Take Me To Church (A John Lennon Story)

Chapter Eighteen: Robby

I got to say goodbye to John the night before he left. I wished him good luck, and to be careful in Germany. Paul promised he would watch over him. I hoped that John really didn't need to have someone watch what he did, but I was grateful for the reassurance.

To my surprise I didn't cry. I was glad that I didn't, especially because if I had made John guilty I would have felt worse.

He snogged me for nearly a minute before they absolutely needed to leave. I hurried home. And I was surprised to find Ella there.

"I heard about John. I'm excited for him. Who wouldn't have thought they'd start to become something?"

I pulled my sweater closer to myself. "I'm going to miss him so much."

"Time flies, you know. It won't be that long." Then she added with a smile, "Would you like to sleep over at my house tonight? Just to keep your mind off of John?"

I smiled at the offer. "I'll have to ask Alta, and I was planning on going to the library, but you could come with if you'd like."

It was alright with my foster mother. She must have thought it was good that I was spending time with a girl for once and not just John.

We dropped my things off at her house and then went to the library. I enjoyed reading, and a book would give me something to think about besides John and his band. "What type of book do you like?" Ella asked quietly.

"I'm up to reading anything if it's interesting enough." My father had monitored what I read, so when I was free from him, I wanted to soak up all of the information that he had been restricting me from. Ella went down one aisle and I went down another. I turned around the corner and ran into a small book cart. Some of the books tumbled off. Even though they weren't incredibly loud, they sounded like thunder in the hushed library.

"I'm sorry," a boy's voice said, hunched over to pick up the books. I knelt down to help. "It's alright. It was my fault to not paying attention."

He looked up at me. He had thin brown hair and thick glasses. He was smaller than I was, and seemed rather timid as he took the books from me. "Thank you."

When we stood up, he asked which school I went to. He said he went to the same school and thought he recognized me. I said my name was Ariel. His was Robby.

We had a rather quiet conversation. And it wasn't just because we were in the library; it was more because he seemed incredibly intimidated.

Which I found funny, because I found myself the least intimidating person on this earth.

I knew Ella was watching from somewhere. She loved to know what I was up to.

But then she said, "Ariel, it's getting late. We should go back to my house."

"Alright."

Then, from Robby's quiet mouth came these words, "Do you think you'd like to come back here tomorrow?"

I smiled slightly. "I was thinking on it. I was hoping to find a few good books to read."

He said that he could think of some good books. He said goodbye to me.

As we walked to her house Ella thought that I looked lost talking to him. "It was so cute though; he was so sweet."

"Yes, but I have John. If you want, I bet Robby would be thrilled to have you. Something tells me he might not have a girlfriend...but he seems pretty nice."

Ella shook her head. "Not really my type." She smirked. "What if John gets jealous?"

I shook my head. "He knows I love him. And I highly doubt he could feel threatened by Robby. The boy's shorter than I am."

Ella was silent for a moment before she said, "That's true. I'd be scared if someone like John was angry with me."

Once we settled in her room that night, Ella quickly pulled on more comfortable clothes. I felt odd changing into my night clothes in front of her, even thought I really shouldn't have.

She spread herself out on her bed. "So...you and John..."

"What about us?"

"I just find it so wonderful that you two got together. It's like a Hollywood movie or something. I mean, look how much he's changed. And it's because of you."

I thought of the time where he almost got into a fight and I stopped him. But I feel like if I hadn't been there he would have been in one. "Possibly...I know he's influenced me. He thinks it's bad though." Rolling over onto my back, I whispered, "I miss him so much. If he were here, I'd be at his house, wrapped in his embrace. It's like being in a comfy blanket...he's so protective and warm."

Ella sighed. "I wish I was so lucky. Unfortunately my brother seems to like to hit on every guy I'm with, or get to the guys before I can see them," she joked. When I didn't react, not knowing if it was alright, she said, "You can laugh at that, you know."

A few minutes later, she said, "I don't know if I ever thanked you for helping my brother that one time...you know, when those assholes were trying to beat him up. It means a lot to me that you helped him, even though your father got angry with you. He's thinking of trying to organize a protest against the law about queers...but I'm afraid something might happen to him."

"He just has to be careful...but he has my support."

Ella and I talked for hours before her father told us that we had to fall asleep. But even then we just talked quieter.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

"...she's really pretty."

"She's with John Lennon. I wouldn't talk to her again, mate...remember what he did to you last time? And that wasn't even provoked."