Too Young To Fall In Love | Nikki Sixx

14.

Summer 1981

Janie sat cross legged on her bed, trying her best to focus on her notes in front of her. It wasn't easy, given the fact that Nikki, Tommy, and Vince were shouting like maniacs in the living room.

When their lease had been up at the beginning of the month, Nikki and Janie moved into a bigger apartment just up the street from the Whisky A Go Go with Tommy and Vince. Mick had elected not to join the rest of them, and quite frankly Janie didn't blame him

The last month had been hell on Janie. Between clinicals, work, and school she was running on fumes. Thankfully, she was nearly finished with finals and would take her nursing boards at the end of the week. Tommy had offered her coke several times in an attempt to help.

"C'mon Janie, just a little something to keep you going until graduation."

Janie'd politely refused. She'd tried it once, after pulling an all nighter to cram for a test earlier in the semester. Sure it had kept her going well enough, but she came crashing down hard when it wore off, leaving her miserable. Quite frankly, she never wanted to experience that feeling again.

So to cope, she'd been living off pots of coffee for a week now. She was so tired and yet she couldn't stop studying. What if she didn't pass her nursing boards? Sure, she could take them again but she'd worked her ass off this semester to finish the program in three years. She didn't want it to feel like a waste. She didn't want to feel like a failure.

After the latest round of shouts and jeers from the living room, Janie slammed her notebook shut, stomping out of her bedroom to give those idiots a piece of her mind.

"Would you mind keeping it down?!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh come on Janie, we're just having fun!" Tommy laughed.

"Yeah Janie, we're not doing anything wrong." Vince added.

"It is eleven o clock on a Monday night." Janie asserted.

"Yeah, your point?" Tommy asked.

"And some of us are trying to study! But I can't because you idiots won't stop yelling!" Janie shouted.

"Well sorry we're not lame and like to have a good time." Vince shot back.

"Vinnie lay off, she's tired from studying so much." Nikki piped up, giving Janie a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry I actually go to school and work for a living and don't just mooch off of my significant other like some people!" Janie yelled.

"Yeah? And we all know who you'll be mooching off of when you fail that test." Vince spat.

Janie's mouth hung open, and the room grew silent. She turned on her heel, heading back towards the bedroom. Nikki stood up to follow her, shooting Vince a glare.

"Not fucking cool man." he told Vince, who at this point looked a bit shocked.

When Nikki entered the bedroom, Janie was furiously stuffing her backpack with her notes and some clothes. Tears were flowing down her cheeks rapidly by this point.

"Babe.." Nikki walked over to her.

"I'll be at Mary's until my tests are over," she told him, wiping her face, "have fun with Tommy & Vince."

"What? Janie come on, he didn't mean it." Nikki followed her out into the living room, where Vince and Tommy sat frozen in their chairs.

"I'll see you Friday." she muttered before slamming the door behind her.

"Babe? Babe!" Nikki opened the door to go after her, but she'd already ran down the stairs and down to the bus stop.

He sighed, "Real fucking smooth asshole." he slammed the door behind him before going back to his bedroom.

"You really are kind of an asshole sometimes." Tommy told Vince as he took another drink of his beer.

After that exchange, the apartment was eerily quiet the rest of the evening.

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True to her word, Janie didn't come home the next three nights. Wednesday at work Nikki tried to persuade her to return, but to no avail.

"Babe come on, please just come home. I promise we'll be quiet while you study."

"I'll come back Friday," she reaffirmed, "wouldn't want to ruin anyone's fun."

"Baby please," Nikki placed his fingers under her chin, tilting her head towards him, "my bed's awful lonely without you."

"Glad to know that's what you miss." she scoffed, turning away from him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him.

"Look," she sighed, "it's only until Friday. I have to pass this test Nikki, I have to."

"You will." Nikki assured her.

"I hope, but I have to be able to focus and study hard. It's much easier to do that at Mary's place."

Nikki exhaled, "I'm not going to be able to change your mind am I?"

Janie smiled at him, "I'll be back Friday after my test. I promise."

She leaned up on her toes, giving him a long, slow kiss.

"See you then Rockstar."

With that she turned on her heel, walking down the street towards the nearest bus stop to get back to Mary's. Nikki groaned as he watched her walk away. This was going to be the longest two days of his life.

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Three in the afternoon on Friday had Janie dragging her feet as she trudged upstairs to the apartment. Her nursing boards had lasted all morning and partially into the afternoon. She'd never felt more exhausted than she did in this moment.

Despite her utter exhaustion, a strange sense of relief flowed through her.