and music store instead of just a record shop?" Brandon asked from behind me. I jumped, not knowing he was so close.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"It's okay. And yes, I do," I said, walking back to the counter. He still stood by the wall of movies "and if we are the living incarnation of them," I continued and he looked at me "then I am Rob." I finished. His shoulders slumped and he walked back to stand where the girl, I decided to call her Becky, was standing before.
"Then who am I?" He asked teasingly. I made a show of pretending to think about it.
"Barry." I said with a smile. He made an incredulous face and I sniggered.
"That's not funny." He stated after I started laughing.
"Oh, but it so is!" I disagreed. He narrowed his eyes.
"I have nothing in common with Jack Black." He said.
"Awh, don't get your panties in a twist, Bran-Bran." I said, turning around to see the many people on the sidewalk looking for a fleeting second into the shop through the window. Another blonde girl looked in the window with distaste until she saw Brandon standing at the counter and almost came in, but when she caught the look on my face, kept walking.
"It truly is amazing how many blonde people live here." I stated.
"Well, we do live in Santa Barbra, and it is the summer time, Tay." Brandon said. I turned around to see he was in the same spot he'd been in, but was now flipping through a copy of Rolling Stone magazine from the seventies.
"Still, it's not just that they're blonde, either. They all seem to have the same mentality, too." I said, turning around and leaning back, my elbows propped up on the counter, my gaze on all of the people walking down the street.
"Maybe they put something in blonde hair dye." He said in a bored voice.
"Someone already came up with that theory." I told him.
"Well, I'm sorry for my incredibly unoriginal state." He replied.
I sighed and turned back around, he was still reading the magazine. I looked at the clock, only four hours into our shifts, and sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.
"If you're Rob, why don't you make a Top Five list?" He offered.
"Of what?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"I can't very well make a Top Five list if I don't have a genre." I said.
"Love songs." He told me. I scrunched my eyebrows together and looked at the article he was reading. It was a review of a Wings album.
"Alright, I will." I said and walked to the music section. I scanned the artists, trying to find the perfect ones. I heard Brandon singing softly to The Smiths song that was currently playing and smiled. I looked at him, standing there leaning against the counter with the copy of Rolling Stone in front of his face, his glasses at the end of his nose and his messy dark brown hair falling slightly in front of his eyes. I shook my head to clear those thoughts away and looked back at the CD's and records, trying to distract myself with my list.
Truth is, I'm in love with Brandon. It was amazingly cliché that I would fall in love with my best friend and co-worker, but I couldn't help it, just like every other girl couldn't. The only thing that wasn't just like a teen romance novel about my situation was that he was honestly and completely not in love with me. He saw me as his best friend, and that was it. That was all we would ever be, and at least I had that, unlike all of the other girls that pined after him on a daily basis.
I took a deep, quiet breath and made up the rest of my list, just listening to him sing so quietly he probably thought I couldn't hear him.
When I was finished, I walked back over to the counter and got out a pencil and a piece of paper. I wrote all of the names of the songs and the band or singer that preformed them before ripping the paper off the legal pad.
"Let me see." Brandon said. I looked up at him and put the paper in his hand. He smiled and looked down at the yellow parchment.
1. Love; John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band
2. Ballad of Love and Hate; The Avett Brothers; Emotionalism
3. Your Song; Elton John, Elton John
4. 1000 Times A Day; The Early November, The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path
5. Anyone Else But You; The Moldy Peaches, The Moldy Peaches
"Last one's a bit of a cliché, don't you think?" He said.
"Hey, I knew of that song before it was in that movie. I knew of it when it first came out, and it is one of my favorites." I defended, snatching the list back. He shook his head and took it back.
"I'm just saying. It's a great list, Taylor." He said. I smiled sheepishly and thanked him while he gave me his own smile and reached over to grab tape.
"What are you doing?" I asked cautiously.
"Hanging this up." He said while walking over to the one podium by the music section that wasn't covered in posters and stickers and clippings from magazines. He taped the entire thing, so it looked like it was laminated, at the average line of sight and walked back over to my triumphantly.
"What's that for? It's just a stupid list I made." I said. He just shook his head.
"We don't have an 'Employee Pick' thing anymore, since it's just you and me who work here now, so that entire podium can be a Top Five list podium. A complete podium covered in Taylor Chuck's favorite's." He explained. I just stared at him in insularity.
"It's not like Johnson's going to get mad or anything. He tells us to hang up things we like all the time, and besides, it's not like we get many customers anyways, so this will give you something to do besides change a CD or watch a movie." Once he finished, the Smiths EP we were listening to abruptly stopped and he smiled at me. I walked over to the CD player and took the disk out, putting the case back and walking over to the movie wall.
"I'm watching a movie, want to join?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Sure, I'll just run next door and get food and drinks." He said, putting the magazine that he was holding again back on the counter and walking to the door. The bell announced that he had left while I scanned the racks. I found a movie and smiled, walking back to the window where the TV and video players were.
Once the movie was at the Menu, I turned back to the display case/counter and reached down to the little metal handle and pulled out the makeshift couch. It was just one big drawer, but when we complained two years ago that whenever we watched a movie we would have to sit on the stools, our boss, Johnson, told us to make it more comfortable, so we moved everything out of that drawer and put in a lot of foam that was covered in a maroon bed sheet, effectively turning it into a couch/seat.
Just as I sat down, Brandon walked back in with an assortment of energy drinks and snacks from the convenience store next door. He opened the microwave and put his popcorn in while I opened a bag of chips. While the popcorn was cooking, he looked a the TV next to the microwave and smiled.
"Feeling nostalgic?" He asked me while I nodded vigorously. He chuckled and took his popcorn out.
I chose The Rocky Horror Picture Show because I came in the store looking to buy it on Brandon's first day of working here.
"Do you have The Rocky Horror Picture Show?" I asked him.
"Uh…I think we do." He replied, walking around the counter to where the movies were. I followed him and while he was looking for it, I started to browse the other titles. He finally found it and I mumbled a thanks. He rung it up and we made small talk.
"So, did your boyfriend or someone recommend this movie? Maybe you over heard the guy you like saying it was his favorite movie and you wanted there to be something you two had in common?" He asked in the same tone he used with Becky.
"No, I lost my copy because we just moved here and in all the confusion it never came here, and I would seriously be worried if my boyfriend or the guy I fancied likes to watch Tim Curry sing songs while being dressed in drag." I said.
"I like this movie." He informed me.
"Well, then I'm worried for you to." I said. He narrowed his eyes at me while I smirked. This was when Johnson actually made appearances at the store, and he apparently heard the entire conversation.
"What's a girl like you watching a movie like The Rocky Horror Picture Show?" He asked.
"Movie enthusiast." I said, pointing to myself.
"Uh-huh," he said, flicking his teeth and shooting a look at Brandon who shrugged. "what's the first rule of Fight Club?" Johnson asked.
"Don't talk about Fight Club." I answered, leaving out the 'duh' that my tone implied I was going to say.
"What's the second rule?" Brandon asked. I could see where this was going.
"Do not talk about fight club," Johnson opened his mouth but I beat him to the punch "Third rule of Fight Club, if someone says "stop", or goes limp, taps out the fight is over. Fourth rule of Fight Club, only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule, one fight at a time. Six rule, no shirt, no shoes. Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to. Eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight." By the time I was finished my voice was terribly bored. I could see Brandon smiling out of the corner of my eye, but I was looking at Johnson.
"Favorite Cary Grant movie?" Was his next question.
"Arsenic and Old Lace."
"What kind of movie was Almost Famous?"
"Semi-autobiographical."
"What kind of movie was Vampire in Brooklyn?"
"A bad one."
He smiled and then said, "Since you're new to the area, how would you like to have a job?" and that's where it all started. I looked around the store and agreed almost immediately, then he introduced himself and Brandon to me.
That was four years ago and we still worked here, and I have reason to believe we always will. We were both managers, and the only employees at this store, and I had a feeling it might be like that forever as well.
He sat next to me and grabbed the remote, pressed play and set it back down in between our legs.
"I would've started it." I said as the opening credits started.
"Shut up." He said and threw a handful of popcorn at me. I scowled at him and he turned and looked at me, immediately laughing. I just scowled while he picked a piece out of my hair and popped it in his mouth, still smiling.
"I hope you choke on that." I said and he made a show of swallowing.
"Then you'd just have to do the Heimlich maneuver on me." He said.
"Who says that I wouldn't sit here while your face turned blue?" I challenged.
"Because then you would have to work here all by yourself, because we both know that Johnson can not find a replacement for me." He said. I just rolled my eyes and turned back to the movie while he reached and grabbed another piece of popcorn on the other side of my head. I scowled again and shook my head, pieces of popcorn flying everywhere, and he wrapped his arm loosely around my shoulders. It was these little things he did that broke me down.
We kept watching the movie, the only sounds besides the TV was the occasional sip of a drink and the crunch of a chip, until we heard the little bell above the door that signaled a new customer rang. Without pausing the movie we both turned our heads to see a girl that looked around fifteen walking down the movie aisle.
"Remember when we were that age?" I whispered to Brandon.
"Yeah, I started working here when I was fifteen."
"So did I." I said as we continued to watch the girl move down one of the movie walls. She stopped for a second, bit her lip and picked up a movie before walking over to us. I turned around completely so I was sitting on my knees on the "couch", by elbows propped up on the counter. She had pin-straight, black hair and very green eyes, and she was slightly pale. Not the degree of pale that myself and Brandon are, but still pale.
She was wearing a Sonic Youth shirt and black skinny jeans, her converse had writing all over them and she carried a mini messenger bag.
"Hi…" She said shyly, putting the movie on the counter. I looked at the title. How I Won The War…
"Nice choice." I complimented while ringing it up.
"Thanks…I lost my copy. New house, lots of confusion, you know how it is." She said.
"Yes. Yes, I do." I replied while she gave me the money. Brandon just kept silent through the entire exchange, a small smile on his face.
The girl looked behind me to see the movie and smiled.
"I love that movie," she said quietly and then looked back up at me "well, thanks, see you." She said and walked out of the store. I turned around and sat back down and Brandon did the same.
"She was like a miniature you!" He cooed.
"Can we go back to watching the movie, please?" I asked with humor in my voice.
"A replica of you, besides the looks, walks in this store with the exact same problem you had when you first came here, then comments on how much she loves the movie you lost, and you're just going to forget about it?" He said. He was right though, even about the looks. My light brown hair fell to my elbows, bangs partially covering turquoise eyes. I wasn't one of those stick skinny girls; I had curves, though I didn't show them. I wore a T-shirt and loose jeans everyday, and usually ripped Converse that got getting dirtier and dirtier everyday.
"Yep, and when the miniature you walks in this store, you'll act like this too." I told him.
"No, that won't ever happen. There are no miniature me's walking around on the planet Earth; I am completely original and unique." He said cockily.
"You're a bit full of yourself, has anyone ever told you that?" I asked him.
"Yes, and I don't disagree."
I just shook my head and turned to watch the movie again. He was still grinning like a fool as we watched the rest of the movie in companionable silence. No one else entered the shop until the movie was actually finished.
I thought it was going to be another one of Brandon's groupies, or just another air-headed girl who had to read a book and decided to watch the movie instead, but in walked a boy.
He was taller then Brandon, but he looked to be our age, with dark, naturally black hair that fell in front of his blue eyes. He was muscular, but not a serious weight lifter. If he didn't have the muscles, he would be lanky.
"Hey," he said and I snapped my eyes up to his while he smiled. I could see Brandon eyeing him in the corner.
"Hi…" I said. I almost started gagging; I sounded like Becky. He face turned thoughtful for a second before a nervous smile came on his face.
"You wouldn't happen to sell old records would you? That's probably a dumb question, but I'm looking for The Moody Bluesalbum with Nights In White Satin." He said just as nervously. I smiled and laughed lightly before walking around the counter and to the music section. He followed me, and Brandon kept his skeptical eye on him.
"Yeah, we sell it. It's nothing to be nervous about." I told him as I flipped through the records. I found it and handed it to him while he looked it over.
"It shouldn't be, I know, but…I just went into three other record shops and at two of the places they laughed at me and at the other, the girl behind the counter gave me this blank stare and kept chewing her gum." He explained. He nodded and said that he'd buy it, and we walked back to the counter. Brandon was now leaning against the counter that I was on when the whole Becky thing happened.
"Brandon," I addressed him, without actually looking up at him since I was ringing the record up.
"Taylor." He said in the same tone.
"The CD's done." I said and it looked like he just realized that the store was completely quiet except for me and the customer talking. His eyes snapped to the stereo, and he changed the album.
By the time he was back in his original standing place, I was done with ringing up the customer.
"Thanks. Come again." I said in true store clerk fashion. Why we said that, I didn't know. Most people would come in once to buy a record that some kid wanted on their birthday or something anyways.
"Oh, I will…Taylor was it?" He said holding out his hand. I nodded and took his hand.
"I'm David." He said when he let go. There weren't any electric charges or my hand didn't feel any different when he let go, telling me that I was destined to be with him or something, but Brandon made it out to be like that.
"Oh, look, Taylor! You have a groupie just like me!" He said. I just rolled my eyes.
But he did come again. And again. And again. And again.
Soon he was coming everyday, and after a while he stopped making up excuses like 'my sister wanted this movie' or 'my mom always talked about this record' and just came for his own accord.
We talked and talked, sometimes for hours, while Brandon stayed in the background silently watching, or pretending to watch a movie when he was really eavesdropping. I didn't care, because I really did like David. I wasn't in love with him, and I never would be, because that position was taken up by Brandon, and I'm a firm believer in the idea that you only love someone once, and once David would leave the shop and I'd look at Brandon, nothing else mattered, because at the end of the day, I was still in love with him. I was in love with him, and he wasn't in love with me, so why wasn't I allowed to find someone that did like me?
And David was just that because after three weeks of coming into the shop, he finally asked me out.
"I know this might seem…kind of forward…but, do you want to go on a date with me?" He asked just as he was leaving.
"I'd love to." I said with a smile. Brandon was beside me, facing the other way and watching a movie, his popcorn chewing stopped almost immediately.
David smiled and we set up a date for the next day. Once he left I collapsed on the makeshift couch before me.
"Wow." I said in a whisper.
"At least I don't date my groupies." Brandon mumbled.
"I actually like David, I'll have you know, and he happens to like me, so please let me enjoy this. Come on, sadly this is my first date that I have ever had, so don't ruin it." I said. Brandon smiled sadly.
"I won't." I nodded and turned back to the screen.
"But if he hurts you, he's a dead man." He said after a minute. I just smiled and put a popcorn kernel in my mouth.