Today I was reminded that looking cool and actually being cool are two completely different things. The plan was simple. Clean a stack of old vinyl records. Listen to music. Pretend I’m the mysterious artsy girl everyone thinks I am. Unfortunately, the records had other ideas.

The shop smelled like old paper sleeves, polished wood, and that faint dusty scent that somehow only exists around vintage things. Sunlight came through the front window in golden streaks, making every tiny speck floating in the air impossible to ignore.
Including the ones I was trying to get rid of. I spent nearly twenty minutes working on one record. One. Every time I thought it was clean, another layer of dust appeared like it had been personally offended by my efforts. So there I was, carefully blowing across the grooves, polishing in slow circles, inspecting every inch like my life depended on it.
Then Rowan walked in. Of course he did. Of course it happened right as I was bent over a record, blowing dust away for what felt like the hundredth time. “Take your time,” he said. I told him I was. He looked at the record. Then at the cloth in my hand. Then back at me. “You’re pressing too hard.”

I absolutely was not. At least that’s what I said. A few seconds later I realized I had, in fact, been pressing too hard. Which I chose not to mention. The more aware I became of being watched, the harder it was to act natural. Suddenly every movement felt awkward. Every smudge seemed bigger. Every dust particle became my personal enemy.

“Slow circles work better,” he said. I rolled my eyes. Then immediately did exactly what he suggested. Annoyingly, it worked. The record finally gleamed under the light, smooth and spotless. “See?” he said. “Don’t force it.”

I hate when people are right. Especially when they’re right in a calm voice that stays stuck in my head for the rest of the afternoon.

Anyway, the record sounded perfect when it finally spun. Warm music, soft crackles, no dust. Totally worth the effort. And if I spent the rest of the evening replaying that conversation in my mind, it’s only because I was proud of restoring the record.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
— Lux 🖤🎵📀