Crystal (Original Series Prequel 1)

Your First Initial Feeling

Atherton, Northern California
October 3, 1969
********************

"Robin, I'm leaving! What the hell did you do with my car keys?"

Stevie Nicks had never exactly been a punctual person, but she'd be damned if she'd be late to band rehearsal today. She wanted to get to Lindsey's house before the guys did so they didn't have an audience when she gave him his birthday present. She sure as hell didn't want Javier lurking around. Ugh. Javier Pacheco. What an asshole. Lindsey had pushed him against a wall and called him a hack on Saturday when he'd accused Stevie of "showboating" during "Take Advantage Of Me" and she'd been unable to hide that she was crying. She'd told him that was enough, and then Bob and Brian had been on their feet, stepping in to diffuse the tension, and Stevie had never heard a group of men call each other "dude" more times in a row in her life. Lindsey had taken her around back when it was all over and they had shared a joint, and she'd tried to ignore how it gave her a silly thrill to know that as they passed the joint back and forth to smoke, that meant both of their lips were touching the same place.

"Stevie, I put them in your purse and I told you when I was doing it that I was doing it because I know you want to be on time for your sweetie pie over there in the garage."

Robin emerged from the bathroom of the apartment she had been sharing with Stevie since Jess had accepted the position with Greyhound and the Nicks family had relocated to Chicago. Stevie had called her in tears and told her she couldn't live alone but she never said why, and Robin had packed up and moved into Stevie's little apartment and they woke up every morning like a married couple and rode into San Jose to school together. It was on days when Stevie had band practice that the room mate squabbling occurred; Robin knew that not only did Stevie take her performances very seriously, but she never missed a moment of time talking to Lindsey. Robin was just waiting for the day when Stevie finally admitted she was just playing a role with David and told her she was in love with Lindsey.

"Here they are! You were right!" Stevie looked down into her crocheted bag with the embroidered butterfly on it that she'd made herself - with some guidance from Barbara on the stitching - and saw her car keys sitting next to a five-dollar bill and Lindsey's wrapped birthday gift. "I'm sorry. I've got to get to Lindsey's before Javier comes swarming in an all humor is lost!" She rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes," Robin said. "Can't not have your stolen moment with sweetie pie!"

"You get one more of those," Stevie cautioned her best friend. "Sweetie pie" was the nickname Robin used for Lindsey whenever she teased Stevie about her obvious feelings for him that she denied like her life depended on it. She reached over and grabbed Robin in one hand and air-kissed her cheek. "Gotta go, hon. I'll be back at, like, ten, so we can get high and watch Love, American Style."

"No David tonight?" Robin looked curiously at her.

"He's got a thing...his grandmother's house for something...I didn't listen." Stevie affixed the strap of her bag better against her shoulder, holding her thumb inside of it. She said, "I'm off for real now...roll one for us and don't start without me. I'll see you at ten."

"Tell Lindsey happy birthday from me," Robin said, but Stevie had placed her big, round John Lennon-style blue sunglasses on her face from where they'd been sitting on her head and she was already flying down the stairs. Robin rolled her eyes with a giggle and went into the kitchen to look through their near-empty refrigerator for dinner. Stevie never ate dinner; she had the crazy idea in her head that she needed to lose ten more pounds and lived on iced tea, baby carrots, blueberry yogurt and cigarettes.

She found some potato salad from the restaurant where she worked and a chicken leg and plopped down into the beanbag chair in the corner of the living room to watch The Brady Bunch and wait for Stevie, still laughing to herself about the way Stevie got all flustered at the mere mention of Lindsey Buckingham.