‹ Prequel: Hospital
Tragedy Strikes
Frankito
My mother drives me to the Cool house a bit earlier than the set recording time so I could hang out with Franky, but I didn't tell her that.
"So you're going out with your hospital roommate's son?" she asks for clarification.
"Yeah."
"And how does this tie into the demo?"
"Well his band mate owns Adeline Records."
"Oh okay, and what band is this?"
"Green Day."
"Sounds familiar." She says nodding, "What do they play?"
"Hmm, songs you'd know?" I think for a moment, "Good Riddance?"
"Don't know it."
"It's something unpredictable and in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life." I sing.
"Oh them!" she says recognizing the song. "Such a sweet song."
"They also played American Idiot."
"I don't like the sounds of that."
"Don't wanna be an American idiot, one nation controlled by the media, information age of hysteria, is calling out to idiot America."
"Yeah, yeah." She says rolling her eyes. "Please tell me you're not just going out with him because he's the rock star's son."
"Hell no!" I say insulted, "Firstly, he asked me out, secondly I only found out afterwards what his father did for a living."
"Okay." She says as we pull into the drive way.
Franky is in the open garage filling his bike tires with air.
"That's him?" she asks laughing.
"Yup."
"Now I see why you like him." I could tell she was referring to his bright red hair.
"Well I'll see you later." I say as I get out of the car. My mom starts to pull out of the driveway.
"Hey Franky." I say going up to my now boyfriend and pecking him on the cheek.
"Hey." He says turning to give me a real kiss on the lips. "Was that your mom?"
"Yeah." I say laughing.
"What?"
"She has issues with your hair." He bursts out laughing.
"You like it don't you?" I move my hand through his hair.
"I love it." I kiss his lips again. Damn I couldn't get enough of his lips.
"So what do you want to do?" he asks as he flips his bike back upright and puts the air pump back on a shelf.
"I don't know, whatever."
"Okay, I want to wash my hands." He says showing her his black stained fingers. "Unless you like it dirty."
"Not that dirty." We laugh as we head inside the house and he goes to the washroom.
"Oh Sadie! Oh Sadie." Franky sings like a drunken sailor as he washes his hands. "Sadie! Oh Sadie."
"Shut-up Frankito!" Ramona calls out as she walks past the washroom. "Hey Sadie, what's up?"
"Nothing much." I say as she continues on her way.
"Squeaky clean." Franky says showing me his hands.
"So what's the deal with Ramona calling you Frankito?"
"Uhh." He looks uneasy.
"Did you throw up after eating ten burritos or something?"
"No, it's a bit more-"
Tre walks into the living room where we're standing.
"Oh hey Sadie, I didn't hear you get here." He says smiling.
"Hey Tre, what's the deal with Ramona calling him Frankito?"
"That's his name." Tre says laughing.
"What?" I glance between my boyfriend and Tre. "What do you mean his name?"
"As in when he was born and the nurse asked Claudia and I what his name was we said Frankito and that's what they wrote on his birth certificate."
"Are you serious?" I say looking at Franky.
"Yeah." He says embarrassed.
"S'okay, my middle name is Gertrude."
"Sucks to be you." Tre snickers as he walks away.
"Why Gertrude?" Franky asks as we slump down on the couch.
"It was my great-grandmother's name." I mumble. "At least yours is original."
"Yeah but yours is your middle name, no one gives a crap about those." He says smiling in a friendly way, "The most is used is when people say Sadie G. Serrier."
"Yeah guess you're right." I mumble as I look into his blue eyes. He kisses me, damn he's entrancing.
The door bell rings and we get up to get it, knowing it's either Chicklet or Kimmy. Franky opens the door revealing Bill friend and who must be his son.
"Hey Franky, is your dad here?" Bill friend asks stepping inside.
"Yup."
"Oh hey Sadie." Bill friend says just noticing me, "This is my son Jakob."
"Nice to meet you." I say casually.
"So you're the guitarist." He says nodding.
"Guess so." I laugh as the door bell rings again. Franky reaches over to open it.
"Hey, am I early?" Chicklet gibbers as she enters the house but shuts up when she sees Bill friend. "Holy fuck."
"Hi, I'm Billie Joe and this is my son Jakob." Bill friend says in slight mockery.
"I-I know who you are." She gasps, "I'm Chicklet." Jakob snorts with laughter.
"Let's get Mike over here and see that again!" Jakob says still laughing.
"Sorry." Chicklet says turning red.
"You're the bass player right?" Bill friend asks as he shakes her hand.
"Yeah." She says in slight awe.
"Well we have to find Tre now. I'll talk to you guys later."
"Later Bill friend!" I say for the sole excuse of calling him Bill friend.
"Smooth." Franky mumbles to Chicklet. The door bell rings for a third time.
"So umm that Jakob, he's kind of cute."
"He's got a girl friend, going on one year now." Franky says laughing.
"Oh umm well, uh."
"Just shut-up Chicklet." I say as the door bell rings again.
"If it's not Kimmy." Franky exclaims opening the door. "So let's start recording?"
"Yeah." Kimmy says happily.
"I left my guitar in the garage." I say quickly as I run off across the house. I head down to meet them in the basement.
We all pitch in to set up the microphones and everything before we start recording. After recording the guitar part of the song we move onto drums then bass. It takes about two hours. Finally it's time for vocals, I go first since I'm lead. Franky adjusts the mic and pecks my lips before going over to the computer.
"Alright and recording." He states I hold the head phones to my ears and sing my heart out. I close my eyes because I know either Chicklet or Kimmy will make goofy faces and try to me make me laugh. As the song comes to an end I open my eyes to see Tre, Bill friend and Jakob standing there.
"Dude, you're awesome." Jakob says clapping.
"Thanks." I say turning red, "I didn't know you guys were all down here."
"Yeah, maybe you should open your eyes, I don't know about you but that always helps me see." Tre laughs.
"So are you guys done?" Bill friend asks as he looks over Franky's shoulder to see the computer screen.
"We still have to do back up vocals for this song." Franky says getting up to check the mic before Chicklet goes to sing. "And then they're recording one more song and then this lovely demo is complete."
"He called it lovely!" Kimmy says pretending to get emotional. Everyone snickers with laughter. Franky puts on the head phones to check the song layering then after about five minutes he nods to himself and hands them to Chicklet. Everyone ends up leaning against the walls, like they had before as we listen to Chicklet sing.
Ramona comes into the room quietly.
"Kimmy, your dad's here."
"Shit." She says grabbing her bag. "Thanks guys." She runs out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Tre asks somewhat amused.
"I think she mentioned something about a dentist appointment right after recording." Chicklet shrugs as she puts her bass back in it's case. I put my guitar back in it's case too as Tre and Bill friend leave the room.
"Can I listen?" Jakob asks pointing to the computer. Franky looks over at me, I nod.
"Yeah, just press the green button." Franky mumbles as we put away the mics. Jakob puts the head phones on and starts nodding to the music. As we put away the last of the drum mics Jakob removes the head phones.
"Girl rockers usually suck, but you got what it takes." He says as he leaves the room.
"Now that's a compliment." Franky says to Chicklet and I."
"Why?" Chicklet asks slinging her bass case on her back.
"He's been apprenticing at Adeline and he's really annoying to talk to about music, his like a friggin Simon Cowell."
"You serious?"
"Yeah, he's very judgmental. It drives Billie Joe nuts." Chicklet can't help but snicker.
"She laughs at the word nuts." I reassure Franky. He smirks.
"Nuts! Nuts! Nuts!"
"Interesting." Ramona says from the doorway, "Chicklet your mom's here."
"Well I'll see you guys around." She says following Ramona out of the room.
"Hey, um Sadie." Franky says casually, "Would you like to stay for supper?"
"Sure, just let me call and tell my mother." I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call her.
"So can you stay?"
"Yup, she said she'd pick me up at eight."
"Cool." He says as we head back upstairs. On the way back into the living room we run into Claudia.
"Hey Mom, Sadie is staying for supper."
"Alright." She says smiling at me. As Franky takes my hand and leads me to the living room. He turns on the TV and puts it on one of the music channels. In the middle of another head banger video he places his finger under my chin and moves my face to his as our lips lock. We continue to kiss for a couple of minutes when the sound of someone clearing their throat. We break apart to see Ramona standing there. She rolls her eyes and sits on the other sofa.
"Keep it in your pants." She mutters.
"It is in my pants!" Franky says a little too loud.
"Supper's ready." Claudia calls out.
"Hurry up or I'll eat everything!" Tre yells. Ramona turns off the TV and the three of us head into the dining room. I take my seat next to Franky and across from Ramona. We each serve ourselves from the serving dishes on the center of the table and start to eat.
"So you're going out with your hospital roommate's son?" she asks for clarification.
"Yeah."
"And how does this tie into the demo?"
"Well his band mate owns Adeline Records."
"Oh okay, and what band is this?"
"Green Day."
"Sounds familiar." She says nodding, "What do they play?"
"Hmm, songs you'd know?" I think for a moment, "Good Riddance?"
"Don't know it."
"It's something unpredictable and in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life." I sing.
"Oh them!" she says recognizing the song. "Such a sweet song."
"They also played American Idiot."
"I don't like the sounds of that."
"Don't wanna be an American idiot, one nation controlled by the media, information age of hysteria, is calling out to idiot America."
"Yeah, yeah." She says rolling her eyes. "Please tell me you're not just going out with him because he's the rock star's son."
"Hell no!" I say insulted, "Firstly, he asked me out, secondly I only found out afterwards what his father did for a living."
"Okay." She says as we pull into the drive way.
Franky is in the open garage filling his bike tires with air.
"That's him?" she asks laughing.
"Yup."
"Now I see why you like him." I could tell she was referring to his bright red hair.
"Well I'll see you later." I say as I get out of the car. My mom starts to pull out of the driveway.
"Hey Franky." I say going up to my now boyfriend and pecking him on the cheek.
"Hey." He says turning to give me a real kiss on the lips. "Was that your mom?"
"Yeah." I say laughing.
"What?"
"She has issues with your hair." He bursts out laughing.
"You like it don't you?" I move my hand through his hair.
"I love it." I kiss his lips again. Damn I couldn't get enough of his lips.
"So what do you want to do?" he asks as he flips his bike back upright and puts the air pump back on a shelf.
"I don't know, whatever."
"Okay, I want to wash my hands." He says showing her his black stained fingers. "Unless you like it dirty."
"Not that dirty." We laugh as we head inside the house and he goes to the washroom.
"Oh Sadie! Oh Sadie." Franky sings like a drunken sailor as he washes his hands. "Sadie! Oh Sadie."
"Shut-up Frankito!" Ramona calls out as she walks past the washroom. "Hey Sadie, what's up?"
"Nothing much." I say as she continues on her way.
"Squeaky clean." Franky says showing me his hands.
"So what's the deal with Ramona calling you Frankito?"
"Uhh." He looks uneasy.
"Did you throw up after eating ten burritos or something?"
"No, it's a bit more-"
Tre walks into the living room where we're standing.
"Oh hey Sadie, I didn't hear you get here." He says smiling.
"Hey Tre, what's the deal with Ramona calling him Frankito?"
"That's his name." Tre says laughing.
"What?" I glance between my boyfriend and Tre. "What do you mean his name?"
"As in when he was born and the nurse asked Claudia and I what his name was we said Frankito and that's what they wrote on his birth certificate."
"Are you serious?" I say looking at Franky.
"Yeah." He says embarrassed.
"S'okay, my middle name is Gertrude."
"Sucks to be you." Tre snickers as he walks away.
"Why Gertrude?" Franky asks as we slump down on the couch.
"It was my great-grandmother's name." I mumble. "At least yours is original."
"Yeah but yours is your middle name, no one gives a crap about those." He says smiling in a friendly way, "The most is used is when people say Sadie G. Serrier."
"Yeah guess you're right." I mumble as I look into his blue eyes. He kisses me, damn he's entrancing.
The door bell rings and we get up to get it, knowing it's either Chicklet or Kimmy. Franky opens the door revealing Bill friend and who must be his son.
"Hey Franky, is your dad here?" Bill friend asks stepping inside.
"Yup."
"Oh hey Sadie." Bill friend says just noticing me, "This is my son Jakob."
"Nice to meet you." I say casually.
"So you're the guitarist." He says nodding.
"Guess so." I laugh as the door bell rings again. Franky reaches over to open it.
"Hey, am I early?" Chicklet gibbers as she enters the house but shuts up when she sees Bill friend. "Holy fuck."
"Hi, I'm Billie Joe and this is my son Jakob." Bill friend says in slight mockery.
"I-I know who you are." She gasps, "I'm Chicklet." Jakob snorts with laughter.
"Let's get Mike over here and see that again!" Jakob says still laughing.
"Sorry." Chicklet says turning red.
"You're the bass player right?" Bill friend asks as he shakes her hand.
"Yeah." She says in slight awe.
"Well we have to find Tre now. I'll talk to you guys later."
"Later Bill friend!" I say for the sole excuse of calling him Bill friend.
"Smooth." Franky mumbles to Chicklet. The door bell rings for a third time.
"So umm that Jakob, he's kind of cute."
"He's got a girl friend, going on one year now." Franky says laughing.
"Oh umm well, uh."
"Just shut-up Chicklet." I say as the door bell rings again.
"If it's not Kimmy." Franky exclaims opening the door. "So let's start recording?"
"Yeah." Kimmy says happily.
"I left my guitar in the garage." I say quickly as I run off across the house. I head down to meet them in the basement.
We all pitch in to set up the microphones and everything before we start recording. After recording the guitar part of the song we move onto drums then bass. It takes about two hours. Finally it's time for vocals, I go first since I'm lead. Franky adjusts the mic and pecks my lips before going over to the computer.
"Alright and recording." He states I hold the head phones to my ears and sing my heart out. I close my eyes because I know either Chicklet or Kimmy will make goofy faces and try to me make me laugh. As the song comes to an end I open my eyes to see Tre, Bill friend and Jakob standing there.
"Dude, you're awesome." Jakob says clapping.
"Thanks." I say turning red, "I didn't know you guys were all down here."
"Yeah, maybe you should open your eyes, I don't know about you but that always helps me see." Tre laughs.
"So are you guys done?" Bill friend asks as he looks over Franky's shoulder to see the computer screen.
"We still have to do back up vocals for this song." Franky says getting up to check the mic before Chicklet goes to sing. "And then they're recording one more song and then this lovely demo is complete."
"He called it lovely!" Kimmy says pretending to get emotional. Everyone snickers with laughter. Franky puts on the head phones to check the song layering then after about five minutes he nods to himself and hands them to Chicklet. Everyone ends up leaning against the walls, like they had before as we listen to Chicklet sing.
Ramona comes into the room quietly.
"Kimmy, your dad's here."
"Shit." She says grabbing her bag. "Thanks guys." She runs out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Tre asks somewhat amused.
"I think she mentioned something about a dentist appointment right after recording." Chicklet shrugs as she puts her bass back in it's case. I put my guitar back in it's case too as Tre and Bill friend leave the room.
"Can I listen?" Jakob asks pointing to the computer. Franky looks over at me, I nod.
"Yeah, just press the green button." Franky mumbles as we put away the mics. Jakob puts the head phones on and starts nodding to the music. As we put away the last of the drum mics Jakob removes the head phones.
"Girl rockers usually suck, but you got what it takes." He says as he leaves the room.
"Now that's a compliment." Franky says to Chicklet and I."
"Why?" Chicklet asks slinging her bass case on her back.
"He's been apprenticing at Adeline and he's really annoying to talk to about music, his like a friggin Simon Cowell."
"You serious?"
"Yeah, he's very judgmental. It drives Billie Joe nuts." Chicklet can't help but snicker.
"She laughs at the word nuts." I reassure Franky. He smirks.
"Nuts! Nuts! Nuts!"
"Interesting." Ramona says from the doorway, "Chicklet your mom's here."
"Well I'll see you guys around." She says following Ramona out of the room.
"Hey, um Sadie." Franky says casually, "Would you like to stay for supper?"
"Sure, just let me call and tell my mother." I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call her.
"So can you stay?"
"Yup, she said she'd pick me up at eight."
"Cool." He says as we head back upstairs. On the way back into the living room we run into Claudia.
"Hey Mom, Sadie is staying for supper."
"Alright." She says smiling at me. As Franky takes my hand and leads me to the living room. He turns on the TV and puts it on one of the music channels. In the middle of another head banger video he places his finger under my chin and moves my face to his as our lips lock. We continue to kiss for a couple of minutes when the sound of someone clearing their throat. We break apart to see Ramona standing there. She rolls her eyes and sits on the other sofa.
"Keep it in your pants." She mutters.
"It is in my pants!" Franky says a little too loud.
"Supper's ready." Claudia calls out.
"Hurry up or I'll eat everything!" Tre yells. Ramona turns off the TV and the three of us head into the dining room. I take my seat next to Franky and across from Ramona. We each serve ourselves from the serving dishes on the center of the table and start to eat.