Hey You ⌲ Paul McCartney

13 // hello hello

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January 27, 1956 // 12:15 pm
{ Soundtrack; Hello Hello - Elton John ft. Lady Gaga }

I sat in my squeaky wooden chair with a fatigued gaze fixated on the chalk board. It was a cold and tiresome morning, but I'm quite proud I got through the first half of school without actually dying. The air-conditioning vent seemed to hate me with a passion, especially regarding the fact that I was the only student shivering like a wet puppy in the class.

I tugged at my textured loosely-tailored school uniform and stared at the floor. It was dirty - well quite frankly, everything was in this prime and prestigious girls-only institute. The clock hands slowly picked at each second, with each clicking sound making me excited for the next. I impatiently tapped my pencil at the side of my desk, leaning over with my head rested on my hand.

After the lunch bell finally decided to ring, I packed up my bags and headed out the door. "Wait, Miss Goodman? May I have a word with you?" My professor alerted. I stepped back, slowly trying to conceal any intention of ditching to him.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm very proud of how diligently you've been working, and if you keep it up you could very easily get accepted to Cambridge and many other elusive schools," he gave me a friendly smile as I nodded. Cambridge sounds nice, sure... But I'd much rather attend the University of Oxford to pursue writing and journalism, and I'm very adamant about that.

"Thank you, I'll take account into that. Have a good evening," I quickly gave him a short talk because I needed to get out. This is simply the most perfect time to ditch and I had formulated this very plan in the duration of this evidently boring class. Lunch was perfect because all the officials take a 5 minute break to get their lunch, and that my friend, is when you make a break for it.

I sighed with a million thoughts bombarding my mind as I stealthily snuck to the entrance of the school. My head hurt because virtually every person I've came across today had talked to me about college, and being at the tender age of 14, I had to just nod and smile. There's no way in hell I'm deciding that now.

The inhospitable frosty air nipped at my hands and fingers; and much to my dismay - making me shiver again. I wish this wretched weather would just push off.

As I successfully turned the corner of the school, I caught a brief glimpse of the Liverpool Institute for Boys (who they'd never let us speak to or even acknowledge in that matter) It was undoubtedly absurd how they let us out early in order to be out of the way when the boys came. I stopped in my tracks as I studied the rusty pillars placed in front of the institute. I've never noticed them that much.

It was a typical dull, monotonous rainy day as I strode along the soaked cobblestone pathways. The seagulls flew up by, squawking and flapping their wings, sometimes even circling me. I looked up at them, watching as they soon dispersed into the foggy clouds. When I looked back down to my eye-level though, I came face-to-face with a boy who seemed a little out of touch with reality. That makes 2 of us, I guess.

"I'm sure we're on the same page, so why don't we go get some food?" He suggested after squinting his glossy hazel eyes at mine and snickering. He obviously had ditched before. His dark, auburn hair fell over his face, damp with water accumulated from the misty air. I nodded, but also stayed quiet because I wasn't actually allowed to talk to him. He was though, so dreamy!

We found ourselves at the local sandwich shop and we both ordered the same sandwich, unavoidably striking up conversation. "I'm Penny," I finally said after several minutes of dead silence. He smirked to himself and shot his eyes up to me.

"James," he said. "You go to the girls institute, yeah?" I nodded again.

I saw his face: a handsome face, creased with curiosity and yes, bearing its own battle scars. But I didn't see him as an amoral, worldly, and a philandering man like how my professors would label and ridicule the boys in the institutions across the promenade. I saw him as an inquisitive boy who existed separate from everything and only found comfort in his own ideals. I craved that sort of tranquility.

"It's quite horrible, actually. The teachers are constantly badgering me about the idea of college... I'm only 14 damnit, what do you want from me?" I vented in a subtle manner. He did laugh, though, which made me happy.

"I can agree. Me teachers are always telling me that I'm not good enough, and that music is not gonna get me anywhere... I just tell them to piss off though." I laughed at this one. We both seemed oddly comfortable with each other, as if we've been friends for quite a while.

"I tell me teachers I want to write and they just laugh. It's like they couldn't care less that you want to do something other than football or rugby."

"It's absolute shite. Merseyside kids just fancy sports, that's all. What happened to music and writing and showcasing art? Has it simply gone all down the drain?" He a added dourly.

After lunch we both walked out to the misty air. He squinted up at a creak between 2 clouds and pointed. "See that? There's the sun." He pointed to the slightest notion of the sun and smiled. It was very faint, especially in these weather conditions, but it made me think. 

~

I fell in love with him that very day, I just knew it. I never felt so inflicted between the thought of falling in love and falling too fast. It was although, fate that we both saw each other at the perfect time and at the perfect place. But... Unfortunately, my feelings for him were both beautiful and terrifying at the same time like nature itself.

For the next few weeks I would wait in front of his institute after school was let out. I wanted to speak to him, even though his intentions were probably not mutual. I waited patiently - actually desperately, for him to come out and greet me with a sly but cheeky smirk. But he never came out. The week went by at the slowest possible pace.

I hated him each and every day for not coming out. On Thursday, I knew he acknowledged me, because he walked out to the pillars and glanced around as if he were looking for something or someone. He took one quick glance at me, brought his eyes to the floor then turned around - ignoring me completely.

On Friday, I decided that would be the last day I would wait for him outside of his school. I even unbuttoned my blouse, tied my hair into a tight ponytail. After waiting for a few minutes, he came out from behind the pillar.

He was snogging this blonde Brigitte Bardot-like bimbo and running his hands up and down her curvy physique. I stood there, like a fool in the rain, subsequently running home and trying to wipe away all my tears and be stoic as possible for the only boy who'd made me feel as though I was walking on clouds.

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Ooh thanks for reading this short but cute little flashback! Paul and Penny have had this very rocky beginning and keep reading for more flashbacks that will gradually tell you how they started dating and y'know lol.

Oh! And I'm turning 16 soon! Woo! Btw, did you guys catch the Almost Famous reference? Did you figure out what Penny's real name was? (: