Mid January 1964
"So what happened after meeting that Chad fella?"
"Oh trust me, you don't want to here the rest of that story. Let's just say that we are all officially banned from that club." I told my best friend Margo as we walked home from our school, Calder High. It'd been two weeks since I'd last seen the boys who were off in France touring and would be until the American tour.
"Well you sure are lucky, must be the greatest job in the world, getting' to travel, to be around, to touch them." Margo gushed, going into that fan girl state most girls my age seemed to go into when they heard anything about the Beatles, who seemed, by the way these girls talked about them, to be a completely different group of people aside from the ones I sometimes hung out with on weekends. I've always liked to say I have five older brothers, without any of them being my real brothers at all. There's Thompson's son Ralph and then there's John,George, Paul and Ringo. The fact that every other girl seemed to see the boys as hot was strange for me, I'd only ever found John attractive when I was a kid, way back in the days of playing with his younger sister Jacki.
"I guess, though they aren't what you think they are. Trust me they were only acting sweet to you on your birthday Margo." I told her as we neared my house.
"That's because you're cruel to them Peggy. The poor things, you scold them, nag them you practically abuse them. And that girl Cher, she's even worst, I'm surprised she doesn't make them cry, poor little dears." Margo insisted, clutching her Beatles's trapper keeper tightly against the chilly late January wind.
"That's just how Cher is, the boys love her to death, much more than me trust me. And those 'poor little dears' always seem to have no problem embarrassing me in front of all of England that's for sure." I grumbled as I walked throws my front yard. "You coming over Marg?"
She nodded, following me. "Oh come on Peggy, how is someone not suppose embarrass you and laugh you? Your like 5'3 144 pounds and kinda a nark."
"Trust me, John and them have been making fun of me ever sense I was a little girl. In fact when I first meant John he made fun of me, and heck then he didn't even know me. And I'm 143 pounds thank you very much." I opened the gate and lead Margo, who usually stayed at my house after school through the front yard, walking in through the back door.
"See, point made. You can't not poke fun at you Peg. Besides you're horrible to Paul and he's such a doll, an absolute doll. He's not even as bad as John. Do you think he fancies me?" Margo asked as we walked into my kitchen.
"Well let's see, the two times you've meant him you screamed at him,gagged and then fainted. I'd have to guess not, he hasn't said much about you." I remarked. I was lying, Paul and the other boys had made me swear to never again bring Margo to them after she blew there cover in a favorite record shop of theirs, causing them to never again be able to go their and threw up on Paul's favorite vest.
Margo gave me a hateful look. I shrugged. "Hey you sorta called me fat and a nark." I took at seat at my kitchen table.
Ralph, who as I mentioned before is pretty much like a older brother to me walked pass us on his way to the fridge."Oh look whose home, the elephant and her freak. Didn't think the circus was in town."
"Haha, very funny." I rolled my eyes as Margo threw her distasteful face at Ralph who only grinned back. "Anyways while you too where taking your precious time walkin' home from school someone by the name of Wesley rang. Said he needed to speak to a Peggy Sue and I told him to call again at dinner."
I felt myself blush wildly and Margo and I exchanged looks of shock. Wesley was one of the sweetest, cutest boys in school, and though many girls fancied him, he'd turned them all down. Ralph and Margo both knew far well enough that he was my biggest crush in the world(aside from a few rockers such as Mick Jagger, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly who also had huge places in my heart, and yes you can have a crush on a dead man, especially one who wrote a hit song with you're name in it.)
"Aw no fair Peggy, your so lucky! You're touring with the Beatles and the hottest lad in school has the hots for ya! And yet I can't even get you to diet or fix your hair or flirt or at least treat the Beatles with respect." Margo smiled shaking her head at me.
I was too stunned to say much other than to stand there with this really stupid look on my face, and I didn't know if I should laugh, cry, scream or throw up. I guess that's the sort of feeling Margo and thousand of other girls must have when they see a Beatle.
"Did he leave a number?" I squeaked when I manged to make up my mind by stuffing a bunch of caramel sweets into my mouth, a common nervous trait of mine.
"Yep, left it on the notepad, and do us a favor and don't eat the whole house." Ralph replied strutting out of the kitchen and turning on the telly in the parlor. As soon as he was gone Margo and I made a beeline for the phone in the hall, before grabbing the number and darting into my room.
"Wha-what should I say?" I asked, hands shaking as I rolled the numbers into my telephone, not at all caring the the area code wasn't Liverpool's.
"Come on Peggy, be natural with him, act like he's one of the boys, I mean my God you keep you're cool around hot boys any other time." Margo said running her hands through her black hair. I didn't realize I was tearing my own honey brown curls to frizz.
The other end of the telephone rang for a few century long seconds and I allowed myself to accept the fact that Ralph was probably just pranking me to get back at me for eating all the lemon pie Thompson bought yesterday. Just when I thought no one was going to pick up, a ring was interrupted by a familiar:"'ello Peg, eating sweets I hear, probably don't need that." I could've thrown the phone out my window.
"JOHN WINSTON LENNON I SWEAR YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON TO HAVE CALLED!" I shouted into the receiver while Margo jumped, shocked, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. From the other end of the line I heard several laughs. Great he had everyone in on it. I could picture them all lying on a sofa in some French hotel room, trapped inside like prisoners and all huddled around a hotel phone like a bunch of giddy school girls.
"Well, well, well Peggy don't be feisty now. Got you're letter right here, could read it aloud or rip it to pieces. Or even throw it out the window and watch girls kill each other for it." John said through laughs. "You really thought that pixie of a boy fancied you didn't ya?" He added.
"Well gee John I don't know, you didn't just tell my brother to tell me my crush was calling." I growled through gritted teeth.
"Oh come on Peggy he was in on it too." John said, not sounding at all sorry.
"John I swear the moment you next step foot in Britain I'll be on you like-"
Margo jabbed me in the side hard. "Knock it off Peg, don't be such a bitch. Be nice to him." To the receiver she screamed"Is Paulie there?" which happened to get me right in the ear. I gave her an annoyed look and almost questioned our friendship until she muttered "Sorry".
"Yeah Peggy, be kind to me." John mocked. "I'm a sensitive soul ya know." My face broke into a small smile as I giggled a little, my anger fading away. "Hey Paul your girlfriends on the line with Peggy." He added to I'm assuming Paul. I heard Paul go "Who Jane? Tell her I'm busy-and don't mention- you know." I shuddered a little, though I was used to Paul being untrue. He always had his side girls along with his main one.
"No your other girly, the vest one." John seemed to be laughing to himself on the phone and suddenly I heard Paul clearly, I figured he must've walked into the room or something.
"Come on John, tell her I'm not here, or I'm not well, or I'm unable to talk right now!"
I laughed but Margo, hearing Paul's voice yanked the phone out of my hand and scream something inaudible while I simply bit my tongue and took to covering my ears. After what seemed like an eternity of Margo confessing her love for not only Paul but the rest of the band she finally handed me back my telephone, and went back to freaking out to herself.
I only rolled my eyes, you wouldn't think the girl that was too busy to go and see the Quarrymen play at the Cavern at lunch five years ago would be freaking out about almost the same group a few years later. But I could see why, like so many fans she liked them because they were cute, and because they were now hip with it, and trendy. I couldn't hate it for her, for it was fans like Margo who made things like the up and coming U.S tour happen but still...
I took the phone and found myself talking to John again.
"So what's up? Why'd you call?" I wondered. The boys didn't usually call, not randomly like this.
"Whelp Tony told me I had to tell you this since he had a small meeting with all the other roadies this morning over the tour. Apparently they're gonna have these pass thingys so that they can make sure no one sneaks in or something' and sense you're the age of the average fan, yours is like super official, and bright, and hard to miss unless your blind and dumb. And knowing you my dearest Peggy I knew it might spark up some issues, so I'm sending you two, you know, just in case you loose one. Oh and me and the fellas where bored, and Cher suggested calling you. I got the number wrong twice by the way."
I had to admit, it was hard having a legitimate conversation with John Lennon, and I found myself relived when he sunk in some stabs at me with the whole pass thing. I did tend to lose stuff, but having a official pass actually gave me a sense of pride. It was like I was officially being given a leather jacket and slapped on the back, accepted into a gang you'd been following and trying to pass invitation in for years. It was a cool feeling, and I felt accepted and like I belonged for the first time, not just a outsider they liked to tease.
John got off the phone quickly after that, something about having to get ready, and from the noises in the background I figured he was being truthful. I wished I could have talked to the others, but they suddenly seemed so far away, so out of tune, and I felt myself feeling like an outsider by the time I slowly set the receiver down. Margo who had collected herself by then was grinning from ear to ear.
"Thank you so much Peggy, did I mention your the world best best friend?"
"Well thank you Margo, did I ever tell you your the world's most resilient Beatles fan?"
She sighed falling back on my hard wood floor in a dream like fashion, causing me to raise a brow.
"Oh Peggy their prefect aren't they? Just prefect."
"Yep Margo you big goof, they sure are." I agreed, imagining myself with that little pass pinned on my best sweater in some far off land called America.
Early February 1964,
A week before the tour, I got sick.
Ralph had caught some sort of flu bug and even though I avoided him the best I could, living with him I ended up with a fever of 103. It was horribly inconvenient and disappointing and Eppy was begging me not to bother at all with coming. After what happened after the "Day by Day" interview back a few months ago with Paul getting sick and us having to cancel, this seemed reasonable. But the boys insisted I come, and promised me that as long as I was somewhat better by Friday, when we were set to leave, I could come.
So on Tuesday, when I was feeling a bit better I rang Margo over to help me pack. She was thrilled to help, mainly because ever since her talk with the boys she'd been pretty nice to me. She also brought over a huge folder filled with school work for the next two weeks, which we both sort of shrugged aside.
"I wonder what the weather's like in America? Maybe I should try callin' George or something, he's already been there once to visit his sister Lousie." I said, pulling out a large trunk from under my bed.
"I 'ear it's colder there, George has a sister?" Margo asked, shuffling through my drawers.
"Yeah he does, and according to John, a girlfriend too." I banged my head hard on my nightstand trying to throw my suitcase on my bed and muttered a few curses. Margo didn't seem to notice.
"Oh really?! Who?"
I winced and panted trying to get that stupid suitcase up on my bed, but it wasn't easy and I fell back with it.
"A-acording to John, Paul and Ringo, him and Cher, that girl you dislike have a thing." I wheezed, giving up on putting the suitcase on the bed and just opening it on the ground.
"Oh." Margo's face turned sort of dark. "So do you think it's true?" She asked slowly.
"I don't know, to be honest I really don't care about that stuff. But George needs someone bold, and tell-it-like-it-is like Cher, you and any other fan wouldn't see it, but if you could try and see it from a real point of view, you'd see it's true. Plus she needs someone who thinks things threw, and thinks before he acts like George, though you don't want to see either of them angry." I found myself saying. I had a headache and the words just sort of rolled out of me as I tossed my penny loafers in my trunk.
"What about you Peggy? You think anyone really, really likes you? Do you think one of them needs you?" Margo seemed to ask just to ask, but I didn't like her question very much. I looked at the passes I had neatly on my nightstand with my name typed on them all nice. They proclaimed me to be an 'officially authorised member of the immediate Beatles touring party' but that didn't seem too special, or needed.
"No, they don't Margo. I've told them before that I'm not like them with that. That'd just be creepy, I'm like ten years younger than them."
"Well not really, we're six years younger than George and nine years younger than Ringo. Plus wasn't your dad like thirty eight years older than your mum?" Margo pressed on.
"Yeah and that really worked out well didn't it?" It came out colder then I wanted it to, but I let it sink in before going on. "Plus it's not like they need me, they just like me around really I think. I entertain them, give them something to laugh at."
"Aw come on Peggy, they love you, maybe not like that, but they love you." Margo said softly. "I wish I could be you and be close to them."
I smiled a little. "Nah, you wouldn't like them if you saw how wild four boys and two girls in a hotel room can get. It'd ruin how you see them."
"It wouldn't matter, just being able to go on tour with them, to have them call me, tease me, to have a friendship with them would just be amazing." Margo went on. "I mean they hate me."
"No, they don't hate you, they just don't always like girls obsessing over them. They like to be treated normally." I explained.
Margo looked at her watch. "Oh gosh it's late, I better get going, my mum will kill me." She quickly grabbed her coat and ran out of my room before coming back and adding"Try not to get the Beatles sick."
"I will. See ya Margo." I laughed watching her leave. Margo made me feel a little better, and not in a physical sense either. It was just nice to think that someone else actually thought that the Beatles actually cared for me beyond just a kid they happened to know.
"Don't worry Peggy, you'll be fine, there going to love having you around."
I only hoped to Buddy Holly's ghost she was right.
Okay so another really long, somewhat expedition-like chapter, but don't worry, chapter six will be better, I swear. I just wanted to establish some of Peggy's friendships beyond the boys and try to show how outside of the Beatles, even the Beatles themselves have their own lives and other friends. Probably got a bit carried away with that, (and you guys are going to kill me for there being like no boys in this chapter) but here it is. I love the support and the reviews I got for this, thanks a ton TheLoner and George is Mine, I loved you guy's reviews. And TheLoner thank you so much for being honestly critical, that's the sort of thing I want and love to here so I can try and make changes(though this chapter kinda makes it seem like I ignored your review). I assure you I didn't. I to don't care too much with stories without much of a plot ironic as that sounds, but mine does have a bit of a plot, one that kinda falls in tune behind small sort little eventful stories, I promise. Anyways I want to thank anyone who read this far, your all the best:).
So rave on everyone(ha a Buddy Holly reference what's that doing here, lol) and review if you could, I love knowing what you guys think. And once again thanks for putting up with me and reading, it means a lot to me.