song of the chapter: You Only Live Once- The Strokes
You head out of the party and run straight to the car, “Go back to the house” You tell the driver.
“Should I wait for your mother?” He asks.
“Oh definitely not.” You say with a hollow laugh and he just shrugs and starts to drive.
Once you get back to the mansion you run inside, using the key from under the mat to get in. You run upstairs and change out of your clothes, throwing off your heels and dress and exchanging them for jeans, a black t-shirt, some boots and a crochet vest. Then you grab your suitcase, shoving all your stuff into it as fast as you can. You grab everything your hand touches: CDs, clothes, books, old sketches, your wallet. You open it up and look at how much you had: $175 and a 15% off coupon for barns and noble. “Should be enough” You whisper to yourself.
You’re about to leave before you decide you should leave a note. “Went to the bus station, Mom—go fuck yourself, I love you. Bryn, I’ll call you soon, Love you too.” You put it on the counter where you know she’ll see it.
Then you walk out the door and get in the car, “Hyannis Port greyhound station” You say passing him a twenty. He thanks you and drives you to the bus station. “Thanks so much Adrian, their garden party will be ending soon you should probably get going” You say looking at your watch.
“Thanks Miss Maureen, you remembered my name. I don’t think your mother even knows my name and I’ve been the driver over a month” He says and you chuckle darkly.
“Well that’s my mother for you” You say waving and walking towards the doors.
“Good luck Miss Maureen.” He says rolling up his window and beginning to drive away.
You purchase a ticket for a bus going to Penn Station leaving in twenty minutes, perfect timing, your mom wouldn’t have enough to chase after you if she wanted to. Once you’re on the bus you sleep for the long drive and are shaken awake by an old homeless man when you reach the station. “Hey little missy, we’re here!” He says with a creepy smile and you smile back hesitantly.
You walk to your friend Lola’s apartment in Chelsea and the landlord, recognizing you, lets you in. You throw your duffel bag on Julia’s bed. She knows the drill, you had ran away from your mom several times and camped out here, but something told you that this time it was for good.
Then you grab a cab and direct the driver to a bar in the upper west side that was notorious for serving underage customers if they had enough money. You pay the driver and get out confidently passing the man at the door a twenty as you walked in.
You stand on your tiptoes and look around the bar until you see exactly who you’re looking for, “Hey V,” You shout and your sister turns around looking surprised.
“Mo?” She asks as you walk towards her spot at the bar and sit down next to her, “How the hell did you find me here?” She asks incredulously.
“Because I knew that there was no way in hell you were at a ‘party with your Yale friends tonight’” You say.
“Why is that so unbelievable?” She asks.
“You hate everyone at Yale, and when you lie to mom about going out somewhere you always come here, its been that way forever.” You say.
“That’s true. You’ve always had such keen powers of observation.” She says before turning to the bartender, “Can we have two more please?” She says with a smile.
“What are we drinking?” You ask.
“Gin martinis” She says, “So why are you here, mom said you guys were at a garden party this afternoon and then were having dinner at the Martin’s, shouldn’t you be fake seducing Josh Martin to make mom happy right now?” She asks.
“Nah, I left after like fifteen minutes of the garden party, maybe only ten” You say casually and she raises an eyebrow so you elaborate further, “Mom was trying to set Bryn and I up with everyone, and I got fed up so I kinda yelled at her then stormed out and then I just got on a bus, dropped my shit off at Lola’s and came here cause I needed to talk to you and I missed you” You say.
“You really should be more understanding of mom, she really does want the best for you. Even though she pressures you and seems like she disapproves that’s just because she wants the best for you and in her kind of twisted fucked up mind, some things that would be amazing to most parents—like getting into USC—isn’t enough for her because in her mind you’re good enough to get into an ivy and that’s where you should be. She’s not trying to bring you down babe, she’s just trying to help you out” She says.
“Ugh you sound like Bryn,” You say rolling your eyes but relax a bit as you see the drinks arrive, “Ugh thank the Lord, I really need a drink” You say smiling.
“You were at a garden party, they usually a pretty lenient with the law at those things, they used to let me have drinks” She says.
“Well yeah but I only had time for one glass of champagne before mom started introducing me to some super old Kennedy or something” You say rolling your eyes and sipping your drink.
Violet doesn’t say anything after than so you just look around and listen to other conversations. You turn around to see a group of girls in their early twenties giggling and pointing at some guy sitting across the room.
You look over at who they’re pointing at and see a face you recognize somewhat, but you couldn’t see him very well due to the bar’s poor lighting. He was probably a) an extra in some movie you had seen recently, b) a musician you had seen a couple times or c) maybe even someone from your school, though you highly doubted the last choice plus the girls wouldn’t be giggling about just some guy who was cute, he had to be a celebrity of some kind.
“This could ruin your whole career almost instantly, do you understand that?” Says a middle aged man sitting across from the guy. The younger man turns away from the older man and instead looks towards the bar. When his face is bathed in a tiny light you see his face and understand immediately why the girls were giggling.
He had a face that looked like it was chiseled to pay homage to greek gods. His face was extremely angular with cheekbones that stuck out perfectly. His hair dark brown hair went down a bit past his ears, but not all the way down to his chin. But his eyes, his eyes were your favorite part by far. The way they stared at you was in a way both seductive and childlike, boyish and striking.
Suddenly you realize that his beautiful eyes had suddenly flickered up towards and that he was making eye contact. You looked over at him trying to appear indifferent and look into his eyes but before either of you can do anything he breaks the eye contact as whoever the older man speaks to him again.
“This could ruin your what we’ve built, what you’ve worked at… I just think it would be a bad idea to say yes to this” Says middle aged man looking at a bunch of papers on his side of the table
“I don’t care, I don’t want to be the person they’ve tried to make me be. This is exactly what I need to do to break my image” He says lighting a cigarette.
You look grimly up at the no smoking sign behind the bar, “That dude’s got the right idea” You say, “I’m going out for a smoke” You say.
“Oh Mo I wish you wouldn’t do that. Look at grandma she can barely talk anymore” Whines Violet.
“Good, she’s a grouch” You say before walking towards the back door to the alley and fumbling for a smoke. You head out into the alley and sit down on an overturned crate.
A couple seconds after you sit down the door opens and you nearly flip your shit when the beautiful boy from inside the bar walks out and your heart nearly stops.
Sorry for being a bitch. I just really hate theft and plagiarism because its someones work. so when I saw that I kinda flipped. You're writing is amazing. Continue on. Sorry for the hassle.
No its ok, you didn't know, trust me i would've acted the exact same way haha, no worries. Sorry for sounding kinda bitchy in my response, i was just rly stressed cuz i was afraid someone would notice and it stressed me out man haha :)
For that anon who said I stole from hot-hawkins/frusciantefiction/adorable-klinghoffer. I didn't steal shit. I'm sorry if you guys didn't understand, but we thought it would be awkward to explain so we just kind of hoped no one would notice. I know it seems really weird but it was a really weird situation and idk.
song to listen to as you read: When I'm With You by Best Coast (just listen to their whole first album and you'll understand this fic)
“So where are we going anyway?” You ask as you drive away from the hospital.
“Excellent question. I don’t know. Where do you want to go?” He asks with a smile.
“I don’t care. I would say the beach but I have a feeling that that wouldn’t be the best decision” you say and he laughs.
“No probably not” he chuckles, “but do you want to anyway?” He asks.
Ten minutes later both of you are walking down the beach. You feel a little out of place because the clothes Jack left you with this morning were jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt.
“Fuck it’s hot in this stupid shirt” you say tugging on the thick fabric, “Did jack realize that it’s April in LA not February in New York” you say rolling your eyes.
“I can buy you a new one if you want” he offers and you wave him off.
“No way dude. I got it, you saved my life. I should be doing something for you not vice versa” you say.
“I insist, it’s my thank you to you for giving me a chance to tell people that I saved a life. It beats basically every other story anyone else is telling…unless I’m having a conversation with a veteran or a fireman or something” he says with a smile.
“Really I-” you protest.
“I insist Kate. Please” he says and you give up.
He buys you an extremely cheesy t-shirt that makes you look like a tourist but at least you a comfortable. He also buys you a pair of flip flops because you’re stupid tennis shoes make you look like a dork. You toss the old clothes/shoes in a trash can and walk down the beach. As you walk you hear the jingle of an ice cream truck.
“Hey you want ice cream, this one will be my treat” you say excitedly.
“Well I don’t kn-” he begins with a smirk and you know he’s messing with you.
“Come on” you say rolling your eyes while grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the ice cream truck. You both order drumsticks and tease one another about copying. Then you both cuff up your pants and walk down the beach together talking and watching the sun set.
“So,” you begin, “You said you had a weird nickname. What is it?” You ask.
“Flea” he says and it rings a bell.
“Holy shit, are you—are you Flea as in the Flea in the red hot chili peppers?” You ask grinning and he nods sheepishly, “I saw you guys when I was a teenager, a couple years ago” you say.
“How old are you then, if you were a teenager ‘a couple years ago’” He asks using air quotes around a couple years ago.
“21, I’ll be 22 in a couple months” you say.
“Wow a young one” he says smirking.
“Why? How old are you?” You ask self consciously. Twenty one wasn’t that young.
“28” he says rubbing the top of his head.
“Wow an old one” you mock teasingly shoving your ice cream onto his nose.
“Oh you’ll pay for that” he says with a smile and then proceeding to splash you with water. You splash him back and within a couple minutes you are wrestling in the water.
A few minutes later you lie down on the beach, both soaking wet and covered in sand.
“Come on, I’ll buy us some towels” you say with a laugh walking with him over to a stand selling towels and floaty toys, beach things. As you’re paying for your towels you catch sight of the man behind the counter’s watch.
“Crap, is it that time already?” You ask taking his wrist in your hand and reading the dials again. 7:10. “Shit” You whisper to yourself.
song to listen to as you read: "Let's go surfing"- the drums
“Kate be careful out there, it’s your first time” Says your boyfriend Jack.
“Oh come on hun, stop babying me we’ve been practicing for weeks ok? I got this” You joke, pinching his cheek teasingly
“Ok I’m gonna be watching you the whole time. Watch yourself”
You immediately grab your surf board and go out into the wave. You do everything Jack had taught you over the past couple weeks and head out. But just as you catch a wave it proves to strong for you and you are dragged under. You try desperately to come up or at least put up your arm but the wave is to strong and all you can do is try to keep yourself from being dragged away. You are losing air and everything seems kind of fuzzy. You try calling out for Jack but your mouth just fills with water and it becomes harder to breathe. You feel something grabbing your arm and pulling you and then everything goes black.
The next thing you know you are laying in the sand coughing up water. You sit up and the water falls out.
“Lean back down!” Calls out some guy, you can barely make out his face but you do notice that he’s missing a tooth.
He breathes into your mouth and presses on your stomach which causes you to cough again you get on all fours and all the salty water comes out of your lungs.
“Are you ok?” Asks the guy and you nod.
“I’m fine” you say through you’re scratchy throat.
“Come on the EMTs are here” you hear Jack call from somewhere that seems far away.
“Why the hell are the EMTs here?” You ask breathlessly.
“We thought you were dead” says the guy matter of factly picking you up and carrying you down the beach to the ambulance.
“Come on I can walk, but me down” you say struggling out of his grip but you cannot get away. As you are struggling you catch sight of his tattoos, a beautiful Jimi Hendrix face and some elephants are the ones you immediately see.
“No way” he says and then you reach the ambulance.
“Here you go” He says passing you over to an EMT.
“Oh my god Katherine I’m so sorry I should’ve been watching you more carefully” cries out Jack.
“It’s fine” you say tiredly waving him off.
“I’m riding with you” he says as you are loaded into the back of the car.
“Get well soon” cries your mystery savior walking away.
“Thanks for everything” you shout back to him as the workers close the doors
“24 hour observation!? Are you serious?” You shout angrily
“I wouldn’t lie to you miss” Says the doctor.
“How the hell should I know that, I don’t know you” you say rolling your eyes.
“Kate don’t lash out” Says Jack grabbing your hand and squeezing it tightly and you inwardly roll your eyes again. You loved him but sometimes he was a little over bearing, “Anyway you’ve been asleep for about seven hours of it already” He says.
“Yeah I guess you’re right” You say but you still fold your arms over your chest and pout.
“Speaking of the time I have to head to work” He says, “I have a meeting” He says planting a small kiss on your forehead.
“Wait you’re going to leave me here?” You ask incredulously.
“I wish I could stay honey but I have a job to go to. Love you. I’ll meet you back at the apartment around seven, then dinner” He says and then he rushes out the door. You bite your lip and shake your head angrily.
“Unbelievable…” You mutter to yourself. You try to watch bad daytime TV but since you don’t have your glasses or contacts you can’t even see what’s happening.
At around noon you hear a light tap on your door frame. You look over expecting to see Jack, holding lunch or some other peace offering, apologizing for leaving earlier. But instead you see a guy standing at the door holding a bouquet of flowers, at first you don’t recognize him but then he smiles. You identify the missing tooth and recognize him as your savior at the beach.
“Hey, do you remember me?” He asks walking in tentatively.
“Of course you’re the guy who saved me, I recognize the tattoos” You say smiling, not knowing if the tooth was a touchy subject or not so simply ignoring it, “How’d you find me?” You ask.
“I went to the hospital that was on the side of the ambulance and asked for you. I told them my story so they would just have let me in to see you because I was your savior” He says putting his hand over his heart and you laugh.
“Well its true, if it wasn’t for you saving me….well I’d probably be dead” You say shrugging.
“So where’s that boyfriend of yours?” He asks.
“Work, he abandoned me” You say rolling your eyes.
“Oh that sucks” He says.
“I know right! So anyway what’s your name?” You ask realizing you know nothing about this man.
“Michael Balzary, but I have an odd nickname” He says smiling, “How about you?” He asks.
“Katherine Williams” You say holding out your hand and he shakes it.
“So why are you even still here?” He asks.
“They put me on 24 hour observation which is stupid cause I can walk and talk and breathe all by myself so I don’t know what they think will change in 24 hours. I really wish you guys hadn’t brought me to this stupid hospital;” You say shaking your head angrily.
“Well I mean but yourself in our shoes, we thought you were freaking dead, you were unconscious and had no pulse I mean what would you have done?” He says and you see what he means.
“I guess I understand where you’re coming from” You say with a shrug, “Anyway…you want to watch TV?” You ask him and he nods. You watch bad TV for a little while, playing along to the stupid game shows like family feud and jeopardy until a nurse comes in.
“Ok Mrs. Williams, you’re free to go” She says grinning.
“Thank god” You say hopping out of bed.
“Hey do you need a ride?” Michael asks. You almost say know, thinking about how Jack might feel but then you decide that Jack blew you off today and what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“Yeah sure, let’s go” You say excitedly jumping off the bed.
My first fic! I hope you guys like it I've been working on it for quite a while haha :) Johnny isn't in this chapter but he will be soon enough I swear!
song to listen to while reading: Unsatisfied by the replacements
“We have to go to the party Maureen…now!” Screams your mother.
“Alright I’m coming mom, keep your damn panties on” You sigh.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that young lady, I’m bringing you today as a favor to you! There is going to be three Kennedys…including JFK Jr!”She says enthusiastically and you cringe.
“Ick, mom he’s 10 years older than me, that’s sick!” You shriek in disgust.
“He’s powerful Maureen, you are a Ross, you need a powerful man at your side” She says calmly.
You roll your eyes and slide down the giant banister that led from the upstairs landing to the front room. The house wasn’t yours per say, it was your mother’s families house and your cousins from Boston’s main summer house. Your immediate family had their own smaller one in the Hamptons but since it was your mom’s dream for you or one of your sister’s to be a Kennedy, the house at Cape Cod was much more practical this weekend.
“Oh god Maureen, you know I hate when you do that. You’re a grown woman, act like one” She sighs taping her fingers against her hip.
“I’m eighteen don’t over exaggerate mother,” You say, “Anyway, Aunt Wendy doesn’t care and this is her house.” You add but she doesn’t listen.
Instead her hands fly to her mouth and she looks at you with a frustrated expression on her face, “Oh god Maureen, why on earth are you wearing that black dress?!” She says, her face scrunching up as though she was in intense pain, “This is a garden party, not a funeral service…and those shoes!” She says rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“Well sorry, you should’ve told me there was some sort of dress code” You say indignantly.
“No matter how much you don’t want me to believe it, I know you have some intuition Maureen. You should’ve known black wasn’t appropriate” She says.
“I wore those pearls you brought up for me, I thought they looked great with this dress.” You say.
“I think Mo looks nice” Says a voice. You both turn around to see your little sister Bryn standing at the top of the stairs.
“Ah see, now Bryn knows just how to dress” Says your mom with a proud smile on her face. Bryn was wearing a blue chiffon dress, perfect for one of these events. Her makeup was stunning, light and just noticeable enough to garner compliments from rich young men.
“Bryn, baby, you look really great!” You holler, clapping.
“Don’t make a scene, its just a dress” Says your mother looking down at her manicure. Before looking up again, “See now Maureen, you could take a lesson from Bryn, I bet one of the Kennedy’s will talk to her” She says smiling up at her.
“Mom she’s fifteen! All she should be doing is talking to boys she goes to high school with…that’s it, and she’s barely old enough to date them” You say, winking at Bryn.
“Oh come on dear.” Says your mom rolling her eyes and laughing.
“Is daddy coming today?” Asks Bryn hopefully.
“No, not today darling. He got tied up in the city. He’ll meet us in the Hamptons next weekend though” She says with a fake smile.
“Let’s just go” You sigh.
“No we can’t go until you change” Says your mom, stomping her foot.
“Oh for goodness sake” You sigh walking out the door. You get into the car and Bryn follows you so your mother has no choice but to join you.
“Is Violet coming tonight?” You ask.
“No, she has a party with her school friends tonight…at Yale” Says your mom.
“You had to bring that up again.” Mutters Bryn and your mom looks at her fake confusedly.
“What I was just updating you on your sisters life” She says innocently.
“Look mom it’s no secret that you think I should’ve gone to an Ivy, but USC is a better fit for me!” You say.
“It’s a better fit for under achievers…” She says handing the directions to the driver.
“Its also better than no college at all” Says Bryn as the ride starts, “Maybe we should have quiet time on this car ride” she adds, so only you can hear. You nearly snort but keep your cool as your mom begins to talk again.
“Why are you defending her Brinley Isabella?” She says using Bryn’s full name, which she hates, “You are my good daughter, you’re going to Princeton, just like your father” She says pinching her cheeks and Bryn smiles weakly.
No one talks for the remainder of the car ride and when you get there you hop out as fast as you can, practically as the car is still moving. You grab Bryn’s hand and pull her to the podium and check in before your mom has even gotten out of the car.
“Oh thank Jesus we got away” You giggle.
“She actually does want the best for you, its just you try to make her angry” Says Bryn but you shush her.
“B, don’t fool me, I know you do hate Princeton, whenever mom and dad aren’t around you always talk shit about Jersey” You sigh.
“Yeah, but Maureen they want me to go there, I know how much they stress themselves about all of us. Anyway, once I’ve gone to Princeton, I’m gonna move out of New York, and go to LA with you, write screenplays and do my own thing. I just have to make them happy until college graduation. Then when I go out on my own at least I’ll have met one of their expectations” She says and you sigh at her naïve sense of optimism.
“Well see that’s the fun thing about being the black sheep,” You say, “There aren’t any expectations” You laugh and before she can reply your mom’s shrill voice cuts through the air.
“Bryn, Bryn come over here.” She yells, “I want you to meet Anthony Charleston” She says. You remembered Anthony, he went to a prep school that was a rival of your prep school, his dad was a CFO at some company. He was a year younger than you and a Basketball prodigy…as well as a major pothead.
“Good luck” You whisper with a smile and then rush off to the bar. You order a glass of champagne and sit down checking your watch: 3:12, three more hours.
You down the champagne and wait for something to happen. Then your mom’s shrill voice cuts through everything again, this time calling your name.
“Maureen, come here. I want you to meet this handsome young man” She says grinning. You sigh, place your champagne glass on the floor, and get up.
“This is Matthew Kennedy, he’s Ethel and Robert’s ninth child!” She yelps enthusiastically, “Can you believe it, nine kids that must’ve been quite a childhood.” She says laughing and you see how uncomfortable the poor boy looks.
“Yes, very hectic” He says, plastering on a smile.
“Matthew was telling me about he just graduated from Harvard a couple months ago and then he’ll be starting University of Virginia law school in the fall, just like his father” She says grinning.
“Oh is that so?” You ask smiling at him, “Carrying on the family business, that’s lovely” You say and then you lean in a whisper in his ear, “I’ll let you free in a second” and he smiles softly.
“Maureen, dear, don’t be so forward you only just met the boy for heaven’s sake!” Your mom says laughing but you can see her fear at you making a possibly impolite move.
“Mother can I talk to you in private for a second” You say grinning through gritted teeth, taking her arm and leading her to a secluded corner of the garden. You look over your shoulder at Matthew as you walk away giving him the thumbs up behind your back so he knows he can leave.
“Mother, I’m gonna say this to you as I’ve said it possibly thousands of times before, I don’t want you to arrange my life for me at these damn parties. I will marry whom ever I want, and I shouldn’t even be thinking about marriage seeing as I’m eighteen so stop this madness dammit!”
“Maureen, you must stop being so stubborn. You are going to marry soon enough, and even if it is not one of these boys, you future husband may see that you have dated someone with prestige and be even more interested with you. I’m trying to help you I don’t know why you’re being so rigid” She sighs.
“Because mom I don’t want to marry any of these men. They all seem so boring, and I know if I married one of them I would turn out just like you and that scares me to no end” You say, taking a breath before continuing, “I want to marry an artist or a writer or something like that, not some boy who’s had his whole life planned out for him since before he was born! Or maybe I don’t want to get married at all!” You shout indignantly, attracting stares from some old ladies next to you.
“That’s what you want now, but I know what’s best for you, I’m your mother. If you marry one of those poets you’re always talking about, or god forbid don’t marry at all, you’ll regret it one day.” She says.
“Ugh mother, you just do not get it, do you!?” You scream out of frustration, attracting stares from most of the party now, “You know what I’m leaving” you scream.
“Where the hell do you think you’ll be going, because if you leave this party you sure as hell won’t be accepted back inside of my house” She says in a low tone.
“That’s fine, I’ll call a cab” You reply and with that you walk out of the gates and into the massive driveway, knowing exactly where you needed to be.
Kind of like another fic writer i like i'm gonna put in outfits, this is my first try so be patient w/ me
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