Queen of the Gas Station (Larina Fanfiction)

PART ONE

It was my first day at work.
Well, I don't really know if working half time at a shabby gas station in the middle of nowhere counts as work, but I don't care. I need the money, I'm only a twenty-five year old girl from New York who had the dream of becoming a famous singer, but that dream never really came true. I grew up in Lake Placid in New York, with my parents and my siblings Chuck and Charlie. I love them, especially my father has always been unbelievably important to me. But I had ... difficulties with my family. I guess you could call it like that. Well, my dad sent me to a boarding school at the age of fifteen. I think he wanted to get rid of me. I think he wanted the best for me. I started drinking when I was only fourteen, I was so young ... I was always a problematic kid, I guess. Well whatever, I finished school and moved to a trailer park, somewhere near Coney Island ... God, that was a magical time. I lived in a trailer park with my boyfriend, Jim. We were crazy and young and we loved each other.
We loved each other too much we fell apart.
We broke up six months ago, and now I am trying to earn some money by working at this stupid gas station. When I was with Jim, he had a job as a mechanic at a car shop. I never had to worry about money since I was conscious. I always had my dad, a well-paid business man, and I always had his back.
And I always had Jim's back.
Until we loved each other so much we couldn't do it anymore. Literally.
But hey, I don't wanna talk about Jim. Life goes on, even without him. He was an important part of my life, but I don't think he was my one and only ... you know, the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. He was the coolest man I've ever known, and I've ever loved, but ... he was from another world, another time. He was too good for me.

So well, here I am, in this stinky New York gas station in the middle of the night. I am sitting inside the shop, where you usually pay. We have lots of magazines and candy, cigarettes and drinks. Things you can get at every gas station. It's pretty ordinary. I'm sitting at the desk, writing on one of my songs. It's about my time with Jim.
" J is a romantic rollercoaster, he don't do anything he's supposed to. I like them tough and mean - but Jim is the worst that I've ever seen."
It's totally silent while I'm writing it and drinking Pepsi.
The door opens fast and I gasp. A woman opens the door, she's not far away from me. She must be around 25, like me. She has dark hair, a curvy body and a huge, read suitcase carrying with her.
"Hello", I say smiling. She's really pretty, even though she's wearing super huge, round sunglasses in the middle of the night - what the heck?
"Hi!", she says cheerfully and comes near. Finally, she's standing before me and taking her shades off. I am speechless by how gorgeous her light brown eyes shimmer and she has little dimples when she smiles.
I never noticed those little things on other girls, but this one is so adorable it hurts. I shake my head, as if I want to shake these thoughts off, and open my mouth. "Um, can I help you?"
I can't help looking in her beautiful eyes. "Um yeah, actually." She giggles and steps from one foot on another. She has a sweet accent, probably welsh or british, I am not quite sure. "This is the fordham area, right?", she asks. I am confused and shake my head. "Actually, this is Lake Placid. Fordham isn't here."
Her eyes become big. "You must be kidding me, right? This is fordham, I googled it." I laugh. "I was born and raised in Lake Placid. This is not fordham, it's Lake Placid."
She groans. "Bloody Hell!"
I giggle a little.
"What exactly where you looking for in fordham?"
She shakes her head and sighs. "I have an important appointment there. My friend Derek works there halftime, and he was gonna introduce me to his boss. He's pretty famous in the New York music industry."
I can't believe it!
"Are you a singer?"
She smiles and blushes.
"Yes. I guess, haha."
She turns around and makes theatralic poses.
"Ladies and gentlemen", she makes a short break, "Marina and the Diamonds!"
I applaud her laughing.
"That's a cool name. I'm Lana."
She smiles.
"Nice to meet you, Lana."
Her smile turns into a bitter face, as she remembers what she was talking about. "This appointment could have changed my career! Shit, I screwed it up. Shit, shit shit ..."
"Hey, cursing really won't help right now", I say.
She looks me in the eye.
And I freeze a little.

She explains to me that she's walked all the way from the train station to the gas station.
"Why'd you do that?"
I am honestly stunned by this girl!
"I missed my train. I thought: Better walking than waiting one hour! And now I am here. And I have no fucking clue where to go."
I feel really sorry for her.
So I stand up and walk around the table to touch her bare arm.
I actually don't want to admit it,
but I got heavy shivers when I touched her arm and I felt that she got shivers, too.
I don't know how to feel about that, but it makes me feel kind of warm. I know this girl for less than twenty minutes and I already feel comfortable around her!
"Hey, listen, Marina."
I try to sound as friendly as I can. "You will probably miss the appointment, but I can offer you a warm place to sleep with a shower and even a tv!" She still looks down, but a bit happier than before. I continue to talk. "I live in a big trailerpark with a nice trailer, it's really cool in there! If you want you can live there for one or two days. Until you can get the train to Lake Placid."
She smiles. "You would really do that for me, Lana?"
I nod my head and smile.
"Of course!"
She hugs me and kisses me on both my left and right cheek.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
She touches my shoulders with both her hands and smiles.
"You're a true friend, Lana."

But I have to admit it - I want to be more than just her friend.