haze / afi

part 2. music store

waking up in california felt right, it felt like home. violet knows this is where she is meant to be, and should have been for a long time before now. her nervousness and hesitation for moving away from home being the only thing that stopped her previously.

she had a long evening of unpacking, arranging her clothes in colour order, the same with her shoes. placing her toiletries, toothbrush and sanitary items into the bathroom on the counter. she even considered going grocery shopping late last night, but decided it's best to wait until it's earlier in the day so she has more time to investigate.

by the time her aunt's music store opens up, violet's up and dressed in a pair of sweatpants with a pastel pink shirt, fluffy socks as well as her hair up in a half up half down messy bun. munching on some cold pizza, from what she had for dinner last night.

she heads out of her apartment, slipping her shoes on while placing her keys in her pocket. she wants to go and say good morning to her aunt. making the most of living just ten minutes away from her store.

cautiously walking down the street to the entrance of the music store, last piece of pizza in one hand. there's one person looking through cds, her aunt no where to be seen. she walks behind the counter.

"aunt lisa?" she calls out through to the storage room. waiting a second, getting no answer. she might be too far back to hear. violet walks in further, finally seeing her aunt grabbing some boxes.

"oh! violet, i didn't think you'd be here so early." lisa smiles at her as she walks past with a full box of new vinyls.

"i mean, i only live down the street." she laughs. "i'm gonna go and do some grocery shopping, i meant to go yesterday but never had time."

lisa nods as violet follows her back to the counter, a couple more customers walking inside, so she takes it as her queue to leave for now.

"i'll come by after i'm done, and maybe you can show me around the store." violet walks away to the back door to leave the store. lisa is happy with that arrangement, letting her niece go.

violet walks down the long hall, taking the shortcut back to her apartment. only popping in to grab her purse before leaving again.

on her way out, she double checks the grocery store is a close enough distance to walk to. thankfully it is. she has always hated grocery shopping, mainly because she'd always been forced to tag along with her dad. but now she's doing this whole independent thing, she'll be doing it for herself, by herself.

it takes her fifteen minutes to walk down the street, taking one left and another right until she reaches the grocery store. she grabs a trolly, rolling it down the isles of food, picking up different items she thinks she'll need.

mainly consisting of, some vegetables, potatoes, frozen foods, a selection of meats and cheeses that she might use, and of course, she has to pick up some cakes and donuts. she also grabs a sandwich in the grab and go area to eat later on at the store.

she gets to the check out, her items being scanned and bagged up before she pays. walking back home with four bags of groceries is not ideal. especially in the californian heat. it is a struggle, but she's independent now, right? she needs to get used to it.

she, again, struggles to get upstairs to her apartment, struggling to unlock her door, and especially struggling to make it over to her counter to unpack everything she's bought. just about having space in the fridge and freezer for everything, maybe she over did it a bit. never mind.

right after she finishes unpacking the groceries, her phone starts ringing. she pulls it out of her pocket, seeing her best friends name on the screen. she had planned to head back down to the store, but decides on answering the call first.