The Kids Are Alright

I stood beside Pete as we all clapped for Roger and London, they both looked so happy. London ran up to Helena and gave her a hug, she hugged Keith even after he told Roger that if he hurt his baby sister he'd castrate him, then she came over to where me and Pete were standing. She hugged him and then hugged me too, I smiled at her. Her and Roger walked off and were instantly wrapped up in each other.

I looked around at a bunch of the people who were in a cluster in the back of the room, that was when there was a tap on my shoulder. I pulled away from Pete and turned around to be face-to-face with Mick Jagger, I gulped as memories of the last time we met flooded in my memory. It was sometime around last summer, I was seventeen still and right before he left he told me that he would call me the next time he came into town.

"You're good fun." He had said, it didn't hurt that much. I was proud of it at the time, but at that moment as I stood there between him and Pete I wanted to melt into a little puddle so he would leave me alone.

"I tried calling you're apartment, but you're roommate said you were off with the Who," Pete had seperated himself from us, but I could tell he was still listening. Mick studies him and rolls his eyes, "When you're done with him come pay me a visit, eh?"

I shake my head, "It's not like that Mick. I'm not fucking him or any of them, we're just hanging out."

"Oh, so you're free?" He ran a hand over my hair, smoothing down some of the curls.

"I don't know right now, it just depends on when they're leaving."

He kisses my cheek, "Hope to see you at the show."

I leaned against the wall, I gulped and ran my hands through my hair. Pete comes back to my side but doesn't say anything. We watch as Roger and London left the party.

Keith soon left with a girl he'd met, soon John and Helena left too. Pete and I decided to go out for a walk, he told me he's never seen that much of Los Angeles before even though he's been here two or three times. The whole thing was much more awkward now than it was earlier, I knew it had something to do with Mick.

"Los Angeles isn't all it's cracked up to be." I say quietly.

"You don't like it?" He asked as we came to the hotel, I shook my head.

"No, well, I mean I used to. Still do at moments I guess."

Mick rode by in a black car, he had a girl with him. It couldn't have been worse timing. We both grew silent for a long time, I figured it was my turn to say something at least a little bit comforting.

"Pete, I'm not proud of what I do. I used to be, but now it's just more out of obsession I guess than the actual joy of being with the people you admire. It's like a competition against other groupies to see who can get the attention and from who they can get it from, but when push comes to shove it doesn't mean anything. It's just sex, like with Mick. It was only sex really, sex and drugs is all we did for two days. It's all very meaningless."

He shakes his head and I realized how awful I worded it, "So what about this? What about me?" He asked me, he had an extreme amount of pain in his eyes.

"I don't know, what are we? What is this? We've known each other for two days, and I haven't fucked you yet. I don't mean to brag but that's kind of a record for me. So, what do you want to make of this? Do you want to go upstairs and have sex then go our seperate ways and forget we ever even met or what?"

He sighs, "I don't want to forget about you."

I blush a brighter red than Pete's shirt, nothing else was said. I went home where I was bombarded with questions until my roommate's 'boyfriend' came home. Then the beating began, the only reason I was even included was because I tried to stop it.

The next morning there was a knock on the door...