Nowhere Girl ~ John Lennon/The Beatles

Chapter Two: Cigarettes

Robin hated heights, but she liked climbing trees. Whenever she sat up in a tree it was like she could take herself away from everything else on the ground, so she had been silently thrilled when she spotted the great chestnut tree at the end of her Uncle's garden. It was small enough to not look too out of place in the rest of the garden which was just grass and weeds, but the branches were large and study enough to climb and sit in, the leaves providing Robin with all the privacy she could want from prying eyes, or so she thought. Some of the branches even grew over the fence, making their way into the neighbour's garden, but Robin decided to avoid those ones, not wanting to bother whoever was living next door.

So there she sat, a cigarette between her lips, her eyes closed, listening to the breeze and the sounds of the neighbourhood. It was peaceful, and if it wasn't for the odd scouse accent from those walking past, she almost forgot she was in Liverpool. Part of her wished she'd brought her sketchbook out, one of her smaller ones, so she could try drawing out some of the leaves, but she knew there'd be other opportunities. For now, she could just relax, and try and get her head around the move.

Despite loving Yorkshire, Robin had always wanted to move. She wanted to go and study art in London before going out to see the world. She didn't want to die in the same place she was born, and though travelling would've been a struggle given how poor her parents were, she wanted to at least try and experience things that life would not serve her if she stayed in Sheffield forever. She wanted to get out, but she didn't think getting out would mean moving hours away from everything she knew to have to settle into a new way of life. She thought getting out would be her choice, but she wasn't old enough to go out into the world on her own, so she was stuck following her mother as she rebuilt her life, but the life her mother wanted to rebuild for herself couldn't have been any further from what Robin wanted.

Truthfully, Robin wasn't sure what she wanted, but she knew that what she wanted didn't include losing her father and having to start again in a new city under the roof of her Uncle, who'd apparently made his fortune in the restaurant business. He'd offered to take in his brother's widow and child after Robin's father's death, and she was grateful, except she wished that they weren't in that situation at all. She wished she could be back home in her flat instead of up a tree in the Woolton estate of Liverpool. She wished everything would go back to normal.

Sat up in the tree, Robin thought the multitude of bright green leaves would have hidden her from the world, but that wasn't the case. In fact she was the first thing John noticed as he headed out into his garden with his guitar. He'd been out all day practicing with his band, but his aunt had made sure to tell him as soon as he'd gotten in that two women had just moved into next door. The way she'd said it had given off infinite disapproval at them, but upon seeing the mystery girl up in the tree, his feelings couldn't be any further from Mimi's, and he was for once glad to be wearing his glasses, able to see the girl in all her glory.

She wasn't blonde. That was a surprise to John because he never usually paid much attention to dark haired girls. He liked blondes, like Brigitte Bardot, so he didn't understand just why he thought the dark haired beauty was the most impressive thing he'd ever seen. Maybe it was because of how serene she looked, expelling a cloud of smoke with her eyes closed. He didn't really like women who smoked either, but the cigarette along with her leather jacket and tight dark jeans seemed to offer this aura of mystery and power that was unusual. He'd never seen another bird like her, not around Woolton anyway. He didn't even know her name, or who she was apart from being the new girl next door, but John was instantly and intensely attracted to her.

John thought he'd just be coming out to the garden to play guitar, banned from playing the instrument in the house due to Mimi's hatred of his desire for a music career, but his focus had shifted. He wanted to talk to her, to at least know her name, but as he watched her stub out her cigarette and flick it onto the grass below her, he realised he also wanted a smoke too.