Well, here goes, day one of a new life, a new start. Where better to start anew than the Big Apple? When I decided to get out I had to choose a place where I didn't know anybody and nobody knew me. Well, nobody but one person, my best friend, Hayley Williams moved out here last year and she's the one who helped me get this apartment. She's the only one who's going to know me, and she lives right next door. My name is Amilee, or at least...it used to be, before I left Tenessee, now my name is Lorelei. I'm on the run from my psycho exboyfriend, who I broke up with after a huge fight we had last week. He almost stabbed me for that and I ran out of his house, down the street to my friend Lexi, who drove me around for a couple hours before we went back to my house. She stayed with me that night and after she left for work in the morning I called Hayley and told her I needed to get out of Tenessee. She offered me her brother's old apartment and I packed up all my stuff and left town, putting my house on the market just before I did.
I took a two days to drive up here, spending one night a hotel, the entire time worrying that Beck, my ex, was following me. The second I got here, an hour ago, I climbed up to Hayley's apartment and we planned it out, I am now Lorelei and I moved here from Maryland, but I was born in Tenessee. We had no choice but to include Tenessee to explain the accent. We decided to finish up figuring out my alibi later because she had to go meet with a record label in an hour and she needed to start heading over. So she handed me the keys to my new apartment and said "Across the hall from your apartment are three nice guys named Danny, Jack, and Pete and I'm sure they'd be happy to help you move your boxes up if you ask them, there's usually at least one of them home." I hugged her and said, "Thank you so much Hayley, for everything. You're an amazing friend." Then we both walked out and went downstairs, me heading to my car to start getting my boxes.
I set the first box down outside my door and was unlocking the door when one of the guys from across the hall poked his head out and spotted me. He had shoulder length dark brown hair and blue eyes, shielded by a pair of glasses. "Hey!" he said excitedly when he spotted me, "So you're the new girl Hayley said would be moving in soon." he smiled and added, "My name is Danny, Danny Duncan." 'He's cute.' I thought to myself as I stuck out my hand and said, "My name is Lorelei." "Pretty name for a pretty girl." he said smiling as he shook my hand. "My roommates are out now, but I can help you bring your stuff up if you want?" he offered. "That would be great." I replied, thinking about all the boxes still in the back of my car.
Back and forth we went, carrying all the boxes up from my car to my apartment, as one went up, the other went down, until we finally got all the boxes set down in my apartment. "You want to come over to my place and hang out for a while, since you don't really have anywhere to sit right now?" Danny asks, both of us looking around the unfurnished living room of the small one bedroom apartment. "That sounds great." I answered, legs tired from riding up and down the elevator and standing for so long. So we walk across the hall and into his living room. "You want anything to drink?" he asked as I sat down on the couch. I asked for a Coke and looked around the apartment while he went into the kitchen. It was a bit bigger than mine, two bedrooms, so either two of the guys shared a bed or this couch was one of the ones with a bed built into it.
Danny reentered the room, handing me a bottle and sitting down next to me. We looked around the room for a minute awkwardly while we tried to figure out what to talk about. "Soooo..." Danny said, "How did you know Hayley? Like from what she told us I know y'all are friends and knew each other in Tenessee, but how did you guys meet?" I panicked, but tried to look calm and decided to mix the two stories, the truth and my alibi. "Well, we were next door neighbors, so we have pretty much known each other since we could crawl." I said, laughing at how our parents always described our friendship. "We went to school together and were best friends. Then in high school I had to move," true, except it was into another neighborhood in the same city, and Hayley and I still went to the same school, small town, "because my dad's job got transferred to Maryland and there was no way we could get out of it. So we uprooted and left. Hayley and I kept in touch on MySpace and texted everyday. Then something happened and I decided I needed to get out, so I called Hayley and she offered me her brother's old place and I accepted. And now here we are." I ended. "Woah," Danny said, "what happened? Because I can kick someone's ass if you need me to." "Thanks for the offer Danny, but I'm not sure I can tell you right now, besides, if this works, you shouldn't need to." I told him. "Oh..." Danny said, a little sadly, "Will you tell me after we get to know each other better?" he asked hopefully. "Maybe, or if I get into a situation where I have to." I replied after thinking about it. "Reasonable." he replied, smiling again.
"So, what's up with you, where are you from?" I asked after a minute of awkward silence. "Well, through 7th grade I lived in a small town called Bradenton, FL. Then my mom's job changed and we moved up here. In 8th grade I started school not knowing anybody. That's how I met Pete and Jack, they were in most of my classes and all three of us were new kids. So we latched together. But I kept in touch with my best friends in Bradenton too, and two months one of them, Travis, came up here and met Jack and Pete. So now we're all friends with him. But anyway, Pete, Jack and I are in a band together. I drum, Pete plays bass and sings and Jack plays guitar and sings. We're supposed to have practice today at one of Jack's friend's house if you want to come and listen." he finishes.
As I was about to tell him yes to watching the band practice a lanky guy walked in carrying grocery bags. He had black hair cut into a bowl type cut and a couple blonde streaks and a slender, angled face and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a Blink-182 t-shirt and black skinny jeans. "Hey Danny." he called as he walked in the kitchen. "Hey Jack!" Danny called to him. "Hayley's friend here yet? I want to meet her!" Jack said. I looked away from the kitchen area quickly and over towards the window. "She's in here! Don't make her feel awkward Jack!" Danny said. "Oh, oops. Hey, Hayley's friend, what's your name? I'm Jack Barakat!" he said, walking out of the kitchen. "I'm Lorelei." I answered smiling, he was really cute too, hot damn.
"You didn't just throw everything into cabinets or the fridge again, did you Jack?" Danny asked, getting up. "Uuhh...." Jack said, looking away from him. "Ugh, I'll fix it. Where's Pete?" Danny said. "He ditched me for eyeliner and clothes." Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Again? Can you text him and tell him band practice is at Alex's place in an hour, so he can't take forever again." Danny added before disappearing into the kitchen. Jack pulled out his phone and typed out a quick message. About ten seconds after he hit send a beeping was heard from one of the bedrooms. "Dammit Pete." Jack said and walked into the room the beep came from. I followed him, not sure whether or not I should, but not wanting to just sit in there alone. I leaned against the doorway and watched as Jack looked confusedly at the bags sitting in the room, and then he went over to the bathroom door and knocked. "I'M IN THE SHOWER! I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT BAND PRACTICE THIS TIME!" came the response. "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT! I mean, I should've figured that there wasn't some strange person showering in our apartment, but I just wanted to check." Jack said. I laughed from where I was standing and Jack looked over to me, remembering I was there. "Oh by the way!" he called, "Hayley's friend is over, her name is Lorelei." "I'LL MEET HER WHEN I'M DRESSED, NOW LET ME FINISH MY SHOWER BARAKAT."
With that lovely introduction to Pete we went back into the living room and sat down on the couch while Jack turned the TV on. He flipped through the channels to Cartoon Network, it was right at the beginning of an episode of Scooby Doo. While we watched Danny walked in with a bag of chips and sat down on the other side of me. "So Lorelei," Danny asked, "you never got a chance to answer my question, do you want to watch band practice?" "Yes! That sounds like fun!" I answered, smiling. "Yes!!" both the boys cheer happily and we continued watching Scooby Doo.
The episode ended and Adventure Time started, causing Jack to shush us both. Danny looked up after the theme song and said, "This one again Jack? We've seen it a million times, can we PLEASE watch some sports." "But this one is my favorite." Jack said, pouting. "You say that about ever episode we see." Danny said, giving me a 'this is what I have to put up with' look. "But this one really is." Jack said, continuing to pout. I decided that he looked really cute pouting and decided to say something, not really wanting to watch sports today anyway, "I've never seen this one." Jack looked at me happily, brightening up. Danny sighed and said, "Fine." A voice from behind us said, "Guys, we have band practice, we should probably leave now." Jack turned around to give his other roommate a pouty face too, "I'm sorry Jack, I know this one is your favorite, we can watch it again later ok?" Pete said. "You're right Pete." Danny said, "Lorelei, you ready to go?" he asked. "Sure, let's get going." Jack sadly turned off the TV and we walked out the door and went downstairs and out the door to hail a cab.
