Nowhere Girl ~ John Lennon/The Beatles

Chapter Four: Settling In

Ever since that first Lettering class, Robin figured out that John knew exactly how to wind her up yet thrill her at the same time. She'd never met anyone quite like him as he was so infuriating yet she loved his company. He was the exact sort of person she'd usually want to avoid, but a week after she started college she found herself addicted to him. Not necessarily in an annoying way, remaining subtle about her fascination with him, but she found herself silently waiting for him to talk purely out of the interest of what he was going to say.

It wasn't ever anything overly insightful, usually just some witty, cutting comment about something someone else had said, but she liked hearing his opinions. She found him far more interesting than the rest of their company at college, except for Stuart of course. John and Stuart had become Robin's mates in the week that had passed since she started college, and she even found herself baring the company of the others in the group. Robin was actually quite proud of herself, feeling as if she was doing well in her classes and taking herself way out of her comfort zone by at least trying to make friends. Maybe Liverpool would be a fresh start, not that she acknowledged it as such, still refusing to think of herself as starting a new life.

To Robin, Liverpool might be a fresh start, but it was just a stop along the way before she could get on with the rest of her life. Her sentiments were not shared by her mother though, who'd also thrown herself into Liverpudlian life. Rita had always wanted to move to Liverpool since it was her husband's home town, but not out of respect for him, more because she wanted to escape the heavy industrial smog of Sheffield and get somewhere that wasn't dominated by steel works. She was happy in Liverpool, as if she'd forgotten the reasoning behind their move, and Robin knew that the emotions she felt for leaving behind her home town were not shared by her mother, though that was no surprise given that they shared very little in common anyway.  Every night over dinner when it was impossible for Robin to escape her, she would rave about her new job working in a shop in town which was apparently far superior to her last job in Sheffield in an office, and she would talk all about how lucky they were to be living somewhere so much nicer.

Nicer wasn't the word Robin would use. She'd seen very little of the new city except for the house, college, and the route her uncle would drive everyday to drop her off, but what she had seen didn't overwhelm her. It was nothing special, just a working class city that seemed to have just as much industry as home, even if most of it was centred around the docks, somewhere she still hadn't ventured to. The only thing different about Liverpool was that Robin had found people she had taken a liking to, though even that became an inconvieniece when it came to her mother.

The only downside to her newfound friends was that her mother was fascinated in Robin's comings and goings. Rita Knight knew her daughter was a true introvert and though she rarely talked at home, still quiet out of grief, she could tell that there was something different, something new in her life that made her seem a little less hollow, and she wanted to know exactly what was going on at college. Of course, that was something Robin was unused to. Before his death her father was the parent she turned to, and he always knew when to leave her alone. The same could definitely not be said for Rita. She'd always been far too interested in what Robin was doing with her life, odd given the fact she didn't get up to much at all in Sheffield, but now she was at a new college and it was obvious she was making friends for once, that was all different.

Whenever Rita finished retelling all the thrills of her day over dinner, she would turn to Robin and begin her interrogations. She was still far too stubborn and private to admit anything though, so that would be her cue to leave, going off into the garden to have a smoke, hoping secretly that John would also be out there. He rarely was, often leaving her feeling uncharacteristically disappointed, but she was also glad he wasn't out there, because if she found her mother insufferable when she didn't have proof of her newfound friendships, Robin wasn't sure she'd be able to cope if her mother saw her talking with the boy next door.