In the middle of the second round of edits on Spinsterella: Goth Girl Summer! And I'm far along enough in editing to show everyone a sample chapter!
copyright (c) 2024 Shawn James
Chapter 20
The time on my watch reads 5:35 as I dart up the stairs of the 13th Street entrance of the 14th Street subway station. Looks like I’ll still have time to get my pre-workout cocoa and scone at Trepidation. I’m just hoping Olivia doesn’t drown her sorrows in hot chocolate when she hears the bad news regarding our dream vacation at Wave Gotik Treffen.
As I get to the sidewalk of Union Square, I start heading down Third Avenue. When I turn the corner, I smile when I see the bones that make up the sign of our hangout 13th Street. I push past the tall glass door of the coffee house and walk into a bustling dining area filled with Goths. While Type O Negative’s Black No.1 plays from the speakers mounted in the ceiling, I soon spot my best friend Olivia sitting in a booth in front of a cup of cocoa and a cinnamon scone. The slender mocha colored woman wearing dark makeup, a wavy black hairstyle and a wilted black fitted short sleeve blouse, business skirt and loafers greets me with a smile as I approach her booth. “Hey, Lady Diabolique, what’s up?” I greet.
“Chillin Spinsterella.” Olivia replies. “What sinister plans are we coming up with tonight?”
“Trying to work on toning our abs and thighs.” I tell her after I flop into my seat.
Olivia gives me a look after hearing my plans. “I don’t see why we eat before we go to the gym. We’re gonna putting on all these calories eating all this junk food-”
“Dude, we’re gonna burn em’ off in the Yoga class in a few minutes.” I retort. “Besides, a pre-workout caffeine and sugar rush builds your stamina-”
Before I can finish my sentence, Diabla, one of Trepidation’s waitresses approaches me. The slender Latina woman dressed in a Trepidation uniform greets me with a smile. “Hey Spinsterella, how you doing today?” she asks.
“About to chill out before I work out Diabla.” I reply. “Let me get a cranberry orange scone, and a Belgian hot chcolate.”
“Coming right up.” Diabla says.
After Diabla saunters back to the counter to put in my order, Lady Diabolique gives me a look. “I don’t see how we stay so thin eating all this sugar-”
“Hey, all the yoga we’ve been doing has me looking better than I did in high school.”
“Yeah, I got to agree with you on that. Greg been giving me an extra dose of Vitamin D ever since I started these classes. So what’s going on with you at Amalgamated Consolidated?”
I’ll give her the good news before I give her the bad news. “Vivian’s putting in my papers for the Event Assistant job.” I gush. “I’m this close to getting my big break!”
Olivia smiles on hearing my accomplishment. “That’s awesome!”
“…Only I have to take a vacation to get it.” I sigh.
Olivia’s smile twists into a grimace. “Vacation?”
“Yeah, George says I have too many vacation days. And he’s making me put in my papers to take a vacation.”
Olivia gives me a quizzed look. “…And this is a problem how?”
I thought she’d be more broken up about it. “Dude, I was gonna use those days to go to Wave Gotik Treffen with you.”
“Yeah, that does put a dent in our vacation plans BFF.” Olivia concedes.
“We’ve been planning this trip ever since college.” I continue. “Only every time we’re supposed to go something happens.”
“Yeah, in between me getting my assistant professorship, and you climbing the corporate ladder we barely see any of the crew anymore.”
It’s a miracle Lady Diabolique and I have stayed so close over the last decade. Last time I tried to call Ebony Darkness a month ago to hang out she had to go to a parent teacher conference. And Lord Sidous lives so far out in Westchester now he can barely get to the city outside of work for transit. And we haven’t heard from Lilith ever since she decided to go to Malus’ house in Amityville six years ago. “I mean, we barely do stuff in the scene anymore.” I say. “The only Goth thing we do these days is count down the days to Gothic Beauties Magazine hitting the newsstand.”
“We can plan a trip to the magazine store to pick up our copies-”
“I was hoping we could go to Wave Gotik Treffen after I got this break-”
Before I can finish whining my cell phone rings. I only gave this number out to friends and family for emergencies so I won’t use all my minutes. I hope nothing has happened to Mom or Dad. I dig my phone out of my backpack, flip it open and cock it to my ear. “Hello?” I greet.”
“Hey Middle Sister, how you doing?” Brody asks.
I light up on hearing my brother’s voice. “Brody! How are things going on the west coast?”
“Going good Middle Sister.”
“So what’s the big emergency you had to call me about?”
“I wanted to talk to you about a job.”
Spinsterella: Goth Girl Summer will be out in 2025! Until then you can get caught up on Matilda's story in Spellbound, The Legendary Mad Matilda and Spinsterella on Amazon.com and other online booksellers today in paperback and digital formats !
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