"I'm gonna become famous, and everyone will want me. I'm gonna be the best." A guy blabbered on to the old lady that sat next to him. She was trying to tell him that working in Hollywood was hard, but he wasn't listen to her.
Ellie listened on and frequently looked at them over Haley who was sound asleep. This was their third bus in a matter of two days and this one was filled with a bunch of dreamers who were hoping to make their mark in one way or another. She knew how hard it was to try and become famous because of the countless movies she watched where guys did the same thing and struggled for months almost years until they hit it big. Not to mention that Noah had spent three years of his life and their relationship convinced that his band was going to become a big hit. They were one of the worst bands that Ellie had ever heard, their lyrics didn't make sense and their lead vocalist, Dwight, could not sing for the life of him. All three guys were good at the instruments that they played, but not together.
Thoughts like that made Ellie laugh and realize how much of a bum Noah was, she was glad that she had gotten out of that. She was the breadwinner and always brought home money, but it wasn't enough for them to pay rent. Her parents were kind enough to help pay for it because they knew that Noah wasn't going to squat with his life, and they were always trying to convince her to leave him, but she believed that he would change and someday be a better guy that she would marry and have children with. That wasn't the case though; here she was on a bus on her way to California with her best friend in a meek attempt to hide from the guy that gave her the harsh burn on her arm. Maybe Haley was right, maybe she'd find someone either walking on the street or at the concert.
The bus was starting to get hotter as they neared the city. They passed a large green sign that read "Welcome to California" with the state flower next to it. Ellie sighed and leaned back into her seat. She wore black shorts, a crop shirt, and a long plaid shirt with her shiny black boots. This was an outfit that she wore frequently in the summer and it relaxed her. She hated being bundled up like she had to be right now in Grand Rapids so this was a good change. She jumped as Haley thrashed off her blanket and groaned looking over dramatically. "What's your fucking problem?" Ellie laughed and watched her.
"This bus is hot and it smells like ass." Haley complained looking at her pouting childishly.
"Well, we are in California and there are a ton of people on this bus." She smiled and looked out the window seeing the outline of the city in the distance. Haley shot up and pushed Ellie back into her seat so she could look out the window excitedly.
"Holy balls!" She practically and pressed her freckled face against the grimy window.
"That disgusting don't do that, we're gonna need to like put soap all over your face." Ellie laughed and pushed her face off the window. Haley smiled and laughed softly leaning her head on me. We spent the next hour or so planning out how we were going to get to the house which was in the middle of nowhere by the beach. It was nice and quiet and something that Ellie just needed with everything going on in her fucked up life. Before they knew it the bus pulled to a stop and the two girls jumped up trying to get out of there before anyone else. Ellie jumped down the stairs landing on the burning pavement and made her way to grab her luggage from under the bus. "Fuck me silly, it's hot as balls!" She said leaning her head back and groaned softly looking at her friend who was struggling to get her bag out. The bus driver came over and gave one hard tug and her bag slid out perfectly.
"I'm just weak I guess." Haley smiled and chuckled as she walked over to Ellie. Both of them strolled inside to the semi comfort of the air conditioning. Ellie grabbed a quarter out of her bag as she walked to the pay phone dialing the number for a taxi service.
"Yeah?" A deep voice said over the phone.
"Uh, hi. I need a cab to 1715 North Cahuenga Blvd." Ellie spoke and rubbed her chin leaning against the case of the phone. Haley sat on the floor watching her and staring out the window.
"Where are you going?" The guy asked with a grunt. Ellie told him the address and waited for him to approve. "Okay, we'll send someone in about 10 minutes." He said and she nodded but remembered that the guy couldn't fucking see her.
"Rad, alright thank you." She said before hanging up and walking back over to her friend sitting down. "Someone's coming." She yawned and covered her mouth sticking her legs out looking at people that were waiting or leaving. She hummed softly to herself swinging her feet side to side and tapping her hands on her stomach. They stayed there for about 15 minutes before a bright yellow cab pulled up and a sleazy looking guy walked in calling for them. The girls exchanged glances before getting up and walking over to the guy telling him that the ride for them. He took their bags politely and threw them in the back of his car. They climbed into the dirty back seat and that had some interesting stains and smells. Once again they exchanged looks and held hands for protection. It was a sketchy place and they knew that they shouldn't trust anyone especially strangers.
As they drove, the guy attempted to have a conversation with them. He asked why they were visiting, or if they were trying to make it big, and asked where they were from. The guy seemed nice and was going to get a good tip for being a chill guy, but not a big one for how disgusting this place was. Ellie felt as though she needed to take a year long shower till her body looked like a wrinkled old lady so she felt clean. The ride was almost an hour long and uncomfortable towards the end because no one spoke and the guy was constantly hacking up his left lung and sounding like he was dying. They pulled up to a large white beach house that had a wrap around porch, shutters on every window, and just straight up cute. Ellie's face contorts in confusion when she noticed a new house next to hers, but it had been about 5 years since she had been there so anyone could have built a place there. She was just praying that this guy was nice. She had some difficult neighbors before and it was something that she hated with a burning passion, someone who didn't have respect for others and considered themselves the only ones that were living in the area. As they grabbed their bags Ellie noticed the door open and standing out in the yard watching them was John Frusciante. She almost choked in the middle of her sentence to the taxi driver but recovered and handed him the money. "Here you go, thank you." She said smiling. "Keep the change please." She told him trying to usher him on quickly so she could try and talk with John as soon as possible. Haley meanwhile was just straight up staring at John with literally no shame. She was in love with him and couldn't believe he was standing right there waiting to talk to them. This had to be a dream! It couldn't be real because they were going to see him in a few days, but they were seeing him now. "Haley don't stare at him! He probably gets that enough." Ellie pinched her arm snapping her out of the trance and gulping hard.
"But.. John." She sputtered out and watched her friend bring her bag over to the porch and place it down before making her way calmly over to the long haired man who was developing the sweetest smile upon his face. Ellie stuck her hand out to him as she approached.
"How yah doin', I'm Ellie Peabody. That Haley Barnett. We're gonna be neighbors I'm guessing for a little bit." She said as John took a firm grip of her hand and shook it up and down.
"John Frusciante, but I'm guessing your friend knows that already. Is she okay by the way?" He asked with a laugh looking over Haley who was red in the face and staring at him once more.
"She's fine, we're just big fans of your band and all. We won't be much of a bother I promise we're just here for about three weeks to escape some stress." Ellie explained kicking Haley in the ankle so she would stop staring again. The shade in John's house caught her eye as it moved as though someone was looking through it. John noticed her glance but didn't mention it to her giving a smile to Haley and shaking her sweaty hand.
"So where are you guys from?" He asked crossing his arms and admired Haley thinking she was rather cute looking.
"Grand Rapids, Michigan." Ellie told him and John's eyes slightly widened. This couldn't be the Ellie that Flea and Anthony had picked up a few nights ago in the pouring rain. She shared some of the features that Anthony had been blabbering about that night, but there had to be a bunch of Ellie's there...right? Haley looked like she might faint which caused Ellie to supportively wrap her arm around her with a smile. "We're gonna go inside. It was nice meeting you John." She said.
"Yeah you too, I hope you don't faint Haley." He said sincerely which caused her to inhale sharply and Ellie to look at her like she was crazy. John laughed softly and walked back to the door opening up the door, but was immediately attacked by Anthony jumping on him.
"Dude! That's fucking her! Holy shit!" He yelled running back to the window and watching her help Haley into the house.
"What are the god damn chances." John said shaking his head and watching him look at this girl longingly until she vanished indoors. "She looks like she got roughed up though Anthony. What if she came here to get away from something bad? She had a cigarette burn on her wrist and a bunch of bruises." He said. He had studied her closely and took notice to all of that.
"Well then, someone's gotta protect her right?" He asked giving a crooked smirk and sat down on the couch wiping his finger along his lip.
"Give it time before you introduce yourself to her, her friend almost lost her fucking mind to me being there." John warned.
"Yeah, but Ellie's already met me." Anthony noted pointing his finger at him.
"She didn't know that was you. Flea called you guys Tony and Michael and she didn't really know what you looked like because it was dark." John defended causing Anthony to curse and lean his head back gapping his mouth open and shutting his eyes letting out a groan.
Ellie sat Haley, who was still in shock, on the couch. The house smelt old and dusty, family pictures hung around and were placed on the coffee table and end tables. After moments of silence and Ellie studying the house, Haley screamed at the top of her lungs. "DID THAT JUST FUCKING HAPPEN!?" That caused Ellie to jump and grab her ears for protection.
"Yes I think it did." She said nodding and bit her lip. Where John was meant that Anthony Kiedis wasn't too fair away. Ellie's chances of meeting the man she had a crush on for a while now had just increase.