Lauren had been Charlie Pace's neighbor for about five years now.
Yeah, that's about right. They moved to Manchester about eight years ago and Charlie came three years later.
Anyway, it doesn't matter how long he had been there. Lauren had loved him forever, well that's what it felt like.
She loved, capital L.O.V.E.D, having him as a neighbor. It was always so fun to tell people she lived next door to Drive shaft's very own Charlie Pace. Charlie the bloody wonderful Pace.
They had a very nice neighborly relationship. She knew the up to date news about Drive Shaft, so unfortunately she new the lack there of right now. She knew about Liam, and was perfectly aware of the 'Lucy Era' as she dubbed it, and was guiltily pleased when it was over. Of course she didn't know why it was over, she was just happy there wasn't another girl in his life now.
And he knew about fifteen year old life from her. He knew what new bands and songs were in (of course she always add that Drive Shaft was better), that school was still a sodding waste of time, and how she can't wait to get out and get on with her life.
They had a nice neighborly relationship, for the time being that is.
Today we find Lauren outside her family's small, but cozy Manchester home. She's sitting on one of those bench swings, a fudge bar in one hand and The Return of the King in the other.
Suddenly she hears a door swing open next door and out comes Charlie. He's got two bags of luggage and looks slightly frazzled.
She walks over to the fence, that divide the two properties, to assume the 'flirty neighbor' position. Then realizes she looks like a idiot, goes back to plain old Lauren.
"Hey Charlie." she calls out. She loved to talk to him, hear all his rock god stories.
He looked up. "Oh, hi Lauren." he answers, sounding very preoccupied.
"Where are you going?" she asks eyeing the luggage, trying not to sound to interested.
"Sidney" Lauren can tell he not all that pleased about it.
"To see Liam?" she always tries to show him she pays attention to what he says.
"You got it." he gives her a little smile which fades shortly. He looks very worn and somewhat sad, what ever it is Lauren defiantly doesn't like it.
"Er, whatcha reading?" he said, feeling he should input something more into this conversation. 'Remember, act normally. There is nothing the matter with me.'
"The Return of the King, you know, those 'Lord of the Rings books? You ever read them?"
He smiled a little, remembering those days way back when life wasn't as hectic and all he had to worry about was finishing a book report or making sure Mum didn't see the mud he tracked all through the kitchen.
"Yeah, I've read them. I've always had a soft spot for Merry. He always seemed to have his priorities straight."
"Awe, see I'm a Pippin fan, he might act stupid, but he shows his heart in the end."
He smiled, nodding in agreement, but that didn't fool Lauren. She wanted to know more about him gallivanting to Sidney, and to see Liam? What could he want with silly old married-with-children Liam?
"How long are you going to be gone?" she doesn't want to sound to nosy, but she needs to know. She'd lose her mind if she didn't know where her beloved Charlie was and when he'd be back.
"Hopefully, that is if Liam will corporate," he says with a sigh, looking up from putting in bags in the trunk, "not that long."
"Oh." she breaths a sigh of relief, " Okay. Well be careful and stuff."
With that she waves and turns to walk back in to her house. But somehow she can't help feeling something's wrong. Very wrong.
"She's a cute girl." Charlie thinks, now she had left. " Yeah, cute. I would have liked her when I was fifteen. She's brighter than I was, but I would have liked her." With that he gets into his car and starts off toward the airport, not knowing the eyes that are watching him leave are pleading with him not to go.
Three weeks later, Lauren looks out her bed room window, down at the forever empty house next door.
"He's been gone forever." she said in a wishful whisper, to her self, but her friend heard her.
"Lauren! Stop! He has a life you know, he went to bloody Sidney! Of course he's going to stay there a while, hell I'd stay there until red sox win the series! Which of course would mean forever." she added off handedly.
Lauren had gotten use to bits of American still left in her friend. She had just moved from New York a year and a half ago, but she a costumed her self very well.
"Anyway, we have to do this report, Hibbits will flip if we don't have it. So, who was Athena again…"
Lauren knew she was right. Mr. Hibbits was there mythology professor and was the most horrid person you could place in front of a classroom. Her and her closest friend Meg where working on a ancient Greek gods report for him. Lauren had known Meg ever sense she had moved there, she had been her first real friend. Meg was also a Drive Shaft lover, which after Lauren thought about it, might have been a major cause of there friendship.
Yes, she knew Meg was right, but then again Meg didn't know about the dreams.
Lauren had been having these dreams for about two weeks now. She gave Charlie a little over a week to return (he was anyway in bloody Sidney, so that seemed like enough) but she expected him to be back by now. Anyway, after a week and a half or so, she woke up in the middle of the night, tears streaming down her face. What she had seen had been so vivid, so real, so terrifying.
She saw a plane, a big plane. But the plane wasn't in the air, which is the rightful plane as I'm sure you know. No, this plane was in the water. Then when she realized it wasn't really a plane, just what seemed like the middle section of one. Then she saw a beach. It would have been a pretty beach, a nice summer holiday spot, that is if it wasn't for all the bodies. The were hundred of them, hundreds upon hundreds, just lying there motionless. Also on the beach, was the rest of the plane, if you could call it that now. She noticed a figure in the distance. It was a man staggering along, looking around, as if he wasn't quite sure where he was or why he was there. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, the same one she saw Charlie wear countless times. The same one she saw Charlie leave in.
She had know idea what these dreams could mean. They never really changed, there were sometimes where she could actually see Charlie's face and sometimes where she saw others. Everytime, she woke up with the same sinking feeling her stomach. The feeling you get right before someone tells you about a death, the feeling of already knowing. The kind of feeling where you're not quite sure if something is as bad as it seems, but you're pretty positive it's the worst it can get.
There was one thing she was sure of though, Charlie wasn't coming back anytime soon.