Ah, just another sunny day in Australia. I thought to myself as I stepped outside onto my balcony to watch the ocean waves. I sighed and thought back a few years, when I was 14 or 15. My friends and I spent a weekend in Cornwall during the summer and went surfing. Wellmore like I went surfing, and my friends stayed at the beach tanning, except for Doug.
God, do I miss him, I haven't seen, or talked to him in two years. He's been busy getting more famous, and me, coping with a life that was scarred to many times. You see, the reason I left my life behind in London, and New York for that matter, is because 2 years ago, I had a knife put against my back. I was tied up in the driveway of my friend's house after a an after-party for a movie they were in, and that I wrote. One day later I turned Major Bitch and exploded at Doug, whom I love with all my heart. I got away, because I whacked the knife out of he creeps hands, but it lead me into a serious blackout and shock.
I decided it was best for me to cope with my life on my own, because I've seen Doug do it and he's someone that takes things hard. But he has a contagious smile and the most adorable laugh on the planet.
I smiled and looked at one of the houses next to me. I heard that they were four fit men here to record something. But hey, that's what I heard from the grapevine, it may not be true. I went back in to grab my cup of coffee and I came outside barefoot back to my balcony. I sat on my chair that overlooked the ocean and I reached for my guitar.
In case you don't know, I've been playing almost any and every musical instrument known to man since I was 2, not joking. But my favs are guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and bass. I began to play a song I had once recorded; God that was almost 4 years ago. Man, am I getting old.
Lemme tell you a bit about myself. I'm Amy Wilcox, and I'm 20 years old. Compared to me being 15, that's old. I've lived in London, Essex, New York, Chicago, LA, Tokyo, but my favorite place and where I've stayed to longest, aside from London, is Australia. I have 2 brothers, one older, 25 exactly, and my angel of a half-brother , Adam, who's 7, and still adorable. I graduated an American college at 18, and went to grad school for and majored in Literature, Drama and Medical Science, along with minoring in psychology. Which leads to what I do now. I'm a teacher, and not one of those frumpy, grumpy teachers either. Since I'm just a few years older than my students, they think I'm a pretty cool teacher.
I gazed at the rising sun and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. And it was coming from the house next door. Someone had come out to their own balcony, which faced my own. I turned to see who it was, and I noticed that he was dressed. It's perfect for my Welcome basket of my famous cookies. I thought as I slipped back into my house and slid on a pair of flip-flops, snatched some sunglasses and headed for the door with the container in hand.
I reached the door for my new neighbors and I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. I waited for a moment and began to tap my foot, trying to be patient.
The door opened and a man, maybe 22 or so answered the door. He had long blonde hair, and he had deep brown eyes. "Hi, miss." He said and smiled, "Can I help you?" He was British, I could tell that much. (Why wouldn't I know that?) He was fit, and I mean fit! I nearly lost my ability to take in oxygen.
"Hi, I'm Amy. I live next door, and I know this early and all, but I noticed someone outside on the balcony. Anyways, I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and all. I brought you these." I held out the container of cookies for him. "Just a small housewarming gift." I smiled as he took them and his eyes seemed to light up.
"Thank you." He looked at me again and smiled, "Would you like to come in?" I nodded. He stood out of the doorway and allowed me to step into the house. "By the way I'm Tom." He held out his hand and I took it, "and it's nice to meet you, Amy. Come in, come in." He went ahead of me and yelled up the stairs, "Guys get down here! We have someone here!" He looked at me, "Would you like some coffee?"
I took off my sunglasses, and looked at him. "That would be lovely, Tom. Thank you." He set a mug of black coffee on the kitchen's island. "So, I heard that you're hear that you came here for recording, is that right?"
"Yep, my band and I thought that it would be interesting to change the scene for recording the album for our label." I glanced up at the ceiling because I heard noises and whispers.
"So you own the label, then?" I asked before I took a sip of the coffee. Tom nodded, I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "That's quite a big step for a band."
"It is, but we were ready to be our own." Tom responded as he sat across from me on the island.
"I know that feeling, the one to reinvent yourself. I've had my fair share of it." My finger traced the mouth of the mug as I looked up at Tom. "How long will you be here for?"
"A few months, we don't have a deadline, so we're taking it easy." He said as he glanced behind me.
"Well, you'll love it here, I've lived here for about 2 years. I can't picture living anywhere else." I smiled as I said it and looked out the window.
I heard pairs of feet that came from the foyer. I heard a Bolton voice yell, "Oi, Tom! Who's the bird?" I turned to face where the voice was coming from.
My face dropped, because standing in front of me was Danny Jones. He had changed, he had stayed pretty buff, and he stopped straightening his hair, which is good. I thought he looked nice with his curly hair. He also was a little late coming down and had forgotten to put a shirt on.
Well, not just him, but someone who I've longed to see in a while, my Dougie. God, how had he changed, his hair was darker, a mix between his regular platinum blonde and a red; and he was tanner and cut a lot better. But his eyes were still the same piercing, heart-stopping, blue-green. My heart skipped several beats as he stepped closer to me, "Ams? Is that you?" He tilted his head and continued to stare at me. There was hope in his eyes, and apparently mine too as I felt myself trying not to scream.
I pursed my lips and nodded, "Yep, Leah. It's me." He came up to me and nearly crushed my ribs, he was hugging me so hard. "It's so good to see you. I can't tell you how much I've missed you." I whispered to him. I felt the warmth off his bare chest, and I felt like I was at home. He let go of me and I turned to Tom, "So, did you know it was me all along, Tomkins?" I asked, smiling.
He shook his head, "I didn't recognize you, good God! Look at you!" I stood up and blushed. I guess I've changed a bit, too. I've curved out, a lot. My hair, instead of being its usual pin-straight self, was a head full of loose spiral curls, that were now a dark chocolate brown with black lowlights in certain places. My contacts had changed from my turquoise to a vivid shade of royal blue; actually they're not contacts, just a reaction to eye drops, but they looked fantastic anyways. "You look amazing!"
I turned and looked at Danny, "And you." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked at me sadly, "Come here!" I held my arms out and he ran into them. "It's great to see you." I said as Harry came into the kitchen. "Harry!" I yelled and he just looked at me, he didn't know it was me. "Earth to the Juddster, don't you recognize moi?" I asked.
"Amy?" I nodded, "Oh, my God!" He hugged me tightly. "It's a shocker to see you here."
"Well, I should say the same. Australia for an album recording, it's different, and saying, being a Brit band and all." I responded as I pulled away from him, I heard my phone ring.
"Hold on." I checked to see who it was, and I noticed it was one of my students. "Jeanie, what's wrong?" I asked as I walked back to the foyer. Jeanie McLaughlin was a student of mine since I came here. Her family was nice, I guess that's all I can say; Actually, they're more like my family, there's a happy thought. Why was she calling me on a Saturday? Something was wrong.
"I… I don't know. I blacked out and I woke up with a gag in my mouth." She said through tears.
"Where are you sweet?" I asked worried as Dougie came in. He looked at me, and I held up my hand to keep him silent. "I'll come get you."
"I'm on the corner of Walabash and Sydney." She said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my keys.
I opened the door, "I'll be right there Jean, don't go anywhere." I hung up and looked at Dougie, who was staring at me. He had done the curtsy of putting a zipper hoodie on, that was black with neon yellow stripes on it. "Listen, I need to go help one of my students. I'd love to stay but-"
"Let me come with you." He said as he held open the door, "The guys won't mind if I come along, plus I wanna see what you do."
"You sure? Trust me, it's not easy to watch." I asked, as I stepped outside and turned to look back at him. He nodded, and I sighed, "Alright, c'mon. Just please be nice to her? She doesn't sound alright." I headed to my car in the driveway.
I started the car and began to head down the street, turning on Walabash and seeing a girl with long dark blonde hair standing there. Jeanie. I stopped the car and got out, "Jeanie?" She turned towards me and ran into my arms, and began to cry. "I know, I know." I said as I stroked her hair, "It's okay, everything is okay." I assured her as I opened the back door, and placed her into the seat behind Dougie.