I've Loved These Days: A Billy Joel Fanfic

Chapter 3 - Keeping The Faith

••••
Ate an awful lot
Of late night drive-in food
Drank a lot of take-home pay
And I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl
In the chevrolet
••••

Saturday, Aug 1, 1970
Dear Diary,

I almost don't want to write it down cause I feel like I'll jinx it, but I might kinda like it here after all. Don't get me wrong, I still plan on leaving as soon as I save enough money, but Hicksville isn't quite as bad as I thought.

I've gone on 3 dates with Bill, and we have another one tonight. Our first date was at a pizza joint. The second date he took me to a movie (and we made out for most of it). And the third date was less of an official "date" and more just hanging out at the village green together with some other kids. He's 21 and he's kinda shy and goofy sometimes, and a little rough around the edges at other times, but he's probably one of the nicest guys I've met in my whole life. Like, just genuinely nice.

My biggest gripe is that we haven't gone very far - just some kissing and the usual stuff. I'm surprised cause he's played in bands. Aren't they usually the ones that try to get you in bed real quick? I can't tell if he's just trying to be a gentleman or if he's not as into me as I thought. I like him, and I can tell he likes me too, but if he doesn't hurry up with things I'm gonna end up making the first move.

xoxo,
Kat

****

"You might not have a curfew, but the car does. 11PM and not a second later." My dad stood up from the table and walked out of the kitchen.

"That's so not fair," I pleaded and followed him into the living room.

"Life's not fair, Kathleen. Get used to it." He picked up the newspaper from the arm of the couch and sat down. "If you don't stop with your backtalk you won't have the car at all."

I let out a loud sigh and rolled my eyes. I knew there was no point in arguing with my father, but sometimes I just couldn't help myself. "I'm an adult now, you know."

"Well then start acting like one." He peered over the top of his newspaper. "Adults take responsibility for themselves. You want a car that you can use whenever you want? Then go buy one."

With a grumble I turned to walk upstairs. It was slightly past noon and I had just gotten home from work. Saturdays were always my busiest breakfast shift, and today was no exception. Once in my bedroom, I tossed my apron on the bed and pulled out the elastic band holding my hair into a bun. I bent down to retrieve a small box from under my bed and opened it to reveal a folded stack of money. I added today's tips to the stack and began to count it. There was no way a car was in my future.

It felt like my father was becoming harder and harder to live with. He was never this hard on my brother, the golden child. John was only 15 months younger than me, but we couldn't have been more different. He was a great athlete and a straight-A student. I was neither of those things. John was well on his way to a full college scholarship once he graduated next year, meanwhile I barely made it out with a diploma. My grades had always been just enough to get by, but my priority was having fun and I'd ended up skipping class a lot more than I should have.

Coming to live here and having to take on the responsibility of a job had been a big change from the life I had before, but it was a means to an end. Early mornings at work were a small price to pay for the chance to get out of my parents' house and have fun living on my own terms. A yawn pulled on the edges of my mouth, and I decided to take a quick nap before my date with Billy later that evening.