Today Rose had her hair piled on her shoulder in a thick fishtail braid that was still somehow impressively long. Maybe it was the fact she never cut it and only colored the tips of it, but it definitely drew attention wherever she went. The girl was dressed in a sweater that was pink and purple striped and jeans that hugged her hips. To complete the look she had on a pair of worn looking sneakers as well as a thick looking white coat. It was still winter, why would she not go outside in a jacket?

Either way, Rose was looking for some new music. With her night activities completely full she needed to lose herself more and more, and one of the ways she did that was with music and stargazing. So she found herself at this music store she’d gotten the name of off the web and she figured she could actually find some older pop tunes she licked.

So, as she pushed the door open, she shivered at the wave of heat that came from the store and then shuffled to the section that was clearly labeled ‘Pop’.

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Another day another dollar, but, unlike most jobs, this one housed a single happy employee manning the cash register for the moment, one Trinity McAllen happily arranging vinyls in the glass display case as she hummed along to a Pat Benatar tune she’d playing overhead and she hummed along after finishing to settle to other chores. While it was a small local store it was packed with shelves of CDs and records and tapes; an MP3 docking station to purchase MP3s, and music gift cards, and each remained in place and ready under Trinity’s expert eye, old classics in the second hand second proudly displayed by the 20 year old as she smiled. She was dressed smartly with a shirt in bright pink just off the shoulders, a mini ruffled skirt and today, zebra leggings with legwarmers and shi-tops. Her eyeshadow was glittering violet with pink, and she practically danced as she moved, resisting the urge to belt out the lyrics to the radio. After all, she was on the clock; so when she saw Rose, Trinity was beaming brightly.

“Hello hello! How can I help you?” She asked cheerily.


Her lilac eyes drifted up when she heard a voice and then blinked at all the bright colors the purple haired girl was wearing. Honestly? She felt like she stepped into a time machine and went back to the eighties with the girl’s fashion and just overall look.

Which, she figured, wasn’t a bad thing. Everyone had that thing that they loved. Maybe this girl’s was eighties.

“I’m just looking for some old pop music. Just.. something sort of relaxing that I can stargaze to?” Rose knew that was oddly specific, but it’s what she wanted. Her face remained pleasant even as she flitted through the CDs from the nineties, because she loved that time. She was half mad at herself that she wasn’t born earlier. She could have enjoyed the music without any shame instead of hiding it on her MP3 player and feeling like it was a dirty little secret. Ah, guilty pleasures. “I suppose it’s called bubblegum pop?”

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“Bubblegum?” Trinity beamed, nodding. “Well I’m not great at bubblegum but I can make suggestions. What kind of energy do you relax to? If you want low energy, I’d try Celine Dion or Madonna.” Trinity nodded, The second was not missed, and Trinity smiled. “There’s also individual MP3s, of course. If you like Soundtracks, there’s Space Jam for a couple songs, or - you know? You may enjoy Elton John for something soothing. And if you like more bounce there’s some boy bands!”

Admittedly, Trinity wasn’t sure exactly the direction to take bubblegum - she always thought it sounded happy. And happy was good.


Madonna wasn’t quite her cup of tea, but Celine Dion was one of her absolute favorites. Who said she didn’t have taste in music? Rose would actually scoff at people if they made fun of her selection.

“I love old boy bands like Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men..” Her face flushed as she spoke because it was a guilty pleasure. With a little clearing of her throat, the girl’s braid was flicked off her shoulder and Rose just fidgeted a little more. She then proceeded to play with her fingernails and took a deep breath.

“But ...Hm. I was thinking of soft, slow songs. It doesn’t have to be pop, but.. Just something.. most people would take bubble baths to? I don’t know if I’m helping or confusing you.”

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“Depending on age,” Trinity smiled. “You might like Enya, or Era - Hanson for something happy actually without too much dance to it -” She thought, rummaging in the CDs herself. “I think we might have some ballads in here as well. Compilations are great at helping to relax.” Trinity nodded. “Admittedly my bubble bath time is with Cyndi Lauper.” She smiled sheepishly, then motioned. “Relaxing music needs to fit your personality. You ever try N’SYNC or New Kids on the Block? Those are also some nice old boy bands.” She grinned. “Maybe Aaron Carter too.”


Ballads? Ballads were good. She gave a little noise and a wide grin at that before she dusted her own sweater off. Who was Cyndi Lauper? Rose was looking more and more confused as Trinity started talking and he let out a slow laugh before rubbing at her face.

“I like N*SYNC! I know that one. ...I think I know Enya. I can’t be sure, but if you could just… load me up with a few CDs and I can pick and chose and make a playlist for?” She looked hopeful, honestly. At least Trinity had an understanding of what she was going for. It was really hard to describe her music choices to someone without getting judged, but here? She didn’t feel judged. It was very, very refreshing.

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“Sure! One moment.” Trinity moved behind her keys, ducking behind the counter to fetch her demo CDs and upon receiving the discs, she moved for the demo station. It was a sale station resembling a jukebox, but she set it up expertly, ensuring it was prepared before motioning.

“It operates coin-free, all you do is press the number of the song you like.” She reached, indicating a few CD cases - at least, the track listing scans from them, each with a number sharpied by it.

“I have the numbers here. All you need to do is hit the matching button and the jukebox does the rest. Ah!” And she fetched out the headphones, offering them to her. “And these will help!”


Well, that wasn’t what she expected, honestly, but you did what you had to do. She took the pair of headphones awkwardly and just gave a little noise before slipping them over her ears. She looked at the selection that was offered to her and just hummed.

“So, the numbers I’m hitting are the ones I’m purchasing?” She wanted to be sure she got this right and didn’t over spend. Rose scraped together every penny she had to take these little shopping sprees. It sucked, being poor and having a free ‘job’ so to speak. She loved her internship, but Christ, did she need some actual cash soon. Maybe after graduation..

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“This is for demos.” Trinity nodded. “The purchases are made at the kiosk, but I’d be happy to help you with it.” Trinity nodded, motioning to it.

“It’s… Well, about what you’d expect.”


She gave a soft smile and nodded before focusing on her song selections. She chose a wide array of things that calmed her down, even making mental notes to check more of these artists out later when she got home.

It was a good half hour of standing there picking songs, choosing everything carefully and deliberately. “Okay..” She said, pulling her headphones off, grinning. “I think we’re all set. What do I do now..?”

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“Alright,” Trinity beamed, and walked to the kiosk. “You can search by song name and artist on here, and there’s a small set up to make your purchase, like Amazon or similar. You’ll be able to locate prices as well before you buy.”

Trinity nodded, motioning. “There’s a ten second soundbyte, but those never tell you enough, so we keep the demo station.”


Rose just nodded a bit more and walked behind Trinity and pulled her wallet out of her jacket pocket. “Okay. So…”

The purchase was finished and exchanged, and honestly? Rose was even more confused about things than before, but she knew she had her music and could now relax easy tonight. “Thank you for all your help! I’m definitely going to come back when I need more music.” Hopefully it wouldn’t be soon. She felt like she spent too much already. Honestly Rose just hated spending money.

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“Hey, no problem.” Trinity nodded, beaming. “We got all eras and types. Maybe next time you can try some stuff from the 70’s or Elvis.”

Trinity may be 80’s but she was certainly happy to recommend other eras.

“Anything else today miss?” She grinned.


“Oh, not miss. I’m Rose.” She laughed and shook her head a little. “I’m not one for oldies that old, but I’ll give one or two songs a shot.” WIth that, she gathered her bag and shuffled it into her jacket pocket as well before starting to walk backwards.

“I’ll recommend this place to a few of my friends, so expect business to pick up!”

With a laugh, she spun around and headed out the door, braid swinging. No, she didn’t realize she didn’t catch the other’s name, but she would definitely be back.