First Love | James Hetfield

Small World

1983

She woke up the next morning to muffled voices and shadows of other guests passing the bright window.

Right before she gained full consciousness she felt a serene feeling of nothing. The moment just before you wake up where you have no problems or worries, you're just.. there. Then you wake up and remember who you are and where you are.

She sighed and dragged herself out of bed. She had to figure out a place to live and a job.

She dumped her backpack out onto her bed and shuffled through the clothes to find a decent outfit. All she really brought was band tees and ripped jeans, and she assumed it wouldn't be the best first impression.

She then brushed over her eyelashes with mascara and attempted to cover the faded purple bruise around her left eye. "Whatever." She breathed.

She left quickly and looked on each side of the street, taking in her surroundings. She didn't know where anything was or who anyone was. That uneasy feeling never left her stomach, and now it was only worse from the lack of food.

She walked down the street a bit and offered a friendly smile to everybody who walked by. She planted her feet to a stop when she found a small record store on the corner. She went in and was greeted by an elderly man before she went straight to the heavy metal section. She looked around for a bit, and she was just about to pick up a black vinyl that read 'Kill 'em All" in bold red text when she bumped into somebody.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She turned to face the middle aged man's wrath, but she instead she was met with a tall raven haired woman who looked oddly familiar. "Sorry." The woman repeated after her. She looked at her weirdly for a minute as if she recognized her too.

She took her chance. "Uh, I'm A-"

"Annie!" The woman interrupted her. "I used to live on the same street as you! Oh my god, we used to hang out at that park on the corner of Adelaide and Alana Pines!" She exclaimed.

"Oh." Anneliese said with furrowed brows. "Oh!" She said after a moment with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "Beatrice!" Her face broke into a real smile.

"Hey, Bea?" Another female voice said. Annie turned her head to see a short blonde woman who was the complete opposite of Beatrice. "Oh." She stopped short when she noticed Annie.

"Rory, this is Annie. I used to hang out with her when I lived in Oregon." Beatrice placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wow, small world, isn't it?" the woman giggled softly.

"Hi, I'm Aurora." The blonde smiled nervously. "Hey. Annie." She replied with the same awkward tone.

"You have to let us buy you breakfast and then you're telling me what the hell you're doing in San Fran." Beatrice demanded, pointing a boney finger in Annie's face.

"Oh, no.. I-"

"Let's go!" She pulled her hand and led her out the door. After they left the small shop, Annie followed beside Beatrice and Aurora.

She kept her eyes in front of her as the girls began talking. "Rory, d'you get the record?" Bea asked.

"Yeah. Was fuckin' expensive, though. They better be grateful." She responded, rolling her eyes.

Annie assumed they were buying a record for a friend, as a gift or something.

"Yeah, yeah." Bea waved her off, pulling the bag from Rory's hand. Annie caught a glimpse of the same record she was looking at earlier. "Have you seen how good Cliff looks on it, though?" Beatrice gushed.

"No, I was too busy looking at Sabbath records." She giggled. Annie wanted to say something, because she herself liked Black Sabbath, but she didn't want to chime in.

"Whatever. So they're gonna be able to make it tonight, right?"

Annie couldn't help but eavesdrop now.

"Yeah, dunno about James though. He keeps bitching about a stupid hangover or something." Rory sighed, brushing her golden locks from her face. "You'd think by now, he'd be immune to the hangovers."

Bea snorted. "They better fuckin' be there. We had a deal." She looked back in front of her. "Oh, here it is." She said, stuffing the record back in the bag and gesturing the girls to follow her into the small diner.

They found a small table right beside a window and started looking through the menu. "What the hell is this?" Bea leaned over next to Annie and pointed to a word that seemed to be in another language. "No idea." Annie laughed.

The waitress came up a few minutes later and asked them what they wanted to drink. They all asked for a coffee then began talking.

"So.." Bea raised one eyebrow and smacked the menu on the table. "What the hell are you doing in San Fran?" She repeated what she said earlier.

"Well.." Annie leaned in a bit. "You know how my mom and dad have always kinda... not functioned correctly?" She said quietly.

Bea nodded in understanding. She remembered the evenings where Anneliese would show up at her door with tears in her eyes and often times a reddened cheek asking to sleep over. Beatrice's parents were angels sent from heaven and they'd always welcome her with dinner and a warm bed.

"It kinda got really bad after my Grandma died.." she said. Bea looked at her with a soft expression in her eyes. Not an overly sympathetic look, just a pure saddened expression. Even though she wasn't religious, she'd always pray that it'd get better for Annie. "And it just became too much. I had to leave."

"I'm sorry love." Bea said softly, placing a hand atop of hers.

Aurora took interest in a dent in the table while the girls whispered to each other. She knew it was a sensitive topic and a family thing.

"It's okay." Annie smiled, blinking away the burning in her eyes.

"So, what? You're a runaway now?" She brought her voice back to a normal volume, lightening the mood.

"Eh." Annie shrugged. "Not really lookin' to run. Maybe this is where I'm supposed to stay."

"Yeah, you should stay. I've missed you like hell."

"Really?" Annie chuckled. She didn't think Bea would've even remembered her, even less miss her.

"Yeah, dude." She replied. "Where are you staying?"

"Uh.." she tried to remember the name of the hotel. "That um- motel.. on the corner of.. Kilpatrick, I think?" She said.

"Oh my god." Aurora raised her head, looking into Annie's eyes. "No way." Bea straightened her posture.

"What?" Annie's smile faltered as she looked between the wide eyed girls.

"That place is so disgusting!" Bea looked at her like she was insane.

"Well, no- it wasn't that-" she defended weakly.

"Say no more." She interrupted. "You're staying with us, don't argue." She said firmly.

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