Ready When You Are

I gripped the wheel and sighed. Where the fuck was Ridge Road?

At this point, I was bound to be late for this interview. The nervous jitters in my stomach weren’t helping either. If I wasn’t already awkward enough, being in a new town made it ten times worse. I felt like people were looking at me everywhere I went, even if they weren’t.

Everyone here was just so… tan and pretty. And being from Seattle, I was rather pale and plain looking. I pushed back my brown hair and put a beanie on it. I wasn’t in the mood to do something with it in hopes of making it look decent. There wasn’t really any point, anyway.

“Ridge Road, Ridge Road,” I whispered to myself, my tongue clicking as I saw a blue sign announcing the name. The street was busy, with several shops that looked open for business. So if this job didn’t work out, at least there were more choices. But I really wanted this particular job.

I always though working at a record shop would be cool. Getting to listen to music all day, talking to people, and finding out about new records before the general public did. There was a certain retro feel to it that just sounded appealing. With most people, I was awkward. But when it came to music-loving people, I was more than comfortable. I had been around music all my life, and it just felt natural.

As Brendan had pointed out several times, getting a job was not absolutely necessary. He was going to be making enough money to keep the bills paid in the next few months. But seeing as we were both new here, school wouldn’t be starting for another month, and I wasn’t the type who enjoyed sitting on the couch alone all day, a job seemed fitting. This one peaked my interest enough.

I pulled my car over the curb and got out, beeping the bright red sedan closed. The record shop, conveniently called “Tempe Records”, was a cute little brown building with large windows on the side. Inside, rusty brick was still visible with little street signs announcing artists and genre. It was like the heaven I never knew existed.

I went up to the counter and looked around. There were a couple of people browsing records around me, but no workers. I bit my lip and straightened out my red baseball tee and shorts.

Well, I was five minutes late. What if they had another interview? Fuck.

“Hey! Can I help you?” A voice said behind me.

I turned to see a girl with red hair and nose ring smiling back at me with a few records in her hands. She was a few inches shorter than me and one of the most adorable people I had ever seen.

I tossed her an awkward smile. “Uh yeah, I’m here for an interview?”

She tossed the records on the table and threw her hands in the hair excitedly and she grabbed my arm and led me to a back room.

“Oh my god I’d love to have another girl here! And you’re so cute ok hi when can you start?”

I looked at her a second. “Do you need to like, ask me questions?”

“You look pretty trust worthy. And besides, we can just fire you if you suck.”

“Okay.” I squeaked out.

The girl nodded excitedly, tossing me a t-shirt that had the name of the record store on it. “You totally don’t have to wear that, though. Just if you work Saturdays, that’s when boss comes in. But he’s chill.”

I took the shirt and nodded. “When I will be working?”

She ran over to a calendar and checked some times. “Why don’t you come in Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 6 to 11?”

“Fine by me!” I smiled.

“Good, cause I work those shifts a lot too. And I can tell we are going to be great friends.”

No one had ever said that to me before. But I wanted to be her friend to. She had this confident personality that made me want to be close to her.

“I’m Kenley.” I said, holding out my hand.

The girl took it firmly and shook it dramatically. “I’m Emerson. I know, I know, it’s a boys name. Call me Em.”

I laughed. “I like it. My nickname is Ken, so it goes both ways.”

“You look like a Kenley.” She said, examining me. I shrugged awkwardly.

"No way! That's my friend's nickname. But he actually is a guy." She laughed and rolled her eyes.

Emerson led me back into the record store and showed me around. She lightly hinted to where certain artists and genres were, and certain sections that customers commonly asked about. Demonstrating how to use the cash register probably took the longest, because I sucked at using machinery. I stayed until closing time, talking to Em as she showed me the ropes. I started tomorrow, so I was taking in as much instruction as I possibly could.

“So what made you want a job at Tempe Records?” Em asked as she closed the blinds.

I shrugged. “It just seemed like something I would like. Music, interesting people, that kind of thing. Plus, I needed a job. I just moved here and spending my days alone in my apartment gets lonely.”

Em laughed. “Where you from?”

“Seattle,” I explained, “my boyfriend’s band is about to get signed to a record company here and I’m going to ASU in the fall.”

“I go there!” Em clapped her hands and hugged me as I lightly hugged her back, “You’ll love it. Are you a freshman? You don’t look like a freshman.”

I laughed and shook my head. “No, I transferred. I’ll be a sophomore. I’m studying music management, so it should be fun.”

“Are you for real?” Em gasped, “Music is my major. I’m so glad we are going to be best friends!”

Well making friends was easier than I expected. People in Tempe were a lot nicer than people in Seattle.

“And your boyfriend has a band? Want to hook me up with some band guys?” Em joked.

I laughed. “Eh, they’re okay. Brendan’s bandmates are kind of obnoxious to be honest.”

“Aw you guys sound so cute!” Em exclaimed.

“We’ve been dating since high school,” I grinned, “I’ve never really dated anyone else.”

Em started clapping her hands as I looked at the ground. I had never been the type of girl you would think to have a high school sweetheart. But I also wasn’t the type of girl you would pin with Brendan either. He was just so slick and confident and serious. When I was pretty much the biggest dork you’ve met in your life.

“Oh my god, I have to meet him.” Em said, “and you guys should both meet my neighbor’s band. They’ve been signed for a while and they tour. I’m sure they could help out his band.”

I nodded excitedly. “I’m sure Brendan would love that.”

Tempe was looking brighter and brighter by the minute. I had made my first friend, landed a job I would actually enjoy, and was helping out my boyfriend.

Things were looking good.