Two Strange Girls||A Beatles Story

She Came In Through the Bathroom Door

Inside the recording studio, five guys stood. Three were in a big room with their instruments "at the ready," I should say. One was on drums, one was on a bass guitar, and one was on a regular guitar. I recognized them all from Faith. The bassist was Paul McCartney, the drummer was Ringo Starr, and the guitarist was John Lennon. John wore glasses that remming me of Buddy Holly. I've seen videos of Paul or Ringo in 2019 but none of John. Of course Paul and Ringo were a lot older in the future.

The other two men were standing in front of the glass and had sound equipment. They must have been the manger and producer I've heard Faith talk about. I didn't know which was which, but I soon found out when one, a more posh one, spoke to George.

"Ah. There you are, George. And who might these two be?" he asked, looking at us.

"Brian, they're Faith and Tessa. Girls, this is our manager, Brian Epstein," George introduced. He moved into the sound booth.

The other dude had to be George Martin. I've heard Faith talk about him when she tried to give me random trivia facts.

"I hope we aren't in your way," said Faith. "I didn't expect George to take us with him here."

"You shouldn't be in the way." George M. turned to the band. "You ready boys?" John gave a thumbs up. "I Wanna Be Your Man take one."

The song started with one simple cord: E-. It then got into a bunch of other different cords and guitars and drums that I couldn't keep up. Ringo started singing.

"Why's he singing?" I asked Faith in a whisper. "That should be a whole different take so the sound for the lyrics and instruments even each other out."

"I don't really know. It's just what they did sometimes back then."

"Oh."

I didn't listen to the lyrics. I've heard the song too many times from my sister. They did the same routine with a different song. This time John sang, and it took two takes.

I lost count of the hours. I think they did four songs before Brian told them to take a break. I followed Faith as she followed the four band members. They went outside to have a smoke. When George was offered a cigarette, he turned it down.

"What's with ya?" Ringo asked him.

"Nothing. I just don't feel like having one." It was subtle, but George looked at me and my sister for a split second. I think I was the only one to see it. I felt bad that I told him about the cigarettes and lung cancer, but he had to know!

"So, what's with the two girls following you?" John asked.

"We're his friends," I lied. I've lied so many times in the past, that it became easy.

"From America? When he's going there in a few days to see his sister?" John took a long puff of his cigarette. I swatted the smoke away.

"Yeah. We're his sister's friends, in fact. Got a problem with that?"

"Don't get wordy with me, little girl."

I tried to size him up, but seeing as was a whole foot shorter, I failed. "I'm not little. And I'm not getting wordy. It's not my fault you won't believe me."

Faith intervened. "Cool it, you two."

"I can see the two of them will be getting into some mischief later on, y'know," added Paul.

"Mischief is my middle name," I told him. "Tessa Mischief Hills."

Ringo looked at Faith. "Mischief your middle name too?"

Faith looked like Ringo had grown an extra set of ears. "No. I'm the one getting us out of trouble, you see."

I smiled. "Yeah. Her middle name is Faith Anti-Mischief Hills."

"Well, then, George. It seems like we're in for a treat." With that, John stomped out his cigarette and went back inside.

"I like him." I never actually met John Lennon before. He died way before I was born. But I liked him. He seemed cocky and arrogant and knew how to get on my nerves. "He may not like me, but I like him."

I strutted back into the studio building. I made my way to a wreck room like area and grabbed a bag of chips from a cabinet. I made some tea using the kettle that was on the counter since the microwave wasn't invented yet. Faith came into the room.

"What did you do back there?" she snapped. "We're supposed to be laying low."

"Calm it, sis. I knew what I was doing. You've got to fit in with the crowd, right?"

"Yes, but not this way. You're going to make them hate us."

"You just don't want George to hate me. Or you," I said without thinking.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that George is your favorite. Now that we're stuck in whatever time we're stuck in, you're in lala land!"

I heard footsteps approaching us. I had a mini heart attack thinking someone over heard us, but it was only George who walked in.

"The lads and I are going out to go grab some food. The others asked if you girls wanted to come."

"Sure," Faith said, trying to keep her voice from rising.

I rolled my eyes. Of course Faith got to go to the era she wanted to go to. Why couldn't I? All because of that stupid song, from her stupid band, made by her favorite member of said band that was playing on the radio.

We went to a bar/pub since they call it that.

I ordered nachos because I wasn't that hungry. I tried to order an alcoholic beverage, but Faith stopped me before I could even ask.

I sighed. "Water."

"Two waters."

I looked at Faith. "Seriously? You're at the age where you can drink in this country, and you won't."

Faith recently turned nineteen. I'm fifteen. You could already tell by our personalities that we were different. It didn't stop there. She had brown hair; I had dyed blonde. She was the perfect child who got modeling jobs like it was nothing. I was troublesome and could barely write songs and play guitar.

Faith looked at me. "Maybe I don't want to drink."

I looked over to Ringo who was sitting on the other side of me. "Can you order me a beer like you're having?"

Ringo gave me a questioning look. "You're like ten."

"I'm fifteen. I just look really small for my age."

"Still no."

The bartender came out with my nachos and water. I sighed as I took a bite of the nachos. They were cold and the cheese tasted bad, but I still ate them. I only ate half of my nachos when Paul announced we had to go back to the studio. I sighed as I took one last gulp of my water.

When we got back to the studio, I told Faith: "I gotta go pee."

I walked into the bathroom. I used the toilet and washed my hands. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I got another pasty; only this time it didn't show the past. I saw myself as I was in 2019. The only difference was I looked more wealthy. I had on a school uniform, my hair was perfectly done, as was my makeup, and I looked more happy. What happened? I wondered. Last time I checked, my family didn't have that kind of money. So what was going on?

My mind became dizzy and my eyes began to blur. My hands and arms hit something cold before I blacked out.