I'll Never Be The Same Again

-~- Rennie’s POV -~-

“Right, so where do we start? You need clothes, underwear… Shoes… Ooh you need a phone! Let’s get you a phone first!” Ally grinned after working out what we needed to buy.
Lynds grabbed my arm as we started walking towards a phone shop.
I quickly chose one, to be honest there weren’t many decent ones out…
“Are you sure that you want that one?” Iris asked as I went over to the shop assistant.
“Yep, it’s not that bad, I’m not really fussed about loads of features,” I explained, “Excuse me, I’d like to buy this,”
“Sure, I’ll go get one from the back for you,”
“So anyway, Lynds, I never got to ask about you and Gee,”
“Oh yeah, we kinda got interrupted didn’t we?” Lynds replied laughing.
“Just a bit… I do feel kinda sorry for her though…”
“Don’t, seriously, none of us ever really liked her… We put up with her cos she made Frank a little bit happier… But yeah, me and Gee… It got really weird when you first went… Like me and mum didn’t know whether or not to go home… In the end we stayed for the rest of the summer, but went back to Australia for the start of school… Obviously we drifted apart once I’d gone, but then I formed a band and we ended up touring and meeting once again, and here we are,”
“Wait, you never told me you’re in a band!”
“I never really got the chance, but yeah, Mindless Self Indulgence, I play bass,” she explained to me.
“That’s amazing!”

The guy finally returned from the back room, and placed the box on the counter.
“That’ll be $120.00 then please,” he said, scanning it into the till.
I handed over Frankie’s card to be swiped, slightly worried that he’d see Frank’s name and refuse to accept it; turns out, I was just being a drama queen, he didn’t even look.

“Ok, I’ll just pop this in a bag for you, and your receipt too.” He smiled at me, handing the bag over to me.
“Thanks,” I smiled back, before gathering the girls back together to leave.

“So… I think we should go get some coffee and help you set up your phone…” Ally suggested.
“Yeah sure, there’s a Starbucks just over the road,” I remembered, beginning to walk to the crossing.
“Ermm… No not that one, I think we should go to a different one…” she replied suspiciously.
“Ok, what’s going on?” I asked, sending her a knowing look.
“Nothing, just heard someone got food poisoning from that one…” Iris cut in.
I still didn’t believe them… They were up to something…
“I seriously don’t believe a word you’re saying…”
“Ok fine! We’re meeting someone!” Lynds cracked first, receiving defeated groans and sighs from the others, “You’ve got to meet Ray’s girlfriend, Christa,”
“Well if you’d just said that… I don’t get why you needed to hide it from me…” I shook my head, and continued walking.
“You know… More fun that way…”
Something was still up. I decided to let it go and followed where Ally was walking.

“Here we are,” she smiled after a fifteen minute walk to a different Starbucks.
“Thank god, I think I was about to pass out from dehydration” I mocked as we walked through the door.
Thankfully there was no queue so we went straight to the counter.
“I’m just gonna go to the toilet, someone take my drink over for me, please?” I smiled sweetly at them, running off before anyone could object.
When I returned, they were all sat down around a table, only two people had joined them, one I guessed was Christa, and the other…

I walked slowly towards them, not sure if I was seeing things. Ally’s huge grin told me that I wasn’t.
“Mum?” I asked slowly and quietly, the woman turned around and smiled, “Mummy!” She jumped up and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.
“Oh my god Rennie! It really is you!” she cried placing her hands on my shoulders and looking at me in complete disbelief.

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I clung to her; it had been so long!
“I saw the news about a crazy woman jumping on stage and violating Frank… Then Ally rang me and asked me to meet them… And… Just… Oh my god!” she pulled me down to the seat next to her, “So you were Frank’s violator?”
I laughed at her chosen words, “Yep, that was me… Or though, technically he violated me…”
Everyone around the table laughed, “It’s not violation if you want it!” Lynds called out, making us all laugh even more.

“So, I guess you’re the Lorena that Frank never shut up about then? I’m Christa,”
“That would be me, I guess, unless he’s met another Lorena along the way,” I laughed as we smiled a hello to each other.
“Oh god, I think the world would explode if there were two of you…” Ally commented quietly, but deliberately just loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Love you too… Allybear,” I said, winking at her, remembering that time back in high school.
“Fuck you,” she shot at me, while we all grinned at her, “Anyway, let’s go, we’ve got a lot more shopping to do for you,”

“So then sweetie, how’s Frankie been treating you since you got back?” mum asked me as we entered another clothing store.
“He’s been amazing… Barely left my side to be honest,” I chuckled.
“Aww bless him, he’s always been a nice one… You know, he’d always make an effort to visit me, make sure I was ok?”
“Really?”
“Yep, I think it helped him too though,”
“I think you should… Thank him… Later…” Ally winked, nudging me with her elbow. At this point mum wandered off to look at some clothes, I don’t blame her really…
I rolled my eyes at Ally as she grinned at me.
“Oh my god! You’ve already done it!”
“No, we haven’t,” I told her, before she’d try and tell anyone else, “I mean… I think we came close earlier…I was sat on his lap and he kissed me, like it was amazing…”
“So… Why did it stop?”
“Frankie was desperately trying to cook me pizza and not burn it…”
“Were you disappointed?”
“I guess, I mean I didn’t want to stop… But then what if we’d carried on and I freaked out?”
I could that she was thinking through the situation in her head, trying to work out the best possible solution.
“I think he’ll respect what you want, and if you ask him to stop, he will; he’s not a dick,” she reasoned.
“Yeah I suppose you’re right,”
“I’m always right,” she winked at me again.

“Hey! Stop winking at my lady!” Lynds shouted from across a rack of dresses, causing Ally to stick her tongue out at her.

“Ooh I like this!” I pulled out a fitted leather jacket, holding it up against me.
“That is sexy! You have to get it!” Lynds shouted, receiving dirty looks from the shop assistants, “You know what else you need? A haircut, you should have back like you did before!”
“Definitely!” I grinned, I’d missed having red hair…
I walked over to the counter and handed the snooty woman the jacket and a few other bits that I’d picked up. She bagged everything up and took Frankie’s card off me to swipe; she quickly handed it back, placing a receipt in the bag.
Throughout the whole exchange, she didn’t say a word, instead she just looked down her nose at me, clearly disgusted by my presence.
“Aww fanks love, you’re really too kind,” I said in a sarcastic tone as I took the bag, getting a snooty snort in response.
I grinned at her, deciding to throw in a cheeky wink, just to really wind her up, before turning and leaving the shop.

“Finally! What took you so long?!” Iris practically shouted when I joined them outside.
“Oh you know, just winding up the stuck up bitch in there…”
Everyone laughed as we made our way to the closest hair salon.
“I’m so glad you’re back Rennie,” Lynds smiled, linking her arm in mine.
“So am I,” I smiled back, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness.