14 years - Axl Rose x OC

11

-June 26th, 1977

Indianapolis, Indiana

The wind breezed by, and Lita Monroe could smell the smoke of Izzy's brother's cigarette in the front seat of his beat-up '68 Charger. The windows were rolled down as the car entered Indianapolis, and Lita stuck her head out to watch the lights of the buildings pass by, her hair flowing in the air, the unkempt mess blown out of her face.

Everyone was quiet except for Lita, whose shrieks hounded against the fast moving of traffic of interstate 65. She held onto the hand of Bill, who spoke in a hushed voice to Izzy in the passenger seat, not wanting to interrupt Lita's childishness.

The sun had set late tonight, 9:17, and now a half-hour later, the streetlights glistened against the moist Indiana heat seen in the early summer. After the scared exchange of only two hours ago, Lita was grateful to be in the backseat of this car, driving into an unknown city, with her friend's unknown older brother, to the concert of her favourite musician.

At a quarter past 8, Lita whisked open the window of her bedroom, the one parallel to Bill's and looked down at him holding a handful of pebbles. Throwing another one up at her face, Lita backed away and walked into the hall. This was her moment.

Cautiously stepping down the stairs, two at a time to be quick, Lita entered the living room. She could see her father's silhouette against the La-Z-Boy and could hear her mother's voice echoing in the kitchen. Approaching loudly, Lita made her way to the pantry, and, grabbing a packet of popcorn, stuck the bag into their Kenmore Microwave.

"Still hungry after dinner, Leeds?" Again her mother's voice echoed from the sink, the water splashing against the ground when she picked up a spoon. "Yeah. I'm thinking of just taking this to bed though. I'll probably stay up there all night, like usual, and I promise I'll bring down the trash in the morning."

"Ok, hon. Sounds fun."

With that, Lita slipped back up the stairs and into her room. Taking off her sweater, she revealed the band t-shirt she'd stolen from Christopher, and, shaking out of her eggs-and-bacon styled pajama pants, she pulled on a pair of boot-cut jeans. Pulling on the dark red leather jacket Bill let her borrow, Lita grabbed the bag of makeup off the dresser and looked into the mirror. She applied a light coat of red eyeshadow, a skim of mascara, and a tint of bubblegum pink lipstick.

Then Lita picked up the popcorn and raced to her window. Looking out, Bill was no longer there, but she could see the flash of car lights of an unfamiliar car in his driveway. Lifting up the screen of her second window–the one facing the front of the house, Lita put her leg onto the porch's roof, and, gripping steadily onto the windowsill, pushed herself out.

Now that her parents figured she would be spending the rest of her night alone, cooped up in her bedroom, probably reading her latest classic, Lita could roam freely on the streets of Lafayette. Sliding on her butt down the roof, stopping at the ledge, and placing the popcorn bag in her mouth, Lita climbed down onto the porch's railing. Her feet almost slipped against the perspiration, but, quickly catching herself, she jumped down onto the porch.

Lita made sure not to pass the living room window, and flew down the steps and over to the fence separating her and Bill's houses. Jumping over, she ran up to the unknown car, making sure to look back at the TV lights flickering in the first-floor window.

With the sound of the door unlocking, Lita nestled herself into the backseat. But Bill wasn't there next to her like he'd promised on the last day of school, the two of them walking home from Jefferson High School on yet another hot day.

Instead, he appeared in the distance exiting his own house. He pulled on a jean jacket and lifted his long hair from under it. He opened the door next to her and slid in. They smiled at each other and scooted closer. In the front seat, Izzy's brother backed out of the Bailey driveway and onto the road.