the book shop > j.l < MID EDIT

five

Friday 10th July 1959

penelope

against her better judgement penelope slid the yellow fabric over her head allowing it to fall mid thigh. she felt uncomfortable to say the least, as her best friend stood staring in aw.

charlotte and penelope had been best friends for the last six years, the beginning of secondary school to be exact as they'd both been paired up in geography, a subject they'd both grown to hate together. charlotte was the complete opposite of penelope. she had long dark hair that cascaded beautifully down her back, tanned skin all thanks to her half indian heritage. she was smaller than penelope standing at only 5'4. they had highly conflicting personalities, and you would never pin the two together, but they were inseparable. like peas in a pod, penelope's mother used to say. charlotte was an outgoing, confident girl, she knew exactly what she wanted in life and would stop at nothing to get it. penelope, was more the introvert, often following charlotte like a lost puppy, not that charlotte ever noticed. charlotte adored penelope in a way that was so unbelievable that penelope would never believe her. charlotte admires her best friends strength, after everything that had happened to her, she kept her head high.

"you look beautiful in that dress" charlotte complimented.

"oh come off it. lottie it's way too short! and the neckline, it's too low" penelope complained.

lottie rolled her eyes at her best friends insecurities. "penny, love, you look stunning. it's about time you start showing that body of yours off"

penelope chuckled feeling way out of her comfort zone but she had to agree with her best friend. her legs were long, this dress did compliment her body shape nicely. though she'd never admit it. charlotte strolled over to penelope grabbing her hands, "penny, just for one night believe me. you need to let loose, have some fun, count it as early birthday celebrations! plus you'll get to see the infamous mystery boy again."

as soon as penny arrived home that night she called her best friend and informed her on everything that had happened. charlotte being charlotte, managed to find out where the quarrymen usually performed and when their next gig would be. with a lot of persuasion on her behalf she managed to get penelope agreeing to go.

"i suppose so. what time does it start?" penelope inquired

"on the flyer it said half eight, so we should leave in like five minutes,"

"are we going to even be able to get served? i don't turn eighteen until next week. surely this is illegal?" penelope was familiar with alcohol, just never publicly. she'd never gone clubbing or tried to get served in a pub, she was simply too worried to be turned away. even though every single person in liverpool as soon as they turned fourteen, people turned a blind eye and nobody cared if you drunk or not.

"penny stop fretting, you look older than eighteen as it is, also they don't care, i'm pretty sure the bartender has a fancy for me at the cavern anyways so i can get us served if you're truly that scared" charlotte encouraged, "so there's no way in hell you're bailing on me Penelope-Anne"

"urgh.. fine"

•

penelope and charlotte strolled into the almost full smoke-filled club arm in arm. they pushed their way through to the bar agreeing to sit there until the band began to play.

"charlie! how good to see you love, what you having?" the over-enthusiastic bartender questioned, his beady eyes raking charlottes body.

"frank! id like to introduce you to my best friend of all time, miss penelope-anne. it's her first time at a club so we'll both take something a little light, perhaps two white wines please,"

"coming right up charlie, nice meeting you penelope-anne," frank the bartender sauntered off to complete the girls order. penelope not bothering to correct him calling her penelope-anne, thanked charlotte for ordering for her.

"so charlie. frank seems interested to say the least. a bit creepy if i'm honest" penelope smiled carefully.

"he's just a bit, excited. he's not my type, he's too.." charlotte waved her hand in the air as if she was trying to pinpoint the right word "perverted". both girls laughed at her choice of words, penelope laughing at charlottes manipulation of her own looks. she could have any boy wrapped around her finger in seconds, and lottie was aware of this, using it to her full advantage. frank being the perfect example.

"ladies, two white wines, on the house for being such beautiful girls" frank winked making penelope want to throw up. they thanked him still taking sips of their drinks.

time ticked by slowly as a heavy feeling in penelope's stomach grew with anxiety at the thought of seeing that boy again. excitement and anticipation rolled into one.

"come on Pen, we've got like three minutes until they come on stage and we need to try and squeeze our ways through a group of rowdy teenage girls." lottie grabbed penny's hands and shoved their ways through the crowd, lottie apologising to everyone they bumped into until they finally reached the stage.

after what felt like a lifetime of waiting, one by one a group of five boys waltzed onto the stage with big goofy grins spread across them. all wearing similar black clothing. penelope's eyes scanned the boys coming into her view until eventually her eyes landed on the boy.

looking up at his face she found his eyes already locked onto her.

-

the writing in this chapter is truly awful so i apologise sincerely i'm just trying to get past the awkward meeting stage and get to the good stuff