|Concrete and Gold||dave grohl|

Chapter Three•Shame Shame

One Year Later

"It all just came out of nowhere." Eliza could hear Virginia saying from inside her kitchen, talking over a glass of wine to her mother. She was listening from inside the bathroom with her ear pressed up against the door.

"I never would have expected it from him." Catherine responded, followed by a somewhat forced laugh to lighten the mood.

Catherine was right. Nobody would have expected it. It was David they were talking about. The sweet boy who would never hurt a fly had changed. He'd switched his white tennis shoes for combat boots and traded his bowl cut for hair that was longer than hers. This switch had happened nearly overnight. The Grohl family had gone to visit their cousins in Chicago, and when they came back, it's like the David she knew was gone. He'd stopped asking her to play basketball and go on walks with him. Now she had to watch as he and all of his new friends would skateboard up and down his driveway, smoking whatever it was that created the cloudy haze above their house.

"And the music. My goodness it is different. I raised that boy on Carly Simon and Fleetwood Mac. He must have gotten this from his father." Eliza heard Virginia's muffled laughter through the door.

"I hear he's in a band now. What's it called again?" Catherine asked.

"Freak Baby."

Gone was Catherine's pity laugh and out came her true laughter. "Dear lord Virginia, you deserve a medal. If my boy came home tellin' me he was in a band called Freak Baby, I'd ship him right off to boarding school."

"Well, gotta let him do what he wants with his life, don't I? I do give him credit. That boy is passionate. He practices on those drums until his hands bleed."

"Whatever makes him happy. But he's gotta work on those band names. Freak Baby is ridiculous."

Eliza pulled away from the door. She sat on the bathroom floor, picturing her and the old David. He'd always listen to her when she wanted to complain about mean kids like Blake, or about how her dad had forgotten to call for her birthday. When she told him about her dad, he went right home and had Virginia help him cook her a birthday cake. Now, when she looks out her window and sees the man that David is becoming, Eliza truly cannot believe it.

She sat back up to continue listening to their conversation. She wanted every piece of information she could get on David's sudden change of heart.

"Well he hit it off with his cousin Tracey in Chicago" She heard Virginia explain. "She took him to a punk rock show, and it all went from there. We came home and he begged me for weeks to take him to JCPenny to buy him a pair of black boots."

"Boy, you have your hands full. Have you ever been to one of his shows?"

"I've only been to one. I have to admit, they do sound good. I think David has found his passion."

Eliza had heard it too. Sometimes, when her bedroom window was open, she could hear him practicing the drums. And it sounded really good. Sometimes she'd sit there and listen, shocked at how well he could play. She'd debated going to one of his shows just to hear him play with a band, but was discouraged by that fact that he probably didn't want to see his old lame friend show up at one of his cool kid shows.

Deciding it was time to get up and go to her room, Eliza opened the bathroom door and crept down the hall, hoping to not be noticed by her mother and Virginia.

"Eliza, come say hi to Virginia." She sighed, failing her mission.

She walked into the kitchen and waved. "Hi Mrs. Grohl."

"Hi, Eliza! I love your shirt. That shade of blue has always looked so good on you. Makes your eyes pop." Another thing that Eliza greatly missed from her friendship with David was his mom. She was such a kind soul, and always knew how to make Eliza smile. Of course, she always got to see her when she hung out with her mom, but it just didn't seem the same.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." She responded.

"Eliza, dear, can you take out the garbage cans for me?" Her mom asked.

"Of course." She said as she headed towards the garage to put on her shoes. 

She walked outside, grabbed her garbage can, and began wheeling it towards the end of her driveway. It was getting dark out, and the sweet Virginia breeze tickled the back of Eliza's neck.

Once she reached the end of the driveway and set out the can, she heard the sound of wheels running along concrete. David. She turned as he rolled past her on his skateboard. He wore a black t-shirt with army green cargo pants, and a pair of combat boots on his feet. His hair was long and brushed along the back of his shoulder blades. He looked back and hit her with a soft smile, then turned back around.

That's it. Their relationship had been reduced to passing smiles. It truly broke Eliza's heart to watch the sweetest boy she knew turn his life around into something so useless.

She watched as he rode down his driveway, stopped, flipped his board into his hands, and went into his garage. Deep down inside, she wished he would turn around and come back out to talk to her. Tell her funny jokes like he used to, or come over and ask her to play a game of baseball with him. But, he went into his garage and shut the door without even looking back.

Whoever this new David was, Eliza did not like him one bit.