Wonderland // McFly

Gotta Escape Now

November 5, 2004

I walk into the studio quickly. It's a lot harder to get around when you don't have a car. I run to the front desk.

"Hi I'm wondering what studio McFly is in?" I ask. A grumpy old woman looks up at me.

"Down the hall." She says. I pause.

"Yes...but...." I begin but she looks at me with no patience and I race down the hall.

I find them in the third studio to the right and go in. Fletch turns and smiles at me.

"Lilly! Great to see you." I smile and see four boys behind him. "This is McFly." He says gesturing to the boys. two of them smile, one of them waves and one of them does nothing.  "Boys, introduce yourselves." He says. All the boys look at the one who waved and he turns to me.

"I'm Tom." He says, shaking my hand. Then the next one starts.

"Harry." He says, shaking my hand.

"Danny." The next one says. Then they all turn to the last one.

"That's Dougie." Danny says. I nod and put my hand out to shake his. He slowly and cautiously shakes my hand.

"I'm Lilly." I say to all of them.

"Hey! Are you from up North?" Danny asks, at my accent.

"Yeah." I smile. "Bolton, originally."

"Me too!" He says.

"Great. We've got two of them." Harry replies. Tom elbows him quickly in the gut.

"It's nice to meet you." Tom smiles.

Tom was tall with a round face and blonde hair that spiked down around his head. Harry was also tall with brown hair and blonde highlights that spiked up, but was longer in the back. Danny had long brown hair that was bone straight and covered a bit of his crystal blue eyes. Dougie was small, with blonde hair that covered his eyes a bit to one side. His eyes were a nice blue too.

"Do you have a computer?" Fletch asked me, snapping me out of my haze.

"Uh..." The truth is, I don't have a computer, but I don't want that to be the one thing that keeps me from the job. "Yes." I say.

"Perfect, can you bring it in next time?" Fletch asks.

"It's a desktop." I say.

"Alright, well just contact me through email." He smiles. Email? I don't have an email! How do I get an email?

"Right." I say.

"I'm going to run out to get some breakfast, the boys are just going to be practicing. You can leave and come back at noon or stay, whatever you like." He says.

"I'll stay." I say.

"See you boys later. Behave." Fletch says. The boys nod and mumble. When Fletch leaves,  I take my gloves and jacket off and put my bags down.

"You don't have a computer, do you?" I hear Harry say.

"What?" I ask.

"What makes you think that?" Danny asks him.

"I can tell. Trust me." Harry says.

"Excuse me, Mr. Harry-know-it-all, but for your information, I do have a computer, and frankly it's quite bloody brash of you to make assumptions about a girl you just met." I say. Harry walks to his drum set.

"Well, why don't we get to know each other first?" Tom asks.

"Sure." I say, sitting in a chair. All the boys sit on the floor around my chair. Okay...that is not what I expected.

"You start, Tom!" Danny says, excited.

"I'm Thomas Michael Fletcher, born July 17, 1985 in Harrow. I have a little sister named Carrie and when I'm not playing for McFly I like to read." He smiles. I nod. What is this? Nursery?

"Uh...Danny?" I say. Danny smiles.

"I'm Danny Alan David Jones. I was born in Bolton on March 12, 1986. I have a sister named Vicky and when I'm not playing for McFly I like to play football!" He says. "Oh, and I like monkeys!" I nod.

"Harry?" I ask. He sighs.

"I'm Harry Mark Christopher Judd. My birthday is the 23rd of December 1985. I've got a brother named Thomas and I like to play cricket in my free time." He says.

"Dougie?" I ask. Dougie looks up at me, frightened.

"That's Dougie Lee Poynter." Danny says. "His birthday is November 30, 1987. He was born in Essex and he likes lizards." He's my age. Great. The one member of the band that's my age doesn't talk.

'"You're birthday is soon mate?" I ask him. He looks at me.

Okay.

"What about you?" Danny asks. "Tell us about you."

"I'm Lilly Samantha Greene. I'm from Bolton, but I now live in London. I don't have any siblings." I say.

"What about your birthday?" Harry asks.

"November 1, 1984." I say.

"You don't look twenty." Harry says.

"How many things are you going to question me on?" I ask. He shrugs.

"So your birthday just passed?" Danny asked.

"Yes." I smile.

"Too bad. We missed it." He frowns.

"You should probably start to practice now." I say. They nod and get up.

Harry was too smart for me, and that made me nervous. It was true I was born in 1987, but I couldn't tell them I was barely seventeen.

When the boys had lunch break, I asked Tom to come in the hall with me.

"What's up?" He asks.

"Why doesn't Dougie talk?" I ask. Tom sighs and looks through the door at the boys.

"He does. He talks around us. He's just shy. It's who he's always been. He's only sixteen." He says.

"Yeah...that must be hard." I say.  "Thanks Tom."

"No problem." He smiles, walking back in.

And in that moment I decided I was going to get that Dougie kid to talk to me.

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