Leaving You Was Never Easy, chapter 2
I drove around the lonely streets thinking about my home, if you could call it a home though. Home is where your heart is, and I don't know where my heart is, I'm lost. There's no one that I can love, and no one to talk to, no one at all. Cold tears slowly crept down my cheeks and all my memories burned down into ashes. I drove into a street and parked my car up next to the sidewalk. The street was almost empty apart from a doorway next to a bar or something. I had money, so I thought I'd go in and check it out.
The place was pretty crowded, and oh yeah, it turned out to be this venue for punk bands and stuff. So anyways, I got a drink and sat at a small table. The band that were playing were really good actually, so I stayed until they had finished. After 3 or 4 songs I got up and left the club and headed for my car. My messy pink & black hair blew around in the cold wind and murmurs of night life scattered the streets. I drove around looking for a hotel and found a small motel that looked pretty hellish, but nevertheless, I went in to find somewhere to stay. I could hear a familiar voice from my childhood but I couldn't quite place it, then it struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Marnie? It can't be her, it can't.
She turned round and her glassy blue eyes met my green eyes.
"Frankie?! Is that you Frankie?" she said running up to me.
"Oh my gosh Marz, what are you doing here?"
"What are YOU doing here?" she exclaimed hugging me.
"I ran away from home last night, it's a long story."
"Listen, I'm just finishing my shift right now, you can come back to my place, it's not far from here."
"Aww thanks Marz, you're looking great by the way."
"You too Frankie! Ok lets go then." She said grabbing my hand and heading towards a bus stop.
"Oh no Marz, I have a car, I'll drive OK?"
"Yeah, cool, oh my gosh, you'll love my place, there's a pool and the neighbors, well, they're pretty loud, but it's awesome, trust me."
"OK, so how are you?"
"Oh I'm fine, you?"
"Well, I'M ok, but Ali and my dad, well, that's a different story."
"Aw jeez, her mom just hates everyone who doesn't wear pink fur!"
"I know, I miss her so bad though"
"Yeah, I miss her too, but anyways, I thought that when I left I'd never see you again."
"Yeah same here, well, I must have taken a leaf from your book with the 'run to California' thingy." I said laughing.
" Hah, yeah, so, just take a left here and that's us home."
"'Kay, so do you definitely not mind me staying?"
"No, I'm glad, I hate living alone, and I'm glad that it's you, I missed you so much."
"Yeah, I missed you too Marz." I said grinning as
I pulled the car into the drive.
* * *
I woke up in the spare room, it was lilac and had some flowers in a vase on the window, I strolled over to look out of the big clean windows and saw the pool, it was huge! There was only about a meter of space between the pool and the wall that separated the different back yards. I realized that I had shoved a black bikini into my bag so I got it out and ran into the kitchen to find Marnie.
"C'mon Marz, we're going for a swim!"
"Aw no, later OK?"
"Ah whatever, I'll be in the pool" I shouted running out of the back door and diving into the deep, blue water. This was awesome! I loved it here! But I wondered what Marnie meant about the neighbors, they can't be that bad anyways. And it looks as if there's nobody living there at the moment. I swam about for twenty minutes or so when Marnie came out into the back yard and lay on the grass.
"So, where are these annoying neighbors?" I asked swimming on my back
"They're away gigging right now."
"What? Ohh, they're a band! COOL!"
"Yeah, they rule, seriously, have you heard them? They're called Green Day."
"HAVE I HEARD THEM?! I LOVE THEM!"
"Ohh this'll be fun! They're coming back tonight so I'll get them round so you can meet them."
"Awesome, I'm gonna go get some chow!" I shouted while walking back into the large kitchen area. I don't know how she ended up with a place like this. I suppose she must have just worked real hard. Well, I settled down on the sofa with some pop-tarts and watched MTV for as long as possible. I drifted off into a dream and fell back onto the warm leather sofa.
* * *
"Julia, wake up, NOW!" my dad screamed in my ear.
"OK!!! I am definitely going to this gig ok?!"
"NO, I SAID BEFORE, YOU ARE NOT GOING!"
"But, it's Green Day! I am going and that's final!"
"Shut up you little bitch!" he screamed in my ear as a large whiff of vodka came from his mouth, disgusting. He stared at me for what felt like ages and then next thing I know, his cold hand hits my face and I fall to the ground with a thud.
* * *
I woke up breathing heavily. It was a dream. It was a dream I kept re-assuring myself as I walked into the kitchen to get some coffee. Marnie was sat at the table with a magazine.
"Morning Marz."
"What? It's the afternoon, you fell asleep."
"Oh, ok, so did you call the guys?"
"Yeah, they came over but you were asleep."
"AW SHIT!" I screamed.
"Just kidding Flakey Joe! Calm down!" she said laughing.
"So are they coming or what?"
"They said they'd just come round whenever and we could watch a film or something."
"Ok, cool, do you have any coffee?"
"No, I don't drink that stuff"
"Oh jeez! Ok, I'm gonna go swimming again, that'll wake me up!" I said and ran upstairs. I grabbed my bikini and ran down the spiral stair case and out of the back door to dive bomb into the pool once again.
I swam about minding my own when I heard voices but I thought I was just imagining them so I kept swimming. I heard those voices again and turned round to see three figures jumping from the wall and into the pool.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed laughing
"Same as you!" one boy with green spiky hair said while splashing about like a little kid.
"Ok, whatever." I said and then it hit me, three guys, dreadlocks, green spikes and longish brown hair. Somebody whack me over the head with a frying pan! IT'S GREEN DAY!
"Ok, somebody tell me why I'm in a pool in my long lost friends backyard with Green Day?"
"Ah, you're Frankie then!" Billie said (yesh, I knew their names!)
"Yah." I said diving into the pool again.
"Hey people! You met each other already!" Marnie screamed jumping in.
So there I am in a pool with the best people you could ask for at that point, and it was all fine and surprisingly, things worked out really good for me. I stayed at Marz's house with her and most of the time we hung about with the guys and when they were touring we looked after their house. Life was great, and I loved it here. My new home.
I was strolling along random streets one sunny California day when something caught my eye. A picture of Ali and some details stuck to a street light. I looked further and saw these posters everywhere. I ran up and pulled one down.
Please come home Alison
Have you seen this girl? Please call 01417721100 if so.
Had she ran away? Come to find me? Tried to leave her home like I did? I ran back to the house and saw Marz sitting at the kitchen table with one of the posters in her hand.
"Have you seen this?!" she shouted almost crying
"I know Marz, we have to find her, she wouldn't be able to cope with it on her own."
"Ok, well, we can start looking tonight, she was spotted around here last week but nobody has seen her since."
"Right, we'll just see if she turns up anywhere and keep a look out for her in the streets ok?"
"Yeah sure, Frankie, I hope she's ok."
"I know, she will be ok though, I know" I said re-assuring Marnie who was now in tears. I gave her a hug and we got something to eat and then started searching for our lost friend. I knew that we'd find her, I promised that I'd always be there for her, and we meant it litterally, so we had to be together, us three, just like life was before Ali had to leave us, before my dad started getting drunk every night, before Marz ran away. We would finally be together again.
The place was pretty crowded, and oh yeah, it turned out to be this venue for punk bands and stuff. So anyways, I got a drink and sat at a small table. The band that were playing were really good actually, so I stayed until they had finished. After 3 or 4 songs I got up and left the club and headed for my car. My messy pink & black hair blew around in the cold wind and murmurs of night life scattered the streets. I drove around looking for a hotel and found a small motel that looked pretty hellish, but nevertheless, I went in to find somewhere to stay. I could hear a familiar voice from my childhood but I couldn't quite place it, then it struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Marnie? It can't be her, it can't.
She turned round and her glassy blue eyes met my green eyes.
"Frankie?! Is that you Frankie?" she said running up to me.
"Oh my gosh Marz, what are you doing here?"
"What are YOU doing here?" she exclaimed hugging me.
"I ran away from home last night, it's a long story."
"Listen, I'm just finishing my shift right now, you can come back to my place, it's not far from here."
"Aww thanks Marz, you're looking great by the way."
"You too Frankie! Ok lets go then." She said grabbing my hand and heading towards a bus stop.
"Oh no Marz, I have a car, I'll drive OK?"
"Yeah, cool, oh my gosh, you'll love my place, there's a pool and the neighbors, well, they're pretty loud, but it's awesome, trust me."
"OK, so how are you?"
"Oh I'm fine, you?"
"Well, I'M ok, but Ali and my dad, well, that's a different story."
"Aw jeez, her mom just hates everyone who doesn't wear pink fur!"
"I know, I miss her so bad though"
"Yeah, I miss her too, but anyways, I thought that when I left I'd never see you again."
"Yeah same here, well, I must have taken a leaf from your book with the 'run to California' thingy." I said laughing.
" Hah, yeah, so, just take a left here and that's us home."
"'Kay, so do you definitely not mind me staying?"
"No, I'm glad, I hate living alone, and I'm glad that it's you, I missed you so much."
"Yeah, I missed you too Marz." I said grinning as
I pulled the car into the drive.
* * *
I woke up in the spare room, it was lilac and had some flowers in a vase on the window, I strolled over to look out of the big clean windows and saw the pool, it was huge! There was only about a meter of space between the pool and the wall that separated the different back yards. I realized that I had shoved a black bikini into my bag so I got it out and ran into the kitchen to find Marnie.
"C'mon Marz, we're going for a swim!"
"Aw no, later OK?"
"Ah whatever, I'll be in the pool" I shouted running out of the back door and diving into the deep, blue water. This was awesome! I loved it here! But I wondered what Marnie meant about the neighbors, they can't be that bad anyways. And it looks as if there's nobody living there at the moment. I swam about for twenty minutes or so when Marnie came out into the back yard and lay on the grass.
"So, where are these annoying neighbors?" I asked swimming on my back
"They're away gigging right now."
"What? Ohh, they're a band! COOL!"
"Yeah, they rule, seriously, have you heard them? They're called Green Day."
"HAVE I HEARD THEM?! I LOVE THEM!"
"Ohh this'll be fun! They're coming back tonight so I'll get them round so you can meet them."
"Awesome, I'm gonna go get some chow!" I shouted while walking back into the large kitchen area. I don't know how she ended up with a place like this. I suppose she must have just worked real hard. Well, I settled down on the sofa with some pop-tarts and watched MTV for as long as possible. I drifted off into a dream and fell back onto the warm leather sofa.
* * *
"Julia, wake up, NOW!" my dad screamed in my ear.
"OK!!! I am definitely going to this gig ok?!"
"NO, I SAID BEFORE, YOU ARE NOT GOING!"
"But, it's Green Day! I am going and that's final!"
"Shut up you little bitch!" he screamed in my ear as a large whiff of vodka came from his mouth, disgusting. He stared at me for what felt like ages and then next thing I know, his cold hand hits my face and I fall to the ground with a thud.
* * *
I woke up breathing heavily. It was a dream. It was a dream I kept re-assuring myself as I walked into the kitchen to get some coffee. Marnie was sat at the table with a magazine.
"Morning Marz."
"What? It's the afternoon, you fell asleep."
"Oh, ok, so did you call the guys?"
"Yeah, they came over but you were asleep."
"AW SHIT!" I screamed.
"Just kidding Flakey Joe! Calm down!" she said laughing.
"So are they coming or what?"
"They said they'd just come round whenever and we could watch a film or something."
"Ok, cool, do you have any coffee?"
"No, I don't drink that stuff"
"Oh jeez! Ok, I'm gonna go swimming again, that'll wake me up!" I said and ran upstairs. I grabbed my bikini and ran down the spiral stair case and out of the back door to dive bomb into the pool once again.
I swam about minding my own when I heard voices but I thought I was just imagining them so I kept swimming. I heard those voices again and turned round to see three figures jumping from the wall and into the pool.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed laughing
"Same as you!" one boy with green spiky hair said while splashing about like a little kid.
"Ok, whatever." I said and then it hit me, three guys, dreadlocks, green spikes and longish brown hair. Somebody whack me over the head with a frying pan! IT'S GREEN DAY!
"Ok, somebody tell me why I'm in a pool in my long lost friends backyard with Green Day?"
"Ah, you're Frankie then!" Billie said (yesh, I knew their names!)
"Yah." I said diving into the pool again.
"Hey people! You met each other already!" Marnie screamed jumping in.
So there I am in a pool with the best people you could ask for at that point, and it was all fine and surprisingly, things worked out really good for me. I stayed at Marz's house with her and most of the time we hung about with the guys and when they were touring we looked after their house. Life was great, and I loved it here. My new home.
I was strolling along random streets one sunny California day when something caught my eye. A picture of Ali and some details stuck to a street light. I looked further and saw these posters everywhere. I ran up and pulled one down.
Please come home Alison
Have you seen this girl? Please call 01417721100 if so.
Had she ran away? Come to find me? Tried to leave her home like I did? I ran back to the house and saw Marz sitting at the kitchen table with one of the posters in her hand.
"Have you seen this?!" she shouted almost crying
"I know Marz, we have to find her, she wouldn't be able to cope with it on her own."
"Ok, well, we can start looking tonight, she was spotted around here last week but nobody has seen her since."
"Right, we'll just see if she turns up anywhere and keep a look out for her in the streets ok?"
"Yeah sure, Frankie, I hope she's ok."
"I know, she will be ok though, I know" I said re-assuring Marnie who was now in tears. I gave her a hug and we got something to eat and then started searching for our lost friend. I knew that we'd find her, I promised that I'd always be there for her, and we meant it litterally, so we had to be together, us three, just like life was before Ali had to leave us, before my dad started getting drunk every night, before Marz ran away. We would finally be together again.
