Chapter III

Chapter III

Rolling over in bed, I opened my eyes. Sunlight poured through the window. I squinted in the bright sunlight, then wondered why the window was on that side of the room. 'What the-,' I thought, sitting up suddenly, wondering where I was.

Then I awoke all of the way and remembered where I was. Silently scolding myself for getting startled, I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand next to my bed. "12:07!" I gasped out loud. I threw the covers aside, hoping I hadn't missed breakfast.

Glancing at the other bed, I walked over to the mirror. I saw my hair was sticking up all over the place - the typical morning look. I smoothed it down, then noticed my wrinkled clothes. Since I was too tired to change into my (well, Paul's) pj's last night, I was still wearing my 'Please Please Me' shirt from the day before. I was probably going to be stuck here for awhile, I needed clothes and stuff like that. I made a mental note to talk to Neil about going shopping before was head out as I picked up John's very cool hat from the top of the dresser. I hadn't given it back from last night so I was going to give it back to him this morning.

I headed towards the door. Opening it, I walked down the hallway toward the living room. I heard voices and a Lennon-like laugh.

I entered the living room. John, George, and Neil were in there, munching on bowls of cornflakes and milk that came from the breakfast cart by the couch. A bowl of fresh fruit and a pitcher of juice - grape juice, that is - were on there, also.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," John greeted me as he saw me come into the room. He was sitting on the couch. George, who was sitting in a chair, and Neil, who was on the floor, said good morning too.

I then said good morning to everyone (incidently, the song "Good Morning Good Morning" played through my head) and sat on the other side of the couch. Holding out John's hat, I said, "Here you go, John."

John reached for the hat, muttered something that sounded like "Ta", and tossed the hat on the back of the couch.

"I was hoping I hadn't missed breakfast," I said, reaching a banana.

"We all like to sleep in late," George replied.

"But if Ringo and Paulie don't get their arses up soon, they are gonna miss breakfast!" John said, smiling.

Neil nodded, smiling too. "Well, Lennon, why don't ya go wake 'em up, then?" he said to John. John made a face at him, but nevertheless set down his bowl and stood.

"Aye, but I ain't doin' it tomorrow, then," he stated. Looking at me, he said, "Come 'ed. Lee. Let's go get 'em up." I tossed my banana peel into the little wastebasket nearby and stood, following John down the hallway and into his room.

We walked over to the bed where Ringo slept. Slipping into a thick English accent and putting his hands on his hips, John said, "Well, by jove! It zeems that dis 'un 'ere iz taken! Ve'll 'afta use dis 'un, Lily dee-ya!" He flopped onto the other bed.

I made a face at him, but smiled as I turned and reached out to shake Ringo's shoulder. "Come on, Ringo, time to get up," I said loudly. He didn't budge. 'Heavy sleeper,' I thought.

John got up and peered into Ringo's sleeping face. "I command you to open your eyes and get up!" he said very loudly. Still Ringo was asleep. "Hmph," John grunted.

Not discouraged yet, John climbed onto Ringo's bed and sat on his back. I laughed. John smiled and bounced up and down. "Get up, get up, get up!" he called to Ringo in a sing-song voice. Ringo's eyes fluttered open. He saw John and cried,

"Gerroff!" He pushed John over onto the other side of the bed. John lept up, wide-eyed and looking surprised.

"It's - alive!" he cried, turning and running towards the door. "It's alive, it's alive!" He ran out the door.

Ringo and I just cracked up. "There's John for ya," Ringo said, smiling.

"Breakfast's here, Ringo, and you'd better get out there before the food is all gone," I warned him, then left the room and headed for my own.

"Ta, Lee," Ringo called after me.

John was already in the other room, dancing around like a lunatic and saying, "Paulie, Paulie! Arise, oh mighty cute one!" in an airy tone. I giggled. Paul didn't arise, though.

John grunted again. He stood next to Paul's bed and shouted very loudly, "Oh, help us all! They've escaped and the house's burning down! Save yourself, lads! Aaaa!" John pretended to faint, falling onto my bed, then laughed hysterically. I laughed, too.

Paul awoke suddenly and sat up, alarmed. "What the-" he said, then stopped as he saw John and me laughing. "Why, you little-" he cried, throwing his pillow at John. John ducked, then got up.

"You're missin' breakfast, Macca, so you'd better get up," he said, leaving the room.

Paul got out of bed and stretched. "Good morning, luv," he said to me.

"Good morning, Paul. See you at breakfast," I replied, then turned to leave. I stopped at the doorway and said to him, "By the way, your jacket's on the dresser over there." I motioned to it. "Thanks for letting me use it."

Paul smiled. "Ah, that's okay, luv," he replied, picking up the jacket and folding it. I then turned and left the room.

Ringo had taken my spot on the couch, so I sat on the floor with my back against the arm of the couch.

"I was wondering if today I could run out and go shopping for some clothes and other stuff," I said to Neil. He nodded.

"Aye, that's a good idea," he replied, "You don't have anything with ya."

"Ooo, can I go?" asked John eagerly. I bet they all wanted a chance to get out of the hotel.

"I wanna go too!" Ringo added.

Paul walked into the room, dressed in a suit. "Where're we goin'?"

"Shopping!" George told him.

"For Lee?" Paul asked. I nodded.

"Fellas, I dunno if ya should go, y'know?" Neil said slowly. "We're gonna hafta leave here pretty soon, and ya know someone might recognize ya. We don't want that."

John waved his hand at him. "Naw, Nell, ya worry too much."

"And for a good reason, too, Lennon," Neil replied. He paused, thinking. Finally he said, "Two of you can go." They all groaned. Neil continued. "Mal will be 'ere soon to get the cases."

"What time're we leavin' today, Nell?" paul asked him.

"Around two," Neil replied. Glancing at his watch, he said, "Come 'ed, Lee. We'd better get goin' if we wanna get your stuff." To the Beatles he said, "You lot just fight out whose coming. We'll be leaving shortly."

I went back to my room to brush out my hair a little - and the best that I could - with a comb I had seen earlier on the dresser. I put my hair in a quick ponytail and went back out to the living room.

It was decided that Paul and Ringo would go with me and Neil. John and George were a little down (John was pouting - he had his lip out and everything) but they just basically shrugged it off. Personally, I didn't really see what the big deal was about going shopping was, but Paul told me that they rarely ever got to go out and that a chance to was great. I guess they really were prisoners of their fame, locked up in a hotel room.

Neil sent Paul and Ringo to their rooms to "get ready". I was puzzled. I didn't know what that meant, so I followed Ringo into his room.

"What are you supposed to get ready for?" I asked him, sitting on a bed.

Ringo dug around in his suitcase and pulled out some clothes. "Well, when we go out in the day, we don't wanna be recognized. So we've each worked out a disguise." I smiled to myself. Beatles in disguise? That was funny.

Ringo disappeared into the bathroom and came out in his "disguise" clothes. I laughed. He was wearing tight purple bell-bottoms and a blue silk shirt with ruffles on the front - his outfit reminded me of what he wore during the 'White Album' sessions - remember that photo session where he's wearing that yellow ruffley silk shirt and the Beatles are standing in front of a fan to blow their hair back? Well, anyway, it was kinda wierd to see him dressed like that.

Ringo strutted snobbishly to the mirror, imitating a stuck-up person, and picked up a pair of green-tinted round sunglasses and put them on 'John Lennon sunglasses!' I thought, surprised. They were like the granny-glasses that John wore later on in the Beatles and after, you know. Neat.

Ringo turned to me and posed. "Vat do you tink?" he asked me in a different accent. I laughed.

"Oh, you look very, uh, un-Beatleish, I suppose," I replied, smiling. He laughed.

"Aye, that's the point," he said. "Come 'ed, you gotta see Paul's disguise."

"I can't wait," I replied, laughing, and I followed Ringo out of the room.

Walking behind Ringo in the hallway, I bumped into a guy with a hat who was leaning against the wall. Thinking it was Paul in his disguise, I said, "Excuse me, Paul." The man turned and I saw his face and gasped. Ringo turned to look.

"Hey, you're not Paul," I said, surprised, and backed up. This man had a moustache and a short beard, and was wearing a green collared shirt with a really ugly brown jacket and jeans. Last time I looked, Paul didn't have any facial hair!

The man said, "Pardon me, miss," in an English accent - it sounded like Paul, but it sure didn't look like him!

I peered at the man's eyes, trying to recognize him. He glanced at Ringo and smiled.

"It is you!" I exclaimed, pulling off the man's hat. A mass of mop-top hair was beneath it. I laughed. "Now, I doubt if anyone will recognize you, Paul!"

Paul and Ringo laughed. "He does look strange with facial hair, huh, Lee?" Ringo asked me smiling.

"Thanks, Ring," Paul said, grinning. We headed into the living room.

Yeah, now that I look at it, Paul's beard and moustache look like what he wore on 'A Hard Day's Night', you know, at the beginning.

The tv was on in the living room, and John was staring intently at the screen. George was talking to Neil as we entered.

"Nice pants, Ring," John said, chuckling. Ringo made a face at him. Leaning towards me, John said loudly, "This's the only time he gets to wear those, y'know. That's why he wanted to go." I smiled.

"Oh, knock it off, Lennon," Ringo said, reaching out and messing up John's hair.

Neil glanced at his watch. "Let's get goin', fellas. It's gettin' late. He reached out and picked up his suit jacket off of the arm of the couch.

"All right," Paul said, following Neil to the door. Ringo and I joined them.

Neil turned to face John and George. "You two behave yourselves now," he cautioned, shaking his finger and smiling.

John grinned like a school boy. "Yes sir, Mr. Aspinall, sir," he said, saluting.

"What time'll ya be back, then?" George asked.

"Oh, around 1:30 or so. We gotta get going around 2:00, and Mal should be along sometime to help witht he cases, as usual," Neil replied, opening the door.

"Mal's our other roadie. He helps out a lot and drive us around," Paul told me. I nodded.

"She knows, Paulie. She's-" John started to say. George threw a couch pillow at him.

"We know who she is, John," he said, smiling.

"I'm me," I added. We laughed, and Neil, Paul, Ringo, and I headed out the door.

"Bye!" John and George called after us.

The weather outside was nice. It was sunny and unusually warm for August.

"What stores are we going to, Neil?" I asked his as I walked beside him and Paul. Ringo was on the other side of Paul.

"Well, there's a clothing store I spotted the other day as we drove to the hotel. It's not far from here," Neil replied. I nodded.

"We'll hafta get Lee some cases to keep her stuff in, too, Nell," Ringo said.

"Aye," Neil replied, "We can split up later on to look for some. Clothes are our main concern of the moment."

We crossed a few streets. Neil pointed to a sign by a tall building. "There it is," he said.

"JC Penney," I read, "We're going there? It's a little expensive, isn't it?" I've window-shopped in there several times before. They have some nice clothes, but it's all so expensive.

Neil shrugged. "Money's no matter," he replied.

Paul looked at him. "Money? Since when did we have any money?" he asked, acting surprised. We laughed, and continued walking to the store.

"I've never been in one of those stores before," Ringo said.

"Neither have I," Paul added.

"I've only window-shopped in there," I said.

"You mean they have a JC Penney store in the '80's?" Neil asked me.

"Oh, yeah," I replied, smiling.

We crossed a street and approached the department store. It was really tall and fancy-looking, and had revolving doors.

We went through the cool doors - well, actually, Ringo and Paul were fascinated by the doors and pushed them around and around for a while with Neil and me stuck inside, so we didn't really go right into the store.

Lots of people were giving us wierd looks. Well, I don't really blame them - if I saw someone dressed the way Ringo was, I would be giving them a wierd look, too! Ringo just laughed at everyone. He didn't seem to care if people pointed and stared - well, I guess he was used to it and everything.

There were many little shops in this huge store. We first went into the main JC Penney store part to get clothes for me.

Paul, Ringo, and Neil were fun to shop with. They would hold up really corny-looking and small clothes and ask, "Does this fit?" They made jokes, Neil acting just like them. We had fun and yet they helped me pick out some neat clothes - it amazed me how different the style was than the '80's style I was used to.

We looked at the shirts first. I got some plain colored t-shirts, and some with neat designs on them. We picked out about twenty for me - hey, I needed a lot to travel with! I also got some long sleeved shirts, and (with the encouragement of the three boys) a pretty neat sweatshirt that said THE BEATLES on the front and had designs and patterns on it. It was funny to me that they didn't mind me buying something that said the Beatles on it, you know, it just felt wierd.

Pants were next. There were a lot of cloth pants to choose from, but I don't really like to wear those. I went straight to the jeans section.

As I looked for a pair I liked with Ringo and Paul, Neil came over to me and said, "Lee, I need to go look around for some cases for ya. Time is running short, so you lot can finish up the clothes shopping while I cruise around for some cases. Okay?"

I nodded. Paul nudged me and said, "Yeah. We all know he's gonna go shop for 'imself now." We laughed.

Neil made a face at Paul. "Aye," he replied, then handed me a wad of money. "Here's some money for your stuff. Meet me over there-" he pointed to a tall plant by the front of the shop- "at 1:45."

We all agreed, and Paul looked at his watch. "We only have half an hour, so let's get movin'," he said. Neil left.

Again, like Chapter I, this chapter is too long to be put on one page! :) I just write too much, I guess!

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