Bad to me

Chapter 6

I awoke the next morning to Mum yelling into my room. It was a Sunday, and Mum made our family go to church. I would rather sleep in, but there was no point in arguing with Mom! She always had the last say. I stayed in bed a few minutes afterwards though. Listening to the familiar sounds of our house. I could hear my Dad singing along to the radio downstairs, my mother dropped something in the kitchen, causing our cat to come tearing up the stairs. Danny was yelling at Mum about how his shirt was stained. Next door, I could hear the also familiar sounds of George…..oh. 

A pain came into my stomach, a pain that was a mixture of fear and guilt. I instantly felt awful for treating George in such a way. I mean, his feelings were all over the map, and he was either moping, angry, or going to forget it ever happened. There was only one other thing that he might do, one that was too drastic in my case. And that was forget me completely.

 Once George had a pal, I forget his name as I didn't know him that well, anyhow, this kid once said something to George. Called him a queer because he hung around me so much (we were only about 12 and 13 or so). George told him I was his friend, and that he needn't talk to him if he didn't approve. The boy agreed, and George has ignored him ever since, even though the boy has tried to make amends. George sticks to his guns, in his own silent way. 

"Ruth! I don't want to ask a second time!" Mum exclaimed from the doorway. I groaned and tossed back the sheets, placing my feet on the cold wooden floor. 

Mum loved to get to church early. We always got there twenty minutes before the sermon started. I never knew why, but I dare not question my mother. Luckily though, the Harrison's did a well. We all sat in the same pews together. Peter, George, Danny, and I in the front, and the parents in the back. Lately though, Peter and George had the option  on wether they wanted to go to church, which caused Danny and I to have a great envy on them. If George was moping, or angry, he wouldn't come. If he was going to ignore me, or forget the whole ordeal, he would. Saying as we walked with the Harrison's, Mum made me run next door. I knocked on the front door, while fixing my shoe heel. Someone yelled "Get the door!" from inside. Seconds later, the door swung open and George stood in front of me. His tie was crooked, and the collar of his shirt was flipped up. He stared at me. 

"Um… hi." he muttered before looking away with a blush. 

"Georgie, can't ye tie a tie yet?!" I said straightening his tie, and fixing the collar. After I did that, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you last night." I whispered. 

"S'okay. I should be the one apologizing." he whispered back. I let him go and looked at him. 

"Now lets just forget this ever happened alright?" I asked. He looked at me for a second, and then nodded. Silence heals certain wounds I suppose.

"Well!" Marcy exclaimed from behind me. I jumped and almost slammed my locker door on my finger.

"Well what?!" I asked.

"How'd it go with that boy!" Lily said grabbing my lock and closing my locker. She had a thing for that. We all just let her do it and not ask questions about it.

"Not just any boy you twit! John Lennon! He's in art college is he not?" Nicole asked. I shrugged my shoulders. 

"Dunno. Only met 'im yesterday. Slammed face first into 'im." 

"Awww! Thats adorable!" Penny exclaimed. "Do you like him?"

"Well he's cute and all but…" thats all they needed to start all talking at the same time about how I needed to talk to him and get to know him. "Jesus you guys! Can't hear meself think!" I exclaimed.

"Wait a sec, innit he Georges mate though?" Marcy asked.

"I thought ye liked George!" Penny stated.

"Didn't everyone?!" Nicole said with a smile. I began to lead them away from my locker so we could get to class on time. 

"You two would make such a cute couple! I mean can't ye see 'em being the perfect couple that gets married after school and lives happily ever after!" Penny exclaimed.

Man that brings back memories……

1950

"What are we gonna play Milly?!" one of my classmates asked the leader of the large girls group. 

"I know! Lets play girls chase boys!" Milly exclaimed. Everyone seemed to agree with her. I myself didn't like the game. I chased George all the time, and it was nothing big. Besides. After you caught the boy, you had to kiss him on the cheek. That was disgusting!  But, to please the group I was hanging around with, I played along, and went for the easiest target in the group of boys we ran too. This was George of course. The boys hinted we were running after them, and ran away. Or began too. George and I had spent long amounts of time chasing after each other around our houses, so we both knew I was faster. In fact, George was so stunned by what was happening, that he didn't prepare himself for the lunge I took at him. We fell to the ground with a large thud. I quickly sat up and looked at George.

"Georgie! I'm sorry!" I yelled. He lay still for a few more seconds before opening his eyes. 

"It's ok Ruthy." he said. I quickly bent down and kissed Georges lips. But, with my luck, the entire group of children had gathered around us just in time to see it. 

"Ruth Anderson kissed George Harrison on the lips!" Milly screamed. Everyone giggled, and very few were shocked by the sounds of it.

"George and Ruthy sitting in a tree…" they all began to chant. I stood up and pushed my way through the crowd of six and seven year olds "…Kissing. First comes the love…" I began to ran down the pavement of the playground. "then comes the marriage…."  I heard the sound of Georges feet scampering after me "then comes the baby in the baby carriage!" by that time, I was too far away to say anything else to them. 

"Ruthy! Ruthy I don't wanna marry you!" George exclaimed as he caught up to me.

"I know George." I said.

George and I never played 'girls chase boys' or 'boys chase girls' again.

Ok, maybe that wasn't that similar, but people had been doing that to George and I for years. Telling us how cute we would look together, but quite frankly, I don't really know my feelings towards him. I mean I love him of course, he's my best friend. But wether or not I love him, I don't know really. And as usual, I cleared my head before I could begin to think about things like that. They were meant to be untouched for now.

The school bell rang, but I took my time and didn't rush because I decided to wait for George. That meant kicking the pebbles outside the boys school for half an hour. I was wandering out the door with Nicole, when suddenly I saw him. 

Brown hair slicked back, tight blue jeans, loose red shirt, guitar case in one hand, cigarette dangling out of his mouth, John Lennon stood on the sidewalk of the school. I gasped and looked at Nicole. She winked at me. He turned his head to me, sending a thrill through me.

"Ey! Root!" he yelled. I waved shyly and walked towards him. Nicole said goodbye to me and practically ran past me. 

"Um, hi John!" I said quietly.

"George and Paul don't get out for a half hour right?" he asked. I nodded "You waiting for Georgie?" I nodded again. He smiled down at me "Good! We can waste time together!" he said with a smile. He began to walk away. I stood there for a second, unaware of what I should do. "C'mon luv!" he exclaimed looking over his shoulder. I needn't be asked twice.