Summer, Year 3, Month 7

Reeve pulled her car into the tiny back-alley parking lot. There was space for eight cars but three of them were taken up by the biggest green dumpster known to man. And even the estimated eight was a generous number. Reeve had never seen more than three or four cars parked there at a time.

She parked hers next to Dani's, the only car in the lot at the moment. But it was almost closing time and people had other places to be on a summer night in Boston at 5:15 pm.

Halfway through pounding on the metal back door, the only door on the backside of the ancient brick building, Dani yanked it open, it's rusty hinges still sticking in all the wrong places.

"I've got some summer reading I need to finish. You can come hang out but only if you promise not to make any noise. We'll go grab dinner after. Deal?"

Reeve nodded.

"Deal."

Dani retreated into the dark back room of Joe's Record Shop, a local institution, the best place to find rare records and sell whatever records you've found in your grandfather's attic. A scent greeted Reeve as she stepped out of the afternoon sun and into the darkness, blinking as her eyes adjusted.

It smelled like dust, age, and magic. It was the smell of old records.

"I see Joe still hasn't gotten around to organizing this place."

Reeve followed Dani through the maze of cardboard boxes strewn all over the back room floor.

"Nope. He keeps hinting that he'll pay me a hundred buck to get this place sorted and I have to keep hinting back that, during the school year, I'm barely able to handle the part-time hours."

"If I get another writing dry spell or my insomnia kicks back up, I might just organize this place for free."

"Don't tell Joe that. He'll hold you to it."

The two sisters laughed, stepping into the fresh air and light of the record shop. A part of Reeve's soul sighed like it was coming home. The part of her that loved music, old music, classical music, all music. It had been too long since she had stepped foot into the brightly lit one-room shop and browsed its barrels for a musical treasure.

There were three rows of waist-height music containers, two running along opposite walls, with one, double-wide, running down the middle of the shop until it stopped right in front of the front door. On one the walls hung the more expensive records, ones no longer in print, ones signed by the artist or a collection that was only ever printed in small quantities. The records on the wall had changed with time but everything else felt the same. Reeve smiled.

Moving into the shop to let Dani pass and return to her place behind the counter, already leaning over a thick textbook, Reeve stopped short at the sight of ... herself, staring back at her. Well, not staring back. She wasn't looking at the camera in the photo but still. It was her. Her first official album. In vinyl. And sitting in the highest of honors a record at Joe's Record Shop could hope to reach: the stand on top of the check-out desk.

"Where did you guys get this?"

Reeve lifted it gently from it's coveted spot, turning it over to look over the back cover. There she was, browsing for records in that very store, with the track-list laid over in a black font that had taken ages to choose.

Jon had sent a whole professional team to Boston to take the photo for the back cover of her first album. Joe had been kind enough to let them take over the store for the day and do a photoshoot. The photo they had ended up going with wasn't even one of the millions of the professional shots they had taken that day. It was a photo Dani had snapped of her, flipping through the records while on a break.

"Some guy sold it to Joe a few weeks back," Dani said, her words aimed at the textbook beneath her.

"Whoa! Why is it so expensive?!"

Reeve hadn't noticed the bright green sticker on the back that read '$75' on it, surely one of the highest price points in the shop.

"It's signed."

"What?"

"It's signed."

Dani leaned over and flipped the record in Reeve's hand, pointing to the bottom of the front cover.

"That isn't my signature."

"What?"

Dani jumped from her seat to stand beside Reeve, looking over her shoulder at the scribbled mass of black lines on the bottom of the record.

"That's not my signature. I've never signed one of these. I've never even seen one in person."

"Wow. Yeah. That is definitely not your signature."

"You got a permanent marker?"

Dani leaned over the counter to grab one from an invisible pen holder. Passing it to Reeve, she asked, "Why?"

"If you guys are gonna sell this for so much, it might as well have a real signature."

Reeve leaned over the counter, maker in hand. She scribbled over the fake signature and wrote above it,

'To whom it may concern, the REAL Reeve Keller.'

She placed it back in its place of honor, tossing Dani the marker before heading out to the rest of the store to shop.

The clock above the door ticked the slow minutes past, ever nearing six o'clock. Reeve gathered a pile of records she intended to buy as she moved slowly up and down the rows. She grabbed a Fleetwood Mac she had on CD but not on vinyl, an ABBA record that she didn't have and a Beach Boys album she thought her dad would like.

It was fifteen minutes to closing when she ended up in the opera section, looking for anything her mom might enjoy. The bell dinged when the door opened and Reeve could see out of the corner of her eye two young girls enter.

"You have exactly twelve minutes and then we're closing up," Dani called out without looking up from her book.

"We'll be quick," one of the girls said. "I'm just grabbing a CD."

They should have headed to the left, towards the wall opposite of Reeve, where all the CD's and DVD's were kept. However, after a quick gasp and a hurried conversation in whispered tones that weren't nearly as quiet as they should have been, they made their way slowly to the right.

In any other shop, Reeve would have regretted leaving her baseball hat at home. But this was Joe's. This was her home turf. She hadn't worked there every spare hour after school to be scared off by what looked like two harmless high schoolers.

Pulling out a recording of Aida, with Thomas Hansen no less, Reeve was smiling when she looked up. The girls had made their way closer, inching further in every few seconds. They were pretending to browse, making vague comments about various records they weren't looking at. Their hands floated over the stacks of records, not every bothering to feign digging through.

Thinking that she'd have to give the record a listen before taking it to her mom's, Reeve's smile shifted over to the two girls, startling them when she spoke directly to them.

"If you guys are trying to subtle, you're doing a terrible job."

Their hands were empty. There were no cell phones pointed in her direction so Reeve's cheerful words were backed up with a relaxed attitude.

The two girls let out nervous laughs, glancing at each other, their cheeks glowing red as if they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Sorry. We don't want to disturb you. It's just that-"

"We're really big fans, like old school fans. Like self-released era type fans."

The tall, skinny one with the dark skin was interrupted by her shorter friend with bright blonde hair. They weren't sisters but they had the same energy and seemed in the habit of completing each other's sentences.

"Wow. So you've been around for a while. Are you guys from around here?"

The blonde shook her head and her short bobbed hair went with her.

"No. We're just in town for a few weeks. My mom's teaching a course at Mass General."

"She's this big renowned psychologist. Super important. And Ty got her to bring me along."

"Right. Sorry. I'm Ty. This is Josie."

The short blonde extended her hair, nodding over to her friend as a way of introduction.

Reeve shook both their hands, met with firm grasps, a sign of confidence in her experience.

"It's nice to meet you guys."

Reeve had long ago given up introducing herself. If people were coming up to her, they knew her name.

"How are you guys enjoying your time in the city?"

Reeve leaned against the record cases, crossing her arms. Dani cleared her throat from behind the counter to remind Reeve that she was there for support if needed. Reeve's continuing on a conversation with Ty and Josie was her signal that all was well.

"It's beautiful here."

"We've been checking out colleges, taking tours and whatnot, seeing if there are any here we want to apply to next year."

"Where are you guys from?" Reeve asked.

"San Diego." They answered in unison, unfazed at the occurrence like it happened all the time, which it probably did.

"I've been there a few times."

"We know!" Josie exclaimed.

"We saw you at the sports arena when you came with Faded Relics-"

"We're huge Wes Keats fans," Josie interjected.

"Who isn't?"

The girls laughed at Reeve's little quip.

"And we saw you again when you came back for the Reeve Keller tour and then we drove up to LA to see you at the Forum for the Killer Instinct tour."

"The one with Faded Relics was the first time they brought you back on stage to sing with them. Of course, you guys went on to do that every night after but it felt like a huge honor to be there the first night."

Reeve nodded, a memory sparking in her brain.

"I remember that night. I was terrified. Everyone in that band, especially Wes, are such amazing musicians. I was legitimately shaking when I walked back out on stage. If it wasn't for Wes, I would have run right back and hidden in my dressing room."

Their smiles were bright and their laughs were easy. Ty and Josie were just excited to be holding a normal conversation with Reeve. Reeve was pleased it felt so normal.

"Isn't this the record store you used to work at in high school?" Ty's question came out with a slight hesitation. It brought back to everyone's mind what their relationships were. That they weren't friends, that Ty and Josie knew infinitely more about Reeve than she would know about either of them.

"Uh, yeah. It is."

"It's like a family tradition." Josie joked, nodding over Reeve's shoulder to where Dani sat, glaring at them.

"What are you guys looking to get?" Reeve was trying to steer the conversation away from personal things.

"A copy of 7 Ships' first self-released album."

"I saw one here the other day but for some reason -"

"She didn't buy it. Ty, you do this every time."

"I know! I know!"

"7 Ships. Excellent choice. Their early work is hard to come by," Reeve said.

Ty's eyes lit up.

"I know, right? Oh! Yeah! Of course, you would know."

She didn't say anything further on the subject but Reeve could hear everything she didn't say.

That's right, they opened for you.

You know Tommy and Jay.

You guys are friends.

Of course, you know 7 Ships. You actually KNOW 7 Ships.

"I'm closing up. You guys can grab your CD and go."

Dani had slammed her textbook shut and injected herself into their little circle.

A glance at the clock above the door told Reeve that there was technically five minutes left until closing but she wasn't going to correct Dani. She was getting hungry and was ready to be done with this conversation.

"Okay. Will do."

Ty raced over to the other side of the room, grabbed what she was looking for, and raced back in case Reeve decided in those thirty seconds to suddenly vanish. She passed Dani a ten-dollar bill, slightly out of breath.

"You guys would know, are there any good Mexican food places around here? I'm dying for a burrito."

Reeve shook her head and sympathized with Josie's look of disappointment. That was the one thing she missed from California.

"No. Sorry. Lots of Portuguese food but no Mexican food. If you're looking for good food, Regina's has the best pizza in town. It's in the North End across the freeway. If you've hit Paul Revere's house or Mamma Maria's you've gone too far. What's the address again, Dan?"

"19 Charles Street."

Reeve snapped her fingers.

"Yup. Right. I always forget."

"Great!"

"Thanks, Dani."

Dani didn't even nod to respond but stood there stoically with her arms crossed, trying to make herself seemed intimidating. It was kind of working.

"Okay, well, we'll leave you guys be," Josie said, moving towards the door, grabbing onto Ty's arm to make her follow.

"Thanks for talking to us. It was nice to meet you."

"You too. Did you guys want a picture or something?"

Reeve wasn't even sure they had phones at this point, they had never made an appearance. It was a first for Reeve.

The two girls looked at each other and then back at Reeve, shrugging and shaking their heads.

"No. We're good."

"We're not real big social media fans."

"Oh. Okay then. You guys have a nice night."

They waved over their shoulders and were almost to the door when Reeve cried after them.

"Wait! Hold on a sec."

She turned to Dani.

"Can you grab me that record from the counter?"

Dani glanced at her sideways as she retrieved the record in question. Ty and Josie had retraced their steps, moving back in Reeve's direction.

"Here. I want you guys to have it. My treat. Someone sold it to Joe with a phony signature but I fixed that."

Josie and Ty's eyes expanded to the same width as they held Reeve's first album between them.

"Wow!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"This is the one I don't have!" Josie exclaimed.

"I LOVE this album. Oh my gosh. It's one of the most perfect albums of all time."

"I listen to this one all the time. Even when I'm working out. I put on the first song and just run through the whole album. Even 'I Don't Want To Love Somebody Else'. That song makes me ugly cry."

"Same!"

"Really?"

Their eyes lifted from the record to meet Reeves. She had never heard this been said of her first album. The best review she had gotten was "An excellent debut, exciting first steps of what is sure to be a long music career."

"Are you kidding?"

Ty examined Reeve's face.

"This is the greatest album of the last ten years," Ty said.

"It's incredible. Start to finish. Your best work by far," Josie finished.

Everything unsaid about her second album was striking Reeve right in the gut. She smiled through it as best she could. She knew her second album was crap. It was difficult to find that she wasn't the only one who thought so.

"I'm glad you guys like it. Enjoy it for me."

The finality of her tone made them start to head back for the door once again.

"Good luck with the new album!" Josie cried over her shoulder.

"We can't wait to hear what's coming next!" Ty called out as her final farewell.

The bell tinkled once again and Reeve felt more tired than she had in months.

"Wow. Okay. That was seriously rude."

Dani was scowling at where Ty and Josie had just disappeared.

"That is what I would consider a good interaction. At least they didn't see me, take a picture and then post it online so everyone within the city would know where I was and come flooding in to meet me."

"Has that happened?"

Reeve nodded, sighing to release the tension in her shoulders.

"Multiple times."

Dani locked the front door and started shutting off the lights.

"What about you?" Reeve asked.

Dani locked the back door behind them, shooting a questioning look at her sister over her shoulder.

"What about me?"

"Do people ever come into the shop just because you work there?"

"Oh, that. Yeah. Lots of times. It got pretty bad a few years ago. Someone figured out who I was and sent a picture circulating through your fans. Joe's was booming that summer."

"What did you do?"

"It would change every time. Sometimes I would pretend I didn't speak English but if they spoke Spanish I had to pretend to be deaf too. I used to pretend I didn't have a sister but rather a brother named Reed who had run away and no one had seen him in a few years. Or! I would pretend that I had had had a sister but that she had been killed in a horrific accident that almost took my life too and that I was still horribly traumatized. Either way, I just tried to make them as uncomfortable as possible so that they leave me alone. It works."

Reeve couldn't help laughing.

"You're way better at this than I am."

"Yup. But it's not my job so..."

They climbed into Reeve's car, driving for a while in silence, Reeve's records on the backseat.

"So. Where do you want to get dinner?" Dani asked.

And just like that, they were two regular sisters again. Reeve's job had been thrown out the window and into the humid air of the summer night.

A/N:

Ty and Josie seem familiar at all???

Huh??? Anyone???

Well they should be. They're the two best characters in joymoment 's book, "Holding Back". And they may or may not (they totally are) be based off of myself and JoymomentsSISTER .