Currently Untitled Piece (George Harrison)

George’s vision strayed, once again, from the band onstage, to search the crowd.  She hadn’t shown up, yet again.  Three nights in a row, she’d missed meeting up with him to watch his friend’s band perform.  She’d never missed any of these performances he went to.  She’d always gone with him, bolstering his courage, and telling him how much better he could play than any of the nancy-boys up on stage.

“Hey, George!”  Paul’s voice snapped him from his thoughts.  He looked around to see his friend’s band had already left the stage.  Paul had taken the empty seat she usually filled and began rattling on about something or other.  Something was wrong.  He just felt it.

He sighed when he finally saw a light flicker on in her room.  He’d been throwing pebbles at her window for the last five minutes, and his arm was getting tired.  He rubbed his eyes—the light was moving about.  What the hell was going on?

“Mel.”  He whisper-yelled her name a moment before her window slid up.

“George?” She leaned out of the window and aimed a flashlight down at him.  He shaded his eyes with his hand, and she immediately switched off the light.

“You missed the show.”  He tried to keep his voice light, but he was disappointed.  He’d finally been invited to join the band, and she’d missed it.

“I’m sorry, George.  I’ll come tomorrow.”  She leaned back into her room.

“Wait.  Can I come up?”  He eyed the trellis that ran from the ground to the roof, right next to her window.  It was a favorite way for him to go in or for her to come out.  Made everything seem like an adventure.

“No.”  

“Well, will you come down?”  He pouted even though he knew she probably couldn’t see it.  “I haven’t seen you in three days.”

“I c-can’t.”  She was crying.  He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear it in her voice.  “Please just go.”  Through the open window, he heard her soft footsteps as she walked back to her bed.

He took a deep breath to boost his confidence before he started his ascent.  Bit by bit, he climbed, until he was finally at her window.  He couldn’t see anything in her room, just a darkened abyss where his best friend was hiding.

“Mel, I’m coming in.”  He whispered.  The bit of moonlight sneaking into her room along with George confirmed his attempt at an entrance.

“Oh, George, no.”  He ignored her plea and swung one leg over the ledge of the window.  Then he grabbed the sill with one hand.

“Shit.” His fingers started to cramp-no doubt the result of the hours he’d spent practicing with his guitar before he’d gone to see his friends play.  “Mel, me fingers are slipping.”

“Damn it, George.”  Without a sound, she raced from her bed to the window.  She grabbed hold of his arm and helped to pull him all the way into her room.  She cringed when he landed with a thud on the floor.

“Mel, I--.” She held her hand to his lips to hush him.  Then she waited.  Almost a full minute passed before she felt like she could breathe again.  She lowered her hand.  “Mel, what the hell is going on?”

“Shhh.”  She fussed.  She got to her feet and moved to the table next to her bed.  She grabbed the flashlight she’d placed there just a few moments before and turned it on.  “George, you can’t stay.”  She kept the light low and on him.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.  Why are you being so bloody odd?  Where have you been the last three days?”  She sat on the foot of her bed.

“I’ve been here.”  

“Why?”

“Because I’ve wanted to be.”  She snapped.  “Oh, hell, Georgie.”  She sighed in frustration.  “I really don’t mean to be such a bother.”

“Mel, I don’t get you.  You sound near tears one minute, and then chewing me head off the next.”  His eyes widened in horror.  “You’ve got it, don’t you?”

“Got what?”  She asked nervously, hoping he wasn’t talking about what she thought he might be talking about.

“Ugh…me mum and me sister are the same way when they get their…ugh.”  His entire body shook in disgust.

“Alright, yes.”  She shut the flashlight off, not wanting to see him so revolted, but also not wanting to risk him seeing her blush.  “I’ve ‘become a woman’—whatever the hell that means.”  Her mom had gone on and on and on about how she was growing up.  Her dad had high-tailed it to the basement, muttering about his plans to shoot any of those ‘randy teddy boys’ who showed up at his door.

“Ugh.  It means…”  He made gagging noises.  Aggravated, she walked over to him and smacked the back of his head.  “Ow—the hell was that for?”  He griped, rubbing the spot she’d just hit.

“Don’t be a jerk.”  She slumped to the floor next to him and crossed her arms.  “I’m sorry I haven’t been about the last few days.”  She set the flashlight on the floor between them.  “I never realized how bad all this hurts.  I haven’t even been to school since Monday.”

“Me either.”  He shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Right.  You plan on telling your teacher you couldn’t come because of cramps?”  She cocked an eyebrow as she looked over at him.

“Don’t plan on telling him anything.”  He paused.  “Actually, I’m not planning on going back.”

“What?”  She whipped around and grabbed his arm.  When he remained silent, she prodded again.  “What do you mean, you’re not going back?”

“Just what I said.  I’m through with school.”  He pulled his arm from her grasp and leaned his head back against the wall.

“But George--.”

“It’s all rubbish anyway.  I already know what I’m going to be doing the rest of my life.  Why do I need to stay in school where they’ll just try to jam useless information down me throat?”

“You think playing with Stu and Paul and Pete and John is what you’ll be doing the rest of your life?”  He rolled his eyes at the order in which he listed his brand new band mates.  

She knew he idolized John.  She also knew just how badly John treated George.  She despised John for it.  George deserved far better treatment.  It wasn’t his fault he was younger and so much better on the guitar than John was.  John’s ego was a source of contention between the two friends.

“Maybe not with them.  But I’ll definitely be making music.”  He looked at her from the corner of his eye.  “You think I can’t?”

“I know you can.  It’s just—you’re going to be having all these grand adventures and playing for all sorts of amazing people, and I’ll be stuck in class.”  She hmphed and folded her arms across her chest.  “It’s not fair.”

He laughed when he saw her pout.

“Ah, but once you’re done with school, I’ll take you with me.  We’ll go everywhere together.”  He dropped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side.  “I’ll even pay for you.”

“Oh, you’re so generous.”  She grinned.  “And you promise, while I’m still in school, when you have millions of fans, lots of money, and beautiful women sneaking into your room, that you won’t forget me?”

“How many women?”  She reached over and smacked his knee.  “Just kidding, love.  I could never forget you.”

“Good.”  She leaned her head against his chest and yawned.  “Can you tell Louise I want to talk to her?”

“About?”

“I just have some questions.”

“Regarding?”  She rolled her eyes but didn’t move to look up at him.

“I want to ask her some things about being a ‘woman’ that I don’t really feel comfortable asking me mum.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”