Rocket Queen (d.m)

0.1: The Beginning

Henley's P.O.V

It's another day in this hell hole. I'll be completely honest, I deeply miss Los Angeles. I lived there for three years until my parents decided to uproot our lives entirely and move here to Seattle. I'm not happy with this at all. I miss my best friend, Athena Bass. I was incredibly close with her and her brother Thomas Bass. Or as the world knows him, Tommy Lee.

I met Tommy first. He was sitting on his porch, playing a guitar as loudly as he could. It's like he wanted to show off to everyone that he had a guitar. He wasn't that good, but he was practicing. He looked up as I slammed the car door. My parents had promised me and my little brother Nico that we wouldn't move anymore. Little did we know then, that was a lie. Anyways, Tommy walked over to me as I grabbed some boxes from the back of the minivan. I remember being shocked with how tall he was. I nearly had to look all the way up to see his eyes. He had this adorable smile that was contagious.

"Need any help?" He asked, a grin on his face.

I was in a very bad mood, so I ended up snapping at him. "I'm perfectly fine, now fuck off."

Luckily, my parents and Nico were inside, so I wouldn't get scolded for using that language. I was only thirteen then. The friendship grew after that. We hung out everyday, then when I went to school, I met Athena who's my age.

It would be lie if I said I didn't have a crush on Tommy. He was two years older than me, and a very affectionate best friend. Me being young and naïve, thought he was flirting with me. I never confessed my feelings and before I knew it, him and his band, Motley Crue, were off on tour. I gave up on the dream that Tommy would ever look at me the way I did at him. He calls every day, even when he's super busy. He keeps asking if I could come out and visit him, but I doubt my parents would allow me to do that. I asked, and they shot down the idea immediately. They never liked Tommy, but they loved Athena. I was thinking I could try to convince them to let me go visit her, then we could go see Tommy in his new apartment. The lucky bastard.

I've been in Seattle for only four months. In those four months, as Nico would say, I had lost my goddamn mind. I'm constantly sneaking out late at night when I know my parents are asleep. I've mastered the ways of sneaking out of my bedroom window and shimmying down the drainpipe. I usually get one of my new best friends, Madeline Love, and we go to one of the dingy bars that we can find.

She's probably the coolest person I know, other than Tommy and Athena. She's the only one that knows where I go every night. There's two other people in our small friend group; Jake Love, Madeline's brother, and Evangeline, or Eva for short. Jake is a real sweetheart. He's the first guy I talked to when I arrived in Seattle. Well, he approached me. He said I looked lonely, which I was.

Eva is sweet too, just very dramatic at times. This one time, I accidentally slapped her arm and she acted like I punched her in the nose. She was mad at me for two days straight. The whole situation gave me a huge headache. We all laugh about it now. The more she got comfortable with me, the more she calmed down with the dramatics.

"Henley!" Eva nearly yells, causing a few nosy teenagers to look in our direction.

I glare at them before turning to Eva. "Yeah?"

"You should come over tonight! Mads and I were talking about having a sleepover at her place, and you know it's not the same without you!"

I smile at her. That sounds fun, but Madeline and I already had plans. I look around the crowded lunchroom. Three and half more hours and I can finally go get ready for our big night on the town. I'm fucking excited. "Sorry, I can't tonight. What about tomorrow?"

"That works too! We could go shopping and all that." Eva takes a sip of whatever organic drink she bought overly priced. She's into that hipster shit where she only eats and drinks 'organic' things. I think it's just a waste of money, but whatever.

Madeline smiles, pushing her light brown hair behind her ear. "Actually tomorrow works better anyway."

Eva's smile doesn't falter. Madeline and I know that if she knew we were hanging out together without her, she'd have a hissy fit. Eva just isn't cut out for what we do. I love the girl, but if any of our parents were suspicious about what we were doing, she'd crack under pressure and tell them immediately. Then we'd all be fucked. My parents would never let me out of the house again.

"Okay so we'll all meet up at your place tomorrow at like five?"

"That works," Madeline responds, looking as Jake finally sat down.

His sandy hair is falling in his face, making him look like he just rolled out of bed.

"Why're you so late?" I ask.

His face turns red as he looks down at the food he won't eat. "I-uh-fell asleep in class and no one woke me up. I was almost locked in the classroom."

I laugh, shaking my head. "The classrooms lock from the inside. All you had to do was open the door."

Jake's eyes widen. "So you're telling me I didn't have to climb out the window?"

I shake my head. "I wish I could've seen it though."

Madeline busts out laughing. "You're an idiot, Jacob."

"Shut up, Madeline," Jake sighs, his face turning even more red.

"Aw, poor Jakey is embarrassed in front of Henley," Madeline teases.

I giggle, brushing off her remark. She always teases poor Jake for having a crush on me. I don't think he does, but she's hell bent on believing he does.

"Madeline, I will break all your records when we get home if you don't stop," Jake warns.

"Don't take it out on the music," I say, crossing my arms. "They're just beautiful masterpieces. Take your anger out on something else."

"Like what?"

"I dunno," I respond. "Anything but the music."

"You really love music, don't you?"

I nod. "It's just about the only thing that brings me peace since I left Los Angeles."

"I noticed you have a lot of Motley Crue albums," Eva says. "What's that all about."

I know that I can't tell them that I know Tommy personally. Either they won't believe me, or they'll bug me until I let them meet him and the band. I can't let that happen. I'm not going to let Tommy be bothered all the time all because I let it slip. They only just started touring with Ozzy Osbourne, but they've gained a shit ton of popularity in only the few weeks they've been on tour with him.

"They're just my favorite band. Always have been. I used to watch their shows at the Whiskey before they took off," I explain.

"They allowed you into the Whiskey?" Eva asks.

"I wouldn't say allowed. I'd sneak in through the back door. I was friends with the bar tender so she let me stay." I take a sip of my tea. "Besides, they didn't care as long as I didn't drink."

Eva opens her mouth to ask another question, but the bell rings. I silently thank whoever is above. I didn't feel like getting grilled with more questions.

Me sneaking into the Whiskey is true. But after a while, Tommy just started bringing me into their dressing room so that I wouldn't have to go through all that trouble. It was a lot of fun when I could convince Athena to come along. She tried to act like she wasn't having fun, but I knew better. I miss those days.

As I settle in my seat in the AP English classroom, I start to think about tonight. I just have the feeling it's going to be different than usual. That something is going to happen. Whether it's good or bad, I have no clue. Only time will tell.