Lonely People

Meet Miss Janice

Molly and I celebrated New Year's quietly, at her house. We rang in 1962 without anyone to share that special New Year's kiss with. That was nothing new for me, I've never been in a relationship, let alone kissed anyone. Molly, however, was a bit bummed she didn't have anyone.

Even so, New Year's was lovely. It came and went in a flash and, the very next day, Molly and I were holding auditions. We had taken Brian's advice to heart and decided to add another member to our band. It was difficult to create all the needed sounds when we only had one person on guitar and one person doing percussion. At the last show, I had to play drums with one hand and tambourine with the other. What we needed was an extra set of hands, lungs, and a fresh face to join our revolution.

Revolution was as small of a band as you could possibly get, it was like starting over with The Quarrymen once again. Our name meant nothing to anybody outside of our circle of friends. Our goal was to be bigger than Elvis, that way we could reach as many ears as we possibly could. Molly was sure we would be able to do it, but I had my doubts. One Liverpudlian band had already gotten lucky enough to hit it big by suburban standards, there was very little luck left. Without anybody knowing the name of Revolution, our auditions were small. 

The only advertising we had was a few posters put up around town. We had originally intended to hold the auditions in The Cavern, but it was closed for cleaning. We tried to hold it in the school gymnasium, but they denied us. The last place we could hold it was the old gazebo in the park by the bay.

"This place is rubbish," I muttered, "It smells like fish. I'm going to have to boil myself to get the fish smell out!"

Even the wood of the gazebo smelled like fish. Not many people ever went to that park, unless their noses didn't work. It was fermented with the smell of the nearby pier, where fishermen unloaded their catch of the day. If it weren't for the overpowering fish smell, it was reek of the booze the sailors guzzled like a car guzzles gasoline.

"It's the best we could do. At least the place isn't falling apart," Molly replied.

As if on cue, one of the boards in the roof cracked. A large bird flew off of it, obviously aware of how terrible this gazebo was. I rolled my head to glare at Molly who simply smiled sheepishly.

"The gazebo doesn't matter," Molly cleared her throat, "What matters is the people who show up."

"Right, if anyone shows up."

"Stop being such a downer."

"I only speak the truth."

Molly shook her head. We both settled down on the bench, the only one left standing, and waited. I doodled on the notepad that was supposed to be for writing down my thoughts on the participants. Molly looked around, doing her best to smile despite the absence of people. I glanced up at her every so often. After twenty minutes, it seemed as if that would be nobody.

"We should have made more flyers," I muttered, "Hung them up in record stores and such."

Molly sighed, "We made as many as we could."

Between the two of us, we only had so much money to stretch. The only job we had was working at The Cavern, and that didn't pay much. While I thought Revolution could generate a steady income, I was seriously beginning to consider getting a job in the meantime. 

"Melly, look," Molly whispered.

She pointed over my lap and towards the road. I followed her finger. A girl was walking up to us. She looked to be a year or two younger than Molly and me, though looks can be deceiving. She walked like a child would when they've done something wrong. Her eyes were glued to the ground, and her feet barely separated. Even by Liverpool standards, she was pale. What she lacked in skin pigment, she made up for in freckles, they almost completely covered her body. The only way she could get a tan was for her freckles to merge together, and they were coming close. Her hair was cut shorter than the usual style, but it had waves like the ocean on a windy day. Had it been straightened, it may have reached her shoulder blades.