Hello!
Thanks for reading this. It makes me happy!
-Stine
Chapter 7 – I want to hold your hand
"Be completely honest Paulie. What do you think?" I was standing on my bedroom floor, wearing a dress I had borrowed from Frances. Paul was seated on my bed, watching me getting ready. It was Friday night and John was picking me up in less than 20 minutes.
Last night, Kath had helped me dye my hair. It was now a lot blonder. I liked it.
Paul hesitated. "You look very good." He said at last. "It's different, but definitely in a good way. You have nothing to worry about. I just don't like the idea of you going out with John."
I sighed. We had been through this a million times the last couple of days.
"Paul, it's sweet of you to worry about me, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, John is your friend."
"That's different!" Paul said. "I know what he's like when it comes to girls. You know that too. Half of fucking Liverpool knows. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Take it easy, will you Paulie. No one is going to get hurt. You know I can handle John." I said.
I spun around on the floor so he could take another look at my outfit. "So, the dress. Do you like it?"
Paul nodded. "It's beautiful." He said. "It was nice of your sister to let you borrow it."
"Well. I didn't technically ask her. But she'll never know." I giggled.
"Besides, I never told her that I'm going out with John. She would be so jealous."
The thought of it made me laugh even more.
Suddenly, Paul got up. "I better go." He said. "My father expects me home soon. I told him I wouldn't be long."
"Oh, ok." I smiled. "Wish me luck. I'll call you when I get home, ok?"
He nodded. "Ok." He said. "Have a good time. Promise me to be careful."
"As much as I appreciate your concerns, it's just a party. There is no big deal. I'll be all right." I said, realizing that I sounded more annoyed than I intended to.
Paul shrugged. "Sure." He said, as he walked towards the door.
"Bye Paulie!"
He didn't answer me.
I took another look in the mirror. I still wasn't used to my hair being so blond. I kept wondering what John would think about it. I guess I would know in a short while.
My parents weren't home, and neither was Frances. I had told my mum that I was going out with some friends, and she had assumed I was talking about Kath, George and Paul. I hadn't bothered telling her about my newest friend. It wasn't a particular reason for it, but when I thought about it, my parents probably wouldn't be too happy about me going out with a boy like John. That was one of the things that made him so exiting.
John arrived at my house, ten minutes late with a cheeky grin on his face.
"You're late." I announced.
"Gee! That means you're eager to see me then?" He said, making me blush slightly. "You look very good, by the way." He added, and made me blush even more.
I got my jacket, and we started to walk. "How far is it?" I asked.
"Not very long." He answered. "I can see you are wearing low-heel shoes. Good. I hate girls wearing shoes that are so high they can't walk properly in them. Those girls tend to spend the whole evening complaining about their aching feet."
"I won't complain." I promised, smiling slightly at him.
"Good. Just because of that, this is probably going to be the best night I've had in a long time." He said.
"You must have had a lot of bad nights then."
We walked for about ten minutes, before John stopped outside a house. "Here we are." He said.
I followed him inside. The living room was crowded, with people dancing and loud music playing. John seemed to know them all. People came over to talk to him, and introduced themselves to me. I caught a few names. Pete. Jamie. Stewart. Allan. Almost everyone was drinking.
"I'll go and get you a beer, ok?" John said. "Just wait here!"
"Ok." Standing by myself in the crowd, I suddenly felt insecure.
What was I doing here? I didn't know a single person. Everyone was older than me. They probably looked at me, and wondered why someone had brought their little sister to the party. I felt like a complete idiot.
A girl walked over to me. "Hello there." She said. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you here with John?"
I nodded quickly.
"How do you know him?" she asked curiously.
"My friend Paul is in John's band." I said.
She lit up. "Oh! Paul is the sweet one with the brown eyes isn't he?"
"Yes." I said. "He is my neighbour."
"It's nice to meet you!" she said. "I'm Marie."
"I'm Jenny. I feel quite stupid for being here." I confessed.
"Are you kidding?" Marie asked. "You're here with John. Every girl I know would die for that."
I couldn't help it giggle a bit.
John returned, with a bottle of beer in each hand. He handed one of them to me. "Here you go."
"Thanks." I drank a bit, and tried hard not to reveal how terrible I thought it tasted.
"I can see you have met Marie." John said, and smiled to both of us.
"You know, I like this girl Lennon. I think she is a keeper." Marie said.
I didn't know if she was just joking with him, and it was hard to tell from the grin on John's face. Before anyone could say anything more, a blond girl came over to John.
"Hello Johnny. Let's dance." She said.
John finished the rest of his beer, and followed the blond girl to the dance floor.
"Who is she?" I asked Marie.
"That's Cynthia." Marie said. "I think she is in the same class as John. I don't really know her."
"It seems like John knows her well enough." I remarked, as he put his arms around her waist.
"Don't worry about that." Marie said. "That's just how he is. You're the one he brought here, not her."
Her comment made me smile. "I guess you're right."
Marie laughed. "Honey, when it comes to things like that, I'm always right."
I drank the rest of my beer, ignoring the terrible, bitter taste. When John returned after dancing with Cynthia, I grabbed his arm.
"Don't you think it's my turn now?" I asked.
"Your turn?" he asked, looking rather confused.
"To dance with you."
He grinned. "Of course it is." He said. "How stupid of me."
He took my hand and held it in his, as he led me to the dance floor. He pulled me close to him, and we started to dance. Slowly.
Another "real-life" person made a brief apperance in this chapter; Cynthia. I got the inspiration to the name Marie from that girl in "Nowhere Boy" but it's not supposed to be her. And I felt so bad about poor Paulie that I had to make her say something good about him. But don't worry. There will be a happy ending for everyone.
The next chapter is going to have some more... action in it. It's the chapter I have been looking most forward to writing, but I have discovered that it's actually a bit challenging. I want to make it sweet and romantic, and avoid it getting all "dirty" and M-rated x)
Now I probably gave you a good hint about what's going to happen :P
