Night in the Ruts

Penny Lane - Steven

The Walrus?! Are you fucking kidding me? I could've said Lucy, Jude, Michelle, Mr. Mustard, Sargent Pepper... and of all things I pick The Walrus?!

I want to slam my head down on the steering wheel of Penny-who's-real-name-I-don't-know's sister's car. But that would wake her up.

I told her a name from another Beatles song because I was hoping that'd make her tell me her real name. It didn't. And now she's coming back to the hotel with me to stay the night.

Despite all that, tonight has been a great night. Really, great. We played pretty well, and I actually was singing at one point to the girl right next to me. She's very pretty. Adorable, too. Something about the way her nearly-black hair falls around her face, a little piece of hair hanging down to partially obscure her left eyebrow. I guess you'd call it side-bangs or something. And then her gorgeous blue eyes, as deep as the ocean. I could write a whole song about them. And her little pixie-esque nose, the way it curves like a ski-slope and is dotted with freckles. She's just so tiny, too. Hardly more than five feet tall. It's hard to believe she's seventeen. She could be twelve. She didn't need the makeup that she was wearing.

Now her sister on the other hand of things. Yes.

Completely the opposite of not-so-Penny. Brown eyes, blond hair that cascades down her back and rests on her large hips. And the little skirt she wore exposed long, spray-tanned legs, and the pink shirt with no sleeves...

But I like Penny Lane better. And I don't know why. She's not the type of girl I'd go for. Shit, she's not the type of girl any of us would go for. She's shy, quiet, but bursts out with these little bouts of sarcasm and it's just funny. The way she refused a beer, too. She follows rules, even ones that are more-often-than-not broken. And I like it. A lot.

That's why I invited her back to the hotel with us.

We were having such a good time laughing and talking that I just didn't want it to end. For awhile now it's been play a show, go backstage, find a groupie, wake up somewhere the next morning with her in the bed not remembering a thing. But this time was different. Way different. It was enjoyable.

--

I parked the car next to the van at the hotel we had booked. Just so happens we were booked under the name Penny Lane. Coincidence or fate?

I turned off the car but I didn't get out of it. I was trying to figure out the best way to wake her up–say Penny a few times, poke her, I don't know–when Joe (manager Joe) walked over to my window. I cranked it down.

"What're you doing?" he asked, annoyed.

"She's asleep," I whispered.

"So wake her up." Our manager really isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch.

"No," I say.

"Why not?"

"What's the point?" I ask smartly. Our manager knows I'm high past hope at this point. He knows to just let me do whatever I want (in reason), and eventually he'll get his way.

So I get out of the car and go over to Penny's door. Maybe her name really is Penny. Hmm...

I open her door and undo her seat-belt and then I–because I really didn't want to wake her up–pick her up (which is actually easy, even with how tiny I am) and carry her inside. Joe (guitarist, asshole Joe) ridiculed me by smirking and making some snide remarks.

He's no better. I doubt he even knows Penny's sister's name. Or her fake name.

So we go up to the room we booked and basically pass out as soon as we lay down. Because it's first-come-first-serve in this band, the first ones up to the room get the two beds. Third one up gets the couch. The other two get the chairs. The last two, if they have girls, are typically very unlucky.

So, in which case, whoever doesn't have a girl gets the chairs. We all had girls. Manager Joe booked another room.

Tom snagged the couch, Joe pretty much, as mentioned, passed out on one of the beds with Penny's sister. The second room had one bed and a couch. Brad and Joey took that room.

Being considerate, I managed to hold Penny with one arm while I ripped the covers down. Jesus, I wasn't kidding when I said she was tiny.

I laid her down and untied her tennis shoes (who sleeps in shoes?), putting them on the floor next to her.

Wait, what about me?

Manager Joe stole the chair the minute it was available. Now where do I sleep? I'm never gonna sleep in the bathtub ever again–not after Joe (guitarist Joe) turned the shower on to wake me up a few months ago. That was quite unpleasant.

Well... I hope she won't mind...

It's a big bed. What's the big deal? There is no big deal. No deal at all, actually. Just two people sleeping. That's all.

Yep. Not weird. No.

So it's a little weird. My question though is how she didn't wake up after all that. I mean, the loud elevator, the loud bandmates, just the noise in general. And then the fact that if I were like eight inches shorter, I'd be just as tiny as–maybe smaller than–Penny and I was trying to carry her.

But it's decided that I like Penny. I like her very much. And it kind of scares me.

Despite that is scares me, it makes me happy. Very happy. Penny Lane is very perfectly imperfect. Her teeth are straight and white though her smile is lopsided. I like the way her eyes sparkle when she laughs too. Shit, I just like her laugh. Her laugh is tinkle-y like sweet melodic bells.

What the fuck did I just say?

And she smells good. Like if sunshine had a smell, then Penny smells like sunshine.

I get to bask in the sunshine all night now, too. Which is kind of nice. I only wish the circumstances were different.

I also only wish I knew her real name. I'd like to get to know her. Not Penny Lane, but this real girl next to me. I'd like to really get to know her. She's a mystery that I'm drawn to and want to solve. A beautiful, perfect, funny, sunshiny mystery. And if I haven't said it enough, I like her.

--

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A/N: Hello my darling, faithful readers! I've been writing on my phone all week–every chance I got–while I was marching at band camp. Which is all week and all day from 7AM-11PM. So I stayed up late writing just for you guys because you're all amazing :)

Anyway, this is kind of a filler chapter because I wanted to give you guys a different perspective on the characters and whatnot...

But, yeah. This one will be written from the point of view of three different characters. The third hasn't even been introduced yet, but it's coming.

Question: does this seem like it's gonna be pretty good? Comment and stuff. I've already got 15 reads which is pretty awesome if you ask me ;)

So yep. That's all! Love you and your comments,

-M