Just Saying... (Luke Hemmings)

New Neighbours...

“Just saying, this wall is amazing” Charlie gasped, “I’m always amazed every time I see it”. I hugged my knees to my chest, watching him as he walked along the wall. Every memory etched into each picture that stuck to the wall. The wall between each Polaroid a distance memory. I didn’t even know what colour it was anymore. “So. Where to next?” He sighed, sitting next to me, his eyes travelling over the Polaroid covered walls.

“I think I’ll just stay here” I shrugged, picking up the picture that lay on the floor, placing a dot of blue tack on the back. “For how long?” he asked, watching me as I walked up to the wall, placing the picture next to the last. “For a while” I shrugged, turning to face him. “But you never stay here longer than a week” He gasped, “What changed?” I sat down beside him, our eyes meeting for no longer than a second.

“Look around at these walls. These walls are filled with adventures, dreams I’ve lived, friends and family. Even some heartbreaks. I’m always travelling, leaving. I’ve never stayed. I don’t even know what this place is like, and I live here” I sighed, “I’ve lived my life out there. Now I want to live my life. Here” I whispered, he nodded, slowly standing up. “Well it’ll be nice to have my neighbour back again” He smiled, closing the door behind him.

I walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge. “Oh Joy. No food” I sighed, slamming the fridge door shut. “Of course there’s no food, I was gone for 9 months” I rummaged through the pile of take-out pamphlets that covered the island in the middle of the kitchen. I was never home long enough to have actual food in the house, so I just had take-outs. “Chinese, Italian, Mexican. Not feeling any of those” I mumbled, flicking through them.

Half an hour later, and a lot of tummy rumbling later, I decided on Pizza. Real exciting aye? And what even more exciting, is I now sat on my floor, eating the pizza, watching my tiny TV. And it was very peaceful, until a voice came out of nowhere, “One, two, three, four” and loud music began to play, shaking the house slightly. I picked up my phone, dialling the only number I knew in this town.

“Charlie, what the hell is that noise and where is it coming from?” I asked, walking over to the window. “Oh. Right. So you remember Mrs Winston?” He asked, “Yeah” I slowly nodded, remembering the old little lady that use to live next door, who was always in her beautiful garden. She hated me and my garden. “Well, she kind of died” My heart sank a little, a frown on my face. “And this band moved in. Obviously. They play like this, every day. So get used to it my friend”

Get used to it? It’s now 3:48am and they are still going. All I want to do is sleep and get over my jet lag, but am I able to do it with the concert going on next door? Am I ever going to sleep again? “I’m done” I cursed, making my way down the corridor, nothing on but a baggy t-shirt that came down to my thighs. I walked out the door, down the path to where the music was coming from.

I banged on the door till my fists turned red, still no answer. “You have got to be kidding me” I cursed, walking to the gate at the side. I had been here many times before to know there was more than one way to get in this house. I slowly made my way along the dark path to the end of the house. I pulled on the back door, it sliding right open. “Thank you Mrs Winston” I smirked, making my way into the house.

I followed the music to the garage, slowly opening the door, I peered through. The room was small, but big at the same time. Four boys filled the room along with a set of drums, mics, guitars, speakers (which were all being used at this current time) and a couple couches. I walked in slamming the door behind me, causing the music to stop and the boys all looking in my direction.

“Oh sorry, was that a little bit too loud?” Sarcasm filled my voice, “Alright, which one of you told the 5sos fam where we lived?” The drummer said, his eyes looking from each of the others, who looked as clueless as the next. “How did you get in here?” The red haired boy asked, placing his guitar on its stand. “The back door was open. Always is, it’s broken” I shrugged. “And how did you know that?” the brown haired boy said, looking at me suspiciously, “Are you a spy?” he half whispered, looking me up and down.

“No” I rolled my eyes, “I’m not a spy. I’m the girl next door.” I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest. “Okay, so why are you here?” The drummer asked, walking over to stand beside the others. “Do you know what time it is? It’s 4am. Its 4am” I half whispered, my voice sounding a little angry. “All I want to do is sleep, and I can’t because all I can hear is your music pounding through the walls”

They all looked at one another, before looking at the floor. “So wait, you broke into our house, at 4 in the morning, to tell us to shut up?” The tall blonde smirked, an amused look on his face. “I only broke in, because you didn’t answer your door” I shrugged, pulling at the hem of my shirt. “Bad ass, with sick red hair” he smirked, I rolled my eyes. “Keep it down. Please” I half smiled, and with that, I left.

I woke up the next morning, kicking the sheets off before making my way out of bed. I shoved my messy red curls into a bun, rubbing my eyes as I walked down the hall. I was halfway to the kitchen, when I stopped, voices coming from behind the closed door. I walked over, slowly turning the handle, peeking my head into the room.

“She’s been to Disney land at least 5 times” The red haired boy cheered in awe, pointing from picture to picture. “She has a selfie with president Obama” drummer boy gasped, “She has a selfie with Beyoncé” the brunette boy cheered, pointing franticly at the picture. “The entire world is in this room” he gasped. I stood in the door way, watching them go from picture to picture, gasping at the wonders that filled the room.

“How’d you get in my house?” They all jumped, spinning around to face me. I looked at the, one after the other, as they just stared right back. I suddenly felt insecure, tugging the bottom of baggy t-shirt, crossing my arms over my chest. A smirk grew on each of their faces, a sight chuckle leaving the red haired boys lips. “My house, how’d you get in it?” I asked, looking at them all.

“Well, you broke into ours, so we broke into yours” The red haired chuckled, earning a nudge from the tanned brunette. “Your friend Charlie actually let us is” the drummer smiled, “Ashton” the other two moaned, punching him on the arm. “Fucking Charlie” I mumbled, rolling my eyes. “What’s your name by the way?” Ashton, as I now learnt, asked. “Raili” I smiled, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear.

“Well I’m Ashton as you’ve already heard. The fire head over there is Michael and the tanned goddess is Calum” Ashton smiled, earning just a small giggle from me and two more punches from the boys. “I’m Luke” The tall blond smiled, his phone beeped in his pocket, a smile growing on his face as he read the message. “It’s nice to meet you” I smiled, “Why are you in my house?” I looked at each of them.

 “We’re here because we wanted to get to know our neighbour” I nodded slowly, turning on my heel. “That’s it? No protest, no nothing?” Ashton asked, following me into the kitchen. “I live next to Charlie. He’s probably spends most of his time here, with either me asleep or not even here” I shrugged.

“So why were you playing at 4 in the morning anyway?” I asked, placing a tea bag into a cup, I poured the hot water in, watching red swirl taking over the clear liquid. “We have a gig in about a week, need heaps of practise” Luke said, his voice monotone, his eyes fixed on his phone. “So what, you can’t practise during the day?” I lifted an eyebrow, giving them a curious look.

“We do practise during the day” Calum chuckled, rolling his eyes. “We practise at the stadium, but we need more practise than that” they all looked at me as if it wasn’t obvious. “Are you like playing a show or something?” I took a sip of my tea, the hot water burning my tongue slightly. “You haven’t heard? We’re going on tour!” Ashton Cheered.

 “Oh sick. Are you guys like super famous or something?” Big mistake, they all looked at me like I’d shot someone, even Luke looked up from his phone. “We’re 5 Seconds of Summer” Luke scoffed, a slight smirk on his face. “Who?” I asked, scrunching my eyebrows. “Are you actually serious? You’ve travelled the world, and haven’t heard of us?” Calum asked, a slightly hurt look on their faces. I shrugged, “This is a change” Michael half smiled, “Refreshing” Ashton agreed, the other all nodding. I smiled, taking a small sip of tea, “It’s nice to be unknown sometimes. Just saying”