Familiar Strangers - Charlie Gillespie

Chapter One ~ The beginning

That was it. Daisy and I went up to collect our diplomas and threw up our caps. We had finally done it. Graduated the hell that is called High School. I can't even count the traumatic memories left of that place. But now it was time. Time to leave all of that behind and move on with the rest of our lives. Since I was a child, I was always planning out what my life would be. First I was going to turn 13, and I was going to start babysitting. Then 14 would roll around, boom! Start high school! 15, learner's permit, 16, drivers license, and 18. Voting and graduation. Then I would go to the school of my dreams. University of Michigan. Either that or NYU. Then I'd graduate and become a famous movie/rock star. And along the way find my soulmate. But now that I was finally here, I was a little scared. So was Daisy.

Daisy is, and has always been the type of best friend that gives tough love. In fact, ever since the beginning, we've both been kind of like that. You see, before I made it to the 2nd grade, I thought I was the smartest kid in school. I knew so much. I could read, spell, and I was on a chapter book reading level. As you can see, I said I thought. But when I met Daisy, I immediately felt a sense of competition. I childishly established her as my nemesis. We were always fighting over who could do reading bingo better and who could win the Spelling Bee. Later on, we discovered our similarities in personality. We decided to put those feelings aside, and soon we became best friends. Daisy has been my best friend in the whole world ever since. Nevermind the cheesiness, anyway...

After graduation, me and Daisy went to her house to celebrate. Just the two of us. Obviously we made brownies, bought candy, and made popcorn so we could sit down and watch Tv. We saw this one show on Netflix while we were searching for something to watch. Loads of people had been talking about it. Julie and the Phantoms. All I can say is WOW. I loved it. Not so much Daisy, but I. LOVED. IT. Halfway through the show, Daisy turned towards me.

"So. Iris. What are we doing now? It's the end of school. We have a couple of months between now and college. What's the plan?"

"Well... we could go to Florida? Orlando? Maybe some DisneyWorld?" I replied.

"I don't know, that might get boring, especially since, you know we'd be there for a couple of months. And hello? Expensive?! I was thinking more like New York. Lots to do."

"Well there's a ton of people there during the summ- WAIT."

"What is it, Iris?"

"I know the perfect thing to do this summer."

"Again, what is it?"

"Two words. Road trip."

"I love it! Not that expensive, we could use our parents money that they gave us to go on this graduation trip well!"

"Ok! So we'll go on the road trip! Let's pack this week, leave next week." I said. "Now let's watch the show, I wanna see what happens next."

We watched the rest of the show. I laughed at Reggie and Alex's banter, sighed at the Julie and Luke chemistry, and cried my eyes out during the cursed Unsaid Emily. All while Daisy watched me like I was a crazy lady.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our week of packing had ended. It was time to hit the road. We also brought along our very good friend, Everett. Although I teased him a lot, he was still one of my best friends so I guess I let him tag along.

We went to so many places. From Texas to Louisiana, from Washington D.C. to New York, from Michigan to Ohio, we traveled the country together. In each place we were in, we stayed a few days. I've gotta tell you, best summer of my life. We finally made it to my most desired destination. Los Angeles. God, it looked so much better than I hoped. The Hollywood sign, Sunset Boulevard, hell I even got to see the Charmed house!

So it was our 4th out 6 days in LA, and I decided to go to a record store with my friends. I was really pumped because, well I'm weird like that. I like to buy vinyls and dress in really vintage clothing. But you know I don't really give a fuck about what people think, so I'm fine going into public wearing bell bottoms and a revealing top, perfected with some yellow circular sunglasses.

I was over in a corner of the store, checking out a few Queen records with Everett, when Daisy came bolting around one of the shelves. She was frantically tapping my shoulder. Over. And over. And over again.

"What? What the fuck is wrong with you Daze?" I asked her. She couldn't respond. She was so out of breath. "Are you okay? Are you in trouble? Who do I need to beat the shit out of? Like seriously, whose ass do I need to kick?" she kept shaking her head no. I was starting to get annoyed with this thing, so I calmed her down, and asked her what was going on.

All she said was, "Look around the corner of the shelving. On that side of the store. Looking at the Fleetwood Mac. Over there." She pointed with a shaking hand as I craned my neck to see. There. Rifling through vinyls, minding his own business, and grinning to himself as he found a particular album, was none other than Charlie Gillespie.

Author's Note: I hope you liked Chapter One! I sure enjoyed writing it. Maybe you could give me some suggestions for what could happen in the story? Any time. Not just now. I'll take suggestions.
-Dree