Member
AlteredTundra
Tim the Yeti
WhiteAngel25
Lexisheeps
Krasnaya
Aces Away
Zoldyck
Foster
Vampiretwilight
TIMESTAMP: Sometime after Good Enough Reasons
LOCATION(s):Revolution Record, Beverly Hills
SONG: Potentially The Interlude
STARING: Kelsey Devon & Isaiah Strickland
The sweet smell wafted out of the break room in waves, an aroma that assaulted the nose despite the flowery smell it produced. The open window only did so much for the stench of smoke that lingered in the air like a miasma, permeating every nook and cranny nestled in the quaint room. Kelsey’s index finger held the trigger of the lavender Febreze can with a vengeance, no part of that room was left untouched by her onslaught of fumigation, today was not going to be the day she got caught smoking by her grandparents, or worse, her mother. The Devon family weren’t exactly big fans of smoking weed, although they let her grandfather smoke a pack of whatever cigarette brand he bought a day and saw no problem, her small little indulgences would be such an incident she does not want to deal with. Thus are her days of gassing the break room with whatever air freshener she could find. The streaming sound of gasses being propelled out of the purple can in her hand was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach. She was hungry before, she is even more hungry now, and the probably year-old snacks that lay laden in the small kitchenette weren’t going to help at all. That was no matter though! She had the insight to order food soon after her friend’s departure from the store, usually, she would’ve got something for Lucian, but he had somewhere to be, or so she was told. She felt happy for her friend’s opportunity, Kelsey knows he will do amazingly, that passion she had seen him place within that drumset was one she had never seen before.
Kelsey relocked the door to the breakroom to let the open window and Fabreze work their magic, she couldn’t risk any spillover into the front room, to which she saw as barren as it was before, nothing new. She peeked her head out from behind the counter to see if Lucian had flipped the sign as she had asked and there it was, indeed flipped. Kelsey laid back into the office chair that sat behind the desk, sifting her hand through the crate of records that sat beside the gramophone, finally, her hand landed on the one she wanted, “Ooo, Sundial!” Kelsey sat up, replacing the long-finished vinyl on the player with the one she had selected. The sound of the record melted like butter in her ears, closing her eyes as she fully laid back in the chair, awaiting the sweet noise of the shop door opening with the delivery guy, God, the food was about to be just heavenly to the taste buds of Kelsey. She couldn’t wait.
Isaiah had tried to sit and get ready to enjoy the game after his conversation with Spencer. He tried. However, he couldn’t reach down deep enough to find the will to pretend that he gave even a little ounce of care for what was about to happen on the Pirates field. Zay was gone before the first whistle even sounded. After leaving Beverly Hills High, the school's resident activist wondered what to do with his sudden free time? He could follow his best friend to the diner and play wingman for the Russian girl he was in love with? Or he could’ve gone straight home and spent the evening with his dads and sister watching some old eighties movie and eating popcorn? Maybe he could even reach out to the man from the letter? The man that claimed to be his father.
Zay wasn’t sure what to do or where to go. So far, his new year, new him motto hadn’t really come to fruition. Nobody had noticed him, nobody had acknowledged him. So far he was still just Isaiah, that black kid in class. He found himself in one of the few places that he could consider a place of peace; the record store. Amongst the sea of vinyls, retro sleeved art and glittering vintage disco balls, Zay found quiet. He was a creature of habit; seeking out new releases from up and coming hip hop artists before inevitably making his way to the classics section. PAC, Biggie, NWA, they were men of the streets, men of the game, men who once upon a time someone like Isaiah; a voice with something to say, a voice struggling to say it,
The bell above the shop door rang as he entered his Mecca. His dark eyes glanced at the solo employee sitting at the desk before he made his way across to his usual perch at the New Release Bin. The smell of the vinyl filled him with a feeling of comfort, like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter night. He pondered whether any of these new players would strike a chord in his heart and help him find the next words for his own opus at the Dolla Lounge.
The chime of that old bell above the door could not be stopped. A sound that pervaded the ears of Kelsey each time it rang without fail, capturing her attention in one fell swoop. Her eyes jumped open, repositioning herself in the car in order to see who walked through the door of the establishment. It was a regular, and one of the few she was rather disappointed to acknowledge that she didn’t completely know as well as the rest, even more so given the fact she might have shared a class with this one. “Oh, you’re not the Chinese food guy. But still! Welcome!”
Kelsey gave the boy a soft wave and smile as she watched him head over to the bins. A fair few students from Beverly Hills High found solitude within the walls of the store, they made up one of the most consistent customer bases for the store, funnily enough, it is also why some people in the school know her face, not a lot know her name though. That seemed to be the same problem she was having right now. “You’re the boy that always comes in here for Hip-Hop right? Reggae and Jazz too I think. I doubt you’ll find too much in there, I think my grandfather already emptied it for the next shipment. You like the older stuff right, 90s and back? If you look way down that row there is a shelf packed with stuff that might suit your fancy.” Kelsey pointed her hand out to the box she had mentioned, giving him an easier path than her instructions may have offered. “We also likely have something in the back if you can’t find what you are looking for. My grandparents also keep a lot of signed stuff back there they wouldn’t mind to sell, so if you are looking for something special like that ask away! If the name tag hasn’t given it away, my name is Kelsey, this is a bit embarrassing to ask since I’ve seen you come in here a lot, and we literally go to the same school, but what’s yours?”
Wait.
Hold up.
What?
She actually knew his genres? Now that was some good customer service. The amount of times Isaiah had stepped foot in the record store and not once spoken to the girl behind the counter beyond a pleasant nod and a thank you when he purchased something was beyond surprising. Now that the wall of customer service silence had been broken down, he finally got a good look at her, like really looked. She was right! They did go to the same school, they were in a lot of the same classes. It didn’t surprise him though that they hadn’t really crossed paths, no one really knew who he was and well, how could anyone not look at her?
She was stunning.
“My name? Uh MY name?” What on Earth was he doing? Why was he stumbling over his words? Zay considered himself a highly skilled orator, a lyricist, he was on the debate team, young politicians and he rapped on stage in front of hundreds and yet he couldn’t even remember his name when asked by a pretty girl? What the actual fu… “Isaiah. Isaiah Strickland but most of my friends…ugh, sometimes people call me Zay.” He quickly shuffled his attention back to the dusty old vinyls on which his fingertips were lightly tapping with a fervent nervousness. “Thank you for all the advice but honestly? The most I just got from you was that now I’m craving some Chinese food.” Isaiah turned back towards the girl and offered up his widest brightest smile. He did not for much consider himself an attractive boy, especially not in comparison to some of the other men in his class and school but he was always proud of his smile. The first thing his grandmother ever said about his birth father was that Zay and he shared a smile. “I was surprised to see the place open. I thought maybe like everyone you’d have shut up shop and gone to the game.”
“I can’t blame you, the food I ordered had been on my mind before you even came in here!” Kelsey chuckled a bit, she felt good to finally put a name to a face, especially one that was handsome to look at as well. She wasn’t the best with names, but she sure as hell tried her best to remember the names of the regulars. “And Isaiah, that’s a nice name, I’ll make sure to remember it! And honestly, I was never the biggest fan of sports. Win or lose, it’ll be some big unnecessary spectacle that wouldn’t change my school pride one bit. Why be there when I could be somewhere I actually enjoy? How about you? Not many as crazy as us to be at a record store.”
His smile, God, his smile. It glowed like the beams of sunlight that often penetrated the front glass windows of the shop, descending from his visage like light did from the sun with a warmth that seared into the mind of the beholder, one unmatched in the archives of her memories. They had been going to school together for nearly 4 years, and he’s been to the shop for a time around that number but this had been the first time Kelsey had really, truly noticed Isaiah Strickland. “Off topic but, I doubt you haven’t been told this over a million times Isaiah, or can I call you Zay? I like nicknames. But! You have a truly amazing smile, I am talking like top tier!” Kelsey felt her ears burn with the heat that surged onto both sides of her head, she moved her hands from the wooden desk they had rested on to her hair in an attempt to quietly cover hear ears which were glowing with the blush that avoided her face. She had only formally introduced herself to the guy only minutes ago, and her ears were over here shining as red as a ruby, God she was helpless.
Isaiah was taken aback by the fact that Kelsey was even giving him more than a courteous time of day. In this environment, it was her job to enquire about a customer's needs and wants and feelings on a particular stock but the look in her eyes, the cadence of her voice, could it be? Was she actually interested in something he had to say? “Honestly? Football was never my thing. I’m very much a basketball kind of guy.” It was a secret of a different kind. To most, if not everyone, Isaiah was but a face in the crowd but the boy could play ball. He was on the BHHS basketball team but he didn’t get much play time because it conflicted with the debate team and despite his love of hoops, he knew where his true passion lay.
Social justice. Reform. Change. They were all things, all callings with intention that acted like a chain around his heart. His entire life, Isaiah had suffered prejudice of some form. There was racism for the color of his skin. There were those that mocked him for having two homosexual fathers. There were even those that dragged him through the dirt and broken glass for being adopted. Zay wanted to be the change that he sought in the world. He opened himself up to activism and for the last four years, he would always find himself walking the halls of Beverly Hills High or standing in the quad with a clipboard; fighting the good fight and waving his petition in the faces of all to try and make the world a better place. The causes he fought for were numerous but he was dedicated to every one of them.
Hold up now. Wait a minute. Did she just….compliment him? Now this was the truest test to date of the new Isaiah. He had promised himself that senior year would be different, that this year he would take chances. Once upon a time, he had a brief relationship with Kimber Benson. They had been friends for a long time and it seemed like a natural step but in reality, it was the most forced thing either of them had ever done. They did it because it was expected of them, not because they wanted to. Luckily, Zay and Kim were on the same page and ended it before it got too out of their control. Relationships had a tendency to do that in Beverly Hills. Did he need to put on some act with Kelsey? Should he pretend to be more like Ethan? Or Theo? Did she think he was somebody else?
“You can call me Zay.” He smiled again before continuing. “And thank you! Apparently I get it from my dad? My birth one, not either of my white ones.” Isaiah chuckled softly to himself as he lifted his hands from the record and wrapped his fingers around his backpack straps. “I’ve never met him so I couldn’t tell you for sure. But my smile is nothing really in comparison to…well your everything.”
Kelsey felt as though she wanted to sink right into the chair she sat upon, sink right out of view. She questioned what powers that be gave her the confidence to spout such words out loud for him to hear. Kelsey was never the most brazen person, but in that moment the words flowed from her like water down a dainty stream. She wasn’t one unfamiliar with giving compliments to people, she felt no type of way giving one to any of her close friends, but to new people? That was a different story. She wasn’t the old social butterfly her mother and Grandparents used to know her as, she wasn’t that little girl anymore, that part left with her father. She was more secluded, if not on one of her A.W.O.L. drives to wherever the highway took her, one could know exactly where to find her, and that was where the two were just now.
Kelsey felt the subtle rise in her heart beat, like the rising of the drumline that hummed out of the gramophone besides her ear, her heart jumped slightly at the advent of Isaiah’s words and didn’t dare to retreat from the peak. Her nails softly scratch against the grain of the desk as she looked at Isaiah. There goes that smile again, who would’ve thought something so simple as a smile would’ve drawn her in, certainly not Kelsey for sure, but she’d likely never forget his name after today. “My…everything? I- Wow, I don’t even know how to respond to that one. N-Not like in a bad way, like in a way where I am genuinely at a loss for words. I’ve gotten pretty and cute before but to be compared to a smile as amazing as yours, that's a different one for sure. I like it! Thank you, Zay!”
Kelsey smiled back to him, although all the smiles she gave to the customers were genuine, there was something more to this one, one she couldn’t exactly pinpoint to herself. This was the first time she had ever smiled so wide at a compliment, it felt different than the ones she would receive from friends and family, it made her feel giddy, more than usual compliments, like it had seared itself into her brain along with the smile he had flashed towards her. It was a good feeling, no, a great one, and she liked it. “I know this may be off topic but you're adopted? Not asking in a rude way or anything, just genuinely curious.”
“Yeah!” Zay wasn’t even sure how to take offense from such a question, let alone such a question being uttered from this girl. Even though he had his issues, like most children who were chosen and tossed aside, he was very thankful that someone had taken him in, that someone had provided him with a family. “I was a baby. So I don’t really remember anything different than the life I already know. My Dad’s are great, they’re really just such sweet guys. Suuuuper white though, one’s Italian and the other’s Irish. And they run a furniture making business together.” At this point he wasn’t hundred percent sure what to do with his hands, so Isaiah swiftly stuck them in his pockets. Was that normal? “I’ve got a sister too! She’s annoying but yeah, she’s family. I’ve only recently really started looking at where I came from, like originally.”
Something about chatting with Kelsey, as nervous as he was, made him feel incredibly at ease. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to tell her everything and tell her now. If anything he was holding back because he wanted to have more than just the one conversation with her. “What about you? What’s your hero origin story?”
So cringe, Zay. So cringe.
“Hmm, I would like to think it's similar to Spider-Man’s, but really there's a lot different. Like him, I am also a New York baby, born and sort of raised, but not in Queens though! Manhattan was my home for a while, which is obviously the best Borough by the way, but anyway, I lived there with my parents until the 7th-ish grade, a lot is pretty hazy from back then. My father managed my grandparents record label while we lived there, both of my parents are just great people.” one of Kelsey’s hands slipped into her pocket to pull out her wallet, a pale, forest green faux leather thing she was never caught without. Inside the wallet, besides the assortment of bills lay two solitary photo strips. Kelsey pulled out the more worn looking one, unfolding it, and holding it up for Isaiah to catch a view of. It was a simple strip of cascading photos, one after another in an even row depicting Kelsey and her parents, and the contents of the photos were naught but utter randomness. The three of them took on a different pose in every picture, silly faces galore as the photos showed out the life she once had, the life she yearned to experience if but only one more time. “These are my folks, I bet you've seen my grandparents before, the tall older dude and my short older lady? That's them. Back on track now! My mother and I moved to California in that 7th grade year, after my father. He… he passed that year. I try not to think about it too much, it was a lot then, still a lot now. But, everything led me to where I am now, in this shop right here with you.”
Kelsey brought her arm down and turned the photo back towards herself. It was one she had seen a million times, a set of photos she looked at practically every day of her life. Those photos she kept in her wallet meant more to her than a lot of things in her life, memories of people she loved, people she can never see again. Kelsey folded the photo back up again, sliding it back into position besides the other photo in her wallet. She couldn't get herself too worked up, she didn't want to cry in front of Isaiah, especially not right now. “So yeah, unfortunately no siblings, though sometimes I do wish I had some, being an only child gets boring sometimes, though now I got this shop to keep me occupied. Y'know they had me working here when I was twelve?! That can't be allowed right?” Kelsey laughed a bit, trying to lighten the mood if only but a bit. “Honestly, it's cool that you are looking into your origins, I hope it's been going well for you, I can't imagine where I would even start if I was in your shoes so definitely props given.”
Isaiah was taken aback by how open and honest Kelsey was being. For all intents and purposes he was nothing but a stranger. Then again, sometimes a stranger can end up being exactly what you need at the time you need it. Strangers can be the most impactful people in your life and you may not even know it. Zay felt like a stranger in his own life, like he didn’t belong where he was, like he was simply a placeholder until the real person whose spot he took would arrive to claim what he had taken. He didn’t doubt that his adopted family and his few friends loved him, for each of them, strangers, took in someone that shouldn’t have been there and welcomed him in, just like Kelsey was doing at that moment.
“I’m sorry to hear about your Dad. That must be really hard.” Isaiah wanted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder. He could see in her pretty eyes just how much pain she was carrying, pain hidden by the scratches of old vinyl and drowned out by the best and rhythm of the music she wrapped herself in. “If it’s any help, I’ve got three dads apparently, so you can take your pick of one of those.” He awkwardly smiled again. He was not good at this. In the slightest. “What I mean, like, you know I’m not saying replace your dad or anything but…sorry. Just…sorry.” Isaiah Strickland, the great orator. “Working since you were twelve? Yeah definitely not legal. Though I was helping my dads do their taxes when I was like seven. Somehow neither of them are particularly math orientated. Must be something I get from my genetics.”
“You don't have to apologize, Zay. I get you trying to comfort me, thank you.” She knew he was only trying to help, and to be fair, she wasn't the best comforter herself. Kelsey never wanted to burden anyone with her problems, they didn't deserve to carry the weight she carried, it was her trial, and hers alone. Like Atlas, the weight she bore on her shoulders was the most she could bear, plus a little more. A weight that threatened to topple off her small frame at the slightest bump on the road, unleashing the floodgates that were fastened locks that cracked and squealed under the bulging hurt burrowed in her mind. “And hey! We have more in common than I thought initially, I get my impeccable skills to run a record store all by myself from my genetics too. I wonder how we haven't talked to each other earlier.”
Although their circumstances stood in a stark contrast, Kelsey felt that, in a way, they could relate. It was a weird sense, not backed up by a lot she knew about Isaiah but from that was what she got from their conversation. She felt like she could be more free, like she didn't have to put a persona around him and could just be open in a way. “Oh yeah! I know this is like a really big back track but back on music, if you look right above where I am sitting there is a photo of me and my grandparents with the members of Digable Planets. Though I might point it out because you give me the vibe you may know them, I wish I could remember the story behind it but I'm sure if he were here right now my grandpa would have some long winded tale that sounds way cooler than it probably was. Also do you have an Instagram or number I could get, I think I have a few playlists you would like!” That wasn't the only reason she wanted his number, but he didn't need to know that.
Did she? Did she just?
What?
“..y..ye..Yeah! O..of course you can have my number!” Now he just had to remember it. No one had ever asked Isaiah for his number before, let alone a girl! This was absolutely, unequivocally unheard of except for in his fantasies. “I’d love to hear your playlists!” He had chosen this year to be his year. This was meant to be the year that Zay finally found out who he was and stood out from the ideal that people expected him to be. So far it hadn’t gone to plan but in these brief moments with Kelsey, it felt like maybe it was finally happening? Pulling a slip of paper and a pen from his pocket, he scribbled his phone number and socials down. “My Insta and X are on there too. Zay4TC ... also I really love Digable Planets, that picture is so damn cool.” He handed the paper to the beautiful girl and directed his big smile towards her once again. “I should probably get out of here so that you can actually serve paying customers.”
Kelsey's eyes shifted from Isaiah's glowing smile for a moment to look at the clock that lay beside her, she hadn't noticed just how much time had passed while the two were chatting.“Hey, you are a paying customer too! But it is close to closing time so I should probably get ready for that before I have to hear an old man complain.” Kelsey shot a smile right back at the man before her, as she did a quick scan of the piece of paper before pocketing it. “Y’know I really enjoyed our conversation, Isaiah! Make sure to pop by again, I'd love to continue chatting, and I'll make sure to send them over as soon as I am done here!”
“I really enjoyed our conversation too Kelsey, I’ll definitely be back. You can bet on it.” With his smile glued to his face from ear to ear, Zay lifted his headphones back from around his neck, over his head and waved to the girl as he walked out the door. This was certainly something he did not expect when he walked into the record shop not a few minutes earlier. He wasn’t expecting the skin on the back of his neck to be burning or for his stomach to be filled with a swarm of butterflies but there he was!
As he walked up the street, his intended destination home, Isaiah reached into his pocket once again and was hit with a bolt of realization which struck him like a lightning bolt hitting a tree; he felt like he had been split in half. The page he gave to Kelsey, with his number and socials on, on the reverse of it were the lyrics to his next rap. He had not intended to share those with anyone yet, they weren’t finished and they didn’t have a beat. What could he do? Could he go back? But then he’d look desperate. He could leave it but then she would probably think that he was trying to be some sort of cool guy which of course he wasn’t.
“Oh God. No.”
Kelsey relocked the door to the breakroom to let the open window and Fabreze work their magic, she couldn’t risk any spillover into the front room, to which she saw as barren as it was before, nothing new. She peeked her head out from behind the counter to see if Lucian had flipped the sign as she had asked and there it was, indeed flipped. Kelsey laid back into the office chair that sat behind the desk, sifting her hand through the crate of records that sat beside the gramophone, finally, her hand landed on the one she wanted, “Ooo, Sundial!” Kelsey sat up, replacing the long-finished vinyl on the player with the one she had selected. The sound of the record melted like butter in her ears, closing her eyes as she fully laid back in the chair, awaiting the sweet noise of the shop door opening with the delivery guy, God, the food was about to be just heavenly to the taste buds of Kelsey. She couldn’t wait.
Isaiah had tried to sit and get ready to enjoy the game after his conversation with Spencer. He tried. However, he couldn’t reach down deep enough to find the will to pretend that he gave even a little ounce of care for what was about to happen on the Pirates field. Zay was gone before the first whistle even sounded. After leaving Beverly Hills High, the school's resident activist wondered what to do with his sudden free time? He could follow his best friend to the diner and play wingman for the Russian girl he was in love with? Or he could’ve gone straight home and spent the evening with his dads and sister watching some old eighties movie and eating popcorn? Maybe he could even reach out to the man from the letter? The man that claimed to be his father.
Zay wasn’t sure what to do or where to go. So far, his new year, new him motto hadn’t really come to fruition. Nobody had noticed him, nobody had acknowledged him. So far he was still just Isaiah, that black kid in class. He found himself in one of the few places that he could consider a place of peace; the record store. Amongst the sea of vinyls, retro sleeved art and glittering vintage disco balls, Zay found quiet. He was a creature of habit; seeking out new releases from up and coming hip hop artists before inevitably making his way to the classics section. PAC, Biggie, NWA, they were men of the streets, men of the game, men who once upon a time someone like Isaiah; a voice with something to say, a voice struggling to say it,
The bell above the shop door rang as he entered his Mecca. His dark eyes glanced at the solo employee sitting at the desk before he made his way across to his usual perch at the New Release Bin. The smell of the vinyl filled him with a feeling of comfort, like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter night. He pondered whether any of these new players would strike a chord in his heart and help him find the next words for his own opus at the Dolla Lounge.
The chime of that old bell above the door could not be stopped. A sound that pervaded the ears of Kelsey each time it rang without fail, capturing her attention in one fell swoop. Her eyes jumped open, repositioning herself in the car in order to see who walked through the door of the establishment. It was a regular, and one of the few she was rather disappointed to acknowledge that she didn’t completely know as well as the rest, even more so given the fact she might have shared a class with this one. “Oh, you’re not the Chinese food guy. But still! Welcome!”
Kelsey gave the boy a soft wave and smile as she watched him head over to the bins. A fair few students from Beverly Hills High found solitude within the walls of the store, they made up one of the most consistent customer bases for the store, funnily enough, it is also why some people in the school know her face, not a lot know her name though. That seemed to be the same problem she was having right now. “You’re the boy that always comes in here for Hip-Hop right? Reggae and Jazz too I think. I doubt you’ll find too much in there, I think my grandfather already emptied it for the next shipment. You like the older stuff right, 90s and back? If you look way down that row there is a shelf packed with stuff that might suit your fancy.” Kelsey pointed her hand out to the box she had mentioned, giving him an easier path than her instructions may have offered. “We also likely have something in the back if you can’t find what you are looking for. My grandparents also keep a lot of signed stuff back there they wouldn’t mind to sell, so if you are looking for something special like that ask away! If the name tag hasn’t given it away, my name is Kelsey, this is a bit embarrassing to ask since I’ve seen you come in here a lot, and we literally go to the same school, but what’s yours?”
Wait.
Hold up.
What?
She actually knew his genres? Now that was some good customer service. The amount of times Isaiah had stepped foot in the record store and not once spoken to the girl behind the counter beyond a pleasant nod and a thank you when he purchased something was beyond surprising. Now that the wall of customer service silence had been broken down, he finally got a good look at her, like really looked. She was right! They did go to the same school, they were in a lot of the same classes. It didn’t surprise him though that they hadn’t really crossed paths, no one really knew who he was and well, how could anyone not look at her?
She was stunning.
“My name? Uh MY name?” What on Earth was he doing? Why was he stumbling over his words? Zay considered himself a highly skilled orator, a lyricist, he was on the debate team, young politicians and he rapped on stage in front of hundreds and yet he couldn’t even remember his name when asked by a pretty girl? What the actual fu… “Isaiah. Isaiah Strickland but most of my friends…ugh, sometimes people call me Zay.” He quickly shuffled his attention back to the dusty old vinyls on which his fingertips were lightly tapping with a fervent nervousness. “Thank you for all the advice but honestly? The most I just got from you was that now I’m craving some Chinese food.” Isaiah turned back towards the girl and offered up his widest brightest smile. He did not for much consider himself an attractive boy, especially not in comparison to some of the other men in his class and school but he was always proud of his smile. The first thing his grandmother ever said about his birth father was that Zay and he shared a smile. “I was surprised to see the place open. I thought maybe like everyone you’d have shut up shop and gone to the game.”
“I can’t blame you, the food I ordered had been on my mind before you even came in here!” Kelsey chuckled a bit, she felt good to finally put a name to a face, especially one that was handsome to look at as well. She wasn’t the best with names, but she sure as hell tried her best to remember the names of the regulars. “And Isaiah, that’s a nice name, I’ll make sure to remember it! And honestly, I was never the biggest fan of sports. Win or lose, it’ll be some big unnecessary spectacle that wouldn’t change my school pride one bit. Why be there when I could be somewhere I actually enjoy? How about you? Not many as crazy as us to be at a record store.”
His smile, God, his smile. It glowed like the beams of sunlight that often penetrated the front glass windows of the shop, descending from his visage like light did from the sun with a warmth that seared into the mind of the beholder, one unmatched in the archives of her memories. They had been going to school together for nearly 4 years, and he’s been to the shop for a time around that number but this had been the first time Kelsey had really, truly noticed Isaiah Strickland. “Off topic but, I doubt you haven’t been told this over a million times Isaiah, or can I call you Zay? I like nicknames. But! You have a truly amazing smile, I am talking like top tier!” Kelsey felt her ears burn with the heat that surged onto both sides of her head, she moved her hands from the wooden desk they had rested on to her hair in an attempt to quietly cover hear ears which were glowing with the blush that avoided her face. She had only formally introduced herself to the guy only minutes ago, and her ears were over here shining as red as a ruby, God she was helpless.
Isaiah was taken aback by the fact that Kelsey was even giving him more than a courteous time of day. In this environment, it was her job to enquire about a customer's needs and wants and feelings on a particular stock but the look in her eyes, the cadence of her voice, could it be? Was she actually interested in something he had to say? “Honestly? Football was never my thing. I’m very much a basketball kind of guy.” It was a secret of a different kind. To most, if not everyone, Isaiah was but a face in the crowd but the boy could play ball. He was on the BHHS basketball team but he didn’t get much play time because it conflicted with the debate team and despite his love of hoops, he knew where his true passion lay.
Social justice. Reform. Change. They were all things, all callings with intention that acted like a chain around his heart. His entire life, Isaiah had suffered prejudice of some form. There was racism for the color of his skin. There were those that mocked him for having two homosexual fathers. There were even those that dragged him through the dirt and broken glass for being adopted. Zay wanted to be the change that he sought in the world. He opened himself up to activism and for the last four years, he would always find himself walking the halls of Beverly Hills High or standing in the quad with a clipboard; fighting the good fight and waving his petition in the faces of all to try and make the world a better place. The causes he fought for were numerous but he was dedicated to every one of them.
Hold up now. Wait a minute. Did she just….compliment him? Now this was the truest test to date of the new Isaiah. He had promised himself that senior year would be different, that this year he would take chances. Once upon a time, he had a brief relationship with Kimber Benson. They had been friends for a long time and it seemed like a natural step but in reality, it was the most forced thing either of them had ever done. They did it because it was expected of them, not because they wanted to. Luckily, Zay and Kim were on the same page and ended it before it got too out of their control. Relationships had a tendency to do that in Beverly Hills. Did he need to put on some act with Kelsey? Should he pretend to be more like Ethan? Or Theo? Did she think he was somebody else?
“You can call me Zay.” He smiled again before continuing. “And thank you! Apparently I get it from my dad? My birth one, not either of my white ones.” Isaiah chuckled softly to himself as he lifted his hands from the record and wrapped his fingers around his backpack straps. “I’ve never met him so I couldn’t tell you for sure. But my smile is nothing really in comparison to…well your everything.”
Kelsey felt as though she wanted to sink right into the chair she sat upon, sink right out of view. She questioned what powers that be gave her the confidence to spout such words out loud for him to hear. Kelsey was never the most brazen person, but in that moment the words flowed from her like water down a dainty stream. She wasn’t one unfamiliar with giving compliments to people, she felt no type of way giving one to any of her close friends, but to new people? That was a different story. She wasn’t the old social butterfly her mother and Grandparents used to know her as, she wasn’t that little girl anymore, that part left with her father. She was more secluded, if not on one of her A.W.O.L. drives to wherever the highway took her, one could know exactly where to find her, and that was where the two were just now.
Kelsey felt the subtle rise in her heart beat, like the rising of the drumline that hummed out of the gramophone besides her ear, her heart jumped slightly at the advent of Isaiah’s words and didn’t dare to retreat from the peak. Her nails softly scratch against the grain of the desk as she looked at Isaiah. There goes that smile again, who would’ve thought something so simple as a smile would’ve drawn her in, certainly not Kelsey for sure, but she’d likely never forget his name after today. “My…everything? I- Wow, I don’t even know how to respond to that one. N-Not like in a bad way, like in a way where I am genuinely at a loss for words. I’ve gotten pretty and cute before but to be compared to a smile as amazing as yours, that's a different one for sure. I like it! Thank you, Zay!”
Kelsey smiled back to him, although all the smiles she gave to the customers were genuine, there was something more to this one, one she couldn’t exactly pinpoint to herself. This was the first time she had ever smiled so wide at a compliment, it felt different than the ones she would receive from friends and family, it made her feel giddy, more than usual compliments, like it had seared itself into her brain along with the smile he had flashed towards her. It was a good feeling, no, a great one, and she liked it. “I know this may be off topic but you're adopted? Not asking in a rude way or anything, just genuinely curious.”
“Yeah!” Zay wasn’t even sure how to take offense from such a question, let alone such a question being uttered from this girl. Even though he had his issues, like most children who were chosen and tossed aside, he was very thankful that someone had taken him in, that someone had provided him with a family. “I was a baby. So I don’t really remember anything different than the life I already know. My Dad’s are great, they’re really just such sweet guys. Suuuuper white though, one’s Italian and the other’s Irish. And they run a furniture making business together.” At this point he wasn’t hundred percent sure what to do with his hands, so Isaiah swiftly stuck them in his pockets. Was that normal? “I’ve got a sister too! She’s annoying but yeah, she’s family. I’ve only recently really started looking at where I came from, like originally.”
Something about chatting with Kelsey, as nervous as he was, made him feel incredibly at ease. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to tell her everything and tell her now. If anything he was holding back because he wanted to have more than just the one conversation with her. “What about you? What’s your hero origin story?”
So cringe, Zay. So cringe.
“Hmm, I would like to think it's similar to Spider-Man’s, but really there's a lot different. Like him, I am also a New York baby, born and sort of raised, but not in Queens though! Manhattan was my home for a while, which is obviously the best Borough by the way, but anyway, I lived there with my parents until the 7th-ish grade, a lot is pretty hazy from back then. My father managed my grandparents record label while we lived there, both of my parents are just great people.” one of Kelsey’s hands slipped into her pocket to pull out her wallet, a pale, forest green faux leather thing she was never caught without. Inside the wallet, besides the assortment of bills lay two solitary photo strips. Kelsey pulled out the more worn looking one, unfolding it, and holding it up for Isaiah to catch a view of. It was a simple strip of cascading photos, one after another in an even row depicting Kelsey and her parents, and the contents of the photos were naught but utter randomness. The three of them took on a different pose in every picture, silly faces galore as the photos showed out the life she once had, the life she yearned to experience if but only one more time. “These are my folks, I bet you've seen my grandparents before, the tall older dude and my short older lady? That's them. Back on track now! My mother and I moved to California in that 7th grade year, after my father. He… he passed that year. I try not to think about it too much, it was a lot then, still a lot now. But, everything led me to where I am now, in this shop right here with you.”
Kelsey brought her arm down and turned the photo back towards herself. It was one she had seen a million times, a set of photos she looked at practically every day of her life. Those photos she kept in her wallet meant more to her than a lot of things in her life, memories of people she loved, people she can never see again. Kelsey folded the photo back up again, sliding it back into position besides the other photo in her wallet. She couldn't get herself too worked up, she didn't want to cry in front of Isaiah, especially not right now. “So yeah, unfortunately no siblings, though sometimes I do wish I had some, being an only child gets boring sometimes, though now I got this shop to keep me occupied. Y'know they had me working here when I was twelve?! That can't be allowed right?” Kelsey laughed a bit, trying to lighten the mood if only but a bit. “Honestly, it's cool that you are looking into your origins, I hope it's been going well for you, I can't imagine where I would even start if I was in your shoes so definitely props given.”
Isaiah was taken aback by how open and honest Kelsey was being. For all intents and purposes he was nothing but a stranger. Then again, sometimes a stranger can end up being exactly what you need at the time you need it. Strangers can be the most impactful people in your life and you may not even know it. Zay felt like a stranger in his own life, like he didn’t belong where he was, like he was simply a placeholder until the real person whose spot he took would arrive to claim what he had taken. He didn’t doubt that his adopted family and his few friends loved him, for each of them, strangers, took in someone that shouldn’t have been there and welcomed him in, just like Kelsey was doing at that moment.
“I’m sorry to hear about your Dad. That must be really hard.” Isaiah wanted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder. He could see in her pretty eyes just how much pain she was carrying, pain hidden by the scratches of old vinyl and drowned out by the best and rhythm of the music she wrapped herself in. “If it’s any help, I’ve got three dads apparently, so you can take your pick of one of those.” He awkwardly smiled again. He was not good at this. In the slightest. “What I mean, like, you know I’m not saying replace your dad or anything but…sorry. Just…sorry.” Isaiah Strickland, the great orator. “Working since you were twelve? Yeah definitely not legal. Though I was helping my dads do their taxes when I was like seven. Somehow neither of them are particularly math orientated. Must be something I get from my genetics.”
“You don't have to apologize, Zay. I get you trying to comfort me, thank you.” She knew he was only trying to help, and to be fair, she wasn't the best comforter herself. Kelsey never wanted to burden anyone with her problems, they didn't deserve to carry the weight she carried, it was her trial, and hers alone. Like Atlas, the weight she bore on her shoulders was the most she could bear, plus a little more. A weight that threatened to topple off her small frame at the slightest bump on the road, unleashing the floodgates that were fastened locks that cracked and squealed under the bulging hurt burrowed in her mind. “And hey! We have more in common than I thought initially, I get my impeccable skills to run a record store all by myself from my genetics too. I wonder how we haven't talked to each other earlier.”
Although their circumstances stood in a stark contrast, Kelsey felt that, in a way, they could relate. It was a weird sense, not backed up by a lot she knew about Isaiah but from that was what she got from their conversation. She felt like she could be more free, like she didn't have to put a persona around him and could just be open in a way. “Oh yeah! I know this is like a really big back track but back on music, if you look right above where I am sitting there is a photo of me and my grandparents with the members of Digable Planets. Though I might point it out because you give me the vibe you may know them, I wish I could remember the story behind it but I'm sure if he were here right now my grandpa would have some long winded tale that sounds way cooler than it probably was. Also do you have an Instagram or number I could get, I think I have a few playlists you would like!” That wasn't the only reason she wanted his number, but he didn't need to know that.
Did she? Did she just?
What?
“..y..ye..Yeah! O..of course you can have my number!” Now he just had to remember it. No one had ever asked Isaiah for his number before, let alone a girl! This was absolutely, unequivocally unheard of except for in his fantasies. “I’d love to hear your playlists!” He had chosen this year to be his year. This was meant to be the year that Zay finally found out who he was and stood out from the ideal that people expected him to be. So far it hadn’t gone to plan but in these brief moments with Kelsey, it felt like maybe it was finally happening? Pulling a slip of paper and a pen from his pocket, he scribbled his phone number and socials down. “My Insta and X are on there too. Zay4TC ... also I really love Digable Planets, that picture is so damn cool.” He handed the paper to the beautiful girl and directed his big smile towards her once again. “I should probably get out of here so that you can actually serve paying customers.”
Kelsey's eyes shifted from Isaiah's glowing smile for a moment to look at the clock that lay beside her, she hadn't noticed just how much time had passed while the two were chatting.“Hey, you are a paying customer too! But it is close to closing time so I should probably get ready for that before I have to hear an old man complain.” Kelsey shot a smile right back at the man before her, as she did a quick scan of the piece of paper before pocketing it. “Y’know I really enjoyed our conversation, Isaiah! Make sure to pop by again, I'd love to continue chatting, and I'll make sure to send them over as soon as I am done here!”
“I really enjoyed our conversation too Kelsey, I’ll definitely be back. You can bet on it.” With his smile glued to his face from ear to ear, Zay lifted his headphones back from around his neck, over his head and waved to the girl as he walked out the door. This was certainly something he did not expect when he walked into the record shop not a few minutes earlier. He wasn’t expecting the skin on the back of his neck to be burning or for his stomach to be filled with a swarm of butterflies but there he was!
As he walked up the street, his intended destination home, Isaiah reached into his pocket once again and was hit with a bolt of realization which struck him like a lightning bolt hitting a tree; he felt like he had been split in half. The page he gave to Kelsey, with his number and socials on, on the reverse of it were the lyrics to his next rap. He had not intended to share those with anyone yet, they weren’t finished and they didn’t have a beat. What could he do? Could he go back? But then he’d look desperate. He could leave it but then she would probably think that he was trying to be some sort of cool guy which of course he wasn’t.
“Oh God. No.”
