DISCLAIMER: umm if i owned the beatles i wouldnt be writing about them on fanfiction would I? i'd be staring at them and drooling, thinking, 'oh my God! I own the freakin' beatles!' (i wish)
Chapter Four
Because
I try very hard to just roll over and go back to sleep when Lucy shakes me awake. I swat blindly at her hands. "Go away," I groan. "Come back and don't wake me up later."
"Sadie, I already let you sleep till 7:30. Ye only have ten minutes before we leave," Lucy explains. I jump out of the bed, "Why didn't you wake me up!" I shriek tearing across the room in search of my suitcase.
"Relax, it's only six. An' yer suitcase is right behind ye," Lucy says absently as she files her nearly perfect nails. Slowly, I turn on her. "You mean that it's only six?" She nods, smirking, "See what I did there?"
I run at her and chase her around the room, yelling at her the entire time. "Don't do that! Ever!"
She falls to the floor laughing. "You should've seen your face, though. It was great!"
Rolling my eyes, I find a pair of jeans and a blue shirt to change into. I come out of the bathroom to see Lucy smiling at me with fake innocence. I eye her suspiciously. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"
"It's the 23rd."
"Okaaaay. And that means…"
"The 23rd is a Tuesday."
"Just tell-it's Tuesday?" I say in shock. How could I have forgotten about Tuesday? "Are we really going!"
She looks at the floor sadly. "Well, you are."
My smile fades, "What about you? I thought we were going together."
"Why would they want me there? They met you and wanted you to go to the Cavern. You just happened to bring me. I don't think I should go," she sighs wistfully.
I sit beside her and give her a warm hug. "You're coming whether you like it or not. I have a feeling that Paul and Georgie would be rather upset if ye didn't show, Lucy. Besides, I'm making you go even if they won't be."
A smile returns to her face and she hugs me back. "Let's go get breakfast. Our plan is ago in an hour."
The two of us walk down to the dining hall with a spring to our steps. My nerves are on edge because it's finally sinking in that I get to see the boys again. Lucy and I jump in line behind Prudence and her horde of fake, stuck up girls. I ignore their completely idiotic conversation about how much they love Prudence's new skirt and nudge Lucy with my elbow. She looks up at me.
"So, excited about seeing Paul later?" I tease in a hushed voice.
"That depends. You excited about seein' John later?" she retorts to hide her embarrassment.
"Guess I kind of opened myself up for that one. And for the record, I don't like him like that." I tap my chin in thought before I decide to get pancakes instead of waffles. I drown them in syrup and grab a fork while I wait for Lucy to catch up. We sit by ourselves in a two person booth of to the side.
"Oh don't give me that, now. I saw you lookin' at him the whole time they were playin'. Don't lie to me, Sadie."
"I'm not lying to you, Luce. He's just a friend, if that even. We just sorta talked on the train."
"Ooo. What about?"
"Nothing really important. Just about music and my art, I guess."
"Well that's kinda borin'."
"Then he told me to ditch the school trip to come hang out with them. When I said no, he picked me up and carried me over his shoulder down the aisle of the train. Then we ran into Ms. Parkhurst. I thought she was going to burst when she saw me. Nearly killed me right there and then," I laugh recalling the look on her face.
Lucy looks at me with awe. "I wish we were friends then. I got stuck with Jennifer and Molly the whole ride. The whole time all they talked about how much they love this science thing and that science thing. Bored me to death, they nearly did!"
Shrugging, I explain that I was only alone because I didn't have friends to sit with. That and I like being alone. I cut my pancakes and take a bite.
"I can't believe they're just skipping school like that though. I would never be able to do that," Lucy blabbers on nervously. She pushes her food around her plate without really eating it.
"Luce, we're with our school in another city and we're ditching out on it today."
"Yea, I guess. But today is a free day where we can do whatever."
"You're really nervous, aren't you?"
Without saying anything, she nods furiously. I smile softly. "Don't be. You'll have fun. If not, you can just leave and do something else, I guess. Just calm down, alright?" I find it kind of odd that she's so nervous about this. Last time I was the one being dragged along. This girl seems like the outgoing type so I guess I'm just confused as to why she appears like she's about to get sick.
Ms. Parkhurst gets everyone's attention. "As you know by now, we've changed your free day from tomorrow to today. If any of you do anything that will make me regret my decision to let you go off by yourselves, then you might as well not come back if you value your life. Am I understood?"
Several voices mumble back a weak, "Yes, Ms. Parkhurst."
"Alright, now you're free to go. Just remember to be back by five-o-clock!" Ms. Parkhurst can barely be heard over the excited chatter of the teen girls rushing out of the dining hall.
Once we reach the sidewalk, we stop to think. "Okay, do you have any idea where this park is?" I ask Lucy hopefully.
She shakes her head, "No, I don't. Not exactly anyway. George told me you can't miss it but I suppose you'd have to find it first."
Just as Lucy runs off to ask for directions to the park, Prudence and the other girls saunter over. "What are you doing, Sadie?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't."
"So why are you still standing here, then?" I quirk an eyebrow at her when Lucy comes bustling over. "I know where it is now, Sadie!" she exclaims excitedly. Her enthusiasm quickly fades when she sees Prudence.
"Where's what?"
"Nothing." In attempt to keep this horrible girl from finding out our plans, I distract her by asking, "So have you made it to the Cavern yet?"
"No," the slender girl says rather shortly. "But I'm goin' tonight. Why do you care?"
"I don't. Lucy, let's get outta here!" We turn on our heels and run away from them. As soon as we are out of sight from the hotel, we link arms and walk the rest of the way to the park. George was right, you can't miss it. The solid stone pillars and wrought iron fence gateway is quite hard to miss. The trees are painted in amazing shades of reds and oranges and yellows. I kick at the leaves that have found their way to the ground and gaze around in awe. Beautiful birds swoop in and out of the trees, each singing their own special song. There is a lone fisherman out in his boat on the still waters of the lake. I run my fingers through my curly copper hair and sigh. It's such a peaceful place. Or, at least it is until I hear someone shout, "I'M GOIN' TER FUCKIN' KILL YE, JOHN! I SWEAR TER GOD I'LL DO IT!"
"It was Paul, I swear to it!"
Lucy and I exchange a worried look just as we see John appear from a line of trees. He spots me and hides behind me until a very soaked Georgie come bursting through the tree line. He simply points behind me at John and through clenched teeth he growls, "You."
"Who? Me?" John asks in a high pitched girly voice.
"You, John Lennon, are gonna die."
"Oh don' be so dramatic, Georgie."
"Ye pushed me inter the lake fer Christ's sake, John! In front of Mae."
Slowly, hoping he doesn't notice, I inch to the side to try to get out from in front of him. I don't want Georgie to kill me to get through to John. I think he'd do it, too. Unfortunately though, John notices my movement and follows it. "Look, um, I hadn't exactly planned on being a human shield for today, so I'm gonna just-"
"'E's only playin', luv. 'E won't really kill me," John whispers into my ear.
"Yes I will."
"Children these days, so violent, they are," John sighs right beside my ear.
Suddenly, an out of breath Paul shows up. He places his hand on his knees and gasps for air. "Looks like someone's outta shape," John taunts from behind me. I tell him to shut up. "You've already got George ready to kill you. Why are you trying to start something else?" He actually seems to be trying to think of an answer, but Paul then interrupts, wanting to know what is going on.
"Um I'm pretty sure George wants to kill John and I guess I am his human shield. That's about it. I haven't figured the rest out."
"I tell ye what 'appened. I told 'im I fancied Mae and he tripped me, makin' me fall inter the lake when she wuz lookin' at me!" George cries furiously. That actually doesn't surprise me when I think about it.
"Aw, but we 'ad a good laugh, Georgie."
"Yea, you and Mae. She'll never take me seriously." My heart goes out to him because he sounds so defeated. Behind me, John is trying to stifle his laughter. Casually, I jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow.
"'Ey, what wuz that for?" He sounds surprised.
"You're being mean. I don't like mean people," I answer easily.
"Wull maybe I don' like nice people." My plan is successful because while the smirking guitarist is distracted by me, George gets his chance to sneak up on John. Without warning, George jumps on John's back and the two go tumbling to the ground. Paul rolls his eyes at their childish play fight while Lucy and I watch curiously. By the time they're done with their little fight, the two are laughing so hard they are clutching their sides and gasping for air. I shoot Lucy a look that says, "And they say girls are complicated."
John is off the ground first and holds his hand out to George. He takes it warily, but takes it all the same. Dusting himself off, John smirks slyly, "So I see ye couldn' stay away, then. Gonna take Paulie up on his offer."
Paul smacks John's arm. "Ye mean yer offer, Lennon."
"Not like ye'd be complainin' if she wanted ter, though," John taunts. Paul blushes a light pink when he makes the mistake of glancing at a now stricken Lucy. Poor girl. I know she had been hoping that this specific conversation would be left unmentioned today. Guess not.
"Anyway…So what are we gonna do?" George leads our conversation to a bit more comfortable topic. John brushes his fingertips across my cheek, smirks, and suggestively says, "More like who."
I slap his hand away, blushing slightly. "John, leave the poor birds alone, will ya?" John huffs and listens to Paul's words, stepping away from me.
"We could go to the pictures?" Lucy offers hopefully.
"There's nothing good playin' terday. Why not a record shop? Good music's always, well, good." I know Lucy wants to see a movie because her parents always tell her she can't, but her face lights up at Paul's suggestion anyway. The rest of us agree and before I know it, we're inside a small record shop. Paul, George, and Lucy immediately run off to the back of the store, leaving me alone with John. I flip through some records but don't really see anything of interest. I watch John from the corner of my eye. The boy smoothes back his hair brown hair. "So what do you listen to?"
He jumps a little like he forgot I'm right next to him. "Oh, uh, Elvis, Buddy Holly. You?"
I guess I probably shouldn't have asked that particular question. "Um…I don't."
He looks at me like I've got three heads. "Yer tellin' me that ye don't listen ter music? Why?"
"Well it's not like I don't want to. I just don't have a way to listen to it usually, you know?" I make it seem like it's no big deal but the truth is I hate not being able to listen to music. I love it.
"Wull that's kinda sad, luv," he smirks. That's true so I agree with him.
"Do you want to be here or did they make you come?" I question out of the blue. I don't know who is more surprised by it, me or him.
"I don' know, honestly. What do ye say we ditch 'em an' go 'ave some fun."
"I would."
"But…"
"Lucy would kill me. And while most people don't, I do happen to value my life. So, sorry." I mentally slap myself for saying something like that. I can tell he's thinking about my choice of words. Paul saves me from any question that might come my way by running up to us. "We gotta go. Now."
"Why?"
"Uhh…" The doe eyed boy never finishes because Lucy sprints past him with a worker hot on her tail screaming for her to stop. George is running right beside her with a couple 45's tucked into the front of his pants.
"Jesus Christ Georgie," John mutters under his breath before leading us outside. "Why the bloody 'ell would 'e do that?"
"What? Steal?"
John sighs as if he's dealing with small children, "No. Get caught."
We have to lengthen our pace to keep up with John who is now storming down the sidewalk. His shoulders are tensed up and his hands are in tight fists. I glance at Paul and from his face I can tell this isn't a good sign. It doesn't shock me at all that a person like John has a nasty temper.
Paul puts a hand on John's shoulder once we catch up to him. "Look, 'e's just a kid tryin' ter impress a bird. I do believe ye know what that's like, mate."
John glares at him but relaxes. Then he focuses on me, "Tol' ye we shoulda ditched 'em."
Smiling, I roll my eyes and see George and Lucy walk around the corner a few blocks away. "There they are."
John follows my gaze and starts after them. We meet up with them and Lucy immediately stops laughing when she sees my expression. George stops as well when he sees John. I grab Lucy's arm at the same time John grabs George's. I pull her away from the boys. I shout whisper at her, not caring that she looks fearful for her life. "What the hell do you think you're doing! What if you had gotten caught? Do you have any idea how much trouble we'd be in?"
From her face I can tell that she hadn't quite thought that far ahead. "If you're going to do stuff like that then we're going back to the hotel. Okay? If you ever do that again, I will kill you. Clear?"
She nods furiously with a ceaseless flow of apologies streaming out of her mouth. I slap a hand over her mouth to get her to shut up. She and I return to the boys to find John missing. Before I can ask where he went, the other two shrug and say he just walked away. I'll admit that I'm kind of disappointed.
The four of us continue on to a small diner just around the corner. I just get a Coke but it seems as if Paul and George order half the menu. For the next two hours, all we do is eat and eat, and eat.
I lean back against the chair and groan. "So full…"
Georgie looks like he's about to be sick, as does Lucy. Paul, well Paul's still eating. "Stop eating already. You're going to make me sick," Lucy scolds, rubbing her stomach. "Ugh, I feel awful."
Hoping we eventually won't feel so stuffed, we talk for an hour or so. Paul and Lucy are deep in conversation while I talk with Georgie. Well, more like tease him. "So who's this Mae?"
"No one," he rushes. I tilt my head at him. "Okay. She's this bird in me class. She's gorgeous but she'll never like me. 'Specially not after John tripped me into the lake."
"Why would you give up so easily? You don' know what she thinks about you. Maybe she doesn't care that he pushed you in the lake. I know that wouldn't make me not like someone. You should ask her out sometime." His spirits rise at my words of encouragement. I think he might actually ask her. I'm proven right when he excuses himself from the table. I watch him run down the sidewalk as soon as he gets outside. Knowing that they won't even notice I'm gone, I leave Paul and Lucy at the table.
The bell on the door jingles as I push it open. I have no idea where to go from here. Without really thinking about it, I head down the sidewalk. I tuck my hands in my pockets and look down at the sidewalk. I don't have the slightest clue of where I'm going, but I needed time alone.
Somehow I find myself back in Princes Park. There are several benches littering the paths so I take one. I put my feet up on the bench and hug my knees to my chest. Not a thought crosses my usually overactive mind while I gaze out onto the calm waters of the lake. I've always felt I am like a lake. They're calm on the surface, but you never know what's going on beneath that thin layer. Wow, that's kind of pathetic, maybe I should think about other things.
I haven't been able to remain so undisturbed for so long in ages. I can feel the stress of my life back in London start to fade away. All my peace is ruined due to a voice that's beginning to grow familiar. "Didja get lost er somethin'?" he chuckles.
"No. Well maybe. I wasn't really going anywhere, I just started walking and I ended up here. And you? Where'd you disappear to?"
"Places," he answers vaguely. "Oh, places. I've always wanted to go there," I say sarcastically. This receives a smirk from him. "Why did you just walk away like that?" I wonder.
"Because. Why? Didja miss me?" he teases, livening up. Pretending to think about it for a moment, I shake my head, "Nope, not at all." He sits beside me and gazes out at the lake like I had been doing only moments ago. Not expecting a real response, I am kind of surprised when he answers with a more serious attitude, "I do that, I guess."
"So do I. No one cares though. It's not like anyone stays with me long enough to notice it." I mentally slap myself yet again. It's worrying me how much I've been doing that lately.
John eyes me curiously. I prepare myself for the difficult questions that I'm positive are coming. Now I've spent the whole day telling myself that none of John's actions surprise me, but his next one does. All he does is simply offer to help me find my way back to the hotel. I accept gratefully. He stands up and holds out a hand to me. I grab it and butterflies begin fluttering around in my stomach. He doesn't let go of it until I'm on my feet.
He walks beside me in complete silence. I think he's a lot like me in more ways than one. To be honest, this is probably the highlight of my day. Though, in Paulie's words, John's an ass, he's really growing on me. I think he may just be misunderstood, though he is still an ass I must say.
"Do ye like London?" John wonders suddenly.
"Not one bit."
"Care ter explain?"
"I'd rather not."
To my relief, he accepts my answer with an understanding nod. "Do you ditch a lot?"
He smiles at this. "No. Paul and Georgie are ditchin'. I got suspended."
"For?"
"Told a teacher ter fuck off. Apparently he didn' appreciate it."
"Yea, I'd imagine he wouldn't. Why did you say that?"
Shrugging, he simply says, "Because. Oh don' give me that look. The bastard 'ad it comin'. Called me a nuisance to society. Then he told me I'd end up in jail someday and when that day came he'd visit me to laugh in me face. I didn' really find that necessary." Hearing that side of the story makes me feel like he did sort of have a right to tell him off. After that, we return to walking along in silence, not that I have a problem with that, of course.
"Tomorrow. What are ye doin' termorrow?"
I think about it for a moment. "I think we're going to some museum and then some kind of play, I guess. I think it's optional, maybe, I don't really know."
"What time do you leave in the mornings?"
"Um, usually around eight, why?"
"Damn. Why do ye get up so early?" he sounds disgusted by the early hour.
"I know. If I had it my way, I'd stay up all night and sleep all day." I've never admitted that to anyone. It's true. I am definitely a night person.
"That's pretty much my life. Just throw in a few jam sessions and occasionally school," he smirks and comes to a halt.
I realize he stopped because we reached the street that my hotel is on. I'm grateful he knows enough to not go in sight of it in case of Ms. Parkhurst. "I had fun today. I think. So thanks."
"Yer thanking me because ye think ye 'ad fun?"
"Yes. I never get to do anything fun. So thank you, I guess." I really am thankful.
"Why are ye thankin' me fer 'avin' fun?" he asks, slightly confused.
"Because," I answer as simply as he did. He smirks at my use of his usual explanation for his actions. I realize I don't really want to leave when I hear Lucy's high voice call my name. I twist my head to see her standing outside the hotel waving frantically at me. Slowly, I turn back to John. The thought that I might not see him again leaves me kind of down. I say good-bye at the same time he does. Though I really don't want to, I turn my back on him and walk away.
"Why did you just leave me!" Lucy exclaims animatedly using her hands a lot. The blue eyed blond looks at me expecting an answer.
"I'm sorry. I just do that. I didn't really think you'd notice I left. I just walked back to the park to be alone and I ran into John. He helped me find my way back here. So did you and Paulie have fun?" I ask teasingly to try to distract her anger at me.
She holds up a hand to my face and starts walking away. "I don't want to talk to you."
"Did you two hold hands? Kiss? Fall in love?" I ask in a dreamy voice chasing after her. "Did you gaze into each other's eyes?"
"Shut it, Sadie!" By now her face is as red as the telephone booth she just past. I snicker childishly receiving a frustrated sigh from her.
"So what did you two losers do today?" Prudence's grating voice sneers.
"None of your Goddamn business." I can't keep the smile on my face. I have a feeling if I spent more time with John that my vocabulary would continue to increase. Prudence gasps in horror that I said something like that to her. And I really don't care. I am not going to let her ruin my finally calm, happy mood.
Lucy follows after me in awe. I fling open the doors and march up to our room. Lucy hugs me all the way up the stairs and down the hall because I told Prudence off like that. I have to pry her off rather roughly. "I thought you didn't like me right now."
"I don', but that was amazing."
"Oh just go to sleep."
"Yes mum."
"Shut it, shorty."
"You did not just call me a shorty," she huffs incredulously, her expression growing scarily dark.
I lean in close to her face and whisper, "Midget."
"I'm gonna kill you!" she cries, running at me. I manage to get away from her. I laugh and flop onto the bed. She backs up to her bed without taking her eyes of off me. She stares me down until i innocently bid her a good night. Shaking her head in disapproval, she crawls under her covers. Without even bothering to change out of my street clothes, I bury my face into my pillow and fall asleep instantly, dreaming of a certain, mysterious guitarist (and don't be judgey. you can't deny that you wouldn't do the same).