Living a Double Life (McLennon)

Chapter 18

*Paul's POV*

English was very boring. Just like my science class the teacher talked about the boring rules we had to follow and what we would be going over for the semester. I doodled all over the first page of my notebook while the teacher was talking. John ended up falling asleep and slamming his head on the desk on accident and a lot of people laughed at him and the teacher scolded him for being disrespectful. Although, George and Ringo were having the time of their lives sitting there in the middle of the room. I could see them passing notes back and forth and would occasionally hear a slight giggle from them. Somehow the teacher never caught them.

"Now does anyone have any questions?" The teacher asked. No one had any questions so she let us pack up and leave when the bell rang.

When the bell did eventually ring we all piled out of the room and met in the hallway.

"Off to music!" I said happily.

"Hopefully it's better than whatever class that was." John rolled his eyes and I giggled at him.

"I hope we get to play actual instruments and it not all about the history of them or whatever." George said and we all nodded in agreement.

We got to the music room and walked in. We were the first ones there and the teacher greeted us with a smile.

"Hello boys, how are you four doing today?" The teacher said. His name tag said his name was Mr. Epstein.

"Pretty good." I said and my mates agreed.

"And what are your names? I try to get to know my students before the class completely starts." He said in a posh voice.

"I'm Paul McCartney."

"George Harrison."

"John Lennon."

"And I'm Richard Starkey but me mates call me Ringo." Ringo said while holding out his hands to show Mr. Epstein all of his rings.

"Oh wow," the teacher chuckled as a few more students walked in. "Why dont you fellas take a seat while I meet the rest of the class." He smiled at us as we shuffled past.

"He seems nice." George stated.

"Yeah he does." I agreed.

John, Ringo, and George started talking about music when I heard my name whispered loudly from across the room. I looked over and realized it was Stuart. He was sitting with Pete Best, Pete Shotton, and Eric Griffiths who I'd never really met before.

"What?" I said loudly which made my three pals look up. John saw who was talking to me and scowled.

"Leave 'im alone Sutcliffe." John growled. Almost knowing that Stu would come up with some smart comeback. To his surprise though, Stuart backed off and started talking to his friends. John's friends and bandmates, even if they hadn't practiced together in a while.

A few more students walked in and the bell rang again to signal the beginning of 3rd class.

"Hello everyone," the teacher said, standing tall at the front of the room. "I am Mr. Epstein and I am your teacher for the year!" He said cheerfully. "I own a record shop a few towns over and decided that I wanted to get back into the music scene."

We all looked at each other and Mr. Epstein started talking again.

"Now that you know a little something about me, why don't we go around and introduce ourselves and tell everyone an instrument that we can play. This will give me a better idea on what to get started on!" Mr. Epstein smiled at us. "Let's start over here!" He said and pointed to Stuarts side of the room.

"I'm Stuart Sutcliffe and I play Bass guitar." He said blandly.

"I am Peter Best but you can call me Pete and I play Drums." Pete said loudly.

"My name is Pete Shotton and I play the washboard."

Mr. Epstein chuckled and looked on to the next person.

"I'm Eric Griffiths and I can play the Guitar."

We went through the rest of the class and then it got to me.

"Hello, I am Paul McCartney and I play Bass guitar." I smirked at Stuart who was rolling his eyes. I then looked over to John.

"I'm John Lennon and I play the electric guitar." He smiled proudly and I pushed him slightly with my shoulder.

"Hi, I'm George Harrison and I also play the electric guitar." He said and turned to Ringo who was going last.

"Hello everyone, I'm Richard Starkey but you can call me Ringo and I play the Drums." Ringo said and we heard a few giggles from the opposite side of the room.

"Please no laughing, I don't believe anything funny was said." Mr. Epstein glared at Stuarts group.

"Sorry." A few of the boys mumbled.

"Great. Well let's get right to it! I want everyone to group together with the other students who play the same instrument as you. I want you to get to know each other." He smiled at the group of students infront of him and everyone started wandering around getting into their groups.

I found myself aimlessly walking around. Surly there was someone else other than Sutcliffe that played the bass. Sadly everyone was in their groups and the teacher walked me over to Stuart.

"So you boys both play Bass? Why don't you go ahead and get to know each other." He smiled at us and I looked at Stuart. He didn't look anymore excited about this than I did.

I looked over to John and George. They were sitting with a few other people and making small talk. Of course John already knew Eric because he was his mate.

Ringo was busy chatting away with Pete Best about some kind of drum stick and they seemed to get along quite well.  Lucky them. I thought to myself.

I looked back infront of me and Stuart was sitting cross legged with his arms cross and a stupid grin on his face.

"What?" I rolled my eyes.

"Looks like we're stuck together." Stuart smirked.

"Any why do you think that's a good thing? Do you not hate me?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh 'course I hate you mate. But I need John back. The band isn't the same without him and you're going to help me."

"How do you reckon that one out?" I scoffed.

"Ye just will, you'll see." Stuart patted my knee and I moved away quickly and looked over at John who was looking right at me. His face steaming.