Clock in the Sky
Chapter Five
Discothèque
Author's Note (10/14/09): This chapter was originally meant to be chapter six, but I started moving things around, and I had to put the Cassandra gig before Christmas. So, what was chapter five is now chapter six.
Quote of the Chapter: "It's too deep! I can't see!" – Davy, Head (1968).
Disclaimer: I don't own Coca-Cola or the Beatles' song "Yesterday." I also don't own the Beatles' movies Hard Day's Night or Help!, though I do have both on DVD.
"Cheer up Sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean to a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?"
I drank some of my Coke in an attempt to keep from singing along with Davy. It was getting tougher. "Daydream Believer" was one of my favorite songs.
It was the day before Christmas, and I was sitting at a table near the stage in the Club Cassandra while the Monkees played. They were all wearing their red eight-button shirts and grey slacks. I glanced at a clock on the wall. Seven o'clock, I thought. Lynne should be here pretty soon.
I was getting pretty bored sitting there by myself. One guy had asked me to dance, but I politely declined (as cute as he was), saying I was waiting for someone. The truth was, I didn't know anything about sixties-style dancing. I was a fairly decent dancer in 2005, but I really didn't feel like inventing any new dance moves.
I clapped along with everyone else as the guys finished "Daydream Believer" and started "Mary, Mary." I glanced at the clock again, and then rolled my eyes at myself. Only two minutes had passed. I turned my attention back to the stage, to where Micky was singing lead.
"This one thing I will vow ya, I'd rather die than to live without ya."
Peter caught my eye and grinned. I smiled back and gave him a little wave. Then a hand landed on my shoulder, and I jumped.
Lynne sat down in the chair next to me. "Sorry," she said over the music, "didn't mean to startle you."
I smiled. "It's fine."
She hailed a passing waitress. "Root beer, please," she said. The waitress nodded and hurried off. Lynne turned back to me with a smile. "So how are they doing?"
"Great," I said, glancing up at the stage. "I think they're taking a break after their next song." As soon as I said it, Peter began the familiar opening riff of "I'm a Believer."
While Lynne and I waited for the guys to finish their set, we talked. Lynne asked me what it was like in San Francisco, and I had to remember everything I knew from social studies classes, as I'd never really been there. I was trying to make up something about an imaginary trip to Chinatown when Mike, Micky, Davy, and Peter joined us.
I smiled at them. "Great job, guys."
"Thanks, Aud," Micky grinned, then turned from me to Lynne. "Who's your friend?"
"This is the girl I told you about, Lynne Hurley. Lynne, this is Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Mike Nesmith."
Lynne shook each of their hands, and I noticed she lingered a bit with Micky. "You guys are really great," she said, smiling. "I'm surprised some record producer hasn't snatched you up yet."
The four of them smiled, obviously pleased with the compliment. "Well, thanks," Mike said.
The rest of the night went well. After chatting about random things for a few minutes, the boys returned to the stage. While they were playing, Lynne managed to get me out on the dance floor. I tried to copy what she and others around me were doing, while trying not to slip into anything too 21st century.
Once the guys finished their set, they packed everything back into the Monkee Mobile and then returned to mingle and dance to the records playing from a jukebox. Davy had disappeared with a pretty blond girl, and Micky had asked Lynne to dance, which seemed to make her very happy. Mike, Peter, and I were sitting at our table. I smiled as I watched Micky and Lynne dancing, glad that he seemed to like her.
Mike stood up. "I'm gonna go get a beer," he said, and headed for the bar.
I frowned at Peter. "I didn't know any of you drank," I said, genuinely surprised.
"Mike'll have a beer every once in a while," Peter said. "The rest of us don't like it."
I smiled as I listened to the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" as it started playing. "I like this one, I heard it at work yesterday." I drank some more of what was my third Coke, yet another attempt at keeping myself from singing along with a song I shouldn't know if I had amnesia.
"Did you know the Beatles have done two movies?" Peter asked. I shook my head, even though I knew they would do three more. He grinned. "Hard Day's Night came out last year, and Help! came out this year. They were both good, but I think I liked Help! better. It was in color."
Suddenly, from across the room came a girl's scream. I stood and turned toward it, my heart racing. A small crowd had already formed, and I was too short to see what had happened. Peter was tall enough to see over people's heads.
"Isn't that the girl Davy was with earlier?" he asked.
I stood on my toes in an attempt to see, but to no avail. "I can't see."
"Blond, yellow dress?"
I nodded. "That's her." I headed for the disturbance, wondering what Davy had gotten himself into, and Peter followed. The crowd was starting to disperse, and I noticed Davy's girl walking away with some huge guy that looked a bit like Bulk from "I Was A 99-lb Weakling". Davy was on the ground, holding one hand over his left eye. Mike was already there, helping him up.
"Are you trying to get us fired?" Mike demanded.
"I didn't know she had a boyfriend!" Davy exclaimed. "She didn't act like she did!"
Micky showed up with Lynne. "Davy, man, what happened to you?" Micky asked.
"Some cat saw me dancing with his girl, so he hit me!"
Lynne raised an eyebrow. "Why were you dancing with someone else's girl?"
Davy shrugged Mike's hand off his shoulder. "I didn't know!"
I tried not to laugh. Of course something like this would happen to Davy.
"All right," Mike said finally. "I think Davy's drawn enough attention to himself tonight." He tossed the car keys to Micky. "Let's get outta here."
That night, I was jolted out of my sleep when I heard my bedroom door slam. I sat up in bed, my heart hammering, listening. I was just about to try to go back to sleep, thinking I had imagined it, when I heard another door close. Deciding to check it out, I grabbed the large, old-fashioned (for me, anyway) metal flashlight from under the bed and crept out of my room.
The pad was quiet. The moon shined in through the bay windows and lit up the room, which appeared to be empty. Still a bit freaked out, I held the flashlight up like a club and headed for the bandstand. I suddenly thought I heard someone move behind me, and I spun around, looking toward the front door. I didn't see anything, so I turned back to face the bandstand, only to find someone standing behind me. I gasped and raised the flashlight.
The person took a step back, knocking over the hi-hat, which hit the floor with a deafening crash. "Audrey, it's me, Micky!"
I lowered the flashlight. "Micky?!" I exclaimed, not bothering to keep my voice down. "What are you doing? Were you in my room?"
He looked confused and a little offended. "What? No! I came down to get a drink of water, and I saw you."
A door opened and a light went on upstairs. "What the devil're y'all doin'?" came a sleepy and annoyed drawl. Mike was looking over the balcony, Peter and Davy (his eye almost swollen shut) on either side of him. All of them looked half-asleep. "'S one in the mornin'!"
"Somebody was in my room!"
"Again, it's one in the mornin'!" Mike repeated, with great emphasis on the time. "Who'd be in your room at one in the mornin'?"
"How the heck should I know?!" I asked, throwing up my arms in exasperation. Micky took a step away from the flashlight that I was still holding, but I barely noticed. "I woke up when I heard my door slam, and then I heard another door close – "
"Hey, I heard a door slam too," said Micky suddenly, beginning to look nervous. Mike sighed and made his way down the stairs, Peter and Davy following. "I just thought I imagined it, and then I came down to get some water."
"Both of you were just imaginin' things!" Mike insisted. "Now, go back – "
"Wait!" Peter exclaimed, suddenly looking very awake. "If Audrey and Micky both heard a door slam, and the door that Audrey heard close was Micky leaving our room to get water, then wouldn't that mean that whoever was in Audrey's room is still here?"
There was a short, tense silence.
"Oh – this is gettin' stupid!" Mike finally exploded. "Everybody go back to bed! We'll talk about this in the mornin'!"
I hesitated for a moment. "Fine," I said, heading back to my room. "'Night." I didn't wait for anyone to answer me.
As soon as I closed my door, I noticed it. One of the drawers of the dresser I kept my clothes in was open slightly. A leg of what I recognized to be my capris from 2005 was hanging out. Filled with a dark sense of foreboding, I went to the dresser and picked up the capris. For a moment, I wondered what anyone would want with my capris. Then it hit me. Panicking, I stuck my hand into the right back pocket. I paled when I found nothing. I checked the other pockets and dug around in the drawer, but had no luck.
My Montana driver's license was gone.
I sat down on the end of my bed, beginning to feel sick. Whoever had been in my room had my driver's license. They would know the truth once they saw my birth date. This has gone too far, I decided. I needed to find that locket and get home, before someone like the CIS found out about me. I sighed and ran my fingers through my loose hair. If only I knew where to look.
Author's Note: This one is among my favorite chapters, but it's not THE favorite. That one is still yet to come. And I'm still not going to tell you when it's coming, either. I'm mean, I know. But maybe if you give me some really nice reviews, I'll tell you when it's coming!