Post by whatsername on Jul 4, 2005 17:05:05 GMT -5
Heh, I dreamed this, so I decided it was a good idea. Tell me what you think (in other words, tell me if it sucks!).
Part One
"Get a job? I don't want a job! That's that thing, that requires work, right?" Karla said, or more, whined.
Diana rolled her eyes. Lauren just sat and strummed on her bass, not really listening.
"Look," Diana said logically,"If you want that new guitar, that's the only way you're going to get it. Without a guitarist, we can't play anymore."
Karla didn't say anything. She needed money for a guitar that she desperately needed.
Her father had thrown hers out. Karla's father wasn't the greatest dad a 14 year old could have. If she came home, it was usually greeted by a beating. Numerous bruises and scars covered her arms and legs. Usually, she didn't come home at all. Her mother was gone, got up and left when she was 3, and brother ended his own life when she was 9. When she did come home, it was to sneak in and grab food if she didn't have any. She usually crashed at Diana's place. That's how she lost her guitar, because of him, 2 days ago.
"Why'd you leave it at his house anyway? How could you forget it? You knew he was going to get rid of it," Lauren asked curiously, brushing her brown curls out of her face.
"How could you forget it there? It's not like you to leave your guitar anywhere, especially not at his house," Diana said, glancing at my face.
My eyes filled with tears and I quickly looked away. Lines creased on Diana's forehead. She knew when something was up. Karla didn't cry. Ever.
Diana came over and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"What did he do to you?" She asked quietly.
Lauren's finger froze above her bass, pick in hand, fearful of an answer. He had only ever given her a few good bruises and cuts to talk about. Nothing more. But there was something strange going on. She'd been rather quiet for the last two days.
Karla shook her head.
"Nothing, he just beat me," her voice quavered.
"Bullshit! What the fuck did that bastard do to you?!" Lauren screamed, jumping up. Karla looked up fearfully at her, tears now streaming down her face.
Diana and Lauren locked eyes. And they knew.
Part Two (I'd never thought I'd make it this far, lol.)
"Oooooh!" Diana exclaimed, "How about this one?!"
She pulled out the newspaper and pointed to the want ad.
"Ummmm, that's great and everything, except, I can't drive. And it clearly states 'Drivers Wanted'," Karla said sullenly.
"Well, sooooory! Jesus," Diana said, grabbing another of her mom's cookies. The drummer and the guitar player were sitting on Diana's bedroom floor, busy, trying to find a job suitable for Karla. So far they had had no luck. Either she was underqualified, too young, and when they did find a job and got all excited, they found out that the 'position had been filled'.
"I am here! Bow down to Miss America and bask in my presence!" Lauren announced her arrival and tripped very ungracefully into a pile of newspapers. Diana burst out laughing, but Karla stared out the window. The sky was darkening, and threatening rain. Lauren picked her head up to look at Karla.
"No luck, eh?" She asked.
Diana let out a sigh and pulled the drumsticks from her bun, letting her hair cascade around her shoulders. Karla had always been jealous of her perfect Asian hair. She turned on American Idiot and banged along on the drums with Tre. It was her way of relieving stress, much like Karla and her electric guitar, and Lauren and her beloved bass. But Karla's guitar was gone. Forever, it seemed. Lauren stuffed one of Mrs. Lee's (Diana's mom) cookies in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
Their band had formed at the end of 7th grade, a little more than a year ago. They were all only 14, and just graduated middle school ("Thank the Jesus of Suburbia!" Lauren used to shout). Karla was the lead vocalist, and songwriter. She had a new diary, or songbook, that she had received from Lauren and Diana as a present when summer break began. It had only been two weeks, but the diary was almost halfway full already. Karla had been writing a lot recently, singing nothing.
After figuring out what her father had done to her, they spoke no more of it. Karla hadn't returned home, if she could call it that, and stayed at Diana's house most of the time.
"LET'S GO FOR A WALK!!" Shouted Lauren over the opening of Jesus of Suburbia.
Karla nodded, and Diana reluctantly cut off Billie Joe on her stereo. Taking a walk. They had always done it. To just fool around and talk about whatever they felt like. There was always something interesting going on on the Oakland streets.
They raced eachother down the stairs, Diana and Lauren landing in a crumpled mess at the bottom, and Karla jumping cat like over them. She was very flexible and stealthy when she wanted to be. Very useful for stealing beer from the local 7-11. But they rarely ever drank..........sometimes.
"Where are you guys headed?" Mrs. Lee asked looking at the three trouble makers.
"Uuuuuh, the Safeway!" Diana said quickly.
Mrs. Lee smirked and gave her a shopping list. All three let out a groan. Karla grabbed her bag. It was an olive green messenger bag, where she kept everything of value to her, or, everything she owned. Her cell phone, wallet, make-up (though very little), diary, changes of clothes, CD player, and CD's. She had written in a metallic silver sharpie on the bag 'If you think I'm such a freak, why the FUCK are you reading my bag!?'
"Have a nice time, and get back before it starts raining. Karla, feel free to stay the night," Mrs. Lee said motherly. Karla smiled gratefully up at her. Mrs. Lee gave Diana two $20's for the groceries.
"What about meeeeee? Don't you want me to stay toooooo?" Lauren whined.
Mrs. Lee laughed and rolled her eyes, and proceeded to herd them out the door.
Once out on the sidewalk, Karla laughed and said, "Sorry, Lauren. She obviously likes me more."
Lauren punched her playfully in the arm. Diana was happy to see Karla smiling. A rare occasion in the last week. They ran and skipped, talked and sang down to the supermarket.
"I'm the daughter of rage and love, the Jesus of Suburbia, the bible of, none of the above, ona steady DIET OF!" Karla sang loudly.
"Oh? It's 'daughter' now, is it?" Diana asked.
"Well, duh! Billie Joe, the hot sex God that he is, can say that he's the 'son', but our Karla, she can say 'daughter'," Lauren said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Diana and Lauren started to argue about which of the three members of Green Day was the hottest, while Karla listened, happy to be surrounded by her two best friends. Her family. Lauren and Diana, and Green Day, were the things that kept her going. Karla grew up on Green Day, and Lauren and Diana got hooked after Karla introduced them.. She had all of their CD's in her bag, and thought listening to them therapeutic. She dreamed of being on stage one day, along with Diana and Lauren, belting out her own lyrics like Billie Joe, but had little hope of THAT ever happening.
Diana and Lauren finished their argument as the trio walked through the Safeway automatic doors and got hit with a blast of cold air.
"Woah, Jesus! It's freezing in here!" Lauren exclaimed, shivering.
"Well, atleast not as hot and humid as outside," Karla said, used to the California summers.
They walked around the store, Diana grabbing various items off the shelves that her mother needed. Karla walked behind Lauren and Diana, who had now decided to argue about cottage cheese. 'What the hell?' Karla thought, smiling. She walked down the make up aisle and looked at the various hair dyes.
Currently, her hair was red, naturally, it was blonde. 'Hmmmmm,' she mused. 'How about black?' She smiled and grabbed a natural looking black from the shelf. She always dyed her eyebrows too, even though the box said not to. Since when did she listen to anybody? I'm not going to go blind!
There was a lady beside her, looking at nail polish. She was talking on a cell phone.
"Tomorrow?" She said into her phone. "I guess. No, no. There's nothing wrong. I just need someone to watch Jake and Joey, then. It's kinda short notice."
Karla glanced at the woman beside her. She was picking up various bottles of polish and putting them back when she didn't like them. She brushed her black her out of her face, and Karla realized who she was. Adrienne. Adrienne Armstrong. 'Oh my God,' Karla thought. That's all the time she had to think before there was a loud crash and the nail polish display went crashing to the ground, nail polish bottles shattering. It was very interesting, all the colors washing together.
"Oh, shit!" said Adrienne, who jumped put of the way just in time, "Ummm, I have to call you back. Yeah, I'm fine. Talk to you later, love you. Bye." She hung up and looked at the colorful mess on the floor and groaned.
She looked up at me, staring at her and she said, "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry! Look at your shoes!"
I looked at my black Converses and realized what she meant. They were splattered with a colorful combination of reds, pinks, and a strange lime green.
"Uuuh. Don't worry about it." Even though I was kinda pissed. These were NEW!
There was the hurrying of footsteps and a Safeway employee came running over, looking very distressed, followed by what looked to be the manager.
"What did you do?!" screeched the employee at her. The manager looked at the mess, or, to him, the lost merchandise.
"You're paying for this," he said sharply, pointing at the broken glass. Adrienne looked worried and stressed. I glanced at the wall and realized why the display had fallen. The top two screws of the display were loose, clumsily atttached. No wonder it fell.
"It's not her fault," I said heatedly. Did anyone notice the broken glass that might have cut someone? Noooo. But the glass had hit my bare legs, I was wearing a black pleated skirt, and it had put small cuts all over my shins.
"What do you mean?! I suppose YOU did this!" the manager said accusingly. Ofcourse. Blame the girl with the nose ring.
"No! Look at the wall! See the screws?" I pointed them out to him.
"No surprise it fell! I say you should fire the idiot who put the display up, not blame the woman who nearly got hurt because of his carelesness!" I said loudly. (A/N: I switched to Karla's POV if ya hadn't noticed!).
The balding manager glanced at the employee and told him to follow him to his office.
"I'm very sorry for this inconvenience," He said curtly and turend and left, dragging the other guy with him. Well, atleast the perpetrator will be punished, I thought evilly.
"Thanks," Adrienne said, looking relieved and smiling at me.
"No problem," I said awkwardly, inspecting my legs which had now started to bleed.
"Hey," I said suddenly, I had an idea, "Um, you need a baby sitter, right? I couldn't help overhearing....."
"Yeah, I do. You wouldn't feel up to the job, would you?" She asked hopefully.
"Actually, I was looking for work, so, yeah," I said, grinning.
"Oh God, you're a life saver. Twice in a row!" She glanced at my legs and shoes.
"I'm so sorry about your shoes. You should get your cuts cleaned up though," She said, looking more closely at the blood dripping down my legs.
"I guess so," I said, not really noticing. I was too used to pain.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Lauren screamed, making me cringe.
Diana and Lauren came running over. No time to explain, I thought desperately, I was gonna baby sit Billie Joe's kids!
"Why don't you come over my house, and I'll get you cleaned up?" asked Adrienne. Go to Billie Joe's house? Why the FUCK NOT?!
"Uuuuh. Okay," I turned and smiled reassuringly at Lauren and Diana's confused faces. They didn't realize who this was......
"I'll see you later guys. I'll call you," I said and started following Adrienne out of the store. I stopped to buy my hair dye, which I got for free from the manager when I pointed out my legs, and then walked out into the parking lot with Adrienne, my friends staring dumbstruck after me.
Part One
"Get a job? I don't want a job! That's that thing, that requires work, right?" Karla said, or more, whined.
Diana rolled her eyes. Lauren just sat and strummed on her bass, not really listening.
"Look," Diana said logically,"If you want that new guitar, that's the only way you're going to get it. Without a guitarist, we can't play anymore."
Karla didn't say anything. She needed money for a guitar that she desperately needed.
Her father had thrown hers out. Karla's father wasn't the greatest dad a 14 year old could have. If she came home, it was usually greeted by a beating. Numerous bruises and scars covered her arms and legs. Usually, she didn't come home at all. Her mother was gone, got up and left when she was 3, and brother ended his own life when she was 9. When she did come home, it was to sneak in and grab food if she didn't have any. She usually crashed at Diana's place. That's how she lost her guitar, because of him, 2 days ago.
"Why'd you leave it at his house anyway? How could you forget it? You knew he was going to get rid of it," Lauren asked curiously, brushing her brown curls out of her face.
"How could you forget it there? It's not like you to leave your guitar anywhere, especially not at his house," Diana said, glancing at my face.
My eyes filled with tears and I quickly looked away. Lines creased on Diana's forehead. She knew when something was up. Karla didn't cry. Ever.
Diana came over and placed an arm around her shoulders.
"What did he do to you?" She asked quietly.
Lauren's finger froze above her bass, pick in hand, fearful of an answer. He had only ever given her a few good bruises and cuts to talk about. Nothing more. But there was something strange going on. She'd been rather quiet for the last two days.
Karla shook her head.
"Nothing, he just beat me," her voice quavered.
"Bullshit! What the fuck did that bastard do to you?!" Lauren screamed, jumping up. Karla looked up fearfully at her, tears now streaming down her face.
Diana and Lauren locked eyes. And they knew.
Part Two (I'd never thought I'd make it this far, lol.)
"Oooooh!" Diana exclaimed, "How about this one?!"
She pulled out the newspaper and pointed to the want ad.
"Ummmm, that's great and everything, except, I can't drive. And it clearly states 'Drivers Wanted'," Karla said sullenly.
"Well, sooooory! Jesus," Diana said, grabbing another of her mom's cookies. The drummer and the guitar player were sitting on Diana's bedroom floor, busy, trying to find a job suitable for Karla. So far they had had no luck. Either she was underqualified, too young, and when they did find a job and got all excited, they found out that the 'position had been filled'.
"I am here! Bow down to Miss America and bask in my presence!" Lauren announced her arrival and tripped very ungracefully into a pile of newspapers. Diana burst out laughing, but Karla stared out the window. The sky was darkening, and threatening rain. Lauren picked her head up to look at Karla.
"No luck, eh?" She asked.
Diana let out a sigh and pulled the drumsticks from her bun, letting her hair cascade around her shoulders. Karla had always been jealous of her perfect Asian hair. She turned on American Idiot and banged along on the drums with Tre. It was her way of relieving stress, much like Karla and her electric guitar, and Lauren and her beloved bass. But Karla's guitar was gone. Forever, it seemed. Lauren stuffed one of Mrs. Lee's (Diana's mom) cookies in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
Their band had formed at the end of 7th grade, a little more than a year ago. They were all only 14, and just graduated middle school ("Thank the Jesus of Suburbia!" Lauren used to shout). Karla was the lead vocalist, and songwriter. She had a new diary, or songbook, that she had received from Lauren and Diana as a present when summer break began. It had only been two weeks, but the diary was almost halfway full already. Karla had been writing a lot recently, singing nothing.
After figuring out what her father had done to her, they spoke no more of it. Karla hadn't returned home, if she could call it that, and stayed at Diana's house most of the time.
"LET'S GO FOR A WALK!!" Shouted Lauren over the opening of Jesus of Suburbia.
Karla nodded, and Diana reluctantly cut off Billie Joe on her stereo. Taking a walk. They had always done it. To just fool around and talk about whatever they felt like. There was always something interesting going on on the Oakland streets.
They raced eachother down the stairs, Diana and Lauren landing in a crumpled mess at the bottom, and Karla jumping cat like over them. She was very flexible and stealthy when she wanted to be. Very useful for stealing beer from the local 7-11. But they rarely ever drank..........sometimes.
"Where are you guys headed?" Mrs. Lee asked looking at the three trouble makers.
"Uuuuuh, the Safeway!" Diana said quickly.
Mrs. Lee smirked and gave her a shopping list. All three let out a groan. Karla grabbed her bag. It was an olive green messenger bag, where she kept everything of value to her, or, everything she owned. Her cell phone, wallet, make-up (though very little), diary, changes of clothes, CD player, and CD's. She had written in a metallic silver sharpie on the bag 'If you think I'm such a freak, why the FUCK are you reading my bag!?'
"Have a nice time, and get back before it starts raining. Karla, feel free to stay the night," Mrs. Lee said motherly. Karla smiled gratefully up at her. Mrs. Lee gave Diana two $20's for the groceries.
"What about meeeeee? Don't you want me to stay toooooo?" Lauren whined.
Mrs. Lee laughed and rolled her eyes, and proceeded to herd them out the door.
Once out on the sidewalk, Karla laughed and said, "Sorry, Lauren. She obviously likes me more."
Lauren punched her playfully in the arm. Diana was happy to see Karla smiling. A rare occasion in the last week. They ran and skipped, talked and sang down to the supermarket.
"I'm the daughter of rage and love, the Jesus of Suburbia, the bible of, none of the above, ona steady DIET OF!" Karla sang loudly.
"Oh? It's 'daughter' now, is it?" Diana asked.
"Well, duh! Billie Joe, the hot sex God that he is, can say that he's the 'son', but our Karla, she can say 'daughter'," Lauren said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Diana and Lauren started to argue about which of the three members of Green Day was the hottest, while Karla listened, happy to be surrounded by her two best friends. Her family. Lauren and Diana, and Green Day, were the things that kept her going. Karla grew up on Green Day, and Lauren and Diana got hooked after Karla introduced them.. She had all of their CD's in her bag, and thought listening to them therapeutic. She dreamed of being on stage one day, along with Diana and Lauren, belting out her own lyrics like Billie Joe, but had little hope of THAT ever happening.
Diana and Lauren finished their argument as the trio walked through the Safeway automatic doors and got hit with a blast of cold air.
"Woah, Jesus! It's freezing in here!" Lauren exclaimed, shivering.
"Well, atleast not as hot and humid as outside," Karla said, used to the California summers.
They walked around the store, Diana grabbing various items off the shelves that her mother needed. Karla walked behind Lauren and Diana, who had now decided to argue about cottage cheese. 'What the hell?' Karla thought, smiling. She walked down the make up aisle and looked at the various hair dyes.
Currently, her hair was red, naturally, it was blonde. 'Hmmmmm,' she mused. 'How about black?' She smiled and grabbed a natural looking black from the shelf. She always dyed her eyebrows too, even though the box said not to. Since when did she listen to anybody? I'm not going to go blind!
There was a lady beside her, looking at nail polish. She was talking on a cell phone.
"Tomorrow?" She said into her phone. "I guess. No, no. There's nothing wrong. I just need someone to watch Jake and Joey, then. It's kinda short notice."
Karla glanced at the woman beside her. She was picking up various bottles of polish and putting them back when she didn't like them. She brushed her black her out of her face, and Karla realized who she was. Adrienne. Adrienne Armstrong. 'Oh my God,' Karla thought. That's all the time she had to think before there was a loud crash and the nail polish display went crashing to the ground, nail polish bottles shattering. It was very interesting, all the colors washing together.
"Oh, shit!" said Adrienne, who jumped put of the way just in time, "Ummm, I have to call you back. Yeah, I'm fine. Talk to you later, love you. Bye." She hung up and looked at the colorful mess on the floor and groaned.
She looked up at me, staring at her and she said, "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry! Look at your shoes!"
I looked at my black Converses and realized what she meant. They were splattered with a colorful combination of reds, pinks, and a strange lime green.
"Uuuh. Don't worry about it." Even though I was kinda pissed. These were NEW!
There was the hurrying of footsteps and a Safeway employee came running over, looking very distressed, followed by what looked to be the manager.
"What did you do?!" screeched the employee at her. The manager looked at the mess, or, to him, the lost merchandise.
"You're paying for this," he said sharply, pointing at the broken glass. Adrienne looked worried and stressed. I glanced at the wall and realized why the display had fallen. The top two screws of the display were loose, clumsily atttached. No wonder it fell.
"It's not her fault," I said heatedly. Did anyone notice the broken glass that might have cut someone? Noooo. But the glass had hit my bare legs, I was wearing a black pleated skirt, and it had put small cuts all over my shins.
"What do you mean?! I suppose YOU did this!" the manager said accusingly. Ofcourse. Blame the girl with the nose ring.
"No! Look at the wall! See the screws?" I pointed them out to him.
"No surprise it fell! I say you should fire the idiot who put the display up, not blame the woman who nearly got hurt because of his carelesness!" I said loudly. (A/N: I switched to Karla's POV if ya hadn't noticed!).
The balding manager glanced at the employee and told him to follow him to his office.
"I'm very sorry for this inconvenience," He said curtly and turend and left, dragging the other guy with him. Well, atleast the perpetrator will be punished, I thought evilly.
"Thanks," Adrienne said, looking relieved and smiling at me.
"No problem," I said awkwardly, inspecting my legs which had now started to bleed.
"Hey," I said suddenly, I had an idea, "Um, you need a baby sitter, right? I couldn't help overhearing....."
"Yeah, I do. You wouldn't feel up to the job, would you?" She asked hopefully.
"Actually, I was looking for work, so, yeah," I said, grinning.
"Oh God, you're a life saver. Twice in a row!" She glanced at my legs and shoes.
"I'm so sorry about your shoes. You should get your cuts cleaned up though," She said, looking more closely at the blood dripping down my legs.
"I guess so," I said, not really noticing. I was too used to pain.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Lauren screamed, making me cringe.
Diana and Lauren came running over. No time to explain, I thought desperately, I was gonna baby sit Billie Joe's kids!
"Why don't you come over my house, and I'll get you cleaned up?" asked Adrienne. Go to Billie Joe's house? Why the FUCK NOT?!
"Uuuuh. Okay," I turned and smiled reassuringly at Lauren and Diana's confused faces. They didn't realize who this was......
"I'll see you later guys. I'll call you," I said and started following Adrienne out of the store. I stopped to buy my hair dye, which I got for free from the manager when I pointed out my legs, and then walked out into the parking lot with Adrienne, my friends staring dumbstruck after me.