By my Thursday shift of that week, work was slightly easier. I had only messed up one order and was feeling pretty proud of myself. I was just hanging up my apron, when my boss came up to me.

"Vienna, this is for you," he said, handing me an envelope.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you open it and find out?" He said mockingly, waving his hands at me and sticking his tongue out. He rolled his eyes and went back to his office.

"Jeez, someone's grumpy." I opened the envelope, pulling out its contents, before jumping up and down and squealing. "My first pay check! Yay!"

The single customer in the shop was an older lady by herself in the corner. She looked up at my exclamation.

"My first paycheck!" I whisper-screamed, exaggeratedly pointing to the check. I grabbed my bag and pranced over to her table.

"You go, girl!" She said, and I gave her a high-five, before skipping out of the building and all the way home.

"Oh, good, Vienna, you're here," Danny said, as I entered the living room. I took a seat on the couch next to the rest of the boys, amid various greetings from them.

"What's going on?" I asked, leaning back.

"Hex's band manager has some quote unquote exciting news," Bishop said.

"What is it?" I asked, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Vienna, patience is a virtue," Finn said, rolling his eyes at my excitement.

"Just tell us," Zane said, throwing a pillow at Danny, who paced in front of us, obviously enjoying our anticipation and attention.

"I got you guys your first gig."

I jumped up and screamed. "That's so exciting! That's so exciting!" I danced around the couch.

"Shit. Where?" Zane asked in disbelief.

"The Hope House. It's about half an hour away."

"Is it like a club or a restaurant or something?" Finn asked. Even he looked excited, as he sat on the edge of the couch and leaned towards Danny.

"Yeah, something like that."

I screeched and jumped on top of the three boys on the couch, wrapping them all up in a group hug. Bishop and Zane groaned and laughed, as I splatted on top of them. "We got a gig. We got a gig!" I chanted, as the three of them hugged me back.

"You're welcome," Danny said, throwing his hands up in the air and sighing exasperatedly.

I pushed off the couch and jumped at him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the best band manager ever." He caught me and let me hug him, as I bounced up and down.

"The gig is this Saturday night, so we only have a few days to figure out a set list and practice."

"So, let's get to it," Finn said, getting to his feet and grabbing his guitar.

We all cheered in agreement and gathered up our instruments, pushing back the couch. "Our neighbors are gonna hate us!" Zane shouted, banging his sticks on the drums.

"Fuck yeah, they will," Bishop agreed, and we all broke into laughter.

Hours of practice and a brief pizza break later, I collapsed into bed, thoroughly exhausted. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

"Rough day?" Bishop asked, poking his head in my open door.

I opened my eyes and smiled. "A bit. But I got my first paycheck!"

He came in and sat down on the edge of my bed. "Sweet! How much?"

"Not enough."

     He gave a short laugh, before saying good night and getting up to leave.

"Do you think I'm cut out for the city?" I sat up and watched his back as he turned to look at me again.

"Give it time. The city's yours, take it."

I smiled at him, squeezing my blanket in my hands. "Thank you," I whispered shyly, my cheeks flushed.

"Good night," he said, closing my door behind him.

"Good night, Bishop," I called after him.

I awoke early Thursday morning to the sound of offbeat drums and yelling.

"Oh come on, let her sleep," Bishop said.

"Time to practice, Vienna!" Danny yelled back.

I sat up and ruffled my hair, yawning, as Zane slammed my door open.

"Come on, Vienna. Danny called an early morning band practice."

"Doesn't he have school?"

"Unfortunately, no, his school doesn't start at 5 am."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming."

Despite my entire body protesting, I pulled back the covers and slid to the cold floor. I walked into the living room in my giant t-shirt and short shorts, rubbing my eyes.

"Alright," I said, taking my spot. I yawned and tried to wake myself up. "Hit it boys."

"I wanna hit that," Zane said, winking at me, before banging his sticks on the drums and beginning the song. I rolled my eyes and waited for my cue.

     My eyes continued to sleepily close, as I struggled to hold myself up on the counter. I was exhausted and practically falling asleep at work.

"Here, drink this," Allie said, handing me an iced glass.

     "What is it?" I asked, suspiciously eyeing the drink.

     "Four shots of espresso, over ice. Practically crack. Give it a try, it'll wake you up."

     And wake me up it did. Within minutes, I was like the energizer bunny, bouncing from customer to customer. I spilled a lot of coffee, but at least I wasn't falling asleep anymore.

     "Looks like someone's getting the hang of this thing, girly," Allie said, bumping me with her hip.

     I giggled and nodded, before dancing away to the music softly coming through the speakers.

     However, the coffee was long gone, as I unlocked the door to the empty apartment around five that night. The lights were off, and it seemed so big and lonely without the boys around.

     Worn out from the day, I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders to protect myself from the early October breeze and stepped onto the fire escape. I admired the twinkling lights in the distance, as the sun began its descent.

That's when I heard it. "Lucinda. Listen to me, Lucinda. Lucy, my girl, it's going to be fine. Just tell him to take Viagra and move on," came the loud voice wafting from above me.

I bit my lip to keep the laughter in and stood up, craning my next to try to get a view into the apartment above me. I can't help it, I'm nosy.

"You'll figure it out, I promise. No, when have I ever steered you wrong before? Christ, Lucinda, get with the times. Yes, okay, bye bye."

Before I knew what I was doing, I was climbing the staircase up and poking my head in her sliding door. I was just in time to see her stick the old fashioned landline back onto the coffee table in front of her couch. She was small, with short gray hair and a face that had obviously seen some things, but lived to tell the tale. She wore a fluffy pink sweater that seemed like it was about to swallow her whole, and her television droned on quietly with some old soap opera.

Though our apartments were designed the same, here looked like it belonged in a different country than ours, with her antique China sets and pink furniture.

As I surveyed the room, she caught sight of me. "Well are you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to come in?" She raised her eyebrows at me over her small, circular glasses.

I laughed awkwardly and slid the door open, stepping inside. "Sorry, I just accidentally, maybe, sort of overheard your conversation. Um, I'm Vienna."

"Dorothy-Jane, but everybody calls me Dot. Take a seat, stay awhile. This old bat has nothing else to do."

I laughed and took a seat in a pale pink lounge seat across from her.

"So, how are you doing sweetheart?" Dot asked, leaning back on the couch and smiling at me.

"I'm good. Exhausted, but good. How are you?"

     "Alright. My arthritis is acting up, and Lucinda is having marriage problems again, but you know how it goes." She spoke to me like we were old friends, like I should have known that she was suffering from a chronic ailment and that her friend's husband couldn't keep his dick up.

     "Right, of course," I said, because it seemed like the thing to do.

    "So, tell me about yourself, Vienna."

     I fiddled with the rings on my fingers, glancing around the room.

     "There's not much to tell, I guess."

     "Oh honey, I don't believe that for a second. Everybody's got a story, tell me yours."

     And with that, my story spilled out. I told Dot all about my hopes and dreams for my future, my strict parents disapproving and kicking me out, moving to the city with no friends and only the money I had saved up, moving in with the boys, trying to figure out the city, getting lost, getting hired at my job, starting the band, and basically everything in between.

     "Wow," she said, once I had finally finished. She lit a cigarette and slowly blew out a puff of smoke. "That's cause for a smoke. So, you like this Bishop boy, yes?"

     "Well, I don't know," I said, my cheeks burning. "I've only known him for about a month."

     "Sounds like you two kids have gotten pretty close pretty fast."

     "Yeah. But I also have the band to think about. I don't want to mess up the good thing we have going, especially with our first gig tomorrow."

     "I want to tell you to follow your heart, but that's way too cliche, even for an old bat like me. So, I'm just gonna say to go get 'em kid, before he marries someone else."

     "Speaking from experience, Dot?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with a joking smile.

     "Go on, get out of here, Miss Vienna, you sassy little thing."

     I laughed and said my goodbyes, before leaving out the fire escape, the same way I had came.

     As I left, she yelled after me, "Come back and visit soon! I get bored!"

     I smiled and nodded, before disappearing down the narrow staircase.

     The boys had finally gotten home, when I came back in through the window. They all were seated on the couch, watching TV.

     "What the fuck? Where did you come from?" Zane asked, popping a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

     "Upstairs. I made my first non-roommate friend!" I said, jumping on to the couch between Zane and Bishop.

     I ignored their questions, ate a bite of popcorn, and then, keeping Dot's advice in mind, I laid my head on Bishop's shoulder. I felt him tense a little and then relax.

     I sighed, my eyes fluttering shut. An episode of South Park droned on in the background. "You smell nice," I whispered, scooting a little closer and settling in.

"Thanks. Vienna?"

"Mmm?" I asked, on the verge of sleeping.

"Uh, just, good night, Vienna."