six.

my first full week begins this morning and when I drive past to park around the back, I already see a queue of people waiting outside.

every first Monday of the month there's either a special edition or limited edition record which goes on sale and 10,000 hours sends out a sneak peak of the album the night before, either a zoomed in photo of the album cover or a clue on the artist.

the 'fun' part is, people have to enter to win tickets and ten people win, gaining access ten minutes early.

and it's very popular because finneas hides it somewhere in the records and they have to try and find it.

I don't really understand because the winner still has to pay hundreds of dollars for the record but some people really fucking like rare records.

"are you ready for the chaos?" kai grins, fastening their name badge to their jumper and handing me a cup of coffee.

"you're a life saver" I take a sip and watch finneas as he moves a few records about, ready for the chaos to begin. "but no, I wanna be in bed"

"my first manic monday, I swear to god I almost quit. there's two enthusiasts who almost broke the rare record and we had to use the cctv to prove who touched it first. it was literally a hairline off and the guy who lost tried to sue, it was crazy"

"don't tell me they'll be back"

"no they were both banned but it's random people every time although we do get a few regulars who win the contest"

"don't you ever want the record?"

"I would rather never have sex again than attempt to beat some of these people in the fight to find the record"

"what record is it today finny boy?" kai asks finneas and he holds up a limited edition of one of pink floyds album.

"how much is that worth?" I ask him and he laughs "this one is only worth about five hundred dollars, we had one worth twenty thousand"

"five hundred dollars? for a record?"

"my dad bought this when it first came out, it's in mint condition and we trade a lot of his old collection and sell the ones he doesn't listen too"

"that was your dads?"

"yeah, this record store has been in my family five generations, we have a lot of records which are rare, a lot we don't even sell"

"where do you keep those?"

"if I told you sage, I'd have to kill you"

the backroom door opens and a familiar girl steps out, a hood covering her head.

what is billie doing here?

"im going upstairs"

"you good?" kai asks and billie doesn't say anything, reaching behind the desk for a key to the recording studio and bolts up the stairs, slamming the door shut behind her.

I look up at the closed door and furrow my brows.

"she'll probably be in there all day so I need you, kai, to call anyone who's booked in with the red room and make sure either another recoding room is available or have them rearrange their appointment"

"got it boss" kai picks up the phone and appointment book, walking into the back room.

"okay sage I need you to turn around and then you just need to sit at the desk, this isn't as bad as you think it's gonna be a promise"

"so I just sit here and look pretty?"

"exactly, put some music on" I walk over to the laptop and use the password to unlock it, making sure that the aux cord is connected and going onto spotify, typing my name into the search bar.

my main playlists are in my private account which pirate is the only person to have access to it.

but my public account has a bunch of playlists for every mood.

I scroll until I find a playlist to fit my mood, pressing shuffle.

'be honest' by december comes on and I smile, turning up the speakers.

december is one artist im so excited to see performing at peach festival.

finneas goes outside to verify peoples entry tickets and then the doors open.

everyone is running around, desperately hunting through the records to find where it was placed.

finneas sneaks off into the back room to watch everyone on cctv to make sure nothing is damaged or broken during the chaos.

I stay by the desk, keeping my eyes down on my sketchbook and adding shading to the drawing of mattress who wasn't mattress.

I glance my eyes to the clock and it's ten past and no-one has seemed to find it yet so I walk over to the doors, turning the sign to 'open' and unlocking the door.

more people squeeze through the door and I swerve out of the way, walking back to behind the counter.

it takes another five minutes before someone eventually finds it and everyone else outwardly groans, some of them leaving and some people going back to browsing, not wanting to leave empty handed.

that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

the rest of the day runs pretty smoothly and the whole time, billie never leaves the recording studio upstairs and finneas unlocks the door, only to slide in a bag of taco bell and some snacks and closes the door again.

kai tells me that whenever billie is feeling strong emotions, whether it's anger, sadness, loneliness or even happiness, she goes into the studio for hours on end when she has the spare time.

no one ever hears what she does in there but finneas sometimes gets to hear some tracks and apparently the only song people have ever heard is called 'ocean eyes' which she uses at work.

I have no idea what she actually does but with the way kai talks, it seems like billie hardly ever has free time.

just before im about to clock out of work, harry walks into the store, his hands behind his back.

"hey sage, can I talk to you real quick?"

"im about to clock out, why? is my grandma okay?"

"yeah she's fine" harry reassures me, his eyes scanning the rows of records as he walks towards me. "I need a record, for your grandma"

"well im not sure we have any left in stock" I tease and he rolls his eyes looking a little apprehensive.

he's not got my grandma pregnant has he?

"unfortunately marie was cleaning the house and she broke a record, one of yours "

"which record?"

harry pulls his hands from behind his back and holds up 'rubber souls's by the beatles.

whew.

if it was any of frank or my favourites we'd have to fight.

the store is laid out in alphabetical order so I walk over to the B section and scan until I see the category im looking for, flicking through until I find rubber souls, pulling it out.

"is that everything?"

"yes thank you, how's it going here by the way?"

I walk behind the counter and scan the barcode on the back of the record. "oh I love it here, so much better than I thought it was gonna be, that'll be thirty four dollars by the way"

"oh that's so good, I know your grandma was worried you were gonna hate it"

I take the cash from his hand and count it, opening the register to collect his change.

"it's not like that matters, I still would've had to come"

"oh I know that for a fact, you need a ride home?"

"no it's cool, I've got my bike and I wanna pick up something before I go home"

"okay, your grandma is making salmon for dinner"

"okay I won't be long"

harry leaves the store and I follow him to the door, locking it behind him and finally locking the door.

I cannot wait to go home and fucking sleep.

"who was that?" kai asks, walking into my view, making me jump.

"harry, my grandmas boyfriend...I think"

"damn" kai clicks their teeth and grabs their tote bag from the floor. "I thought I was gonna get a chance"

"don't you have a girlfriend?"

"and?"

"dude go home already" I laugh, grabbing my bag, sliding my sketchbook inside.

"make sure that eye candy comes back into this store"

"keep your dick in your pants whore"

"hey!' kai furrows their brows, folding their arms over their chest. "I may be a whore but at least im a sexy whore"

"you're not wrong" I laugh, following kai outside, saying goodbye to finneas who's staying behind to talk to his sister.

ive noticed he keeps looking up to the recording studio and checking his phone.

I just hope he's not stuck at work all night.

✪pirate is online!

blossom: how's your day been?

pirate: really really shit blossom

blossom:do you wanna talk about it?

pirate: life just doesn't seem to be going my way right now and I don't know whether to quit everything or force myself to stay miserable

blossom: I just wish I could help you

pirate: cmere and give me a cuddle

blossom: I don't like cuddles

pirate: YOU DON'T?

blossom: not really

blossom: although I haven't actually touched another person since my ex

pirate: I don't wanna think about you touching your ex

blossom: NOT LIKE THAT

blossom: I mean yes like that but also no

blossom: but I mean like cuddling

blossom: although she wasn't really a cuddling person

pirate: well I am

pirate: I cuddle everyone in my life

pirate: apart from you because you're not here with me

blossom: you'll have to hug me if I come to peach festival

pirate: WOAH

pirate: A HUG IS DIFFERENT THAN A CUDDLE

blossom: does it matter

pirate: YES

pirate: okay hold on I gotta go

pirate: thank you for making me smile

blossom: ill always make you smile

✪pirate is offline!

how are you guys today??