mesmerised | blake richardson

preface

Serenity Parks has been a fan of the British band called New Hope Club since 2016 when she first stumbled upon them because of another one of her favourite bands, The Vamps. Of course, she loved them, but she didn't exactly classify herself one of the crazy fans. She wasn't the type of fan to go absolutely mad if they stepped within ten feet of her; she was calmer about them than half the fans she had met at their concerts.

Serenity's supposed best friend, Rosa Vasquez, had absolutely no idea why she liked the two bands. In her opinion, which she always made sure was rather clear, they couldn't sing. Rosa was into what Serenity would call 'depressing' music, and since neither The Vamps nor New Hope Club sang depressing songs, Rosa felt the need to make it known that they sucked in her opinion. Needless to say, Serenity hasn't brought up her taste in music with Rosa in quite a while.

Serenity is a rather friendly person, as well. She's made friends online through New Hope Club and The Vamps, but none of them equalled up to another one of her best friends, Cassie Black. Serenity and Cassie met quite a few months ago, and ever since, they've been closer than Serenity and any of her other friends have ever been. The two girls met through their fan accounts on Instagram, simply because of Serenity deciding to message Cassie about the video edits she had been posting.

Serenity found it rather hard to hide her excitement from Rosa when Cassie told her that she had got the two of them tickets to go to New Hope Club's meet and greet and one of their concerts in London. She had never met Cassie, considering she lived a four-hour train ride away from her. Cassie had got the tickets for Serenity because of her birthday that was coming up rather quickly, and she thought that her meeting her idols would be a great birthday present; that, and because she thought Serenity would like to meet her, as well.

Serenity lives with her mum in a small flat near downtown London. The two of them have been living there since Serenity was fifteen; they moved in just after her father left them. She's an only child, and she doesn't see her mum a lot, so she's usually either at Rosa's or at home, facetiming Cassie.

Rosa and Serenity are pretty much polar opposites, but somehow, they make their friendship work. It's most likely because Serenity's learned that she just has to keep some things from Rosa. Rosa's a very opinionated girl, and she always makes her point of expressing her opinion, no matter who she hurts with it, or how rude it sounds. Serenity is the exact opposite. Sure, she has her opinions but she doesn't go out of her way to hurt people with it. She's too kind, some would say.

It was three days before Cassie was going to come down and spend about a week with Serenity at her and her mum's flat. Serenity was rushing around the flat, trying to tidy it up. She was currently on a call with Cassie whilst running around like a chicken with its head cut off, picking up every little piece of rubbish and reorganizing everything in her way.

"Siren," Cassie said, using the nickname she had made up for Serenity as she watched her place a hand knit blanket over the back of their couch. "You're too much of a perfectionist, even though you know your mum's going to come home later tonight, drunk off her balls, and ruin everything you just did."

"I know," said Serenity, "but I've got to have something to keep me busy, else I'll just be sitting here, screaming my head off."

"Excited?" She asked, watching Serenity crouch down in front of the coffee table where the iPad sat. Serenity smiled at Cassie through the video call.

"Of course."

Cassie and Serenity's FaceTime was cut short by a loud knock at the door. "I'll call you back later, yeah?" Serenity said, apologizing to her best friend. Cassie nodded and hung up as Serenity stood up, making her way over to the door of the flat.

She stood on her tiptoes to look through the peephole. She smiled halfheartedly as she opened the door.

"What're you doing here?" Serenity asked her mother as she walked in, hitting their shoulders together. Her smile faded as soon as she noticed that her mum was drunk, again.

"I live here," she stated nonchalantly as she ravaged through the living room, completely trashing the work that Serenity had spent the last hour and a half working on.

Rochelle Parks, everybody, was Serenity's alcoholic mum. She hadn't always been an alcoholic, but since Serenity's dad walked out, she's been constantly drunk, high, or both. Serenity's family used to be one that looked like it came straight out of a storybook. Her dad, Ezra, used to play ball with her in the backyard. He'd go on runs with her because running was her favourite thing to do. He used to sit and play cards with her and Rochelle. He used to be a good dad.

Rochelle was always there, watching and taking pictures of Serenity and Ezra playing together as Serenity grew up. She used to bake so often that there was never a day that went by that there weren't baked goods in the house. She used to make these heavenly peach shortcakes with a creamy vanilla icing that Serenity would scarf down as fast as they were made. They were always her favourite baked good.

Serenity wasn't sure why her dad left, other than the fact that Ezra and Rochelle were constantly fighting. She wasn't exactly sure why they fought either— she hadn't been around most of the times that they did. Ever since then, her mum went to shite. She became careless; she wouldn't come home until three in the morning or later, and every single time she came home she was drunk. The drugs only started earlier this month, but it made her meaner.

"Well," Serenity said, "yeah, I know that."

"Don't give me attitude, missy!" Rochelle burst out, standing up from the now-messy couch that she had sat on a few minutes earlier.

"Whatever, thanks for messing up everything I've done today," Serenity said, almost angrily. She knew not to get her knickers in a knot over her mum, but sometimes it was an impossible task.

"You're welcome," she laughed nonchalantly. Serenity ran her hands through her waist-long black hair and sighed, closing her eyes. She tried to regain herself, but it wasn't working very well.

"I'm going in my room," Serenity said, walking over to the coffee table and picking up her iPad. Rochelle opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but nothing came out and Serenity shot her a faux smile before walking down the small hallway and into her room.

She shut her door and strolled over to her bed, laying her iPad down and falling on her back onto the soft materials of her comforter. An exhausted sigh slipped through her lips as she looked around her room.

The walls in Serenity's room were a soft shade of blue— just a few tones above baby blue. It was her favourite colour. She had painted it  when she was 15, just after they moved there. There were white, lace curtains hanging from a curtain rod over her windows that let the sunlight shine through— on the days that there was sunlight, of course.

Strung around Serenity's black metal headboard was paper string lights. They had been her favourite thing when she was younger and she still loved the way they lit up her room in the dark of the night. That, and they made it easier for her to read late at night.

Serenity looked up at the roof and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Three days," she said to herself, smiling.

[ there's a playlist going to be published at the very front of the book once I finish it; keep an eye out 😌 ]