Pens and Needles

by darknessislife26

Summary:

Gangle gets into her dream school and tries to balance an art major, a job, and a personal life only to realize 24 hours will never be enough. Things become complicated when she finds friends, foes, and connections more complex than she's ever known.

Chapter 1: Awake?

There's always days where I feel like nothing is real. There's this sense of disconnect between me and reality. I don't know what's real, what's fake, and what's my own imagination. I fear one day, I'll disconnect and I'll never find a place to land again. The ribbon that is trying me to this world will become severed one day, I just don't know when.

Gangle sat up slowly, looking around the unfamiliar room. It was an eerie feeling, to know something belonged to you and yet you felt no closer to it than you would a stranger. Her head turned slowly towards her phone, the screen was bright for some reason. Slowly she grabbed it, disconnecting it from the charger. The alarm screen was prevalent, the options ‘snooze’ and ‘stop’ taking up most of her screen, the rest held ‘6:30’. She hadn't registered that it was going off, that it was the cause of her early wake. She slowly glided her thumb over the options, silencing the noise that had been echoing off the walls, never quite reaching her ears. She desperately wished she could've remained asleep. Sleep was the only time she ever felt okay, she was too tired to remember her dreams, or nightmares, so she was never disturbed nor rewarded in slumber. It was pure neutrality, true peace. She dragged her legs over the side of the bed , the weight of gravity overtaking her limbs, and stood up with regret. She knew she had things to do, and she needed to get going before she was late.

Time is the only thing I have and yet I find myself in a deplorable lack of it all the same.

She grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder, slouching as though the weight of the world had been dropped on her. She left her room and glared into the unknown. To the left of her was another door, her roommates no doubt, next to it the bathroom, and ahead of her was a small living area with an even smaller kitchenette attached to it. Somewhere in the middle was the exit, the threshold into uncertainty. Walking past her roommate and into the bathroom, she stared at her reflection. Her hair fell just above her shoulders, her roots were very visible, the bright red dye had faded into a light pink, becoming muddied by her natural brown. She hadn't had the time to dye it. Or cut it. Or take care of it at all. She'd been swarmed with work, school, and the chaos that was attempting to balance everything else. She'd thrown on a pair of black slacks, and a long sleeve Hatsune Miku shirt, though she'd covered it up with a hoodie. It didn't matter anyways, she'd have to change into the light blue button up that sat next to her non-slip shoes in the very bag that was hanging off her shoulders. She forced herself to smile despite hating what she saw, she'd perfected the art of the customer smile, it was like wearing a mask, except it was a lot easier to break. It took force to break porcelain and plastic, but it only took words to break her. On top of that she looked tired, the eye bags were plastered under her eyes the same way a neon sign is hung on a wall to draw attention. Except this sign read ‘sleep eludes her’ in big, purple text.

Smile inside and out. She thought as her smile faltered, her green eyes showing every bit of sadness and exhaustion that she was desperately trying to hide.

Maybe just smile on the outside and don't let anyone see the inside. They can never see the inside.

With that, she left the bathroom and stepped over the threshold, stepping out into an unknown, empty hallway. She locks the door before re-cliping the key back onto her belt loop, the shiny red carabiner adorning a handmade charm that hung silently next to her room key, work keys, and car key. She left the building, the cool autumn breeze danced along her skin. It reminded her of a hug from your favorite person, but you're hiding something from them, so while you know the hug is warm it feels empty because they don't fully know you. She found her car and slid into the drivers side, placing her bag into the passenger side before starting the engine and googling directions to Spudsys. The chain restaurant she had worked for, for the past 5 years. Except this wasn't the same, it was a new location, in a different town, in a different state. She was grateful they let her keep her managing position as she transferred locations, understanding that she must go to college. She stared at her dormitory blankly before she left the parking lot and started her first mundane day in this new town.

Chapter 2: Maybe?

Gangle took her foot of the brake after she heard the gentle *click* of the gearshift being placed into park. She sat there for a second, listening to the Tokyo Ghoul OST as she stared at the clock. It proudly displayed ‘7:14’ and Spudsys opened to the public at 7:30, meaning she had a little bit of time. She waited for the song to begin to fade out, letting the silence swallow her up. She turned her key slowly, turning off the ignition, and stepped out. She'd already changed in her car. She'd stopped to grab an energy drink, but realized she would be late if she changed anywhere else. She had already gotten herself lost in this ass backwards town once, and she didn't trust herself to not do it again. She clicked the lock button on her car keys twice, anxiety leaving her body as she heard the beep, indicating it was in fact locked and that she hadn't forgotten, a fact she knew would ease her mind later if she started to spiral. She twisted the key and unlocked the store, clicking the caribenner back onto her belt loop before she started turning everything on.

 

—----------------------

 

Gangle dropped the cardstock esque paper and dropped into the other side of the wooden frame, indicating she was clocking out. The next shift manager had come in around 10 minutes ago, so Gangle had spent the time cleaning up her station and getting ready to go. It wasn't the worst shift ever, the workers were surprisingly nice, same can't be said for the customers. She had to tell 5 different people the ice cream machine was broken, and they all yelled and asked to see the manager, as if she wasn't wearing a name tag that said ‘Manager’. She had her first day of work out of the way and now she had a class at 3 and it was currently 2:15, so as long as she didn't get lost again, she'd make the lecture. 

“What can they even lecture about freehand art, it's literally a ‘draw whatever you want’ class.” Gangle spoke to herself as she began driving back towards her new school. She didn't mean to sound so disinterested, because she wasn't, she was very excited for her first lecture, she just didn't understand why it was covering this specific subset of art. Especially given the magnitude of this school in terms of art. She remembered how she felt when she got the acceptance letter from The Digital University, one of the most competitive art programs in the country, and her dream school. It was a feeling of pure bliss, like finding your favorite food for the first time while floating on a cloud, pure serendipity. They usually had an average class size of 30 at the school, except their art program, which ranged from 10-15 students due to its highly selective nature and the fact that this academy prized itself on the connections students built with the teachers, mainly because they hired world renowned artists to teach for them. Gangle's professor would be Mr.Kinger, an abstract artist. He was known for taking chess boards and turning them into art, using a variety of wood stains, board models, and paint to create his art. Though he hasn't created anything new in a long time, and no one knows why. 

Nevertheless, Gangle stepped out of her car with more enthusiasm than she's had all day, threw on her hoodie, and grabbed her sketchbook, and locked her car three times, before she headed inside the building.

She pushed the door open to reveal a very chess themed room. The walls had been painted and there were 3D chess pieces in every direction, some of them being taller than Gangle herself, which isn't a high bar but is still quite absurd in this case. The clock on the wall was a giant timer, the kind they used in official chess matches, and seemed to go at a different speed than any analog clock she'd seen before. The final thing she noticed was the lack of students in the room. There were a few students sitting in the front, some scattered around in the middle, and the back was almost completely empty, except for a girl with long brown hair and bangs; they were mostly covered by the blue and red beanie she wore atop her head. Gangle decided that if she was going to survive, she needed a friend, but she also didn't want tk be weird, so she sat two rows in front of the colorful character, without a word.

Eventually professor Kinger entered the room. Gangle was unsure of whether he was late or she was early, the clock made no sense, and she didn't have the will to try and figure it out, nor did she have the will to argue with someone about the no phone policy this school had.

“Hello new students!” He spoke excitedly, his voice didn't match his face, he seemed a lot scarier than he sounded, something that relieved Gangle. “Welcome to the Digital University for highly gifted individuals, and congratulations on getting in! I am so happy to have you here. I am professor Kinger, some of you may know me or my work, others may not, I don't care regardless!” a smile danced on his face as he spoke. “I am here to teach you all how to hone your skills, and that's exactly what I'll do! First things first, everyone find a partner, we're gonna do a peer review and get far too familiar with one another!”

Gangle felt her heart drop into her stomach. She never showed anyone her sketchbook, it was like her version of a diary, extremely private. And now she had to show it to a complete stranger. 

Maybe there's an odd number of kids, and I'll be left alone. Gangle thought to herself hopefully. Unfortunately all that hope was crushed when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see the brunette in the beanie standing next to her.

“Hey” She spoke softly, her voice high and sweet.

“Hey.” Gangle responded wearily, exhaustion tracing the singular syllable. 

“Do you want to be partners? I'm new here and don't really know anyone.” She said, scratching the back of her head nervously.

“Oh really? Me too, I just moved here, so I don't know anyone either.” Gangle replied with a chuckle. 

“Well hey whaddya know.” The girl laughed. ”looks like things worked out then, gotta make a friend somewhere yaknow?”

“Yeah.” Gangle smiled. “You do.”

“Then let's start here, I'm Pomni, I'm a digital artist, but I dabble in ceramics. I'm majoring in accounting and economics, but this is my passion so I'm minoring in it.” She smiled as she spoke, extending her hand for Gangle to shale, which she did.

“Woah that's a lot, I could never do accounting as a major, I think my brain would explode.”

“It is definitely not for the weak.” She laughed. “ Now how about you?”

“Oh right.” Gangle flushed out of embarrassment. “I'm Gangle. I do freehand Drawing, charcoal drawing, digital art, and realism, but my specialty is Painting. Art is my passion, so it's my major.”

“Daaaaannng girl, you said I do a lot, you're like the master of art.” Gangle smiled at the joke. “Now let's compare sketchbooks, shall we?” Pomni said as she held up a leatherbound book adorned with stickers.

Maybe this town won't be as mundane as I thought, maybe I'll like it here

 

Chapter 3: Oh?

Summary:

Gangle gets invited out and someone catches her eye.

Gangle left that class feeling better than ever. She had made a new friend and they had bonded over her favorite thing, Art! Gangle always had more of an anime, cartoon style of drawing, but Pomni had a more wild style to her art. Crazy colors, wild dimensions, not enough to be abstract but enough to be deemed weird, and Gangle loved it. It reminded her of the Marylin Monroe painting by Andy Warhol, beautiful and unique. They had shared tips and tricks they used in their arts, figuring out what made them so different at the core, while also giving them insight on each other's art, providing a new perspective to it all. It was wonderful. They had exchanged numbers at the end, and Gangle found herself quite fond of the artistic accountant. 

 

She opened the door to her dorm, expecting her roommate to be there so they could meet, hoping they weren't so they could draw in peace. Much to her satisfaction the living area was empty, almost untouched. If her roommate was here, they were in their room, minding their own business. Gangle slipped into her room, devoid of everything ‘Gangle’. A shallow reflection of the school's age, dim, dusty, and painfully plain. She regretted not bringing any posters from her old room. She longed to see bands and anime decorate her walls, bringing some color to her new home. 

Maybe I could go buy some posters when I get paid, though I doubt I'll find anything in the realm of The Veronica's or Night Club here. Maybe Tegan and Sara if I'm lucky. She recalled the posters she had at home that hung on her ceiling. I wonder if there's a record store here? She hadn't actually explored this new town since she arrived, she had no idea what secrets were hiding here, what the history of the area had been, or if they had anything going for them besides good art. 

“Well I know what I'm doing tomorrow “ Gangle thought aloud. She didn't have work, or class that day, so she could spend it getting used to the area. Finding all the secret gems this place had to offer, even if it was just a graffiti tunnel in the middle of the woods that had been tagged by local teens. She loved seeing the beginnings of art, sloppy and free, motivated but nothing but the want to create. That died out in her as she got older. Defined by rules and social ideals for what ‘good’ actually meant, even though art is subjective and it is all both good and bad at the same time. So anytime she saw street art something inside of her came back to life, it made her smile. All art did, drawing, painting, music, poetry. The idea of creating something out of nothing always mesmerized her, it's part of the reason she drew. Art was just an idea brought into existence by pure will. Poetry was emotions willed into words and thrown onto a piece of paper. Music was the same, emotions and thoughts organized into a story that was conveyed by people who related to the message they had created. Art was beautiful. Art was free. 

Gangle sat down on her bed and stared at the boxes that laid against the wall when something caught her eye. She stood up and grabbed the rectangular item before plugging it in. She went through her boxes until she found the one that contained a part of her soul. She grabbed something out of the box and placed it onto the item, smiling as she set the needle down, waiting for the music to start. She set the sleeve of the record back into the box before she started silently dancing to the music. An angelic voice started ringing out, echoing off the walls and bouncing right back into Gangle's ears. Loud enough for her to hear, but quiet enough to not disturb anyone outside. Tegan and Sara had been one of the earliest bands she had ever listened to, they were the band that inspired her to write her own songs, albeit she'd never shown them to anyone and she never would. They were there for every emotion. Every breakup, every failed project, every late night drive, and they were here now, her first day of college. Along with various other artists and bands that decorated the record sleeves and CD cases held within the box next to her. She danced the strum of the guitar and tapped her foot to the drums, humming along to lyrics until it all died out and gave way to the next track. She smiled at the peace she was feeling, secluded from the rest of the world, just her and a melody. Her peace was disrupted by a ding from her phone.

 

‘Hey, are you free tonight?’ Pomni had texted her. She suspected that this would happen, just not so soon. 

‘Yeah, why?’ Was all she could type, not wanting to weird out the only friend she had so far.

‘There's a show tonight, down at The Void. All my friends are going, and I think you'd like some of them.’ A social gathering, her worst fear. On the brightside there would be music at the very least, so if all goes wrong she could just disassociate. Plus she didn't want to be the weirdo with one friend that never socialized or left her dorm unless she was working or going to class.

‘Sounds dope, what time should I head over?’ 

‘HELL YEAH! I totally thought you were gonna say no and I was gonna have to drag you out.’ Gangle laughed at the response, she knew she seemed shy but she didn't think it was that bad. ‘Doors are at 6, but I'll probably be there around 5:30 ish.’ Why the hell would you show up to a concert early? Usually you'd wait until 30 minutes after doors, but she wasn't one to question other people and she wasn't going to start now.

‘Cool, I'll be there.’ Gangle shut her phone off and set it down after the text had been marked as read. She glanced at the boxes once more. 

“I have to figure out what to wear to this. Shit.” She let out a groan as she walked back over to her box filled corner.

 

/// 

 

Gangle starred in the mirror once more, smiling at the outfit. People often assumed that she always wore frilly skirts and pastel pink due to her interests and hobbies, don't get it twisted, she did, just not all the time. Tonight she went with a fishnet undershirt, and a Melanie Martinez shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. She wore a studded belt semi loosely on her waist and a pair of vans that had been doodled on with sharpie. She wasn't one for makeup, but she decided that some tiny red stars on her checks couldn't hurt. They'd highlight the faded red in her hair and the pink on her shirt while also contrasting the black outfit. She looked at her phone for the time and was glad to see it was only 5:50, she had enough time to go stop and eat before heading out. She didn't know what kind of concert this was, but if it was more punk or metal, then she needed to be prepared for a mosh pit. She may be small and look frail, but she can take a hit, she just cries easily sometimes. With a final look in the mirror, Gangle smiled, grabbed her wallet, keys, and phone, and then headed out the dorm.

 

///

 

The Void was a smaller venue that was clearly meant for more intimate crowds. Gangle bought her ticket at the door and entered inside, able to see just how small it was. There was a smoking deck that led to an outside area. Inside was a bar, a vending machine, the bathrooms, and then the stage. The floor was pretty open near the back, because everyone had crowded towards the front of the stage, cheering for whoever was playing. Gangle had arrived around 6:30, so whoever was playing was clearly an opener, but the instrumental admittedly rocked. Gangle walked around the crowd of people, looking for her friend, but gave up after 5 minutes of looking. 

She could be anywhere. Outside, in the bathroom, late. I might as well just enjoy the show. 

Gangle stood in the back of the crowd, simply voting to whatever was being played, completely disregarding the lyrics. She had been nodding her head to the beat and tapping her foot along for a little while before someone called her name, causing her to turn around. Before her stood Pomni in a black T-Shirt that read ‘CREW’ in bold white letters. 

“What's up?” Gangle said, nonchalantly, causing Pomni to smile.

“Not much, just finished setting up everything for the rest of the show.” She motioned to amps that were half covered by the black curtain draping around the stage. 

“You work here?” Gangle asked, genuinely surprised.

“More or less. I help out when they need it and they pay me for that night. It's easy money and I don't have to work scheduled hours. Pretty nice”

“Sounds like it, I'd prefer that over working 40 hours a week and getting yelled at for half of it.” Gangle responded as memories of Spudsys flashed through her mind, sending a shiver down her spine. 

“Retail?”

“Something like that.” Gangle said with a sigh. “Shitty customers all the same.” Pomni nodded her head in understanding.

“Hey Pom, why’d you run away?” An unfamiliar voice called out. It belonged to a red head in a shirt matching Pomnis. 

“Sorry Rag, I saw a familiar face and just wanted to say hi.” Pomni motioned to Gangle. Gangle waved shyly towards the girl.

“Well hello there, Who might this be?” 

“I-I'm Gangle” She said, tripping over her words.

“She's in my art class.” Pomni added. “She's really good at drawing, especially proportions, and hands.” Gangle smiled at the comment, glad that someone else liked their art.

“Well that's good, right? Sorry I don't really draw.”

“ It's okay, I get it. Yeah that's good. Hands are hard to draw and proportions can be tricky, so drawing them well shows a person's surface skill level.” The red head nodded her head along.

“Cool, you'll have to show me sometime.”

“Oh sure.” She paused. “I don't think I got your name.” Gangle said embarrassed.

“Ragatha, nice to meet ya.” She said with a smile as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Do you go to the University, Ragatha?”

“Oh yeah, I'm studying Zoology.” 

“That sounds fun, I've always liked animals.” Gangle thought about her cat back home with fondness.

“It really is. I grew up around horses and other animals so it was always a dream of mine to learn more about them.” 

“What do you plan to do after you graduate?”

“Enroll in veterinary school, then help all the animals I can.” Ragatha spoke with a certain edge that showed her dedication to her dreams. Gangle just smiled and gave a nod of understanding. “How about you Ms.Artist, what are your plans?” It was a question she'd thought about often, but she never came up with a definitive answer.

“Well I'm not sure.” She spoke slowly. “Right now I'm working on a web comic, it's got some traction but not enough to qualify as a career. I considered being a painter or a tattoo artist. I just don't know if I'd be any good at it.” Ragatha glanced at Pomni with a smile.

“We know a tattoo artist if you want to ask them about it.” Ragatha said.

“They're kinda antisocial though. They come off as distant and dismissive, even if they're actually interested in the topic at hand.” Pomni added, carefully choosing her words as she spoke.

“Really? Do you think they'd even want to talk to me about it then? I mean it's work and I'm a stranger.” Pomni and Ragatha glanced at each other once more. 

“We can find out tonight.” Ragatha said hopefully. 

“What do you mean?”

“They're here. They're probably somewhere over there” She said, motioning towards the backstage area. “They'll come say hi at some point, they always do. And then we can introduce you two.”

“Alright, cool” Gangle said, trying not to show how nervous she actually was.

First I had to come to a crowded place in a new town to meet new people just to please the only person I knew. Now they're saying I have to meet another person who apparently doesn't like people, just my luck. 

“Hey Rags look.” Pomni pointed to the stage, breaking Gangle of her spiraling thoughts.

“It's about damn time.” Ragatha responded excitedly. “Let's go.” She grabbed both Pomni and Gangle by the wrists and navigated them through the crowd, towards the front of the stage.

“Who is playing?” Gangle asked, confused by the excitement radiating off the taller girl.

“Our friend, the very tattoo artist.” Pomni cheered as the first song began.

“What instrument do they play?” Gangle asked.

“Quite a few.” Pomni replied

“I meant like, right now.” 

“Oh, they're playing the bass.” Pomni pointed to the stage. It was so bright that Gangle couldn't see much. She was used to dancing and moshing at these events, rarely did she ever look at the band's appearance. This time was different though, she was supposed to meet this person, so she scanned the stage every time the lights stopped blinding her. The guy singing had purple hair and was wearing yellow contacts, a nirvana shirt, and a studded belt. He looked smug as hell as he sang. Behind him was the drum player, but she couldn't make out their features behind the kit. Lastly she looked to the left where she saw a guitar sitting in its stand. It's aux cord laying over it, ready to be plugged in. Beside that was the aforementioned tattoo artist. They were wearing ripped black jeans and an oversized violent femmes T-shirt. Their wrists were decorated with various spikes and bracelets that shifted as they strummed the bass. Their hair was dyed various colors, pink and blue being the most vibrant. It looked as if they had dipped their hair in various paint buckets and walked on stage. Gangle couldn't help but stare at them for a little bit. 

“Woah.” Gangle said as Pomni looked at her, appearing puzzled. “They're cute.” Pomni chuckled a little bit at the remark. Gangle felt her whole face flush in embarrassment as she realized she had said that out loud. “M-my bad.” they said, the sound being muffled by the hands covering her face.

“For what? You didn't say I was cute.” Pomni smiled. 

“Don't tell them I said that, please.” Gangle said to her friend. 

“don't worry, I won't.”

“Neither will I.” Ragatha said with a smile. “But if you two happen to hit it offfff” Ragatha dragged that last word out. “They are single, but you didn't hear that from me.” She clicked her tongue towards the stage. Gangle couldn't respond, out of embarrassment and disbelief. 

“Good to know.” Gangle said sarcastically. 

It is good to know though, isn't it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Hope y'all liked it

Chapter 4: Roommates?

 

Zooble was pissed. They played the drums, not the goddamn bass. It's not their fault that their bass player quit, why couldn't Jax’s roommate fill in for him? Why did they have to play the drums? They knew damn well that he could play the bass because Zooble and him would often play guitar and bass together while Jax was trying to write lyrics. So why the hell was Jax running his mouth, saying that they just had to play drums tonight.

“Hey zobs, are you listening? Zoobsssss.” Jax snapped as he spoke, trying to get their attention.

“Yes Jax, I hear you. You and your bullshit excuses.” Zooble glared at the guy in front of her.

“Ugh you're always so difficult. It's one show, why's it such a big deal?”

“Cause I play the drums.” Zooble emphasized the last word. “not the bass.”

“You play both toots, so what's with the animosity?”

“The fact I'm the drum player. The fact that HE!” They motioned towards his roommate's door, “can also play bass.”

“But you're better.”

“So?”

“The better person should play.”

“I'm better than him on drums.”

“Eh debatable.” Jax Said with a smirk, clearly Just trying to antagonize them.

“Bullshit.” Zoobles eyes twitch out of annoyance. They hate how he can get a rise out of them, and how he knows he can get a rise out of them.

“Yeaaahh, but.” He smirked, “Maybe I'm just trying to make you tick.”

“Oh fuck you.”

“No thanks. Not my type.” Zooble rolled their eyes.

“Oh yeah, cause you clearly have a type.”

“I do.”

“What might that be?”

“Drum players.”

“You asshole!” Zooble shouted as Jax kneeled onto the ground, laughing his ass off. Zooble waited until Jax had shut up before they spoke. “Spill, why are you making me play Bass. You know I don't like the limelight. I already agreed to cover guitar. So what gives?”

“Our friends are going to be there.” He was clearly lying.

“You never cared before.” He face palmed and slowly dragged his hand down his face with a sigh. 

“It's the first day of school Zoobs. All the freshies are going to be there, and I wanna make a good impression.”

“You wanna hook up with a girl who doesn't know your shit reputation.” Zooble smirked as they spoke.

“My reputation ain't that bad.” Jax waved a hand dismissively. “ ‘Sides don't act like you don't.” Zoobles smirk fell and Jax took that as his opening. Placing a hand on zoobles shoulder as he spoke. “You'd love to bring a girl back to your dorm, wouldn't ya.” Jax watched as Zoobles' face got slightly red. “Show 'em around the shop and brag about your art and music. All the more reason to cover for bass, let em see that face of yours in the spotlight.” Zooble pulled their shoulder away and rolled their eyes.

“Shut the hell up Jax, you know I'm not like that.” Jax shrugged with one eye closed and smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, you're boring. Trust me I know.” Zooble scoffed.

“Whatever.” Zooble paused and composed themselves before they spoke. “I'll cover bass this one time, but after this you're on your own. I play drums, or I quit. Got it.” 

“Oh hell yeah, I got it.” Jax fist pumped into the air before throwing open his roommate's door to yank him out into the main room and tell him the plan for tonight.

This is gonna be an interesting night.

 

///

 

Zooble begrudgingly set their case on the stage. They had talked to Pomni and Ragatha, telling them how to set up the amps and helping them move them to the correct spots on stage. Jax was too busy being a self obsessed egotistic jerkward to help anyone out, caring more about his hair than how loud the microphone was.

“Can't say I'm surprised.” Ragatha said, noticing that Zooble had been staring.

“He never changes.” Zooble responded simply, setting their guitar in the stand, draping the auxiliary cord over it. “Where'd Pomni go?” 

“Oh?” Ragatha looked around. “I didn't even realize she left, she's probably out on the floor, knowing her.” Zooble nodded in agreement and walked over to the curtain, Ragatha following behind.

“Look.” Zooble pointed to their brunette friend.

“Who's that they're talking to?” Ragatha Inquired. Zooble looked over slightly. She was in a Melanie Martinez shirt and the faded pink in her hair implied she might've been in the alternative scene. 

“I don't know. Maybe she’s new.”

“She's so cute though. Look at little stars in her face. Seems like she'd be Pomnis type of person.” Ragatha said with a sigh.

“She looks like a theater kid.” Zooble retorted.

“Have you met Pomni?” Zooble paused for a moment.

“Yeah, fair point. If I'm subjected to the Hamilton musical one more time, I might stab my ear drums.” Zooble stared blankly, recalling the countless hours Pomni had played that musical.

“Relax, it wasn't that bad. Besides you love ‘Be more chill’ and ‘Dear Evan Hanson’.” Ragatha commented, nudging Zooble on the shoulder with a chuckle.

“I guess. But she seems like she'd audition, and would fully commit to the bit. Method acting type thing, yaknow?” 

“Is that so bad?” Ragatha asked.

“No, just an observation.” Zooble was never good with people. Anytime they made a commit about someone it came off like judgemental, even though it wasn't. Ragatha knew this, which is why she was keeping Zooble in check. Something they were grateful for. 

“I’m sure Pom will introduce us to her after the show anyway.”

“Probably.” Zooble said, looking at the unknown girl.  

Ragatha’s not wrong, she is kinda cute. 

“Anyways, you're on in 10. Ima go over to Pomni. See ya!”

“See ya.” Zooble responded as they watched their friend disappear to the other side of the curtain. They walked over to their bass and shouted at the other two to get in place.

“You got it!”

“Sheesh, take a chill pill Zoobs.” Zooble placed their strap over their shoulders and let the bass hang, feeling the weight pull them down slightly.

“Shut up Jax and get ready to play.” The lights flickered on and the curtain pulled back. The all too familiar sound of drums sticks clashing cued them Into their first song. 

 

///

 

The crowd cheered as their final song came to a close. 

“Thanks for coming out, you dopes.” Jax Said before flipping the crowd off and walking away with a smirk. Zooble placed their bass and guitar in their respective cases and stood up to go put the cases in their car. They placed them nicely in the back seat, making sure they wouldn't fall over and knock the strings loose. They walked back into the venue, planning on saying hi to their friends, but instead was met with a crowd of people screaming incoherently over each other. Asking for signatures or selfies or anything of the sort. It was a small town, but the locals' reaction to any kind of show was insane. They signed whatever was presented and feigned a smile for the camera, playing along until it all stopped. Once the crowd cleared up a bit, Zooble was finally able to locate their friends. And Jax. They were all standing in a bundle, talking casually, even the new girl Ragatha and them had been staring at earlier. 

“They you are.” Ragath said with a warm smile.

“I was beginning to think you had died.” Jax added.

“Thought or hoped?” Zooble asked.

“A little bit of both.” Jax smiled and Zooble nodded their head slightly. 

“Hey Zoobs, great show!” Pomni exclaimed. The new girl nodded her head in agreement. Zooble decided they might as well introduce themselves. She had already met everyone else, it'd be rude to ignore her like they did with most people.

“Hey.” Zooble said calmly. “I'm Zooble, though I have a feeling you already knew that. Who’re you?”

“Oh. Uhm. My name's Gangle, nice to meet you. I really enjoyed the show.”

“Thanks," Zooble said with a small smile.

“She's an artist, and she's really good.” Pomni said.

“Is that so? Me too.” 

“I heard. They were talking about your tattooing.” Gangle smiled as she spoke.

“Of course they were. Do you practice?”

“No, I've been looking into it though.”

“Show me your art sometime, maybe I can show you the shop.” Zooble had no idea why they were offering this. They never did this, especially not with people they had literally just met. The shop was their sanctuary and their art was their release; both music and tattooing. There was just something about this girl that seemed magnetic, something that drew Zoobles attention. They wanted to get to know her. They wanted to share their interests and hobbies was also learning about hers, it was odd.

“Sure,” Gangle responded, speaking in something just above a whisper. 

The group talked for a while. Zooble asked Gangle about bands and Artists she liked. They quickly realized that Gangle liked older pop punk music and new wave tehnotronik. Zooble was more of a punk, grunge, and goth person, but they could definitely get behind some of the stuff Gangle listened to. She seemed chill enough, a little quiet and awkward but cool nonetheless. She spoke with such enthusiasm everytime she spoke and Zooble couldnt help but smile at the blatant interests in whatever topic was at hand. Eventually Pomni said the words on everyone's mind.

“I think it's time to head back to the dorm.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Ragatha said she stretched her arms out.

“I guess.” Zooble said, knowing damn well they would lie awake for the next several hours.

“Yeah, sleep sounds nice.” Gangle said as she recalled her long first day.

“Which dorm are you?” Pomni asked.

“The west wing.” Gangle said simply. “Room 57.” Ragatha and Pomni chuckled a little. “What's funny?” Gangle asked.

“Nothing, we're just roommates.” Ragatha responded. 

“First Zooble and I, now you and her. We're gonna make everyone on our floor hate us.” Pomni chuckled at the thought.

“Doesn't seem so bad.” 

 

Chapter 5: Why?

Gangle stared at the paper, its scuffed up emptiness staring right back at her. She had been banging her head against a metaphorical wall since she got back to her dorm. It shouldn't be this hard to draw, especially when given a prompt, but work was sucking the life out of her. Sleep had become more and more elusive as the days passed by. Early classes followed by long shifts or early shifts followed by afternoon classes, combine that with school work and you end up with a sleep deprived, burnt out artist with no social life. She needed to go outside, she hadn't done anything for herself since the concert, and the only people she had talked to since, were Pomni and Ragatha. Even then it was only because they were often in close proximity to each other. It wasn't like she knew anyone else outside of those two. Technically she knew Jax and Zooble, but that was more along the lines of knowing of them, not actually knowing them. She wishes she did though. At a glance Jax had the kind of personality that was painfully intoxicating, the worst kind of high. A rush of adrenaline that courses through your veins when your body goes into a fight or flight response, knowing that it's going to run its course and when you crash, all the fun is gone, but the danger still remains. Intriguing at the very least. Then there was Zooble. They seemed cool, but distant, like a piece of art you can't quite understand. The more you look at it, the cooler it appears, but the less it makes sense until all you're left with is an emotion you can't describe and a piece of art that is no longer what you once perceived it as.

She knew there was more to them than that, but she hadn't gotten the chance to learn what else there was, neither of them existed in proximity to her, and if they did, she hadn't noticed them.

  Maybe I'll get to know them better at the next show, they have to play somewhere close again. 

She closed her eyes and lightly hit her head against the wall, her bed shaking slightly beneath her, and sighed. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared into the white void once more. With a simple shake of her head she closed the sketchbook and stood up. 

I need to do literally anything else. 

 

///

 

Gangle stepped out of the car and stood in the coolness of the autumn breeze. It had steadily been getting colder and she could tell that winter was slowly arriving, she could practically feel the snow dancing in the wind, threatening to fall in due time. Not today though, today it was nice, the sun was shining and the breeze was cooling everything down. Clouds loomed in the distance, threatening to pour down on the small town in the hours to come. This was the perfect weather for Gangle, she loved staring out the window and listening to the rain hit the glass as she drew. It was a perfect atmosphere for creativity, it was calming to the soul, and provided silence to her mind. 

She inhaled the air, letting the coolness coat her lungs before she stepped into the building. The scent immediately changed as she entered the store. She couldn't smell the rain anymore, it had been replaced with pine and birch wood. Wooden bookshelves lined the walls, filled with vinyls from top to bottom, there were cases of CD's and cassette tapes everywhere. It reminded her of the record store she had frequented back home, thumbing through cases trying to find that one specific CD from 2005, letting hours slip away as she got lost in the hunt. It was one of her favorite pastimes and she couldn't think of anything better to do today. 

“Welcome in, looking for anything in particular?” A voice to the right of her inquired. It was the cashier, she looked to be in her late twenties, long black hair that had pink highlights riddled throughout it. Her arms were covered with tattoos, and she was riddled with piercings.

“Just looking for something new, yaknow?”

“Yeah I feel that, let me know if you need help finding anything.’

“will do.” Gangle said before walking directly to the back of the store. The CD's were organized alphabetically and by genre so finding a specific band wouldn't be hard, but she didn't know what band she was even looking for, so she simply started at letter ‘A’ in the rock section and thumbed through the cases. 

She stopped on various artists: Green Day, Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, Alanis Morissette, The Veronicas, Billie Eilish, etc. She had long since left the rock section and was now nearing the end of the punk section on the opposite side of the store. 

“Damn girl, you weren't kidding when you said you were looking, huh.” The cashier pointed to the stack of CD's Gangle had collected through her search.

“Yeah, I just wanted to get music I know I enjoy and maybe find something new.”

“New huh, let me see what all you've got there.” Gangle brought the stack of CD's up to the register and the cashier began to scan over them.

“This is a nice little collection, there's only like 3 other people in town that pick these types of bands up. I think I have something.” The cashier walked onto the store floor, and went to the side of the store Gangle hadn't gotten to yet. She came back with a CD that Gangle had never seen before. “Here, this is our local band, Digital Hell. They played at the Void a few weeks ago, they're pretty dope. They give a Sex Pistols mixed with Bikini Kill kinda vibe, if you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean, I went and saw them, they're pretty dope, even opened a small pit.” The cashier simply chuckled and nodded her head.

“Sounds about right, crazy that they're just college kids.” Gangle nodded her head.

“I heard one of them is a tattoo artist.”

“Oh yeah, their drummer. They work at the shop down the block, they did half my sleeve.” She said pointing at her arm, the abstract art and excellent coloring leaving Gangle in awe. She swore she could've heard a scoff, but she didn't care, art was her whole thing, and this art was really clean.

“No shit.” She said simply. “That's really good.”

“Thanks” a voice to the right of them said. The tattoo artist themself was standing next to them, arms crossed, a slight smirk dawning on their face.

“Speak of the devil and they shall arrive.” The cashier said with a smile.

“Good to see you too, GQ” Zooble responded as she walked up to the counter, glancing at Gangle and her stack of CD's. “Shit man, that's one hell of a mix. You've got Night Club, The Veronicas, and Violent Femmes all in the same stack, that's dope.” Gangle was confused.

 Why are they talking to me? We don't actually know each other, Pomni and Ragatha aren't here, so why are they bothering? 

“Thanks. I just like music and wanted to grab enough stuff to last me a week or two.” She was surprised when Zooble let out a slight chuckle.

“A week? Do you listen to music 24/7? Cause that's a lot for just one week.” Gangle smiled, this was a conversation she could handle, a comfortable topic. Maybe I can actually get to know them, at least a little. 

“Yeah, If I'm not at work or in class, I'm listening to music.” Or playing it. 

“I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing you a lot then, huh?” GQ said with a smile, she feigned annoyance but she seemed to be happy about this.

“Probably, I didn't even get to the vinyls or cassette today, let alone half of the store.” She pointed to where GQ had grabbed the CD from earlier. GQ nodded her head and glanced at Zooble, who was still wearing a slight smile. 

“I look forward to it, you seem interesting enough. Are you getting anything else today?”

“Don't you guys close in like 30 minutes?” Gangle asked.

“I mean, I own the place so I don't really care, but yeah.” GQ responded.

“I'm not gonna hold you up, I can always come back later.” Gangle held her hands up as she spoke, trying to show how absurd the idea of staying open longer than needed, just so she could shop, was. 

“I like you.” GQ said as she began to scan Gangle's stack of CD’s.

“Are you actually getting that?” Zooble asked as they pointed to the CD that displayed their band's name. 

“Yeah? Why wouldn't I?”

“Cause we're just some crass local band, most people don't actually take us seriously, they just like being able to say they know someone in a band.” Zooble rolled their eyes as they said that last part.

“Well” Gangle paused for a second. “I take you guys seriously.” Gangle watched Zoobles expression falter, just for a second, before returning back to their semi neutral face. 

“I don't see why.” Zooble said simply, but there was more to it than that, and Gangle could tell.

“Cause I liked the show. I liked the music. Do i really need anything else? I respect the art, so I'll take the artist seriously.” Zooble just stood there for a second, letting the words sink in, before sighing and shrugging. Gangle listened to Zooble talk as she paid for her CD’s and grabbed the bag, letting it hang at her side.

“I guess not huh?” Zooble smiled the same small smile Gangle had seen earlier. Gangle smiled at Zooble and a comfortable silence filled the air. 

“You know,” Zooble spoke slowly. “I'm the drummer for the band, not the bassist.” Gangle nodded.

“Yeah, she mentioned that when we were talking about her tattoos. Why’d you play bass at the show then?”

“Bassist didn't show, so Jax had me cover.” Zooble spoke, clearly annoyed at the whe debacle.

“That's stupid, there was a drummer there. Why not just let you play the drums and find someone to fill in for bass?”

“Thank you!” Zooble threw their hand in the air. “That's what I said!” Gangled smiled at the outburst. 

They're cute. 

“Are you going to drum at your next show?” 

“I'll kill Jax if he tries to make me play Bass again.” Zooble said simply. “So yeah.” 

Zooble paused again, clearly thinking.

“Do you wanna come to the next show?” Gangle was surprised. Zooble seemed like the distant type, she was already surprised that they talked to her in the first place, but inviting her to a show was even more wild.

“Uh, yeah” Gangle responded, trying not to let her surprise show. “When is it?” Zoobles eyes widened slightly.

“I don't know yet. But I can let you know when we figure it out.”

“That sounds good to me.” Gangle opened her phone and handed it to Zooble. “I know you're Pomnis roommate and all, but I never see you, so this should work better.” Zooble nodded their head before they took the phone, entering their number and handing the phone back to Gangle. Gangle smiled and put the phone back in her pocket as the silence filled the room once more. “Well on that note, I've got to get back to my dorm and work on my art assignment. Thanks for your help GQ, see you around Zooble.” Gangle said as she waved and headed towards the exit.

“No problem short stack.” GQ said.

“Tell Rags I said hi.” Zooble said quietly.

Gangle nodded her head and exited the record store, she swore she heard the sound of laughter behind the now closed door, but she didn't care, she was happy. There was only one thing on her mind as she got into her car.

I got her number. 

 

Chapter 6: Hey?

Summary:

Everyone is confused and awkward.

Zooble at the blank screen. They had been trying to figure out what to say for over a week. Gangle had texted them after she had left the record store. It was just her saying who she was and making sure she had got the right number. Zooble responded with a thumbs up, much to the dismay of GQ, and hadn't texted or talked to her since. They figured out when their next show was going to be, but they didn't know how to start a conversation without sounding like an asshole. Usually they didn't care, but the idea of hurting her feelings made them wince slightly. They had enjoyed talking to Gangle at the record store. Music and art were Zoobles' soft spots, they had this surreal connection to them. They were allowed to make anything they wanted, and people loved it, even if it looked wrong or sounded weird. They found solace in the oddities they created. It made them feel less like an oddity; less alone at the very least. 

Maybe we can talk more about art and music. Zooble thought to themselves, staring at the blank screen once more. After much deliberation they decided to send a simple,

 

Hey. 

 

They stared at their phone, impatience consuming their body.

“She's probably busy, stop being a creep.” Zooble said aloud to no one but themself, before putting their headphones on and listening to an older song. They laid on their bed and stared at the ceiling, it had various band posters push pinned into it. They figured no one was going to inspect the ceiling for damages, plus they ran out of tape when they were decorating their dorm, so it made sense to just go ahead and do it. Besides the various posters their room was fairly empty. They had their guitar and their bass set in the corner, they kept their drum kit elsewhere because it was too big, and a filled CD stand next to a stack of CD binders and a crate that held a few miscellaneous vinyls, EP's, cassettes and 8 track tapes. They also kept their Walkman and CD Walkman in the crate. On the opposite end of their dorm was their desk. It was riddled with various art supplies, a singular lamp, and homework they had yet to do. They rarely ever went to class, they had Pomni tell them what got assigned in freehand draw, and everything else was posted online. Professor Kinger was the only professor Zooble had that absolutely refused to use the internet, they had asked him about it before and he had said that he knew about all the dangers that lurked within the “devious devices”. Zooble wrote him off as some crazy old man who thought the internet was going to steal their souls, and stopped going to his class after day one. Apparently they had a project due next week, But Zooble had no desire to actually do it, they had already forgotten what the prompt was. They had been more focused on drawing designs for work, their sketch pad was filled with half-assed and abandoned drawings, some of them were turned into full fledged tattoos, most remained skeletal beings on a page. It was sad in a way, that so much time would be abandoned and never see the light of day again, but that was the life of an artist they supposed. 

Zoobles phone buzzed and they were pulled away from their sketchbook, setting it back down on the chair beside their bed. They groaned at the text they had just received. They were happy Gangle responded but a simple,

 

Hey 

 

Didn't give them much to work with. To be fair, that's exactly what they had said, so they couldn't exactly blame her. As Zooble was trying to come up with an excuse for why they had texted her in the first place, three dots appeared on their screen, bouncing up and down, making two seconds feel like an eternity.

 

What's up?

 

What's up, what's up. I can work with ‘What's up?’ Zooble thought as they stared at their phone.

 

Not much, I found out when my next show is.

It wasn't why Zooble had texted her, but the only reason Gangle gave them her number was because she wanted to go to a concert, she wasn't concerned with getting to know Zooble, even though Zooble really wished she was, she seemed cool.

 

Hell yeah! Give me a date and place and I'll do my best to make it.

 

It's at the record store tomorrow, we're playing in the downstairs area at 8.

 

THERE'S A DOWNSTAIRS AREA!? 

Zooble chuckles at the text. Of course GQ didn't tell her about the downstairs area. All the music was held in the main floor so most people didn't know about the downstairs area, Zooble only knew because they used to work there before they got their tattooing gig a few months back. The entire summer was full of stocking shelves, sorting music alphabetically by genre, and talking to GQ about life. GQ had become a friend, despite the fact she was 28. She was the only person Zooble could open up to about life, how they felt about everyone and everything. She was the one that inspired Zooble to join a band, she was the first person to hold their CDs, and she was the only person that ever heard Zooble play their music. Not the thrashy, heavy drums they played on stage, but the actual music that Zooble wrote when they were alone in their dorm, away from the judgment that was the world. She was the only person that Zooble trusted, unconditionally. So when Zooble said they needed a place to play, she was more than happy to let them. Saying “it'll get people in the door, so why not?”, but Zooble knew damn well it was because they had asked.

 

Yeah, don't worry though, there's no music down there.

 

Oh, darn. What's down there then?

 

Just a few shelves filled with books on music history and band history. 

 

What! That's so cool! I love reading about bands inspirations and how they came about.

Zooble couldn't help but exhale at the response. Of course Gangle liked reading about the history of music.

 

Yeah, you seem like the nerdy type.

 

What's that supposed to mean?

Shit. Had that come off as a jab?

 

You seemed to know a lot about music, GQ was impressed by it, so you've gotta know your stuff.

Zooble held their breath, hoping they didn't mess up before they even had the chance to try.

 

Oh yeah. Like I said, if you respect the art, you should respect the artist, or vice versa. Unless they do some weird shit, that's different. 

 

Yeah, I get that 

Zooble chuckled. The three dots reappeared on the screen and then disappeared, then reappeared again. 

 

I don't work on Sundays, so I should be able to make it tomorrow. 

Zooble hadn't even thought about the fact that Gangle could have a job, then again anyone buying that many CDs has to have money to spare. 

 

You work? Where?

 

I'm the manager at Spudsys.

 

Didn't you just move here, how are you already a manager.

 

I was a manager back home, I requested a transfer and I was approved, thankfully.

 

That was pretty cool of them.

 

Yeah.

 

Zooble could feel the conversation dying out, but they had really wanted to talk to Gangle about something besides their band. They wanted to actually get to know her, but they didn't know how, they were never the one to reach out first. They learned at a young age that reaching out gets you hurt, especially when they don't understand what you're talking about or who you are at heart. Zooble started wracking their brain, trying to think of a conversational topic, then it dawned on them. 

 

Hey you're in Prof. Kingers Freehand calls right? 

Zooble anxiously waited for a reply.

 

Yeah, why?

 

Against their better judgment, Zooble decided to do something they never did. They were never going to be able to hold a conversation over text, they needed to see her in person if they wanted to make any progress.

Do you want to come over and work on the project together?

///

 

Gangle stared at her phone, completely confused.

Come over. Come over? 

A sense of happiness, nervousness, and fear shot through her veins all at once.

“Huh?” was all she could say. Her phone slipped out of her hand and landed onto the ground with a clatter. She stared at it, unmoving. “Why?” She slowly stood up, picking her phone off the ground and looking at it once more to make sure she wasn't crazy. She started pacing around her room trying to sort out her thoughts, talking to no one but herself. “Why would Zooble invite me over? Pomni and Ragatha told me explicitly that they're a cold and distant person. They just wanted to talk about their band, or so I thought.” she paused and swivels on her heel to start walking the other way. “They have no obligation to be my friend, and they seem fun, I don't deserve friends like that, so why? Maybe Pomni put them up to it? Or Ragatha!” She snapped her head towards her door and marched out of it, knocking on her redheaded roommate's door. She opened it with a smile and waved. 

“Oh hey Gangl-”

“Why is Zooble texting me?” Gangle interjected.

“What?”

“Why is Zooble texting me?” Gangle restated as she shoved her phone into Ragathas hands. She gave her a moment to read, confusion blatantly plastered along her face.

“Well I don't know, but it seems like they're trying to hang out with you.” Ragatha said as she handed the phone back to Gangle. 

“But why?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Pomni said that Zooble didn't like people.”

“No, we said Zooble doesn't like most people, and that it takes some time for them to warm up to people. This is a good thing.” She said pointing towards Gangle's phone. “it means they want to get to know you better.” Gangle stared at her phone for a second, it only showed her reflection, and smiled. 

“Okay, thank you Ragatha.”

“Of course, now you might want to respond to them.” Gangle nodded her head, and texted Zooble back. Before she could even put her phone in her pocket, it buzzed.

“That was fast.” Ragatha said, her eyes a little wider than normal. 

“Really, they've been texting that fast the entire time.” Ragatha looked even more confused than before, but didn't say whatever she was thinking.

“Alright.”

“They said I can come over now, so I guess I'll go do that.” Ragatha flashed a smile and waved as Gangle ran into her room to grab her sketchbook before she left. She locked the dorm on the way out and walked down the hall till she reached Pomnis dorm, and knocked. Pomni opened the door.

“Oh hey Gangle, what's up?” 

“Zooble invited me over.”

“Really? Did they say why?”

“They said they wanted to work on the Freehand project.”

“Oh alright, you should show me when you're done, I just finished mine so.” Pomni smiled.

“Oh yeah, for sure.” Pomni let Gangle into the dorm and closed the door behind her.

“Zoobles door is straight down the hall. Make sure you knock or you might get a phone thrown at your head.” Pomni chuckled nervously as though she was speaking from experience.

“Will do! Thank you.” Gangle walked down towards the door and knocked.

“Yeah gimme a sec.” A monotone voice said behind the door. “Yeah what's up Pom- oh it's you, hey Gangle.” Zooble said as they opened their door. Gangle smiled and put up her hand in greeting.

“Hey Zooble, ready to draw?”

“Oh yeah, come on in” Zooble held the door open and gestured with their hand. As Zooble closed the door, Gangle walked into their room and started admiring their room. They have way more posters on the walls, and their art desk is actually put together. Zooble sat down on their bed.

“I like your room.” Gangle said simply.

“Thank you, so do I.” Gangle chuckled at the joke.

“Very music themed.”

“Are you surprised?”

“Not at all.” Gangle looked over at Zooble who was just looking at Gangle with a neutral expression. An all too familiar silence filled the air, but neither one of them broke eye contact. Gangle flashed a quick smile before awkwardly holding her sketchbook up. “You ready to draw?”

“Oh uh, yeah.” Zooble grabbed their sketchbook off the chair and sat back down. Gangle sat on the floor across from Zoobles bed. “What are you sitting over there for?”

“Hm?”

“You don't have to sit over there, you can sit next to me, if you want, you can also put on some music if you want.” Zooble motioned to their music corner.

“Oh uhm, are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Zooble shrugged nonchalantly. Gangle stood up and placed their sketchbook next to Zooble. They scanned their CD's and smiled at the various artists and genres. 

“Looks like I'm not the only one with eclectic music tastes.” Gangle commented. 

“Nope. All music deserves to be heard. Even if I don't personally like it, you'll find a little bit of everything in there.”

“Makes sense. Can I go through the binders?”

“Yeah go ahead.” Zooble started sketching something random, they still didn't know what the prompt was. “Hey Gangle.”

“Yeah?”

“What was the prompt again?”

“Pretty vague, just draw something that reminds you of comfort.’” 

“That's not too bad.” They looked down at their little doodle, it was a guitar, and it gave them an idea, so they flipped the page and started sketching. Gangle walked over to their CD player, and hit play. Zooble smiled as the all too familiar sound filled the room. “Bikini Kill? I didn't take you for the type.”

“Type for what, riot grrrll music?”

“Yeah, then again your CD collection at the store surprised me.”

“Well” She paused. “I'm full of surprises.” 

“I'm starting to realize that.” Zooble said with a small smile as Gangle sat down next to them.

“Now let's get to drawing!” Gangle exclaimed.

 

Chapter 7: See?

Gangle had spent all day doing chores. While she didn't have work today, she still had other business to be attended to. She had to do chores, get ready, and finish her homework, because unfortunately even as an art major she still had core classes. They were little reminders of why she majored in art rather than something like math. She and Ragatha spent about two hours cleaning up their dorm. It wasn't messy by any means, but the dishes had piled up far more than they should've and the trashcan had been overflowing for far longer than either of them would like to admit.

Ragatha spent the entire time talking about how excited she was to watch the whole show, rather than work it. According to her, the shows held at the record store were the best because they were just local artists, so not too much toxic fan behavior. Apparently GQ loved supporting kids and their aspirations, so she let pretty much anyone play and if she liked their stuff, she'd invite them back and promote their music. Thus the reason she had a whole section of her store dedicated to local bands. Gangle had to respect that, a lot of people refuse to take a chance on younger artists because they're a risk, and many people are greedy and only care about making a profit while exploiting people for their talents. GQ was the exact opposite, Gangle had only met her once but she could tell that she cared about each and every person that she connected with, even if it was only briefly. That's why she had no problem promoting young artists, she didn't care about the money, she cared about the people. She was the embodiment of something this world often found itself devoid of, compassion. After Ragatha and her finished cleaning the dork they started getting ready, dressing each other and critiquing outfits until they were both satisfied.

“Are you sure you want to wear layers? It's going to get hot.” Ragatha asked as she motioned to the black and red striped long sleeve Gangle had decided to wear as an under shirt. She had paired it with a cropped black and white corpse bride T shirt, bleach painted black cargo pants, and a pair of black boots that were visibly worn down.

“Are you sure you want to wear two belts? You're gonna sound like a walking key ring.” Gangle retorted sarcastically with a laugh. Ragatha just rolled her eyes and laughed along. Ragatha had two belts loosely hanging on her hips, creating an x shape behind her legs. She had paired them with a pair of baggy blue jeans, an oversized graphic T, and a pair of purple sneakers that were barely visible beneath the cuffs of her jeans.

“Alright, I get it. Fair enough.”

“You got your keys?” Gangle asked.

“Yep.” Ragath said assuredly.

“Phone?”

“Duh.”

“Wallet?”

“Yes. I'm ready to go.” Ragatha said with feigned annoyance.

“Have your dignity for when Pomni says hi?” Gangle said with a shit eating grin on her face. “Oh shush the hell up!” Ragatha yelled, her face only being a few shades lighter than her hair. “It's not like that!”

“Sureeeeee.” Gangle said smugly. “I totally believe you.”

“It's not! And even if it was, I'm not her type.” Ragatha said solemnly. Gangle's smile instantly dropped and she couldn't help but sympathize with her friend, after all she was in the same boat.

“Hey, cmon Rags, dont sell yourself short.” Gangle said, placing a hand upon Ragatha's shoulder.

“I'm not. Pomni and I are nothing more than friends.”

“Even so, that doesn't mean you're not her type.” Ragatha just bowed her head at the comment. “That just makes it worse. I am her type and she still doesn't like me.”

“Or you are her type, and she just doesn't realize how much she likes you.” Gangle said, attempting to cheer up her friend. Ragatha looked at her confused.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means she may not realize she likes you, or she doesn't know you like her. You've gotta drop hints, flirt a little, not just wave and walk away.” Gangle said with a smile, poking fun at her friend in an attempt to cheer her up.

“Not like you're any better with Zooble.” Ragatha spoke with a huff and Gangle felt her face get slightly warmer.

“At least I can talk to them..” Ragtha rolled her eyes and followed Gangle out of the room.

“I talk to Pomni all the time.”

“Not what I meant and you know it. Now hurry up before we're late.”

///

GQ had greeted them enthusiastically as they entered the store, asking how they had been, and how long it would be before Gangle returned to scour the store for CDs, before directing them towards the basement.

“Have fun you two. Oh and Gangle, tell Zooble I said hi.” GQ said with a tone Gangle couldn't quite place.

“Will do.” Gangle said with a salute before heading towards the direction GQ had pointed them in earlier. The venue was nothing short of packed and Gangle couldn't help but smile as she descended the stairs to see a rainbow of hair decorating the room. People from all walks of life were dancing together, moshing, or just talking. It was a sight that always made Gangle's heart melt, she had been subject to cruel words all throughout her life and concerts were her escape. She had been worried about it changing when she moved, but after the last concert, she realized she didn't need to, she was safe here. It didn't take long to find Pomni among the sea of people, Ragatha had an eye for finding their shorter friend, no matter where they were. Pomni was wearing shorts, with black boots, and a Green Day shirt that was clearly a size too small.

“Hey Ragatha, hey Gangle, what's up?”

“Not much, jammed to Between Friends on the way here.” Gangle said as she quietly chuckled to herself, recalling the subpar karaoke they had performed in her car on the way here.

“Yeah, it was pretty fun.” Ragatha chimed in.

“Sounds like it. Yall missed one of the opening artists, they weren't that good though.”

“I usually show up around 30 minutes late so I don't have to deal with the long lines and the awkward shuffling that occurs as people try to find the best place to stand.” Gangle explained with a shrug.

“Aren't you worried about being able to see?” Pomni asked.

“No, I'm here for the music and I usually end up moshing, so no matter where I am, I end up in the center eventually.”

“And I usually end up hanging out with you Pomni, so I didn't mine.” Ragatha closed her eyes as she smiled towards the shorter girl. Pomno couldn't help but smile back.

“Well then let's go hang out!” Pomni exclaimed as she grabbed Ragathas wrist, catching the red head off guard. “You coming Gangle?”

“Nah, I'm gonna hang back here. You two have fun.” Gangle gave a wave as Pomni pulled the other girl closer to the stage, flashing a smug smirk as the redhead looked back towards her in confusion. Gangle looked around the room, people were bobbing their heads and dancing to the music, not very hyped up but still happy to be there. She couldn't help but dance along.

///

“Hey Fuckers, what's up!” Jax yelled into the mic. They were the last band to play and the night had long since begun. People were dancing their hearts put and moshing when they could, that's to say people were tired. Even so the crowd enthusiastically yelled a response, the overlap of voices creating a deafening cacophony of unintelligible noise. “That's what I’m talking about! Now before we get started, will everyone please give a hand to the band.” Jax motioned to the two figures behind him with a devious smile, his guitar hanging loosely around his neck. “Especially our bassist, Zooble!” Zooble rolled their eyes in irritation as their face flushed. They flipped Jax off and adjusted their amp, trying to focus on performing. “Alright, enough of that. Let's start this shit!” The guitar started first , its angry angelic voice crashing into the walls and ricocheting into the crowd. Then the bass came in, hard to detect but helping the guitar get its point across. Finally the drums started, hitting the off beats and creating a full sound. It was pure bliss and Gangle's smile reflected how she felt. It was hard for her to really smile, they were usually fake, but not here, not now. Right now she was shoulder checking guys left and right, being spun around as lights flashed and music blared, a smile plastered across her face as she did so. Every hit was responded to with a laugh, every flash of light feeling like it was meant to illuminate her. There was nowhere else she'd rather be, no one else she'd rather be. Then the chorus kicked in and for a second, a very brief second, Gangle thought she heard backing vocals, a lower and beautiful voice singing for two lines and then fading into obscurity. She paused for a second, pondering the voice, before shrugging and quickly letting the thought go. She kept moshing, shoving other people as the crowd roared, her thin frame absorbing the shocks on all fronts. She could only focus on the bass line as she did. After all, the bass was technically the only reason she was here, or at least that was the lie she was telling herself. She'd be damned if she got her hopes up over some silly interest. Over some person who had good music tastes and cool style. Over someone who liked cool things, when she knew she was the furthest thing from cool. She was bland, an undecorated mask in the wings of a stage. Not meant to be seen, and had no desire to be seen. She basked in the shadows of the curtain, but they were the type of person to yell from center stage, light and audience be damned. They appeared to have their life put together, they were successful and confident. They were everything Gangle wasn't. Gangle knew how the whole crush game played out, and she knew she didn't want to be hurt again, definitely not by her own delusions.

Gangle had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she forgot where she was, and a cruel reminder was headed her way. With a loud thunk, Gangle felt her eye come in contact with someone's elbow as she slid backwards, trying not to fall over. She placed her hand over her eye, knowing she wouldn't be able to see clearly if she opened it. The show was almost over, so the pit would be ending in a few songs. There was no point in risking further Injury for eight minutes of pained fun. She broke through the wall of people that surrounded the pit, making sure people couldn't leave or hit people that didn't want to be a part of this consensual dance fighting. She looked around for Pomni and Ragatha, finding them near the front.

“Hey Gangle!” Ragatha said, peppy as ever.

“Is your eye okay?” Pomni asked, motioning towards Gangle's hand.

“Yeah, I took an elbow to the face.” She chuckled shyly.

“Damn, that's rough.” Pomni responded.

“I'm used to it.”

“Wouldn't that hurt?”

“I mean yeah, but lots of things in life hurt. I feel like physical pain hurts less than the rest of it does.” Pomni and Ragatha exchanged a concerned glance.

“Yeah, but there's no point in subjecting yourself to pain.” Ragatha said.

“I'm not. I'm subjecting myself to fun, and sometimes I get hurt. It's no different than rock climbing or sports.” Pomni just chuckled.

“You've got a point there.” Ragatha said.

“Well let's not let the fun stop now then, let's dance!” Pomni yelled, causing the other two to smile.

Chapter 8: Smile

Summary:

Gangle and Zooble hang out

Gangle wasn't quite sure how she ended up here. Head tilted to the side as a gentle hand grabbed her ear and held her still.
“3. 2. 1.” Gangles squeezed her eyes tight as she felt a pinch, then a pop. The hand left her ear for a second, then swiftly returned. “Here, take a look.” Gangle grabbed the mirror and stared at the reflection. “Well? How's it feel?”
“Normal.” She said blankly, just staring. Then she glanced up at the person standing next to the chair she was sitting on, their eyebrow raised in a way that urged her to explain. “In like a good way.” She blurted out, getting a chuckle in response.
“Well that's good. Now stand up and get your ass over here.” They said as they walked over to the glass case near the front. Gangle slid out of the chair and followed them, letting the new weight in her ear settle in. It was a nice feeling, like a hug that would be there forever.
“What's up, Zooble?”
“Take a look.” They tapped the glass case and Gangle looked down and just saw rows of jewelry laying snugly, spaced out with precision. She scanned the jewelry when her eyes finally landed on a chrome bar that faded from red to pink. She must've been staring for a little bit because Zoobles' next words were, “That caught your eye? Should've known.” Zooble then slid the case open and grabbed the bar, placing it in a clear bag and extending it toward Gangle.
“No Zooble, it's okay. You already did the piercing and you really didn't have to. I mean you just got done with a show and then we kinda just ran down here afterwards for some reason and I really don't want to impose on you or your business or-”
“Gangle.” Zooble said, cutting them off. “You're not imposing. I dragged you down here for a reason. If I wanted to be somewhere else right now, you would know. Trust me.” Zooble flashed a small smile and Gangle stood there, unmoving. She shook her head slightly and returned the smile.
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Now take the jewelry.” Gangle reached out and grabbed the bag, her finger ever so slightly brushed against Zoobles as she did so. Her grip on the bag tightened as she tried to contain her composure.
“What's the reason?”
“Hm?”
“ You just said there's a reason, what is it?” Zooble tapped their finger on their chin and chuckled.
“Wouldn't you like to know.” Gangle stared at the bag in her hand, words evading her brain despite every synapses firing off. A broken cog in a machine that can't be fixed.
“Well.” She paused. “Can I ask you a different question then?”
“You can ask whatever you want, I just can't guarantee an answer.” Zooble said with a sly smirk upon their face.
“Why do you always look so angry.” Zoobles eyes widened a little.
“I look angry?”
“Yeah. On stage you always look upset. Like you're going to rip someone's head off.”
“Oh.” Zooble said with a bit of bite in their tone.
“You don't have to answer, it's just confusing. Everything from your room, to your art, to your job screams ‘I love music’; so why doesn't it seem like that when you perform?” Zooble exhaled with exasperation.
“It's because you've only ever seen me play twice.” Gangle looked at them with eyes that said ‘please, go on’. “I don't play bass.”
“What?” Zooble smiled a bit at the reaction.
“Like, I know how to play bass, to play guitar, hell I play piano, but none of them are my instrument.”
“So what is?”
“Drums. I'm a drummer through and through. Jax just has me covering for bass because he crashed out so hard the old guy quit.”
“So tell him to fuck off.” Zooble let out a surprised chuckle.
“What?”
“Tell Jax to fuck off.” Gangle said with a shrug.
“Those are some strong words coming from you.”
“And they'll be even stronger with that attitude to back them up.” Gangle motioned towards Zooble.
“Hey now, just cause you got your ear pierced, doesn't mean your tough shit.”
“You have a nice smile.”
“What?” Zoobles arms fell to their side and they made their face relax.
“That's the first time I've seen you really smile, it's pretty.”
“Oh, uhm. Thanks, I guess.” Zooble turned their head away from Gangle's eyes so that she couldn't see it get redder by the second.
“Just being honest”
“Well. You also have a very nice smile.”
“Thanks.” Gangle beamed in response. All the noise faded away into oblivion and the silence settled in, drifting upon the air.
“Hey.” Zooble said suddenly.
“Yeah?”
“Are you down to hang out a little more tonight?”
“Of course.” Zoobles face softened as they heard the reply, something they found happened often around her.
“Cool. Then follow me.” Zooble walked towards the back of the store and took a glance back. “Hey, you coming or what?”
Gangle walked towards the door Zooble had just disappeared behind. She didn't know what she had expected, but it wasn't this. The room was filled with cases of miscellaneous instruments, and in the middle was a drum kit.
“Holy hell Zooble, this is dope.”
“I know right. My boss lets me store my extra shit in here, I'm just not allowed to play when we have customers. For obvious reasons.”
“Did you do that yourself?” Gangle pointed towards the spray painted sides of the kit.
“Oh yeah, I wanted to make it my own.”
“It looks really good.”
“Thank you. It took a really long time.”
“Well.” Gangle leaned against the wall as she looked at Zooble. “Play something.”
“You sure? It's loud.”
“I've been to my fair share of concerts. Don't worry about me.”
“Alright.” With that, Zooble started playing. Speeding up and slowing down when needed, never noticeably messing up. It was clear they had practiced a lot. They slammed the drumstick on last time and clicked the two together within their hands. Gangle clapped as the sound died, and smiled.
“That was really cool, Zooble. Thanks.”
“Thanks? For what?”
“Showing me this.” She motioned to the room.
“Well it's nothing special. It's just where I hang out after work.”
“Exactly. It's a part of you, and you opened up and showed me it. Thank you.” Zooble couldn't help but give a small smile as they looked at Gangle. They liked the way they felt around her, it was calming but never dull. It was fun, and honest. Traits that most people in their life lacked.
“Hey Gangle.”
“Yeah”
“Come here. Please.” Gangle walked over to Zooble and flinched slightly as Zooble grabbed her hands. “Take these.” Zooble stood up as they placed the drumsticks within her hands. “Now sit down.”
“Zooble, I don't know how to play.”
“I know.” They smiled. “I'm gonna teach you, you dork."
“Why?”
“Because that's the reason I brought you here.”
“To teach me how to play drums?” Gangle looked at Zooble confused.
“No, to share a piece of my heart with you, because you make it happy.”
“Oh.” Gangle felt her face heat up as she just stared at Zooble. Silence filled the air, but this time it was heavy and tense. It was comfortable and awkward. The two of them just stared at each other for a long time before Zooble grabbed Gangle's hands, throwing Gangle out of her thoughts.
“I'm gonna show you how to hold these first.”
“Okay.” Gangle said as Zooble fixed their hand around hers, changing the position of the drumsticks.

Chapter 9: Silence.

Summary:

The gang goes out.

Silence is deafening, and that's all that surrounds us. Periodically being interrupted by cicadas screaming out into the darkness of the night. The stars twinkle in the sky, above it all, and as everyday fades to night the stars seem to grow dimmer. 

They're dying, and we choose to draw pictures out of their pain. Gangle thought to herself as she stared towards the sky, her feet dangling over the edge as she sat upon the threshold of life and death. A very peaceful line that she often danced upon. One wrong move and she would fall, she would break, and in all honesty she didn't think there was anyone who would actually care if she did. She had friends, but even then friends can only care so much before they leave. They always leave. Gangle just sighed at her thoughts before focusing on the view in front of her. It was beautiful in its own odd way, she knew it was the ocean, but at night under the fading shine of the stars, the rain and darkness obscured it. It looked like a void in an 8-bit horror game, darkness flowing rapidly, accompanied by the slight movement of rain hitting the surface of it all. It was offsetting and yet it was comforting. It brought Gangle peace, for she knew if she did fall off this ledge, she'd be consumed into this dark, seemingly endless, and peaceful abyss. Maybe she'd find tranquility within the dark. She couldn't find those answers today it seemed, so she placated her thoughts with a forced and tired smile as she looked up at the sky and let the rain wash away her mind.

 

///

 

The page remained blank, creativity eluding Its surface, like a mockery targeted specifically towards her. She had done fine on her last assignment, when she worked with Zooble, but now she couldn't think of anything.

“What kind of prompt is this? What does it mean to ‘draw your biggest existential fear'?" Gangle let her head collide with her desk as she threw her arms up in frustration. She knew what it meant, she just didn't know what to draw. What is my biggest existential fear anyways? There were plenty of things she was scared of. Spiders? No. Dentures with eyes? Gross. Rejection? Sure, but how do you draw that? My work schedule? Not really existential, just tedious. The never ending passage of time that is slowly consuming us all? Yeah. “So how do I draw that?” She wondered aloud as she tapped the pencil against face. Usually she'd talk to Pomni or call up Zooble, but it was 9 pm on a Saturday and Gangle had no social battery left after the 12 hour shift she had to pull today because someone no call no showed. They better have a damn good reason or I'm gonna have to fire them. Gangle shook her head disappointedly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She timidly placed the pencil against the paper and sketched lightly, drawing herself running towards the viewer, a clock behind her, its hands not truly making sense. She was running on clocks, running away from the time, trying desperately to escape her fate, but it seems she couldn't. Every step she took was meant with time and every seeable crevice was covered with it. It was just a rough draft, but it would have to do, she truly didn't have the energy nor the time for multiple concept sketches. Much as the sketch showed, time eluded her and yet it was so deeply rooted within her that she couldn't escape it if she tried. It was a miserable existence to behold, that's why she had music and art, to help her escape. It was the little solace she could find from time to time, and it meant everything. 

 

*knock, knock* 

 

Gangle's head shot from her drawing the sound at the door that had interrupted her thoughts. She could only hope that whatever she was about to hear was good.

“Hey Gangle, I know you're busy and probably tired, but Zooble invited us out. They made it a point that you specifically are aware.” Ragatha said from the other side of the door with a chuckle. 

“What are we doing?” Exhaustion laced her voice with a monotone performance.

“That's a surprise.” Ragatha laughed half heartedly. “Like seriously, I don't know. They won't tell us.” Gangle stood up and looked around. They were still in their work uniform.

“Alright I'll come, but I gotta change.”

“Sounds good, I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby.” Gangle walked over to her closet, head hung low. She didn't want to go, she was so tired, but she had to. These were her friends and she couldn't leave them hanging. She also couldn't rot in her room while complaining that she couldn't escape the monotony of life, it was hypocritical. She quickly changed from the blue polo to a black long sleeve, which she paired with an oversized band T-shirt she hadn't worn before and a pair of baggy red cargo pants. She wasn't going to dress up, she was just hanging out with friends, and she truly didn't care how others perceived her right now. She grabbed her wallet and hooked the chain to her paints before grabbing her keys and sketchbook. She slowly walked out of her dorm, making sure to lock the door before she descended down the stairs. 

She opened the door to the lobby and looked around for Ragatha, catching a brief glimpse of red hair near the entrance, talking to none other than Pomni. She couldn't help but smile at the two, they were cute, annoying and oblivious, but cute. “Hey, there she is!” Ragatha said with a smile, looking past Pomni. 

“Hey you guys.” she said with a slight wave.

“Are you ready for whatever is going on?” Ragatha asked.

“I guess.” Pomni and Gangle spoke at the same time, earning a chuckle from their Redheaded friend as they exited the lobby and stepped out onto the street.

“Who has the address?" Pomni inquired.

“I do.” A familiar voice said from behind the three. The three turned around and Gangle fought the urge to smile. There was Zooble, dressed in black boots, ripped black jeans, a band T, and a Leather Jacket to boot. Damn. She noticed Zooble's eyes lingering on her for a second. It looked like they wanted to say something but decided against it.

“Well lead the way then Zooble.” Ragatha said with a smile.

“Sure.” Zooble said blankly before putting their hands in their pockets and walking ahead of the trio.

“Oh no you don't.” Pomni said as she sped up and placed a hand on Zoobles shoulder. “You don't get to invite us out and then leave us in the dust like you're not associated with us.”

“Pomnis got a point.” Ragatha said, draping an arm over Zoobles' other shoulder. Zooble's face was getting noticeably redder.

“What the hell guys, get off of me.”

“nope.”

“I'm good.” 

“Gangle help me!” Zooble said, turning their head back towards the girl who could only laugh in response.

“I think they have a point Zooble.” Gangle said as they timidly placed a hand on Zoobles arm. “We're all friends, you don't have to smile, but you could at least walk with us.” Gangle smiled as she spoke and Zoobles face softened. 

“Fine, but get your hands off of me.” they paused waiting for a reaction they never got before grumbling out, “please”. All at once everyone gave Zooble their space as they laughed at the shenanigans they loved to cause. A comfortable silence settled over the group as they walked down the street, turning every now and then, but never leaving the downtown area. “So what was so important that y'all had to grab me?” Zooble inquired as they glanced at their friends. Silence was the only response they were met with before Gangle cleared their throat.

“What we were talking about wasn't important. You're important, Zooble, and you being a part of the group is important.” Gangle said softly as Pomni and Ragatha smiled and nodded in agreement. 

“Oh.” was all Zooble could say in response. The four continued to walk in silence before Zooble stopped in front of a brick building. They walked up to the door and opened it, holding it for their friends who slowly filed in. Zooble waited for Gangle to enter fully before they let go of the door and stepped in themselves, walking to the front and talking to some random person who just pointed down the hallway.

“Cmon guys, this way.” They walked into a random room and closed the door.

“Finally. You guys took foreverrrr.” Jax was sitting on a chair with his head in his hands.

“Jax!” Ragatha said, taken aback.

“Relax Ragatha, I'm just here for fun.” 

“let me say no one invited him but himself.” Zooble said with an eyeroll.

“Oh sorry, I forgot you hate fun.” Jax said with a smirk.

“Fun isn't the thing I hate.” Zooble said as they hit a button and tossed Jax the microphone.

“You're making me go first!”

“Yep.” Jax just grumbled in response before walking over to the machine.

“So, uh, what are we doing?” Gangle asked.

“Kareoke!” Ragatha exclaimed.

“Why?”

“Cause it's fun.” Pomni responded.

“Do I have to?”

“No, but I think it'd be nice to hear you sing.” Zooble said as they placed a hand gently on Gangle's shoulder. “For now you can sit down and laugh at Jax.” His head shot backwards as he glared at Zooble who just smirked in response.

“I hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual. Now shut up and sing.”

“Shut up and blah blah blah.” Jax retorted as a guitar began playing though the speakers causing everyone to look towards the screen. They just listened as he sang, he sounded exactly like he did on stage, angry and cocky. Then when he was done he passed the mic to Pomni. She picked an all too familiar song, singing about unrequited love and how it hurts, but you can't help but sit and watch. Just hope they look at you the same knowing they never will. Her voice was pretty and it made the tone all the more heartwrenching. As she finished she flashed a fake smile towards the red headed girl who just stared at her. Then Ragatha went and sang a completely different style. It was clear she was trying to lighten the mood, but the only one laughing was Jax. As her voice faded away she looked at Pomni, who was still wearing the same fake, heartbreaking smile. 

“Here Gangle, your turn.” Ragatha said, extending the microphone towards her. She grabbed it half heartedly and walked up to the machine as Ragatha sat down and started talking to Pomni. She thought of a song she not only liked, but could sing. She was quiet, she sang softly to match. She didn't really share her music taste either, the only one who knew the kind of stuff she listened to was Zooble, but they liked songs with an edge to them. A sense of rage and danger that Gangle couldn't help but headbang to, so she picked a song that had a bite, but not too much. She hit play and took a deep breath before starting.

“Oh, one, two”  She sang softly as everyone turned to look at her.

“Honey, what'd you take?” The only person she paid attention to was Zooble, who simply raised an eyebrow in response.

“I think my brain is rotting in places

I think my heart is ready to die” Once again it felt like she was dancing on that threshold.

“I think my body is falling in pieces

I think my blood is passing me by” All her exhaustion from the day. All her anger, her depression, everything she had to give she let go of as she sang. There were so many emotions passing through her that she couldn't express them all if tried, so she just went with the flow. Letting them course through her body and exit into the microphone. Eventually the song ended and Gangle finally opened her eyes again. Everyone looked shocked to some extent. Jax was dumbfounded, Pomni was actually smiling, Ragatha was too, and Zooble looked red? Gangle just smiled as she spoke.

“Your turn Zooble.” They just blinked a few times before grabbing the microphone.

“Right, thanks Gangle.”

A few seconds passed before a heavy guitar started playing, accompanied by drums.

“Don't listen what your girlfriend says” Their voice pierces through the silence. Their volume matching the song, but their tone seemed softer than it should.

“She reads those magazines

That say you failed the test” Gangle nods her head along to the drums. She can't help but think about how nice Zoobles' voice is. It's soft, but striking. It's soothing in a way that could never tire her. She could listen to it forever, and she really really wanted to.

 

“You don't have what she needs. I slither like a viper” Zooble is looking dead at Gangle, eye contact unwavering while a smile dances upon their lips. Gangle could feel her face heat up. She wasn't dumb she knew her feelings for Zooble were complicated, even though she didn't know exactly what they were; she did know she didn't want them to find out about them. Especially not at a karaoke bar, but she couldn't hide her face and Zooble's smile only seemed to grow as the song went on, leaving Gangle mesmerized. Eventually the song ended but Zooble continued to look at Gangle with a smirk. They handed Jax the microphone and walked back towards where she was standing.

“This is why I say Zooble should do vocals on some tracks.” Jax says with a devious smile which falters when Zooble neglects to respond in any manner. 

“Hey.” Zooble says.

“Hey. Your voice is really pretty, ya know that?” Gangle rambles off with a smile causing her friends eyes to widen slightly.

“I didn't, but thank you. So do you.”

“O-oh uhm, not really, but-”

“No buts.” Zooble put a hand over her mouth, “ you have a really nice voice. Okay Gangle?” 

“Okay.” nervousness traces her voice as she stares at Zooble. Zooble lets their hand drop to their side and turns to look at Jax who is singing again. Gangle however can't avert her gaze.

 

SHIT!

 

 

Chapter 10: What do you want to do?

Summary:

Gangle and Pomni hang out together in a desperate attempt to avoid their feelings.

“I just don’t know what to do, Pomni.” Gangle groaned as her face sunk further into her hands. “You’re their roommate, you probably know them the best. What do you think I should do?”

“Zooble likes honesty and people that aren’t afraid to be who they are, so why not just tell them?” Pomni spoke gently, placing a hand lightly upon Gangle's shoulder, trying to meet her gaze.

“For the same reason you won’t tell Ragatha.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” She chuckles solemnly with a sigh. 

“I’m sorry, that was mean.” Gangle's knees slowly rise up to her chest, allowing her face to sink even further down. 

“Don’t be sorry, you’re right.” Pomni said casually, leaning back against her hands.

“I guess we’re in the same boat.” Gangle spoke softly, but playfully as she looked up towards her friend.

“Yeah. We are, aren't we?” Pomni’s fake, sad smile from the other night returned as she stared at the floor before glancing at her friend. 

“So what do we do?”

“I don't know.” Pomni stood up and extended a hand towards Gangle. “What do you want to do?” Gangle thought for a moment before a wide, almost too wide, smile overtook her face. 

“I have an idea.” Gangle started running towards the door, dragging a confused Pomni behind her. 

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going for a drive. Hurry up!” Gangle quickened her pace as the two swiftly exited the building. 

 

///

 

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this. What colors should I do?” Pomni asked as she glanced over the wide selection of colors. Gangle hummed in thought as she stared at the shorter girl, trying to color match in her head.

“I think you’d look good with red and blue highlights.”

“Highlight?” Pomni turned to look at Gangle.

“Yeah, little stripes of color through your hair.”

“I’ve had highlights before, I didn’t like it that much. Got any other ideas?”

“You could do a peak-a-boo split dye.”

“What's that?”

“It’s a split dye, but on the underside of your hair, so you have your brown on the top, and the color underneath it.” Pomni thought for a second.

“Yeah,” She nodded her head and smiled, “yeah I think I’d like that, except I don't want to do a split dye, I want to do a fade.” 

“That would be super cool!” Gangle exclaimed. “Are you wanting to go from red to blue or blue to red?” Pomni thought for a second before looking around the various shades of blues and reds before finding two she really liked. 

“What do you think of these?” Gangle grabbed the jars of dye that Pomni had selected. It was a brand Gangle had used a lot, and some of her favorite colors from said brand: Atomic Turquoise and Vampire Red.

“These are gonna end up brighter colors, but if you’re fine with that I think they’ll look good.”

“I want a nice contrast between the natural color and these, so the more vibrant the better.” Gangle smiled at her friend's display of excitement. She loved dying and styling people's hair, it was fun and it made her feel more connected to them.

“So red to blue then, since the blue is way more vibrant than the red?”

“Hell yeah!” Pomni exclaimed. “What’re you gonna do?”

“I don’t know. The last time I did red highlights through my bangs.”

“Did you like it?”

“Kinda?”

“What do you mean kinda?”

“It was a nice compliment to my natural color, but I don’t really like my natural color.” 

“So why not change it?” Gangle looked over at her friend who was simply smiling at her, but it felt so reassuring. 

“Yeah. Why don't I?” She said aloud with a new sense of self assurance, before scanning the isle for hair dye. She returned to Pomni with 3 new colors to add to their basket.

“Three colors? You’re going all out.” She smiled.

“Hell yeah!” Gangle said with a smile.

“Is that everything we need?” Pomni asked, looking at the basket the duo had filled during their spontaneous excursion. 

“Yeah, I think so. I have gloves and brushes at home, you said you have hair ties and some plastic bags, and we’re buying the blonding kits plus the color, so I think we’re all good.”

“Alright, then let's go! I’m excited!” Pomni jumps to prove her point, but quickly drops her fist from the air to catch the basket she almost dumped in her celebratory process, gaining a laugh from Gangle. 

“Yeah, let's go before you break something.” 

 

///

 

“Alright, so now we’ve gotta let this sit for about 45 minutes, and then we can wash it out.”

“It smells terrible.” Pomni coughed as she opened the window in Gangle's room. Ragatha was out for the night so Pomni didn’t have to worry about running into her and Gangle couldn’t be around Zooble right now. 

“It’ll look terrible too.”

“Hey now, just cause you can't pull off blonde, doesn’t mean I can’t.” Pomni struck a playful pose causing the two to burst out laughing.

“Okay, we’ll see soon” Gangle smiled as Pomni sat back down across from her. A comfortable silence settled over the two, filled by the music blaring out of Gangle's speaker. Right now Bruise by Between Friends was playing and to her surprise, Pomni started singing along. She was staring at the ceiling with her eyes closed, swaying side to side with the beat as she softly sang along, her sadness and yearning tracing every word that left her lips. Gangle let the emotions leak into her heart and travel to her voice as she started singing, causing Pomni to glance over at her with a look of understanding. The song slowly faded out and silence began to settle in. 

“Can I see your phone, I want to pick a song.” 

“Sure.” Gangle said as she handed her phone to Pomni. Suddenly a very soft 4/4 tempo intro began playing, soon a voice joined in accompanied by a quiet piano. Pomni just sat still as she sang along. Gangle had heard this song before, but not enough to be able to sing along, so she let Pomni have her moment. Her softness turned to a mix of anger and defeat as her voice got louder and started echoing off the walls every time she sang the line “You love her, it's over” . Eventually the music faded away and silence settled in once again. 

“Hey Pomni, are you okay?” Gangle asked, extending an arm towards her.

“Are you?” Her tone was cold. 

“Huh?” Gangle's hand flinched back towards her.

“We're in the same boat aren't we? That's what you said.” Pomni scooched over towards Gangle as her hand finally fell to her side.

“Yeah, we are.” 

“Exactly, so what's the point in asking if I’m okay. You already know the answer.”

“I just wanted to be a good friend.” 

“You are a good friend Gangle, and we’ve been having fun today. Let's not let stupid feelings ruin that. For now let's dye our hair and scream out all those feelings to music. We’ll figure out what to do about them later.” 

“I don’t think ignoring them will solve our issues.” 

“No, but it’ll make things hurt a little less for a little while.” Pomni looked up at Gangle as she spoke. “Please?” Gangle nodded her head in agreement. She had a lot of thoughts racing through her mind, and she really needed to get them out, but she also knew Pomni was going through a similar thing. She wasn’t going to make her friend sift through feelings when she didn’t want to. They had all night, they should have some fun for a little bit of it.

“Fine, but we need to talk about this sometime before Rags gets back.” Pomni nodded her head slowly.

“I know, I won't be able to talk to her or look her in the eyes if we don’t. I know you saw the way I was looking at her during karaoke, it’s getting harder to hide. I just don’t want to ruin a friendship ya'know?” 

“Yeah, I know. I get it.” 

The pair's head whipped towards the speaker as a loud beeping noise began playing, causing Gangle to swiftly turn the alarm off and stand up.

“Looks like it's time to go wash this blonde out.”

“More like it's time to show you I can pull off blonde.” Pomni said as she playfully punched Gangle's shoulder and walked into the bathroom. Gangle set the speaker on the floor, close to the door and began playing more music as she waited for Pomni to finish washing out her hair. Then when she was done, Gangle handed her a towel and began washing the blonde out of her hair, waiting until the water ran clear. Once it finally did, she rung out her hair and began using a blow dryer to finish drying it. Gangle and Pomni stood side by side, looking in the mirror. Gangle was fully blonde. It was the first time she had ever seen herself without some brown on her head, it was thrilling. 

“I don't think it looks half bad on you.” Pomni said as she fluffed up the back of Gangle's hair.

“It’s definitely not my style, but it’s not terrible.”
“I get that, I kinda like the blonde on me, but I bet color will look even better.”

“Yeah, me too.” The two smiled into the mirror. “Alright, you ready to dye?”

“Hell yeah!” Pomni exclaimed as she sat on a chair that had been placed over black towels so they didn’t dye the floor of the dorm.

“Here.” She handed Pomni her phone before she took all of Pomni’s brown hair and put it into a side ponytail. Then she started applying the red to the very top of the blonde, closest to her roots and sang along as she did so. 

“Save your love for someone like me” Pomni’s voice blended into the music as Gangle sang a little bit higher.

“You don't have to be a part-time, Susie, save your love, and take mine from me” The two drug out the last word as Gangle worked a comb through Pomni’s hair to make sure the red was consistent through the thickness of her hair. Once she was certain the red was good she started applying the blue. She kept a little piece of blonde between the red and blue so she could properly do the fade at the end. After a few more songs and a lot more dye, the fade was done and it was Gangle's turn. 

“What do you think?” Gangle asked as she held a mirror behind Pomnis head so she could see the color. 

“That looks so cool dude! I can’t wait to see how it looks once it's done. How long do I need to leave it in?” 

“Instructions say 45 minutes but I usually do an hour just in case.”

“Alright, that shouldn't be too bad. You’re doing your whole head, and your hair is long.” Pomni said motioning to the length her hair had grown to. It was just above her shoulders when she moved in, but now it's almost to her mid back.

“You’re right, it is pretty damn long.” Gangle said as she turned a piece of her, now blonde, hair over in between her fingers.

“Are you gonna need my help with dying it? I’ve never dyed my own hair but I could give it a try.” Pomni offered.

“No, I think I’ll be able to handle it.”

“Alright, you do whatever you want to do.” Pomni shrugged as she changed the song. Gangle slowly blinked at Pomni and her grip tightened around her hair.

“Wharever I want to do huh.” She said flatly.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to be having fun today after all.” 

“Yeah.” Gangle opened the cabinet beside her and Ragatha's shared mirror. She slowly pulled out a pair of scissors, thin, silver, sharp, and held them up to her hair.

“Gangle what are you doing?” Pomni exclaimed as she looked over at her friends, and reached out to stop her, but her attempts ended with a simple snipping nose. It slightly echoed off the wall and died where blonde hair now lay on the floor.

“Whatever I want.” Gangle replied with a laugh and a wide eyed smile.

“Dude.” Pomni said as she started to laugh along with her, “You’re crazy.”

“Maybe, but what's it matter? We’re all here in this town, at the Digital University, whether we're sane or crazy, we’re all the same.”

“I guess so.” Pomni agreed as she watched her friend slowly cut off more and more of her hair. Blonde hair collected on the ground beneath her and it seemed like it would never stop. She was cutting up at angles, trying to get it to blend together, and eventually she stopped. 

“Hey Pomni?”

“How does it look?” Gangle spun around slowly. The layers were choppy and most of it barely blended together in any regard, but it did look good. It was layered from the middle of her neck up. Her bangs were much shorter than before and her hair was messy and poofy now. It looked chaotic, but in a good way.

“It looks good, Gangle, short hair suits you.” Pomni smiled

“It does?”

“Yeah.” Gangle smiled into the mirror, it felt nice, it felt light, it felt like that's what she was supposed to look like. It felt natural. “But,” Pomni said as she messed up Gangle's hair, “the blonde needs to go.” The two laughed once more before Gangle nodded her head and put a new pair of gloves on. She took the top layers of her hair and put them in a high bun, before she mixed the box dye and started applying it.

“I can’t believe you did that.” Pomni said as she paused the music. 

“Neither can I, I’ve never had the confidence to do something sporadically and just hope it works.”

“What changed?”  Pomni leaned back against the counter so she could meet her friend's gaze.

“Honestly,” Gangle let out a smile, “Zooble.”

“Zooble?”

“Yeah, they’re so confident, and bold. They don’t seem to care what people think about them, they don’t care how they’re perceived, they just do what they want. I like that about them, they don’t need validation, they just want to feel free. I want to be free.” Gangle smiled as she took a brush to make sure she didn’t hit the hair in the bun.

“Do you feel free now?” Pomni asked.

“Not fully, but I definitely feel more free than ever before. I’ve learned so much about myself and about them. They taught me to play drums after they gave me a piercing, that was pretty fun.”

“Zooble did what now?” Pomni stood up straight..

“After their last show, they took me to their piercing studio and asked to give me a piercing. I said yes and then they showed me all their instruments and played drums for me. I asked why they didn’t play on stage and then they showed me how to play drums.” Gangle spoke casually as she tied up the rest of her hair and dropped the bun, so she could work on the next layer.

“Zooble has never let anyone into their studio, at least not out of the group. Did they say why they did it?”

“They said they wanted to show me a piece of their heart because I make it happy.”

“OH MY GOD!” Pomni yelled as she face palmed, causing Gangle to flinch.

“What?”

“Thats what the song was about, that's why they keep stealing you away after shows, why you keep being allowed to come over, it's so obvious.” Pomni rants off.

“What’s so obvious?” Gangle asks as she combs the dye through her hair.

“Zooble likes you!”
“What!” Gangle drops the brush onto the floor, causing dye to splatter on her towels. “No they don't." Gangle retorts as she picks up her brush.

“Why else would they be doing all of that, and don’t just say friendship, because it’s just you, it's not the group.”

“Maybe they’re just taking pity on me.” Gangle said with a solemn chuckle. 

“Zooble doesn’t do pity, you know them.”

“Yeah you’re right, but that doesn’t mean they like me.”

“Well it seems pretty obvious to me that they like you.” Pomni raises an eyebrow and smirks as she speaks.

“And it’s pretty obvious to me that Ragatha likes you, so I guess we’re both dumb.” 

“Uh, what, um, what, what was that?” Pomni stutters out as she tries to keep her cool. 

“Ragatha likes you back, everyone but you knows that. Just like everyone but her knows that you like her back.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, I could tell the day I met y’all.”

“Oh.” Pomni flushed as she fiddled with her hands and stared at the ground.

“Yeah.” Gangle said with a chuckle as she finished applying the two strips of color into her hair. 

“Well, how about this?” Pomni asks, causing Gangle to motion for her to continue. “I’ll tell Ragatha if you tell Zooble.”

“What?”

“We’ve been moping together in our feelings all day, might as well shoot our shots together. I know Zooble will like you back, and you seem certain Ragatha will like me back, so why not test it out? If we don't do it together, we're never gonna do it.”
“I don't know Pomni. I’m not confident enough for that.”

“Zooble makes you confident though, right?” Gangle nodded her head slowly. “Show them then! Ragatha makes me happy. She makes me feel warm and understood. I never feel judged or alone when I’m around her, and I want her to know that. I think you want Zooble to know how they make you feel, I think you’re just scared.”

“Of course I'm scared, they’re so cool, and I'm just me.”

“I think you’re pretty cool,” Pomni said with a smile, “and I know Zooble does too, otherwise they wouldn’t hang out with you.”

“I guess.”

"I get what you're saying though. We're in the same boat, remember?" Pomni nudged Gangle lightly earning a laugh from the taller girl.

“So is that a yes?” Pomni asked, extending her hand out. Gangle slowly took her hand and shook it.

“We’re in this together now Pomni, you better help me out, otherwise I'll run away.”

“Likewise.” Pomni said with a smile. “Also I bet Zooble will love the pink and blue strips you put in your bangs, as well as the new hair.”

“Really? It's the same blue and pink in their hair, or as close as I could find.”
“I know. It looks really good against the red, and the red looks really good over the black. I can’t wait to see how it looks washed out.”

“Me too.”

 

Notes:

Bruise- Between Friends
The Exit- Conan Gray
Susie, save your love- Allie X

Notes:

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.