Paper Lanterns

Chapter one

1987

"Dammit, it's locked." Tayla, my friend, sighed loudly as she gave the wooden gate one last jiggle before accepting defeat.

"It's just a friggin' piece of wood. Can't we just bust it down?" I asked as I kicked the gate roughly with my checkered van slip-ons.

"Our goal is to sneak in, not get arrested. I don't think breaking and entering is a good idea." Tayla responded with a very-obvious eye-roll.

Growing up alternative as a teenager in L.A. in the 80s had been tough. On one side of the divide you had poser girls wearing black scarves in their hair, sunglasses and red lipstick to try and capture the manufactured edgy look of the "Desperately Seeking Susan" circa-1985 Madonna. Then on the other side you had boys buying new hard rock/metal bands shirts such as "Guns and Roses" from a chain store at the mall, where they would tactfully cut off the sleeves to make themselves look as trashy yet slightly glamorous like their fake idols.

Tayla and I just liked different genres of rock. Rock and roll, rockabilly, punk rock, garage rock. If it had the words "rock" in it, we were a fan. As we didn't fit in with an alternative clique we found ourselves mostly alone. We had a couple of friends at school who, like us, liked unpopular things. We didn't belong to a big group of friends and thus found ourselves an easy target for bullies.

This is why it was just us two. We were a couple of newly turned fifteen year olds who had found ourselves trying to sneak (or perhaps now, 'break') into a gig. The venue was serving alcohol tonight and thus was off-limits to those under twenty-one. For once it was not a glam-tryhard metal band playing like we had seen a dozen times before. Unfortunately for us, it was one of the only times it had not been an all-ages gig. Double unfortunately for us, the gate which we knew lead straight to the performance hall was locked.

"Alright, what now? Are we pathetic enough to stand out here and listen in or should we find something else to do?" Tayla huffed after we both gave the gate one last tug in hopes it would magically unlock.

"Listening in for free instead of paying to go would be pretty punk rock." I grinned as I studied Tayla's disapproving face.

Tayla and I made a good pair of friends as we certainly didn't fit into conventional beauty standards. Both of us were fairly chubby and whilst I couldn't speak for Tayla, I was certainly teased constantly for my weight.

Tayla had a Mediterranean background so she had nice olive skin and thick curly black hair, which she always ran unnatural coloured streaks through. She began with red and had now worked her way to purple streaks contrasting against the dark curls. I was so jealous, my mom wouldn't let me put light colours through my hair.

I had an Irish background so instead I was pasty, freckled and had fine brunette hair that had a habit of always becoming greasy. An awkward appearance with an odd taste in music, I was never going to fit in well in L.A.

"Hey! Are you girls trying to find a way in?" We heard a boy's voice shout out to us before Tayla could respond to my brilliant comment.

"No. We're rehearsing for our parts in our school's upcoming production of Hamlet." Tayla sarcastically responded as the boys inched closer to us.

There were two of them. One of them was tall and lanky looking. He had light mousey coloured hair that looked almost like an overgrown-bowl cut and his height made him look like an overgrown awkward schoolboy. He had a big grin on his face due to Tayla's comment, but his blue eyes showed he was a little wary of both Tayla and I.

The second boy, who asked us if we were sneaking in, was also quite skinny. However unlike his friend he was quite short and thus had a scrawny looking appearance. He had thick curly hair that looked desperate for a cut and style, with a reddish chestnut hue. His green eyes showed he was fairly fired up at Tayla's comment and I could see a confrontation coming up.