September 27th, 1990
Seattle, WA
"Phew, last box. I think" Laura huffed as she firmly placed the box on the newly painted wood floor. We still had like, seven left, but I didn't want to ruin the moment.
I gave her a playful, but evil stare, "I'm the one who carried the majority in here, don't know why you're complaining Laura"
She laughed and shook her head, "Oh come on, enough of the complaining, look at this place! It might be small, but it's so beautiful. I can't believe you're going to live here."
I looked down at my feet and smiled, "I guess, but I am a little scared. I know we always used to come here for holidays and shit, but I've never really warmed to the idea of living here. It's way busier and bigger than Olympia,"
She smiled and grabbed my hand, "Hey, I'll be right here with you the whole time. It's great here! The music is great, the people are great, the coffee is great and I can't wait for you to meet my friends!"
I've always been slightly disheartened by the word 'friend' and Laura must've picked up on it as my face grew glum.
"Hey.." She put her hand on my shoulder to comfort me, "They're nothing like those stupid girls in Olympia.. Okay, they are bit stupid, but it's a different kind of stupid"
I smiled at her as she brought me in for a hug, which was very abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Great timing.." I muttered to myself as Laura got up and opened the front door.
"Finney! You've made it in one piece!" Laura exclaimed from the front of my apartment.
I quickly got up and ran to see Finney, as I've barely seen her for the past couple years, due to... Well... Going in and out of rehab isn't the best for family life, if I do say so myself.
Finney was always the pretty child, she had a beautiful face structure, beautiful hair and a slim body. She was the boy magnet. Growing up, I was always jealous of her, but now, I've learnt to live with the fact that I will die ugly and alone.
"Hey Annie, It's been a while" She smiled warmly and hugged me.
I hugged her tightly, and buried my face in her long black hair.
"You know, you should move to Seattle too. Apparently the music scene is great, so it's good for your band. And you'll be closer to Laura and I" I said with a tone of sarcasm, but I was secretly hoping she would consider it.
"I would, but I'm not really ready for the big town life, and Kurt's band is starting to gain traction in Olympia, so we probably shouldn't mess with that. Speaking of bands, I have to go collect instruments, and then go back to Olympia" She sighed, "I'm so sorry Annie, I'm planning on stopping on the way home to check up on you, okay?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, "Okay... Well bye I guess.." I mumbled.
She smiled sadly at Laura and I, then waved and walked away.
I tried to contain my watery eyes to not let Laura worry about me, but she noticed anyway because that's just how she is.
"Hey, I know how to cheer you up.." She hugged me from behind and giggled slightly.
I took yet another deep breath in and out, "What Laura? Last time you said that you tackled me and then I broke your arm, for the second time"
"You should come and meet Chris, our flat is just down the road from you" She said.
"Ohh, so that's why you picked this place for me! Boy you are so smart aren't you?" I groaned.
She put her hands together and fluttered her lashes at me, "Yeah... Now can we go please?"
"Okay. ONLY because I have nothing else to do" I sighed, defeated.
I hate meeting new people.
"Fantastic! Now let's go!" She yelled while dragging me out of my apartment and down the stairs.
"Woah calm down! Why are we running?" I yelled to her so she could hear me.
"Because I wanna see Chris! Duh!" She laughed.
That made her run even faster, lucky for her, my anger management paid off. You're looking at a gold medalist in school running events. I was told to focus my anger into sports as a child, so I sprinted past her and blew raspberries at her.
"Hey get back here you dog!" She grabbed my arm, pulling me back to her slow speed.
"God you're slow!" I snickered at her as we arrived at her flat. She stood on the front lawn and tried to contain her panting.
"Hah, you really are a dog" I joked. "We didn't even run that far"
She smiled at me and put her arm around my shoulder as we walked to the front door. Laura gestured for me to knock on the door, so I did. I nearly broke the door down.
Hey? It's called first impressions? I'm not going to be known as a soft loser who lets everyone walk over her. We all have to start somewhere.
"Hold onnnnn!!" A distorted voice came from inside the building.
The door opens, and a slender man with brown, dark hair and big, bulging eyes, opens the door for us.
"Oh, hey Laurie. We were just jamming, good to see you" He said and pulled her in for a hug.
"Wait, so you're Chris? I thought my sister had better taste" I snickered.
The man was taken aback and looked at me funnily, "Chris? My name is Stone, you lunatic. Chris is inside. Also might I ask who you are?"
"Don't mind her," Laura whispered to him and covered her face in embarrassment.
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow, "I'm Laura's sister, Annahlise, and sadly you'll be seeing a lot of me. And who names their kid Stone anyway? That's the dumbest name I've ever heard,"
"Ohhh, this is the infamous Annahlise. You should've said something Laura. I would've come to the door in head gear" He groaned.
I poked my tongue at him and he started cackling.
"Oh you're gonna be real fun, Annie. And put that tongue away!" He snickered and gestured us to come inside.
I followed behind Laura as we walked through the house, and closer to the loud guitar noises.
"Hey Chris, someone's here to see you. And someone else too, straight from the fiery pits of hell." Stone said as he walked through the door and pointed to Laura and I.
"Laurie You're here!" A man with Curly, dark, long hair and a clean shaven face called out.
He put his guitar down and held out his arms as Laura and ran into his arms. He kissed the top of her head and smiled.
"Umm so... Do you like live here?" I tried to make the moment less awkward and whispered to Stone beside me. I was used to third wheeling, but somehow this felt a lot different, and lot more awkward.
"No? I was going to move in after Andy died but Laura beat my scrawny ass to it" He muttered.
I pursed my lips and slowly nodded, wait who the hell is Andy?
"Who's that?" I whispered back while Laura and Chris were still having their little moment.
His face went glum in a span of 3 seconds.
"He was one of our really good friends, but he passed earlier this year" He spat out, while trying not to tear up.
Oh right... Laura had mentioned him a couple of times actually. I wish I met him, he seemed cool.
"Oh... Sorry" I patted his shoulder. I'm not very good at comforting people, but I am immensely good at making people UNcomfortable.
"Come over here Annie!" Laura yelled across the room to us.
Stone yanked my arm and dragged me over to them.
"Hi Annie, nice to meet you" He said while his arm was over Laura's shoulder, "I hope I'm an upgrade from lil Stoney over there" He raised his brow and looked over at Stone, who was playfully flipping him off.
He definitely was an upgrade from Stone, he was very handsome and I could definitely see what Laura was going on about. I would totally go out with him if Laura hadn't snatched him up prior.
"Hmm, I guess you are," I said while looking him up and down.
"Laurie says you play? Are you any good?" He said while pointing to his guitar.
"I mean, I wouldn't say I'm Jimi Hendrix level, yet. But I can play a mean Stairway to Heaven" I shot him a smug look.
"Well, that's good. We might need a guitar player in the future, especially if Stoney can't keep up" He whispered.
"I heard that!" Stone grumbled, but he knew he was only kidding.
"Hey, why don't you come to our new year's party? We are hosting this year! It's good to have new people!" Laura turned to Chris for reassurance.
"Oh right! You definitely should! Last year's New Year's party was so fun. The parts I can actually remember anyway" Chris reminisced.
Before I was able to give my answer, which was maybe another time, Stone answered for me.
"Of course she will!"
I shot him a No I won't! look, but the decision was made.
"Great!" Chris beamed.
"Ooh! I can't wait to see my new bestest friend in the whole wide world there!" Stone swung his arm around my shoulder.
I frowned, "Be careful. You might knock someone's socks off with that enthusiasm"
Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Except the Stone part. That was bad.