Chapter 3 - I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

"Good morning!" my Mum woke me cheerily, yanking my bed covers back.
"Go away!" I mumbled sleepily, my face squashed into the pillow.
"Good Day Sunshine!"
"I'm not sunshine!" I rolled over and frowned at her. Mum opened my curtains to reveal the sun slightly creeping in.
"Look, Here Comes The Sun!"
I had to laugh at her use of Beatles song titles - she's started to do this more often now.
"Come on, get up," she encouraged.
"No! It's a Saturday morning! What time is it anyway?"
"A bit past seven. But remember – today is your father and I's big brunch party. I need you to help me set up."
"I can't participate – I don't want to spoil the party!"
"You just wanted to use a song title."
"No, really," I persisted, sitting up, "I will bore everyone at the party. To them I'm just a boring little kid who's a Beatles freak."
"That's not true, Sadie. They like The Beatles too."
"Since when? Whenever I talk to them about it they look at me like I'm a weirdo."
"Just please…"
"Okay, okay, I will!"
"Good girl."

After setting up for most of the morning, the house was pretty much immaculately arranged. We were waiting inside for the 'party' guests to arrive, Mum anxiously. We eventually heard some cars pull up outside and Mum jumped up in excitement.
"It's the March of the Meanies," I commented under my breath. Mum elbowed me.
"Be nice," she warned as she went to greet her guests.
About seven or eight people arrived in the first wave. After them, a few more people arrived. One of Mum's work mates showed up with her husband and son, who looked to be my age. I thought a friendship could start here, seeing as I would be bored all day being the only child here. Except there was one problem – he didn't seem like the type to like The Beatles. Don't get me wrong, it's not a prerequisite for my friends, but it is my preferred topic of conversation. When all the adults were outside eating and talking (and drinking, mind you), I was in the kitchen having a drink of Coke. The guy came inside and stood next to me awkwardly, obviously wanting to start a conversation.
"I see you escaped the Sea of Monsters out there," I commented, trying to be as least-awkward as possible.
"Yeah. You don't want to know what goes on out there," he replied. I snapped my head to attention when he said, 'what goes on', as it is a song title. I passed it off as a coincidence and not him actually referring to the name.
"They seem to be playing Rock and Roll Music out there," I continued, neither of us looking at each other.
"Is there somewhere we can go that's quieter?" he asked, "They're getting quite drunk and henceforth quite rowdy."
"Ah, sure. Do you want a drink?"
"Okay."
"Is a Coke fine?" I asked, opening the fridge.
"Yeah, thanks."
I handed the can to him and he followed me into the front lounge room.

"So, your Mum works with my Mum?" I asked as we awkwardly sat next to each other, sipping our Cokes.
"Yeah... to be honest, I didn't want to come to this party," he told me.
"To be honest, I don't even want to be here. I didn't know there was going to be someone my age here."
"Me either. Mum didn't tell me that her friend had a daughter."
"So how old are you?"
"Fifteen."
"Same."
"Well, this should give us something in common."
We both laughed awkwardly and sipped our drinks in silence.
"Oh, I'm Max, by the way," he said abruptly, "Maxwell, actually, but Max."
"Nice to meet you Maxwell," I smiled, "I'm Sadie."
"What school do you go to?"
"Kilmore Park," I told him, referring to Kilmore Park State High School, the school I attended.
"Mack," he told me his school, St. Mackillop College (which everyone knows as Mack), the main Catholic boys school in the city.

We chatted a bit more, getting to know each other.
"Hey, before you said 'it's a sea of monsters'," he enquired, "I was wondering... were you referring to the Percy Jackson book or the Beatles song?"
"The Beatles song," I answered.
"I had a feeling it was that. You're a fan then?"
"Massively. I like to call myself a specialist in Beatlology. "
"That's cool. I like them too. I know quite a bit about them, but I'm probably not as much of a 'specialist' as you are."
"Really? I have never met anyone my age who likes them as much as I do. A lot of people say 'ew' when they find out they're my favourite band and my passion."
"How is it 'ew'? It's really cool that you know so much about the historical band. They should take a leaf out of your book and listen to some good music once in a while."
"That's exactly what I think. So, how well do you know them?"
"Well, I pretty much know most of their songs, but not all. Of course I know the members and stuff, and I think I can name the albums in order."
"Go on," I pushed, smirking.
"Okay. Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Yellow Submarine, Let it Be, Abbey Road."
"Ooh, you did so well up until the end! Technically, Let it Be was recorded before Abbey Road, but Abbey Road was released in 1969 and Let it Be in 1970."
"Wow, you really do know a lot. Which is your favourite?"
"Rubber Soul, without a doubt. You?"
"I guess it's Sgt. Pepper. It was a turning point in music, you know."
"I know."
"And it's the Rolling Stone's number one album of all time."
"Indeed it is. Can you name all of the tracks?"
"Uh... can you?"
"Of course."
"That's pretty impressive."
"Thanks. I'll give you a clue - there's thirteen songs on it."
"Okay, I'll try," he took a deep breath and made thinking faces as he looked up, trying to remember the songs, "There's Good Morning Good Morning..."
I kept count of my fingers.
"...Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, A Day in the Life, Fixing a Hole, Lovely Rita, Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite!, With a Little Help From My Friends... damn, what are the rest? How many's that?"
"Seven. Six more. I think you're forgetting the very obvious ones."
"OH! Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)... uh... is She's Leaving Home on it?"
"Uh huh."
"What else? Three more... Getting Better... and I don't remember the other two."
'Within You Without You."
"Of course!"
"And... crap, now I've forgotten the last one! And I'm supposed to be the expert."
"It'll come to you."

We chatted for the rest of the day, getting to know each other. For me, it was slightly awkward as I was shy around boys, despite going to a co-ed school. But somehow it was different with boys at my school - I didn't feel awkward around them unless I had feelings for them.
"Do you reckon we have a friendship brewing here?" I asked.
"Oh, I think so. It's only convenient that our mums work together. I would love to be friends. I always wanted a good friend outside of school."
"Me too! All of my friends are my school friends. I didn't think my parents were that sociable until they threw this party thing today."
"To tell you the truth... you're really the only female I know, besides my cousins and my friends' girlfriends."
"I feel honoured," we laughed.
"So we're friends from now on?"
"Yep."
We cheesily shook on it.