Sequel: Can't Have You ›
From Gumboots To Jimmy Choo's
Stand Me On Top Of That Mountain.
"Why dad?" I screamed, not caring that Kat, her younger sister and her mother could hear me.
"Because darling, it's been two years-"
"Exactly! ONLY TWO YEARS!" I roared, picking up my book and lobbing it at my wall.
"HEY!" He yelled, standing up and towering over me, "You will not speak to me like that and you will certainly not disrespect your aunts house like that!"
"SCREW YOU!" I screamed before running into my bathroom and slamming the door shut, the frame rattling from the force. I locked the door before sliding down onto the floor, tears running down my face as dad pounded on the door.
I pulled out my phone, pressing speed dial #2 and then putting the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Ni-ick..?"
"Zoe?? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I-it's d-dad.."
"Is he okay?"
"He's.. He's gone and shacked up with Kat Wooding's mother!"
"Woah! What?"
"An-And.. now they're l-living with u-us! It's only been t-two y-y-years.."
"Two years since what baby?"
"Si-sin-since m-mu-mum.."
I couldn't continue my sentence and I dropped the phone, Nick's voice far away from me.
Two Years Ago..
"Under by the boardwalk! Down by the se-e-e-a yeah! On a blanket with my baby, is where I'l be!" Mum, Dad and I sung loudly and happily.
"Ahh, my beautiful daughter, you'll be famous one day with that voice of yours!" Mum laughed as she grinned back at me, her blue eyes sparkling.
"She could be famous even if she didn't have a singing voice." Dad smiled, glancing at mum while he drove.
"Oh, and why is that?" Mum grinned, her smile coy.
"Because, she has the looks of her mother." Dad said sweetly, grabbing my mum's hand and kissing it.
I loved times like these. Mum, Dad and I were driving to Kaikoura to pick up my brothers from our grandparents house. We were on a long stretch of a road with farms on either side of us. Mum and Dad liked to play their music loudly and we all sung along.
"I have a band of men and all they do is play for me,
They come from miles around to hear them play a melody
Beneath the stars my ten guitars will play a song for you
And if you're with the one you love this is what you do," Dad sung to mum, smiling at her.
I was the only one who saw it at the time.
"DAD!" I screamed and dad turned, his face horror-stricken as the other car collided head on with us.
There was a sickening crunch in my arm as the car flipped. Dad yelled, mum screamed and I blacked out. I remember talking though. As I lay in the burning car I could hear mum talking to dad, her voice weak and strewn with tears.
"Tell her I love her Mark. Get her out. Please.." She whispered. I was dragged out soon after she said this but not before I heard mum say her final words.
"I love you Mark. Don't forget me. I'll be there with you.. Always."
She died on the way to the hospital.
"Zo?" Caleb called out, knocking on the door softly. I got up and opened the door for him and he stepped in, wrapping his arms around.
"Why Caleb? Why her? And why now?" I cried into his jacket, hugging him tightly as Tyler came in.
"I-I don't know." Caleb gulped, kissing the top of my head.
"He's just lonely I guess." Tyler said, stroking my hair.
"Then he should've gotten a bloody dog not a bloody new family." I spat.
"We've already got three." Caleb reminded me.
"Then stick with them." I scowled, my hot tears still running down my face.
"Is she okay?" Kat Wooding's voice asked sweetly from my door.
I pulled away from Caleb, my face contorted in anger.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed before slamming my door shut violently.
"Woah.." Caleb muttered, stunned that I could be so angry.
"I swear, if she ever comes near me.. I'll punch her so hard she's going to need intensive care." I hissed, shaking from my anger, my hands in fists.
"Calm down Zoe before you explode." Tyler said, hugging me.
"I-I-I.." I muttered before a fresh batch of tears spilled over and down my cheeks.
"Just stay up here for a while okay? We'll make sure no-one comes up here. You just have a sleep and try to calm down." Caleb said, touching my arm.
"N-No, I can't. I-I've got t-to go to t-t-the studio and the-then I've g-got a performance again at the Echo-pl-plex." I stammered, sniffing and wiping away my tears.
"You can do that-"
"NO!" I screamed, shocking Caleb and Tyler, "I'm going to perform so don't try and stop me!"
I stormed straight back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut once again then picking my phone up off the ground. I switched it off then stripped and got into the shower, the scalding water soothing my anger.
. . .
"I'm leaving!" I yelled out to no-one in particular as I walked out the front door, slamming it shut.
"You look horrible." Theo commented as I jumped into the car.
"Yeah, I know thanks." I snapped.
"Woah, where's this attitude coming from?" Theo asked, turning in his seat to look at me.
"Could we just go please." I said, a bit softer this time.
"Tell me on the way then." Theo said, tight-lipped as he started the car up.
"..And now he just expects me to accept it." I finished as Theo drove on the freeway.
"I know you want me to agree with you and say how much of an idiot your father is but that's not what I do. You're father's lonely Zoe, of course he's going to want the company of a female sooner or later. In this case it just so happened to be you're enemies mother." Theo shrugged and I scowled.
"But, that doesn't give him the right to just spring this on you. You miss you're mum and you probably feel that now this woman has arrived, she'll just be forgotten but Zoe, as long you remember your mum then she's never truly gone, is she?" Theo continued and I sighed, realising that he was right.
"I- just don't know if I can be in the same house as her, you know?" I muttered, staring down at my glove encased hands.
"Well, life's all about choices. You can either choose to be grumpy and inevitably feel depressed or you can look on the brighter side of life." Theo said, smiling.
"And exactly what is the brighter side of life?" I asked him.
"You're not going to be home very much so you won't actually have to be around the little she-devil." He laughed, making me laugh with him.
"Oh!" I said, pulling out the paper in my pocket as Theo parked the car.
"What?" He asked, getting out.
"I wrote a song!" I grinned, getting out and following him inside and up to the recording studio.
"Brilliant. What's it called?" He asked as we walked into the control booth, John smiling at us.
"No Place Like Us." I said sheepishly, looking down at my familiar scrawl on the paper.
"Hmm.. Three guesses as to who that's about." John smiled as I sat on the couch.
I blushed. "Shut up."
"Well then, let's hear it." Theo said, sitting next to me and taking the paper out of my hand.
"Well actually, I got a tune for it and I played it on the piano. Chace even recorded it for me." I said, pulling out a tape and giving it to John.
He put it into the tape deck and then pushed play.
The piano started and soon my voice followed;
"I could be recognized from a distance,
Yeah, I could be the biggest name on the screen.
Singing and dancing forever
Signing my name for whoever
Yeah, it's all in my reach
Yeah, If i give it all that I got
I get there to the top
But I don't even wanna to go
If I have to go there alone, so;
Stand me on top of that mountain
Let me; fly to the end of the world
Yeah, I can go anywhere
But if you're not with me there
It'll never be enough
There's no place like us
There's no place like us
If I find the other side of the rainbow,
Will I find that the gold ain't worth any price?
Cause if we ain't there for each other,
Then all I got doesn't matter.
No, it won't be right to give it all
that I got and get there to the top.
If you're not up there with me
There's nothing i wanna see, so
Stand me on top of that mountain,
Let me; fly to the end of the world
Yeah, I can go anywhere.
But if you're not with me there
It'll never be enough
There's no place like us
There's no place like us
It doesn't matter where we are or matter how far,
Cause even when we go our separate ways
We'll be the place.
I believe that I can do it,
But alone I won't get through it.
We know we gotta stick together
Cause no matter what,
There's no place like us.
No, no, no
No place like us;
No place like us!
Stand me on top of that mountain
Let me; fly to the end of the world
(Fly to the end, end of the world)
Yeah, i can go anywhere
(Anywhere)
But if you're not with me there
(with me there)
It'll never be enough
(It'll never be enough)
There's no place like us
There's no place like us.
No place, no where
No way, no price I'd pay
(There's no place like us)
No where, no way
There's no place like us."
"Wow." Theo breathed as the song finished.
"I wrote it when Nick and I made up. I-I realised that nothing actually mattered to me when he wasn't there. Like, I didn't care about eating, about my singing. I lost all of my passion and hope when we had our fight." I said, brushing away a few stray tears.
"It's beautiful Zoe." John said softly.
"No," I said, "It's true."
"Because darling, it's been two years-"
"Exactly! ONLY TWO YEARS!" I roared, picking up my book and lobbing it at my wall.
"HEY!" He yelled, standing up and towering over me, "You will not speak to me like that and you will certainly not disrespect your aunts house like that!"
"SCREW YOU!" I screamed before running into my bathroom and slamming the door shut, the frame rattling from the force. I locked the door before sliding down onto the floor, tears running down my face as dad pounded on the door.
I pulled out my phone, pressing speed dial #2 and then putting the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Ni-ick..?"
"Zoe?? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I-it's d-dad.."
"Is he okay?"
"He's.. He's gone and shacked up with Kat Wooding's mother!"
"Woah! What?"
"An-And.. now they're l-living with u-us! It's only been t-two y-y-years.."
"Two years since what baby?"
"Si-sin-since m-mu-mum.."
I couldn't continue my sentence and I dropped the phone, Nick's voice far away from me.
Two Years Ago..
"Under by the boardwalk! Down by the se-e-e-a yeah! On a blanket with my baby, is where I'l be!" Mum, Dad and I sung loudly and happily.
"Ahh, my beautiful daughter, you'll be famous one day with that voice of yours!" Mum laughed as she grinned back at me, her blue eyes sparkling.
"She could be famous even if she didn't have a singing voice." Dad smiled, glancing at mum while he drove.
"Oh, and why is that?" Mum grinned, her smile coy.
"Because, she has the looks of her mother." Dad said sweetly, grabbing my mum's hand and kissing it.
I loved times like these. Mum, Dad and I were driving to Kaikoura to pick up my brothers from our grandparents house. We were on a long stretch of a road with farms on either side of us. Mum and Dad liked to play their music loudly and we all sung along.
"I have a band of men and all they do is play for me,
They come from miles around to hear them play a melody
Beneath the stars my ten guitars will play a song for you
And if you're with the one you love this is what you do," Dad sung to mum, smiling at her.
I was the only one who saw it at the time.
"DAD!" I screamed and dad turned, his face horror-stricken as the other car collided head on with us.
There was a sickening crunch in my arm as the car flipped. Dad yelled, mum screamed and I blacked out. I remember talking though. As I lay in the burning car I could hear mum talking to dad, her voice weak and strewn with tears.
"Tell her I love her Mark. Get her out. Please.." She whispered. I was dragged out soon after she said this but not before I heard mum say her final words.
"I love you Mark. Don't forget me. I'll be there with you.. Always."
She died on the way to the hospital.
"Zo?" Caleb called out, knocking on the door softly. I got up and opened the door for him and he stepped in, wrapping his arms around.
"Why Caleb? Why her? And why now?" I cried into his jacket, hugging him tightly as Tyler came in.
"I-I don't know." Caleb gulped, kissing the top of my head.
"He's just lonely I guess." Tyler said, stroking my hair.
"Then he should've gotten a bloody dog not a bloody new family." I spat.
"We've already got three." Caleb reminded me.
"Then stick with them." I scowled, my hot tears still running down my face.
"Is she okay?" Kat Wooding's voice asked sweetly from my door.
I pulled away from Caleb, my face contorted in anger.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed before slamming my door shut violently.
"Woah.." Caleb muttered, stunned that I could be so angry.
"I swear, if she ever comes near me.. I'll punch her so hard she's going to need intensive care." I hissed, shaking from my anger, my hands in fists.
"Calm down Zoe before you explode." Tyler said, hugging me.
"I-I-I.." I muttered before a fresh batch of tears spilled over and down my cheeks.
"Just stay up here for a while okay? We'll make sure no-one comes up here. You just have a sleep and try to calm down." Caleb said, touching my arm.
"N-No, I can't. I-I've got t-to go to t-t-the studio and the-then I've g-got a performance again at the Echo-pl-plex." I stammered, sniffing and wiping away my tears.
"You can do that-"
"NO!" I screamed, shocking Caleb and Tyler, "I'm going to perform so don't try and stop me!"
I stormed straight back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut once again then picking my phone up off the ground. I switched it off then stripped and got into the shower, the scalding water soothing my anger.
. . .
"I'm leaving!" I yelled out to no-one in particular as I walked out the front door, slamming it shut.
"You look horrible." Theo commented as I jumped into the car.
"Yeah, I know thanks." I snapped.
"Woah, where's this attitude coming from?" Theo asked, turning in his seat to look at me.
"Could we just go please." I said, a bit softer this time.
"Tell me on the way then." Theo said, tight-lipped as he started the car up.
"..And now he just expects me to accept it." I finished as Theo drove on the freeway.
"I know you want me to agree with you and say how much of an idiot your father is but that's not what I do. You're father's lonely Zoe, of course he's going to want the company of a female sooner or later. In this case it just so happened to be you're enemies mother." Theo shrugged and I scowled.
"But, that doesn't give him the right to just spring this on you. You miss you're mum and you probably feel that now this woman has arrived, she'll just be forgotten but Zoe, as long you remember your mum then she's never truly gone, is she?" Theo continued and I sighed, realising that he was right.
"I- just don't know if I can be in the same house as her, you know?" I muttered, staring down at my glove encased hands.
"Well, life's all about choices. You can either choose to be grumpy and inevitably feel depressed or you can look on the brighter side of life." Theo said, smiling.
"And exactly what is the brighter side of life?" I asked him.
"You're not going to be home very much so you won't actually have to be around the little she-devil." He laughed, making me laugh with him.
"Oh!" I said, pulling out the paper in my pocket as Theo parked the car.
"What?" He asked, getting out.
"I wrote a song!" I grinned, getting out and following him inside and up to the recording studio.
"Brilliant. What's it called?" He asked as we walked into the control booth, John smiling at us.
"No Place Like Us." I said sheepishly, looking down at my familiar scrawl on the paper.
"Hmm.. Three guesses as to who that's about." John smiled as I sat on the couch.
I blushed. "Shut up."
"Well then, let's hear it." Theo said, sitting next to me and taking the paper out of my hand.
"Well actually, I got a tune for it and I played it on the piano. Chace even recorded it for me." I said, pulling out a tape and giving it to John.
He put it into the tape deck and then pushed play.
The piano started and soon my voice followed;
"I could be recognized from a distance,
Yeah, I could be the biggest name on the screen.
Singing and dancing forever
Signing my name for whoever
Yeah, it's all in my reach
Yeah, If i give it all that I got
I get there to the top
But I don't even wanna to go
If I have to go there alone, so;
Stand me on top of that mountain
Let me; fly to the end of the world
Yeah, I can go anywhere
But if you're not with me there
It'll never be enough
There's no place like us
There's no place like us
If I find the other side of the rainbow,
Will I find that the gold ain't worth any price?
Cause if we ain't there for each other,
Then all I got doesn't matter.
No, it won't be right to give it all
that I got and get there to the top.
If you're not up there with me
There's nothing i wanna see, so
Stand me on top of that mountain,
Let me; fly to the end of the world
Yeah, I can go anywhere.
But if you're not with me there
It'll never be enough
There's no place like us
There's no place like us
It doesn't matter where we are or matter how far,
Cause even when we go our separate ways
We'll be the place.
I believe that I can do it,
But alone I won't get through it.
We know we gotta stick together
Cause no matter what,
There's no place like us.
No, no, no
No place like us;
No place like us!
Stand me on top of that mountain
Let me; fly to the end of the world
(Fly to the end, end of the world)
Yeah, i can go anywhere
(Anywhere)
But if you're not with me there
(with me there)
It'll never be enough
(It'll never be enough)
There's no place like us
There's no place like us.
No place, no where
No way, no price I'd pay
(There's no place like us)
No where, no way
There's no place like us."
"Wow." Theo breathed as the song finished.
"I wrote it when Nick and I made up. I-I realised that nothing actually mattered to me when he wasn't there. Like, I didn't care about eating, about my singing. I lost all of my passion and hope when we had our fight." I said, brushing away a few stray tears.
"It's beautiful Zoe." John said softly.
"No," I said, "It's true."