Chapter 6 - Hollywood

“Uh… do you have any plane tickets for the next flight to...? Hollywood?” I asked the lady in front of a desk at the airport.
“I have a ticket for the flight at 10.15 which is one way,” she said. I nodded.
“Perfect,” I said, and bought it, “Uh, what are we allowed to take on flights?” I asked. She looked at the list.
“Well, it’s interstate so you can take a bit, but there are restrictions. You can take a book, no food or vegetables, water, MP3 player, but it must be played in the air, you can’t play it when the plane is about to take off,” she said. I nodded.
“Thanks,” I said, “Oh wait, what about mobiles?” I asked. She looked at the list.
“Must be turned off - they could cause disturbance with the flight,” she said. I nodded and walked over to some seats. It was quite a cold night, even though I was inside. The constant opening of the doors made it worse for the cold night air to sweep in.
I pulled my jacket over me more tightly and waited for about another 20 minutes for my flight to be called.
“Flight 230, this is the last call for flight 230. The following passengers have not yet boarded: Samantha Pritchard,” she said some more names then... “Frankito Wright, thank you,” the microphone turned off. I stood up, looking around. As I was turning around Frankie was standing behind me.
“Samy, I’m sorry... let’s sort this out...” he said. I looked at him; I felt my eyes starting to bulge with tears.
“Why did you...” I said, and then started walking towards the boarding area. He consistently followed me, like a puppy dog. I wanted to speak to him, but I wasn’t going to miss my flight; I payed for it, and I’ll get what I payed for.
*******
“Samy,” Frankie said, taking a seat next to me on the plane. I quickly turned my phone off and got out my murder story to read through, “Are you still writing that?” he asked. I nodded and started at chapter 3, where I last left it.
“It’s a tale of a boyfriend, murdering his girlfriend because she cheated on him. They still haven’t figured out it was him though. I wonder how the guy must feel, having someone cheat on them...” I said, frowning. I saw him put his head in his hands.
“I didn’t cheat on you, Samy,” he said. I shook my head.
“But you never broke up with me!” I shouted. A few people in their seats looked over, rolling their eyes at the thought of sitting on a plane with people fighting.
“Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to quieter your voice...” the flight attendant asked me. I apologized and went back to Frankie.
“Oh, so you still thought we were going out when you were practically all over Ben outside my window?” he spat at me. I looked shocked.
“So, now you’re turning this all back on me, are you!? You know what, Frankie, if I ignore you, you ignore me. I am sick to death of you!” I said, turning my back and facing the other side of the plane, although uncomfortable.
“Samy,” he said, making his voice quieter.
“What?” I said, turning around and glaring at him.
He looked away uncomfortably.
“I was using Jo to make you jealous. But she liked me. I was using her...” he said, “I never liked her,” I stared at him in shock.
“Frankie, look me in the eyes. Did you ever love me?” I asked. He looked me in the eyes.
“I loved... I love you,” he said, not blinking or removing eye contact. My heart skipped a beat. I still had feelings for him, but of course, I was annoyed at him.
“How can you love me?” I asked him. He looked confused.
“How couldn’t I? You’re perfect, Samy...” he looked out of the plane window as we started talking off. I smiled to myself. Maybe, just maybe, for this flight... I’ll forget about what happened...
“Do you remember,” I started to say but someone interrupted me.
“Oh my god, you’re Tre Cool’s son, aren’t you?” she said, staring at Frankie. He nodded. I looked at her hair, black with blonde tips and she was wearing a lot of eyeliner.
“Yeah, um... I’m sorry, I’m sort of in the middle of something right now...” he said. She stared at him.
“Are you serious? I have been waiting so fracking long to meet you and now you’re on a plane and you’re ‘busy’,” she said. He rolled his eyes and looked at me as if to say ‘help me’. I smirked and started reading my story.
“What do you want, then?” he asked. She smiled and went to the spare seat next to him and sat down. I tried to stop myself from laughing, but couldn’t...
“What’s so funny?” she said, in a dogy tone to me. I looked at her, and then looked back at my book. Frankie sniggered.
“Shut down,” he said and started talking to the girl.
“Shut the hell up,” I said, to Frankie.
“What?” he said, looking taken aback.
“You’re so full of it!” I shouted and went into the plane bathrooms, “Breath, Samy, breath...” I continued to say that to myself over and over again until I was calm again, and ready to come out.
“Man, is she psycho or what?” the girl said, to Frankie.
“She’s not psycho; she’s the girl I was just telling you about. I fracking love her, but I don’t know how to say it!” he said back to her. I missed a heart beat. I decided to not bring up what he said, and wait for him to actually tell me face to face.
“...hey, everything is fine, now. I was just a little steamed up from, uh... the fight we had before ...” I said, sitting down.
“So are we... okay?” he asked and I nodded, getting my book out to read through again.
“Oh, by the way, Samy this is Maria,” he said, pointing to Maria. I nodded as in to say hi and she showed a little nod but didn’t smile and then looked out the plane window.
“How much longer is there?” I asked.
“I don’t know, probably like an hour?” Frankie said and got up, “Just having a quick bathroom break,” he squeezed past my legs and the chair and went to the plane bathrooms. Maria and I sat there in silence.
“So, um...” I said, and she looked at me.
“He’s mine, back off! And if you try to fracking take him I’ll hurt you, I swear I’ll hurt you!” I opened my mouth in shock.
“He’s already mine...” I said and glared at her. Her angry face changed to a sad face...
“He said he was single,” she said.
I rolled my eyes, “well, of course he’s single. We’re fracking fighting but we’ll be back together, I hope,” I said and Frankie came and sat down. I went to put my hand on his knee, but pulled back.  He was looking at me; suddenly I felt awkward looking or being around him. I stood up and walked to the back of the plane, then back to my seat.
“What was that about?” he asked. I shrugged and I put all my belongings into a little backpack I had taken onto the plane.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please ask you to sit down in your seats and do up your seatbelts as we will be leaving shortly,” the flight stewardess said and everyone on the plane did up their seatbelts.  The plane started to land on the runway and soon enough we were off the plane with our entire luggage and getting a cab.
“TAXI!” I shouted out to a car driving up and I jumped into it, Frankie followed... as did Maria...
“Why is she coming on?” I whispered to Frankie.
“She lives near your granny, so I suggested we got the same cab,” he said, smiling. I rolled my eyes and told the cab driver where to go. Maria was sitting in the front, as Frankie and I had taken up the back seats. When You Were Young by The Killers came on.
“He doesn’t look like a Jesus, but he talks like a gentlemen,” I sung along to it as Maria rolled her eyes at me. I was starting to lose my temper with her.
“Can you please stop singing?” she said, putting her hair behind her ears. That’s it.
“What the hell is your problem? Do you have something against me, or something?” I said, finally losing it.
“Well, for starters, you have no fashion sense,” she said, nodding her head towards my jeans and baggy “free hugs” shirt.
“Oh, and because I have no fashion sense you feel the need to be a dog to me?” I said, in a dogy tone.
“Well, there’s also the fact that you think you’re going out with him, and you’re clearly not! So why the hell can’t I have him?” she said, nodding her head towards Frankie. I rolled my eyes.
“If you want him that bad, HAVE HIM!” I shouted, “But, remember, we’ve known each other since we were born and you can never take him off of me, he’s the best thing that ever fracking happened to me!” I looked outside the window, as the streets of Hollywood passed me.
“I...” she said, not knowing what to say.
“I am?” Frankie asked. I nodded, avoiding eye contact. What if he was just saying that on the plane before, so that the girl didn’t like him? What if I was making a complete fool of myself? What if-
Frankie grabbed me and started kissing me, his tongue entered my mouth and it was so... passionate. After, what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, he let go.
“I missed you,” he said and I smiled.
“I missed you more...” I said, hugging him.
“What the hell?” the girl asked. Frankie rolled his eyes, “I thought we were going to go out?” she asked, staring accusingly at Frankie.
“When did I say that? Anyway, I’m sorry, but I love Samy,” he said, smiling at me.
“Samy?” she asked. We both nodded.
“Samantha fracking Pritchard?” she asked again. We, again, nodded; she was starting to annoy me.
“OH MY GOD! I am so sorry!” she exclaimed and apologized over and over again.
“Look, stop shouting or I’m going to hit you!” I shouted at her. She smirked and looked at the floor, soon enough the taxi let her out at her stop.
10 minutes later we arrived at my grandma’s house. It was nice to be back here, again. Away from the streets of Berkeley, and to be somewhere crowded for a change was fun. Maybe I’d fit in here!
“Granny!” I shouted and ran up to her and gave her a massive hug. She fell back a few steps and started laughing.
“Frankie,” she said, giving him a small hug and showed us to our rooms.
“So this is it,” Frankie said, putting hit stuff down besides the single bed. My grandma left the room, letting us unpack alone.
“This is it,” I repeated, sitting on the bed, “I don’t think you’re going to fit on here,” I said, smiling. Frankie crawled on top of me.
“It’ll be a hot night, then,” he said, smiling and kissing me.
“Very...hot,” I said, in between kisses. He started taking my top off; I resisted and pushed his hands off. I still had bruises from Johnny, which I was insecure about and didn’t want to show anybody. Not even Frankie.
“I’m so happy we’re fine, now,” Frankie said, smiling and kissing my neck. There was a soft knock on my door and I quickly pushed Frankie off me. My grandma walked in.
“There’s some sandwiches and a drink for you two waiting outside!” she said, smiling and walking outside again. I smiled and grabbed Frankie’s hand.
“Come on,” I said and pulled him out of the room.
*Frankie’s POV*
The sandwiches tasted great. Samy’s grandma had made a series of them. There was tuna with mayonnaise, salad sandwiches and even peanut butter, chicken with mayonnaise and so many more. They were all great, so good I had to have at least 2 of each!
“Frankie, you pig!” Samy said, laughing after her second sandwich, and after my sixth.
“Now, now, Samy. The boy has a right to eat. Go on, son, eat as much as you want,” Samy’s grandma, Beth, laid her hand on my arm. Her fingers were cold and felt so... empty. She had a weak smile and her face was slowly disintegrating. Samy’s grandfather had died two years ago. I remember Samy back then... She was so... broken. Her and her grandfather had got along so well and ... it was horrible to see her heart broken like that.
*flashback*
“Frankie!” Samy said, running up to me, “I’m so glad you’re back,” she said, hugging me. I could see that she had been crying. Her face was stale with tears and she looked like she had been crying for a long time.
“Samy – why weren’t you at school today? What happened? Is everything alright?” I asked, holding onto her.
“My granddad,” she said, crying into my jumper. I held her tighter, “He died in a car accident. The truck skidded along the rain and... And...” she cried more into my jumper and I led her inside. Mike was sitting down on the couch holding Samy’s mum’s hand. They had broken up years ago, but they still remained good friends. She was crying, too. Mike hadn’t shed a tear; it was obviously the granddad from Samy’s mum’s side of the family.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered into Samy’s ear and we sat on the couch.
*end of flashback*
I had sat with her for so long on that day. She had cried on my jumper for at least five hours.
“Samy, dear, would you be able to go down to the shops and buy me some groceries? I haven’t got the energy to walk down today, the car has been broken since, well... would you be able to?” she said, looking at Samy. Samy smiled and nodded.
“C’mon, Frankie,” she said, standing up. I took my last sandwich, a tuna and mayonnaise and we started trying to find our way down to the shops.
“Maybe you could fix her car?” Samy said, turning down a street that looked like the ones on movies. It had palm tree’s going all the way down and all the cars looked rich.
“Yeah, sure I could do that. What do you reckon is wrong with it? You know I am hopeless with that stuff...” I said, smiling. She took my hand, kissed it, and then started walking along, holding it.
Maybe it was just me, but if I was a photographer, I would’ve taken a photo of this image from behind. The perfect picture; the boy and girl, holding hands and the scenery so... modern, I should probably become a photographer. No, I’d be crap at it. What am I going to do with my life?
“Maybe it just hasn’t had petrol in it for a while?” she said, I laughed. Maybe that was right, though. I’m no genius. I can drive cars, but I don’t own my own car. I’ve been scared of them ever since I went on my first drivers’ lesson. The man started freaking me out and telling me all these different things. He told me to put my foot down on the right one, and then press some little thing next to the steering wheel that showed the indicators, and then he shouted at me for not putting my seat belt on. I was so scared. He even shouted at me for forgetting to check my mirrors. I passed only because the man found out who my dad was...
Samy, on the other hand, was a great driver. She didn’t own a car, yet, though, but she was saving up for one. She didn’t stress at all on her drivers exam. She knew exactly what to do; in fact, I was jealous when she passed straight away. It actually took me two times...
“What are you thinking about?” Samy questioned me. I smiled and told her I was thinking about her.
“What about me, though?” she interrogated.
“How you’re a better driver than me,” I said. She laughed.
“Is that all? You weren’t thinking about how perfect I am?” she giggled.
“Here are the shops,” I said, laughing and we walked into the shops.
*Samy’s POV*
We walked into the groceries first. It had every vegetable known to man!
“Zucchini...” I said, staring around trying to find it. Frankie collected a basket and found the zucchini, “Thanks, carrot?” I said, looking around again. He came back with broccoli, carrot, lettuce, cucumber and pumpkin.
“I read ahead!” he said and we went up to pay for it all.
As Frankie got out his wallet to pay for it all (he insisted!) I stared at his eyes. He had the same eyes as his dad, bright blue and big. They were beautiful. I wish I had a pair of them for myself. He saw me looking at him and smiled.
“Checking me out?” he asked, taking the bag from the lady and walking out of the shop. I followed closely behind him. I could see his tan line on the back of his neck, just below where his hair shagged over. He turned around and faced me.
“Are you going to call you dad? He wanted me to make sure you were going to be okay,” he said, holding my hand. I nodded.
“Wait, did you want to come or did he want you to come?” I asked him.
“I wanted to come, I went over to your house this morning to see you and you were... gone. So I called the taxi and whilst I was waiting Mike asked me to make sure you phoned him. Hah, I made the taxi driver speed...” he said, laughing. I smiled at him and rested my head on his shoulder.
“I wonder what grannies making for tea?” I wondered, saying it aloud.
“Probably rat pie...” he said, smirking. I laughed and started skipping. This sure was a good day...
*Mikes POV*
“Where’s Samy?” Tre said, walking into my house, unexpected.
“Hollywood,” I said, chopping up the onions.
“Dude, you’re crying!” he said, laughing. I sniffed and smiled, “Any idea where Frankie is?” he asked, looking around.
“Hollywood,” I said, putting the onions into the pan to cook. I was going to make a nice pasta sauce for me and Esi.
“Uh...” Tre said, looking around as if he was stupid, which he was... “Why wasn’t I informed?”
“Hey, guys!” Billie said, letting himself into my house.
“Yeah, sure Billie, you can come in!” I said, sarcastically.
“Thanks mate. Man, I’m starting to speak Aussie, mate. We’ve had too many concerts there, mate,” Billie started saying, laughing. Tre was still standing there in shock.
“Dude, couldn’t you pick up that chick in the bar last night?” Billie went on, not realizing Tre was about to explode.
“WHY THE HELL IS FRANKIE IN HOLLYWOOD?!?” he shouted. Billie stood there, in shock, and then helped himself to some of the red capsicum I was cutting up. He sat down on an arm chair, and waited for me to speak. Tre was also waiting for me to speak.
“He went after Samy...” I said, trying to avoid eye contact.
“You REALLY need to sort that girl out!” Tre shouted at me. I looked at him.
“TRE!” this time, it wasn’t my voice, it was Billie’s... we both looked at him, “Do you really think Mike can put discipline on a 17 year old girl? She can’t be disciplined. She lives by her own rules, now. You remember what it were like to be 17. You didn’t want to listen to your parents, you wanted to go by your own thing, swing your own way, get what I mean?” Billie said, smiling. Tre shrugged and also took some of the capsicum I was cutting.
“Peoples!” I said, getting annoyed, “Stop eating my capsicum!” I shouted, in a friendly way. Billie smirked and took an apple from the fruit bowl.
“Health freak...” Tre said, and went over to the fridge and collected Esi’s chocolate bar.
“I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” I said, smirking. Tre opened it and took one massive bite from it.
“Why not?” he asked, his mouth full of chocolate.
“Because that’ Esi’s!” I said, laughing. He stared at me in disbelief.
“Are you serious? He said, spitting it back into the wrapper and taping it together with some sticky tape. Esi was so serious about her chocolate; if anybody ate it she would kill them.
“You’re in more shoot, now!” I said, looking through the front window and Esi was walking in. Billie smirked.
“Billie, don’t!” Tre said, but he was too slow. Esi had already walked into the room and Tre was too far away to stop Billie from saying.
“Tre ate your chocolate bar!” he said and Esi looked at him. She smiled.
“Tre Cool, come here,” she said, smiling still. I looked confused, but I knew she was going to kick his @$$. Tre stumbled out from behind the fridge and over to Esi. She was still smiling, which was sort of creeping me out.
“DON’T EVER EAT MY CHOCOLATE BAR, AGAIN!” she shouted at him, then punched his arm, and then she walked over to the fridge, to collect another chocolate bar. She just so happened to pick up the regurgitated Tre Cool bar.
“Yum, choc– what happened to it?” she said, looking at the badly sticky taped bar. I hid my laughing and continued to chop up capsicum. She opened it up, and all the chocolate that had been in Tre’s mouth oozed out of it onto her hand. She looked up at Tre. He was trying to sneak out the door.
“YOU’RE GONNA GET IT NOW!” she shouted, chasing him up the stairs. The phone started to ring.
*Samy’s POV*
I dialed in my dad’s number, and started to ring it. After about 3 rings he answered it. I could hear shouting in the background.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU TRE!” it was Esi’s voice.
“Hello?” my dad said into the phone. I laughed.
“Did Tre eat Esi’s chocolate?” I asked and I heard my dad laughing on the other side.
“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE JERK! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” she was still screaming.
“Yes, he did. Did you get to Hollywood alright?” he asked me.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Granny’s been treating us really well! She made us this really nice dinner, vegetable soup. I don’t think Frankie liked it though...” I looked over at Frankie. He was on the bed, playing with his phone.
“Did Frankie get on the plane alright?” my dad asked.
“Yeah, I’m so glad he did. Everything’s fine between us now. I feel bad that I was fighting with him,” I said, looking at Frankie. He smiled at me and then took a photo of me on his phone.
“Well...” my dad said. I could feel the conversation coming to an end.
“I’ll phone you tomorrow night?” I said, getting ready to hang up.
“Yeah, sure,” he said and we both hung up.
“Your dad got beaten up...” I said, smiling. He looked up.
“By...?” he asked. I laughed.
“Esi, he ate her chocolate bar!” I said, laughing. Frankie laughed too, then tapped the bed indicating I went and sat on it with him.
“I love you,” he said, kissing my neck and undoing my top, like before. Only this time I wasn’t stopping him.
“I love you, too,” I said, taking his shirt off. I quickly stood up and locked the door, then went back to Frankie. He started taking my clothes off, and I did to him too. Maybe this was going to be my first time...
I’m glad it was with Frankie.

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