‹ Prequel: Gin and Juice
Status: Finished {foREVer}
Rum and Coke
Astonishing
“-I'll find my way
I'll find it far away
I'll find it in unexpected and unknown
I'll find my life in my own way
Today
Here I go
And there's no turning back
My great adventure has begun
I may be small
But I've got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun
I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless,
Surrendering modesty and grace
I will not disappear without a trace
I'll shout and start a riot
Be anything but quiet
Christopher Columbus
I'll be Astonishing
Astonishing
Astonishing
At Last” Ellie belted the lyrics out as if they were her own. She needed to feel something. Everything today had gone so wrong. She lost herself in the music that her mother and Adam rescued when she was ten. A slow clap began behind her. She whipped her head around and smiled when she recognized the source.
“Mom!” She screamed, throwing herself into her mother’s arms.
Danielle laughed and spun me around a few times before setting me down. “How’s my little Rioter today?”
“Feeling horrible until you showed up!” Ellie hugged her mother tightly again. Danielle would make everything better. She always did.
“Well, it must have been if you were singing Astonishing. And, damn, if Idina was here, she’d be blown away. I guess those voice lessons really did pay off,” Danielle said playfully. She knew that her daughter was extremely gifted. “Come, let’s sit down and you can tell me all about it.”
“No, I’d rather hear about your day.” Ellie said, cuddling into her side.
Danielle laughed heartedly. “Wow, it must be really bad then!”
Ellie nodded her head against her mother’s chest. Danielle wrapped her arms lovingly around her daughter and began to rock side to side. “Well, Your Uncle Kale and I finally put the finishing touches on my “Dance your way into love” program…and we already have a few people that have signed up!”
“That’s great, Mom!”
“Yea, I’m so excited. The first class starts in two weeks. They’re going to learn the merengue.”
“Not the Tango, I’m shocked!” Ellie gasped sarcastically.
“Funny, real funny,” Danielle smiled. “Really, where did you get this sarcastic side from?”
“My mom. I think you know her…you know, tall, dark hair…has this annoying habit of making me fess up to everything…” Ellie said with a large grin on her face as she looked into her mother’s eyes.
“Ah-ha! Is she the reason you’re going to tell me about your day?”
Ellie mock glared at her. “You really don’t want to know…”
“Was it Matt?”
“Not directly.”
“Are you going to elaborate?”
Ellie buried my head in the crook of Danielle’s neck.
“What happened today at school, baby girl?”
“Th-they were saying shit about me not knowing who my father was- calling me the daughter of a whore because you probably didn’t even know who he is…”
Danielle tightened her grip on Ellie. “Who said this?”
“Matt’s friends.”
She tightened her embrace further and began to rub Ellie’s back.
“And the worst part is, is that he didn’t do anything! He just let them ridicule me…it was horrible…”
“Shh, don’t worry about it. I bet Matt’s just confused. He’s sixteen. Sixteen year old boys hardly know what to do in those kinds of situations. It’s hard for them to choose between their friends and their girlfriend. I bet you haven’t talked to him since this happened, haven’t you?” Danielle asked knowingly. It really shocked her how good her advice was. She made a note to call Kale and Adam to tell them of her achievement.
Ellie shook her head and pulled away. “No…it just hurt so much, ya know? It’s not like I don’t want to know who my father is…I really do. Why won’t you tell me anything?”
“Because I’m terrified. Okay? I don’t want him to take you away from me! You’re my baby girl. Not his. He gave up the chance to know you when he chose his friends over me,” Danielle said truthfully. It still tore her up inside when she thought about that day all those years ago.
“Mom?”
“No, I’ve said too much,” she said, getting up and going out the door.
“Why won’t you tell me?!” Ellie screamed after her. It was a pointless argument that they always got into.
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt!” Danielle screamed back at her from the bottom of the stairs.
~*~
Ellie woke up suddenly. Pressure was building in her chest from the raw emotions that the dream brought. For awhile, she could barely breathe. When she finally caught her breath, she grabbed Stardust, her acoustic, and ran outside. She didn’t stop until she was by the water. She dropped to her knees, making sure to keep her guitar out of the sand, and eventually fell back until her butt hit the sand. Absentmindedly, she laid Stardust across her lap and began strumming nothing in particular…that soon turned into Danielle’s song. Ellie shook her head to rid myself of her thoughts, but kept strumming. She figured that, once she actually finished the song, then she could finally get over her mother.
“Maybe one day I’ll finally see what you knew all along
You were my pillow,
My shield from all of my fears
But that isn’t what keeps me up at night….…Boy, that sucked.” Ellie shook her head looked up to the stars. She was still strumming the simple melody. “I just wish you could have told me sooner.” A tear escaped and landed on the body of her guitar.
“I wish I would have known sooner,” a male voice said from behind her, startling Ellie out of her skin.
Ellie jumped and glared at him. “What the hell do you want and why the hell are you here?”
He held up his hands in defense. “I’m not looking for a fight. I just came out here to clear my head.”
“You’re pretty far from Huntington,” she said coldly as he plopped down next to her and lit up.
“That’s observant of you.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
She hated how difficult he was. He reminded her too much of herself. “Yes, you do. You have a beach as a backyard, why drive almost twenty minutes to come to a different stretch of the same shore?”
He took a long drag. “Because, I always come here…ever since your mom showed it to me. She called it her Little Piece of Heaven…whatever that means.”
Ellie nodded. She remembered when her mother would tell her of all the gorgeous sunsets she would watch here.
“I was out of line earlier…calling Danni that. She wasn’t…she just… did what she had to do to survive. She wasn't ashamed of it, but she wasn't proud of it, either. That's what made her so unique... Of course, I’m only just now realizing all this. I was a selfish idiot in my youth…I still kind of am…”
Ellie nodded her head, absorbing everything he had said.
“Now it’s your turn to talk. What are you doing here at night alone?”
“I’m not alone anymore now am I?” She smirked and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He cracked up and waved his head, urging her to answer the rest of his question. “I’m also staying right across the street.” she added, pointing to the quaint house behind her.
He sucked in a breath. “I used to own that house…”
“I know…but you never lived there…”
“How do you?”
“Uncles come in handy around tight-lipped mothers.”
He put out his cigarette and got more comfortable. Ellie relaxed slightly when she realized that she didn’t have to prepare for another fight. “So, she hasn’t told you anything?”
“Nope, not a peep.” she said, lightly strumming on the strings.
“Oh….what are you playing?”
“A song for a friend.”
“Can I hear it?”
“It’s not done.”
“So?”
“I have this thing with playing unfinished pieces.”
“Then I guess we have more things in common than I thought. Tell you what, you play me a piece of it, and I’ll play you a piece of a song that I’m working on right now.”
“You still write?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” he asked in mock defense.
“Well, you’re not touring…and you’re not producing…”
“Believe it or not, adults still need stress-relievers!”
Ellie laughed. “Ok, you got me on that one…I’ll play it, but I’m not singing.” She started to play the intro and up to the third verse (that she just recently started writing). When she finished, she looked back at his awe-struck face.
“That was…I can’t believe I’m saying this…but it was beautiful. I hope your friend likes it. You’ll have to tell me their reaction…that is, if we can keep these kind of conversations up.”
“You mean the ones that don’t end with me punching you and knocking you out?”
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Yea, those. You got one hell of a right hook. Where’d you learn that?”
“Fight calls and an over-protective dad . He wanted to me to be prepared.”
“Oh…”
“Yea…and thanks for the compliment,” she said, quickly trying to change the subject.
“You’re welcome.”
“But I can’t tell you their reaction.”
“Why not?”
She tore her gaze from him and looked out to see the full moon dancing on the waves. “Because they died a little over two months ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.”
Ellie shrugged her shoulders and kept her gaze fixed on the horizon.
“I suck at comforting people…I never say the right things.”
“Then don’t. If it makes you uncomfortable, then don’t do it.”
He gently took the guitar off of Ellie’s lap and transferred it to his. He began strumming a gentle tune. The chords were powerful and held sorrow in them.
“It sounds really good.”
“Thank you. I started it about twenty-three years ago.”
“Really? How come you never finished it?”
“Because, as sappy as this is going to sound- and you can’t repeat it to anyone- your mother broke my heart.”
Ellie let her mouth form into an “O” shape.
“Twice, actually…” Brian chuckled as he continued to pluck away.
“Twice? What did she do?”
“What any sane person would do in her situation: she left my stupid proud ass… I just…couldn’t finish such a personal piece with her gone, you know?”
“And you couldn’t toss it because that would be like throwing all the time and memories you shared with her away…”
“Exactly.” His eyes shone with a different light. It was like he finally had found his way home. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the light went out and was replaced with a different one. He placed her guitar back in her lap.
“Do you…never mind.”
“No…go on. Do I what?”
“Well, I’ve like spending time with you. Do you think that we could do this more often? I really want a working relationship with you, if that’s alright. It’s like…a part of me was missing all along…and now that I got it back, I want to keep a hold of it for as long as possible… does that make sense?”
“Yea, it does…and I would like to get to know you better, too.”
He smiled and opened his arms.
Ellie looked at him strangely.
“Too soon?”
“I just got over not punching you every time that I see you.”
“Fair enough. Now, get to bed. You have a long day ahead of you.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You haven’t earned that title yet, mister…but I am getting tired.” she said, stifling a yawn as she stood up. “See you tomorrow, Brian.”
I'll find it far away
I'll find it in unexpected and unknown
I'll find my life in my own way
Today
Here I go
And there's no turning back
My great adventure has begun
I may be small
But I've got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun
I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless,
Surrendering modesty and grace
I will not disappear without a trace
I'll shout and start a riot
Be anything but quiet
Christopher Columbus
I'll be Astonishing
Astonishing
Astonishing
At Last” Ellie belted the lyrics out as if they were her own. She needed to feel something. Everything today had gone so wrong. She lost herself in the music that her mother and Adam rescued when she was ten. A slow clap began behind her. She whipped her head around and smiled when she recognized the source.
“Mom!” She screamed, throwing herself into her mother’s arms.
Danielle laughed and spun me around a few times before setting me down. “How’s my little Rioter today?”
“Feeling horrible until you showed up!” Ellie hugged her mother tightly again. Danielle would make everything better. She always did.
“Well, it must have been if you were singing Astonishing. And, damn, if Idina was here, she’d be blown away. I guess those voice lessons really did pay off,” Danielle said playfully. She knew that her daughter was extremely gifted. “Come, let’s sit down and you can tell me all about it.”
“No, I’d rather hear about your day.” Ellie said, cuddling into her side.
Danielle laughed heartedly. “Wow, it must be really bad then!”
Ellie nodded her head against her mother’s chest. Danielle wrapped her arms lovingly around her daughter and began to rock side to side. “Well, Your Uncle Kale and I finally put the finishing touches on my “Dance your way into love” program…and we already have a few people that have signed up!”
“That’s great, Mom!”
“Yea, I’m so excited. The first class starts in two weeks. They’re going to learn the merengue.”
“Not the Tango, I’m shocked!” Ellie gasped sarcastically.
“Funny, real funny,” Danielle smiled. “Really, where did you get this sarcastic side from?”
“My mom. I think you know her…you know, tall, dark hair…has this annoying habit of making me fess up to everything…” Ellie said with a large grin on her face as she looked into her mother’s eyes.
“Ah-ha! Is she the reason you’re going to tell me about your day?”
Ellie mock glared at her. “You really don’t want to know…”
“Was it Matt?”
“Not directly.”
“Are you going to elaborate?”
Ellie buried my head in the crook of Danielle’s neck.
“What happened today at school, baby girl?”
“Th-they were saying shit about me not knowing who my father was- calling me the daughter of a whore because you probably didn’t even know who he is…”
Danielle tightened her grip on Ellie. “Who said this?”
“Matt’s friends.”
She tightened her embrace further and began to rub Ellie’s back.
“And the worst part is, is that he didn’t do anything! He just let them ridicule me…it was horrible…”
“Shh, don’t worry about it. I bet Matt’s just confused. He’s sixteen. Sixteen year old boys hardly know what to do in those kinds of situations. It’s hard for them to choose between their friends and their girlfriend. I bet you haven’t talked to him since this happened, haven’t you?” Danielle asked knowingly. It really shocked her how good her advice was. She made a note to call Kale and Adam to tell them of her achievement.
Ellie shook her head and pulled away. “No…it just hurt so much, ya know? It’s not like I don’t want to know who my father is…I really do. Why won’t you tell me anything?”
“Because I’m terrified. Okay? I don’t want him to take you away from me! You’re my baby girl. Not his. He gave up the chance to know you when he chose his friends over me,” Danielle said truthfully. It still tore her up inside when she thought about that day all those years ago.
“Mom?”
“No, I’ve said too much,” she said, getting up and going out the door.
“Why won’t you tell me?!” Ellie screamed after her. It was a pointless argument that they always got into.
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt!” Danielle screamed back at her from the bottom of the stairs.
~*~
Ellie woke up suddenly. Pressure was building in her chest from the raw emotions that the dream brought. For awhile, she could barely breathe. When she finally caught her breath, she grabbed Stardust, her acoustic, and ran outside. She didn’t stop until she was by the water. She dropped to her knees, making sure to keep her guitar out of the sand, and eventually fell back until her butt hit the sand. Absentmindedly, she laid Stardust across her lap and began strumming nothing in particular…that soon turned into Danielle’s song. Ellie shook her head to rid myself of her thoughts, but kept strumming. She figured that, once she actually finished the song, then she could finally get over her mother.
“Maybe one day I’ll finally see what you knew all along
You were my pillow,
My shield from all of my fears
But that isn’t what keeps me up at night….…Boy, that sucked.” Ellie shook her head looked up to the stars. She was still strumming the simple melody. “I just wish you could have told me sooner.” A tear escaped and landed on the body of her guitar.
“I wish I would have known sooner,” a male voice said from behind her, startling Ellie out of her skin.
Ellie jumped and glared at him. “What the hell do you want and why the hell are you here?”
He held up his hands in defense. “I’m not looking for a fight. I just came out here to clear my head.”
“You’re pretty far from Huntington,” she said coldly as he plopped down next to her and lit up.
“That’s observant of you.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
She hated how difficult he was. He reminded her too much of herself. “Yes, you do. You have a beach as a backyard, why drive almost twenty minutes to come to a different stretch of the same shore?”
He took a long drag. “Because, I always come here…ever since your mom showed it to me. She called it her Little Piece of Heaven…whatever that means.”
Ellie nodded. She remembered when her mother would tell her of all the gorgeous sunsets she would watch here.
“I was out of line earlier…calling Danni that. She wasn’t…she just… did what she had to do to survive. She wasn't ashamed of it, but she wasn't proud of it, either. That's what made her so unique... Of course, I’m only just now realizing all this. I was a selfish idiot in my youth…I still kind of am…”
Ellie nodded her head, absorbing everything he had said.
“Now it’s your turn to talk. What are you doing here at night alone?”
“I’m not alone anymore now am I?” She smirked and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He cracked up and waved his head, urging her to answer the rest of his question. “I’m also staying right across the street.” she added, pointing to the quaint house behind her.
He sucked in a breath. “I used to own that house…”
“I know…but you never lived there…”
“How do you?”
“Uncles come in handy around tight-lipped mothers.”
He put out his cigarette and got more comfortable. Ellie relaxed slightly when she realized that she didn’t have to prepare for another fight. “So, she hasn’t told you anything?”
“Nope, not a peep.” she said, lightly strumming on the strings.
“Oh….what are you playing?”
“A song for a friend.”
“Can I hear it?”
“It’s not done.”
“So?”
“I have this thing with playing unfinished pieces.”
“Then I guess we have more things in common than I thought. Tell you what, you play me a piece of it, and I’ll play you a piece of a song that I’m working on right now.”
“You still write?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” he asked in mock defense.
“Well, you’re not touring…and you’re not producing…”
“Believe it or not, adults still need stress-relievers!”
Ellie laughed. “Ok, you got me on that one…I’ll play it, but I’m not singing.” She started to play the intro and up to the third verse (that she just recently started writing). When she finished, she looked back at his awe-struck face.
“That was…I can’t believe I’m saying this…but it was beautiful. I hope your friend likes it. You’ll have to tell me their reaction…that is, if we can keep these kind of conversations up.”
“You mean the ones that don’t end with me punching you and knocking you out?”
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Yea, those. You got one hell of a right hook. Where’d you learn that?”
“Fight calls and an over-protective dad . He wanted to me to be prepared.”
“Oh…”
“Yea…and thanks for the compliment,” she said, quickly trying to change the subject.
“You’re welcome.”
“But I can’t tell you their reaction.”
“Why not?”
She tore her gaze from him and looked out to see the full moon dancing on the waves. “Because they died a little over two months ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.”
Ellie shrugged her shoulders and kept her gaze fixed on the horizon.
“I suck at comforting people…I never say the right things.”
“Then don’t. If it makes you uncomfortable, then don’t do it.”
He gently took the guitar off of Ellie’s lap and transferred it to his. He began strumming a gentle tune. The chords were powerful and held sorrow in them.
“It sounds really good.”
“Thank you. I started it about twenty-three years ago.”
“Really? How come you never finished it?”
“Because, as sappy as this is going to sound- and you can’t repeat it to anyone- your mother broke my heart.”
Ellie let her mouth form into an “O” shape.
“Twice, actually…” Brian chuckled as he continued to pluck away.
“Twice? What did she do?”
“What any sane person would do in her situation: she left my stupid proud ass… I just…couldn’t finish such a personal piece with her gone, you know?”
“And you couldn’t toss it because that would be like throwing all the time and memories you shared with her away…”
“Exactly.” His eyes shone with a different light. It was like he finally had found his way home. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the light went out and was replaced with a different one. He placed her guitar back in her lap.
“Do you…never mind.”
“No…go on. Do I what?”
“Well, I’ve like spending time with you. Do you think that we could do this more often? I really want a working relationship with you, if that’s alright. It’s like…a part of me was missing all along…and now that I got it back, I want to keep a hold of it for as long as possible… does that make sense?”
“Yea, it does…and I would like to get to know you better, too.”
He smiled and opened his arms.
Ellie looked at him strangely.
“Too soon?”
“I just got over not punching you every time that I see you.”
“Fair enough. Now, get to bed. You have a long day ahead of you.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You haven’t earned that title yet, mister…but I am getting tired.” she said, stifling a yawn as she stood up. “See you tomorrow, Brian.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Here's the next! If you can't tell, I'm almost at the end of yet another word document (I'm using the original 10 chapters per document format)But I highly doubt that you guys mind
=D Bree
10 FUCKING STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<3 YA'LL!!!!!!!