FORGET HER, noel gallagher

PROLOGUE

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
FEBRUARY 14th, 1991,
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The 1977 album by Billy Joel, The Stranger, was a staple in Vienna's childhood. Although the album came out when she was four, her father dedicated the fifth track, Vienna, to her, and it became the anthem of their lives. The meaning that had originated her name no longer mattered. Her father's hope and dream for her to be as profound as the artistic and intellectual legacy that shaped the city weren't the words surrounding Vienna growing up; the words were that of rock 'n' roll legend Billy Joel.

Vienna didn't see herself becoming a party girl, but after saying goodbye to her life in San Diego and her parents on move-in day, her roommate got her wrapped up in the LA party scene. It differed from how she'd spent her days in high school, nose shoved in a book, trying desperately hard to please her parents, and becoming the first in her family to attend college. However, she'd never let her newfound hobby get in the way of school. Her classes came first, and then getting blackout drunk and high off of substances she wasn't entirely sure of most of the time on the weekends.

Vienna's roommate, Kimberly, was what you'd imagine a college girl is when you're a kid. Kim was blonde, popular, in a sorority, and solely reliant on her trust fund to get her through life. Typically, Vienna wouldn't have befriended someone like Kim, but the forced proximity of their living practically pushed her to allow herself to become friends with the older girl. Friendly banter and late-night conversation between the first and fourth-year students quickly turned into the elder dragging her to every function. 'Vienna, you can't just study for the next four years. I won't allow myself to be roommates with a shut-in.' Those words unknowingly changed Vienna's life forever.

Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Thursday this year, a day Vienna would typically not allow herself to go out on five months ago, but Kim's influence on every aspect of her life had managed to slither even to her strictest of rules. Vienna was sitting at the counter of a shitty college bar by her campus, one that both she and Kim had frequented. Kimberly had found herself a supposed member of some British rock band to occupy her Valentine's Day while Vienna sat sipping on her mixed drink, alone, at the bar.

Vienna tucked her honey-blonde hair behind her ear. Dyeing it was a decision she'd made in her junior year of high school, one that she'd often regret because the upkeep of it was horrible. Her brown eyes scanned the bar; a diverse group inhabited the old building. The bartender across from her, a man in his young twenties with whom she'd become acquainted throughout her months of attending the bar, had started speaking to her.

"What is Vienna Torres doing alone on Valentine's Day?" James, the bartender, jokingly inquired with a raised brow.

James was a very gay man who Vienna had confided in one night many months ago out of sheer necessity after Kimberly had dragged her out of the dorm for the first time. She felt so entirely out of place that Kim had abandoned her, and her first instinct was to talk to the person closest to her, and that happened to be James. Since then, Vienna and James have kept each other's nights entertained on the evenings that Kim left her stranded. Although Vienna can now hold her own at parties and bars, she felt a deep sense of comfort with the bartender. Unbeknownst to most, except James, Vienna deeply hated St. Valentine's holiday. She swore up and down that it was because it was a capitalistic cash grab, forcing the world to blow hundreds of dollars to "prove" their love to one another. Still, James suspected it was the fact that she'd never had a Valentine before.

"Fuck off, James," Vienna rolled her eyes light-heartedly, knowing the bartender only meant to further tease her on her least favorite day of the year.

The pair continued friendly banter as the night went on, Vienna being mindful of her alcohol intake since it was a school night. James soon had to make his dreaded departure as his shift had ended, leaving Vienna alone again. Usually, on nights that James did not close the bar, Vienna would have no problem reintegrating with Kimberly and whomever she was with that night. Regardless, it being Valentine's Day had made Vienna lose all motivation to be the life of the party that she typically was.

Pulling out her pack of Marlboro Reds from her leather jacket pocket, she grabs a cigarette and holds it between her middle and index finger. She slides the box back into her pocket and feels around for a lighter. Fuck. She'd left her lighter with Kimberly. She took a deep breath before tapping the shoulder of the man sitting beside her. Once he'd turned to face her, she was met with his entrancing, piercing blue eyes. His eyes were crescent, giving his otherwise masculine face a boyish charm. The next place her eyes met was his incredibly thick eyebrows, a deep contrast to his relatively small eyes. Although they were dense and bushy, they were nicely shaped and fit his face rather well. His hair was cut into a Beatles cut; funnily enough, he wore a white t-shirt with a Beatles graphic on the front. He has thin but full lips. His upper lip had a twinge of pink, giving the allusion of a permanent mustache, even though he'd probably just shaved. In the short seconds before he'd open his mouth to respond to Vienna's tap on his shoulder, she could examine every area of his face.

His thick and harsh voice starkly contrasted with any accent she'd heard in Los Angeles. His words sounded aggressive, even if he didn't intend them to, "Hm, what do ya need?"

Vienna licked her lipstick-coated lips and looked into the foreign man's deep blue eyes as she spoke, "Do you have a lighter?" She asked, flicking her cigarette in his direction, showing why she'd tapped him in the first place.

At her question, the man dug into the front pocket of his dark denim jeans in search of his lighter. He pulled out a Zippo and opened his mouth to speak, "I'm only letting you use this if you let me bum a cig off ya." His voice was arrogant, and his lips formed a mix between a smirk and a smile.

Vienna rolled her eyes at his comment; she reached back into her jacket pocket, opened the pack, and offered him one. He lit his cigarette before lighting hers. The intimate action made Vienna smile as she took her first drag. She decided then that she wanted to engage in friendly conversation with the man beside her.

"Where are you from?" She bluntly questioned, continuing to take drags from her cigarette, occasionally flicking the ash into the tray on the counter.

His brows raised at the forwardness in her voice, "Manchester," He stated, the answer making sense to Vienna, "I'm roadying for the band Inspiral Carpets," He continued, taking another deep inhale of his cigarette.

"Really? I think my friend Kimberly is off with one of the members," Vienna laughed, realizing the man who had stolen Kim away was a band member.

Their casual conversation continued; Vienna and the mystery man, who she soon learned was named Noel, had seemingly more in common than they once thought. They were strikingly different on the outside and even on a surface level, but they'd both come from working-class families and had a deep love and passion for music and writing. When learning Vienna's name, Noel had instantly made the connection to Billy Joel, which prompted him to inquire about her age, wondering if she was young enough to be named after the song, and to his relief, she was of age. Noel was twenty-four and had been on the road with the Inspiral Carpets for three years. He was on his last leg of shows before returning home to Manchester.

Vienna thought he seemed like fun, a new experience for her. He was six years her senior, mature, a wannabe musician who wouldn't be in Los Angeles long. She had two weeks to spend with him, and she was going to make it count for herself and for James and Kimberly, who wouldn't get off her ass about finding at least one short-term relationship this school year.

No feelings will get hurt... right?

TAYLOR SPEAKS!
finally, there is something to show after months of fucking deleting every single beginning of this book. i guess all i needed was to smoke a cig, get my computer out, and lock the FUCK in. i hope from here forward, chapters will be posted more regularly. there will be a few chapters in 1991 to conclude roadie noel era and the foundations of noel and vienna, then it will go forward to 1995. i'm sorry this is quite short; i desperately needed to get at least SOMETHING out, but the rest of the chapter that aren't a prologue will be over 2,000 words AT LEAST. i hope you guys enjoy. please let me know if there are any timeline mistakes, inaccuracies for the time, setting, or characters! goodnight, it's literally four in the morning and i have work in 12 hours... oopsies! jordan, i hope you enjoy it especially.