Month: July 2005

I’ve added another Msc album

 

 

I almost got the fright of my life when David bounded up and just grabbed me around the waist and hugged me.

“Whoa there, buddy…” Pierre pulled him off me.  “You haven’t met the girl yet and you’re already throwing yourself at her…that is so wrong, David…”

David blushed and then grinned at me.  “Sorry about that…I’m David.”

“Marly,” I smiled in response and shook his hand.  I turned to Megan and the others and waved them next to me.    “David, Pierre, Chuck, Jeff, Seb…Pat…this is Megan, Sarah, Carly and Cassie.  Oh and I’m Marly.”

I noticed Carly looked a bit overwhelmed.  I leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t forget James…” 

She glared at me and said under her breath, “We’re just friends…”

“Right…I believe you.”

“So,” Cassie was talking to Pat and Chuck, “first of all we’re going to show you around town.  It’s not a long way…so if you’re up for a walk?”

“Heh…Pierre can burn off some energy,” Chuck muttered.  Pierre glanced up from where he’d grabbed a seat and glowered at his friend.  “Sorry, Pierre…but you’re a real grouch today.”

“What’s walking going to do for it?” Pierre snapped in response.  Carly and I traded looks.  Obviously he’d gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

“Fresh air is good for you,” I blurted out.  He raised his eyebrows at me.

“Hmph…I’ll be the judge of that.”

I shrugged in response.  “Come on then…let’s go.”

 

Once we were outside, I was more in my element.  I hardly ever set foot in the Swamp.  The last time I was there was for the 2002 School Presentation night, the year I graduated from Year 12.  So, I didn’t really know the place anymore.  I knew the CBD though; just the other night, Carly and I had been at the nightclubs getting half-whacked.  And we still managed to find our way to the spot where we were supposed to meet the others.  That was interesting.  Pierre who was walking beside me brought me out of my reverie.

“So…does this place have a night life?”

I stared at him for a moment and then cracked up laughing.  Not because I thought the question was funny but because it reminded me of the Canadians I’d met at the Cri the other night.  They’d been completely off their faces and still thought the Cri was the best place they’d ever been to.  Pierre frowned.

“Is that a yes…or a no?” The tone of his voice gave me the impression he didn’t really care either way but I still felt inclined to give him an answer. 

“Sorry…yes we have a night life…I was enjoying it the other night actually.”

“You?  No offence but you don’t look much of a partier…” Sounded like he was trying to insult me, and that bothered me a bit. 

But, before I could defend myself Carly smirked, “She’s a cheap drunk.”

“So are you,” I shot back as fast as I could. 

“Yeah…that’s true.” 

Pierre laughed at that, a sour sounding one…but a laugh nonetheless.  It’s about time…we’re not that bad…we’ve all had our shots…

Carly looked at him questioningly but then shook her head, then stopped and nodded down the street.

“Hey…isn’t that Ben?”

I followed her gaze and running down the street waving a Cowboys flag was Ben. 

“Hey!  Marlz!”

Great timing…someone sane to talk to…

“Ben?  What’s up…I just talked to you on the phone 15 minutes ago.”

“Yeah, I know…I forgot to tell you…you get to go in the KFC box at Dairy Farmers’ tomorrow.” Ben panted as if he’d run a big race.  I patted him on the back.

“You okay there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine…haha…right…I haven’t run that fast in awhile.”

Pierre and the other guys from Simple Plan studied Ben curiously as Megan, Sarah, Carly Cassie and I crowded around him and threw questions at him

“Do we get the box to ourselves?”

“Do we get KFC as well?”

“Are you dressing up as the Colonel, at the game?”

“Is your Dad going to be around?”

“Who’s singing the national anthem?”

Ben held up his hands and laughed. 

“One at a time, eh?”

“Sorry, Ben.” Cassie smiled then glanced toward the SP guys who looked a bit confused.  “One important question…can these guys go in the box?”

Ben looked over to them and nodded slightly.  “That’s why Dad said you could have the box.  We’re going to go on the hill and mingle with the ‘plebs’, heh…well they’re not plebs…but you know what I mean, eh Marlz?” 

“Yeah…commoners…by the way…second most important question…do we get KFC?”

“I love KFC!” David announced.

“Thanks for telling us…” Pierre murmured under his breath.

Ben arched an eyebrow at him then nodded to me.

“You know it, Marlz…of course.  My dad’ll make sure of it.”

“Thanks.  Well, see you at the game, right?”

“Yep, see you there.”

Ben waved as he headed back to his place.  Pierre frowned thoughtfully after him.

“How can his dad make sure we have KFC?”

I smiled in glee at him.  “Mick Price…Ben’s Dad, is the regional manager of KFC.”

“That’s cool.” This time he actually sounded interested. 

“Yeah…when I was in…uh…year 7…last year of primary school here…we went to Ben’s place and his Dad had all this KFC and I said to Ben…‘what’s going on here?’ and he told me about his dad being the manager…and now whenever we have a party or whatever…out comes the KFC…” 

“That is way cool,” David bounced up next to me.  I grinned at him and then jerked my head down the street.

“Come on…we’re almost in town.” 

We strolled toward The Cri and I pointed across to it.

“That’s one of the night clubs…Carly and I were there the other night.” 

“Yeah…getting completely wasted.” Carly admitted sheepishly. 

“That’d be Pierre,” Chuck informed us.

“Yeah, I’d have to agree there,” Pierre rolled his eyes.

“Whoa…you agree with Chuck?” Pat pretended to look shocked.  Pierre and Chuck both grabbed him around the neck.

“Watch it, Pat…” Pierre growled.  And Chuck pretended to smack him but he moved at the last moment and he got Pierre in the face instead.  The SP singer let go of Pat and tackled Chuck in the middle of the footpath. 

“You…I oughta slap you one for that…” Pierre slapped Chuck across the face; his friend grabbed at his hands and slapped him back.  My friends and I hung back watching in amusement.  Pat had his camera out filming them and David, Jeff and Seb were egging them on.  Cassie rolled forward and shook her head.

“Come on…let’s keep going.”

I winked at Carly and we raced past them and ran down the street yelling loudly:

“The Purple Monsters are going to get us!!!”

Passersby looked strangely at us.  The five Simple Plan guys stopped what they were doing and Pat turned the camera after us.  Carly and I danced around in the middle of the street (It’s a large strip along the night club row) calling out weird things to each other…I bet we were weirding everybody out…but hey it’s fun. 

Pierre turned to Cassie.  “Are they always like that?”

“No…usually only if they’re drunk…which they’re not…also if they had heaps of coffee in the morning…but I don’t know if they have or not…”

“I heard that!” I called back as we came jogging back.

“You’re crazier than David.” Pierre smirked at me.

“Should I be insulted?”

“Only if you think it’s an insult.”

“Nah…I’m not then.”

“Good…cause it was a compliment.”

“You could just say it was an insult and she could argue with you,” Chuck pointed out.

“No…I’m in a good mood, now.”

“Sure you are, Bouvier.” 

“You know it, Comeau.” 

I sighed and waved down the nightclub strip.  Pat panned up and down and glanced at me.

“This is the nightclub strip…not much going on during the daytime obviously…we’ll bring you down here after tonight’s show…it livens up then.”

“Hehe…looking forward to it,” Pierre smiled at me…a real one this time.  Finally…I’m doing something right…

“Well…let’s go down to The Mall.”

Tues 18^th Oct:

 

Beep…beep…

“Ugh…” I reached out of my sheets and shut off my alarm.  Rubbing sleep from my eyes I wandered into my bathroom and leaning over the sink I turned the tap on and splashed water on my face to wake myself up.  When I walked back into my room I checked the clock:  6:30 AM.  I had an hour before I had to pick Cassie up.   Sarah, Carly and Megan were finding their own way to the Swamp.  As I got ready I hit play on my CD player and smiled slightly at the song that started to play.

 

This is who I am

And this is what I like

GC, Sum and Blink and MxPx

Are rocking my room…

 

As the song played in the background, I pulled on my black ¾ length pants and my black Chinese Zodiac T-shirt (I’m the Year of the Ox).  I quickly slipped my feet in my sneakers and as I was still tying the laces I grabbed my bag, which I had organized last night, and I dashed upstairs to have my coffee and toast.

 

Two Hours Later

The Entertainment Centre

 

[Pierre’s P.O.V.]

 

“What do you think the girls who’ll be hanging with us will be like?” David was badgering Chuck as we sat in one of the backstage dressing rooms at the venue we were playing.

“Probably just like any other fans,” I muttered bitterly.  All groupie chicks were the same, and for some odd reason, they always seemed attracted to David or me.  David I could understand; if I were a chick I would seriously dig him.  But me?  I didn’t consider myself that attractive.  Still, the girls were always screaming at the shows, ‘Pierre, we love you!’  The other thing is that most of the fans are underage…ten years younger often enough.  So, needless to say, I wasn’t enthusiastic about meeting the fans that would be spending time with us the whole time we were here.  Granted I would end up enjoying myself because I always managed to; but you get what I mean. 

“Come on, Pierre…they should have arrived by now…let’s go find them.”  Chuck grabbed my arm and tugged me to my feet.  I grumbled inaudibly at his back as he almost skipped from the room.  Why the hell does he have to be so cheerful all the time?

I followed after my best friend and we made our way to the entrance foyer.

“Well, where are they, Comeau?” I arched an eyebrow at him.  Before he could reply though a bespectacled Asian girl who looked to be around twenty waved to us.  She was speaking into a cell phone as she approached us and we couldn’t help to overhear her conversation. 

“What?  Are you serious…I get to hang with the team after the game?  Ben, you are the greatest!  What…Josh has a crush on me…do you really think you should be telling me that…haha…you’re not joking…God…” The girl went a nice shade of pink and held her hand up to us to hold on for a moment.  “I have to go…the guys from the band just appeared…yeah, Simple Plan…yes…my favourite band…no, don’t worry…I really ‘want’ Josh…haha…yes, see you at the game.” 

She switched her phone off and finally turned her attention to us.

“Sorry about that, I’m Marly.” She held a hand out to us.  Chuck grasped it and smiled.

“Chuck…and this is Pierre.”

Marly nodded slightly.  “The others are outside.  It’s warmer out there.”

I couldn’t resist asking what she was doing here…because I was still in a bad mood.

“Uh…are you one of the fans who are hanging with us?” 

She glanced curiously at me, obviously sensing my mood.

“Yes, I am…but I’m also one of your guides while you’re here in Townsville.”

Chuck nodded then said to me, “I’ll go get the others…go with her.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes.  Why do I have to be the one to…ah…f*** it.  I glanced at Marly and pasted on a fake smile.  She didn’t seem to notice; not that I cared.

“Lead the way,” I muttered unenthusiastically.   She blinked behind her glasses then turned to walk ahead of me.  As I walked behind her I couldn’t help but think there was something different about her.  And then I realized what it was.  She didn’t throw herself at me…or look like she was going to faint…or go all hyper…She appeared calm and as if she had all her wits about her.  Not like other fans at all.  Still it could be a delayed reaction…don’t get your hopes up, Bouvier…she’ll probably turn out like any other fan at the concerts.  I’d never known any fan that wouldn’t get star-struck over at least one of us…and that isn’t bigheadedness on my part; it’s just a fact. 

Marly glanced back at me and fell back in step with me.

“So, how are you liking Townsville so far?”

“We just got here this morning, on a really early flight…so, haven’t really seen much of it,” I replied with a shrug.  Her eyes narrowed in thought behind her glasses.

“You don’t really want to be here, do you?”

Very observant of you… “It’s not one of the big cities…”

Marly laughed.  “There’s this big unofficial battle going on between Cairns and here…because we both want to be the capital of North Queensland…oh and we North Queenslanders want to be a separate state as well…but that’ll never happen.  Still, just because this isn’t a big place…I like it like that.”

I snorted in derision.  “I guess you’ve never lived in a big city then.”

She glared at me and stopped walking.

“I live in Melbourne for eight years, Pierre.  Don’t assume anything, okay?  We Townsvillians are extremely proud of our city.” 

I’d offended her and that made me feel like crap.  I started mentally kicking myself.  Just because you don’t want to be doing this doesn’t mean you should take it out on other people, Bouvier…

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

Marly chuckled and brushed my apology aside.  “No, you meant it…but don’t worry…I get that all the time.”

She looked over to a set of table and chairs where four people were sitting and talking.  She went over as I followed close behind.  I hung back slightly, as she spoke to them, and I studied each one thoughtfully.  The eldest one there was in a wheelchair and appeared to be in her early 30’s.  She had boyish sandy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes.  Then there was a girl with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.  The girl Marly was talking to had long mouse brown hair and the other one who was sitting by herself had shorter brown hair.  Those three looked to be about the same age as Marly.  They were all dressed similarly as well, obviously to stave off the heat.  T-shirts and shorts, or in Marly’s case, ¾ length pants. 

Just at that moment as Marly turned to motion to me, Chuck arrived with the others.  I knew then that chaos would ensue.

 

[End Pierre’s P.O.V.]

I added a ‘site’ to my site list.  It’s the aussie thread on SPO.comBoards

 

 

1. Get to the concert venue early
2. support the band
3. Bring a camera!
4. Get plenty of rest the night before. You don’t want to be tired before the show even starts.
5. Be prepared to have a fantastic night…and never worry if you can’t see perfectly cos it’s about the atmosphere
6. If you’re far back…take binoculars…you know those small ones you can fit in a carry bag
7. If you see the guys dont be afraid to go up and talk to them
8.Bring a Permenant Marker!
9. Bring something to sign just in case
10.  Don’t forget to scream…lol 

i’ll add more

 

Mon 17^th Oct

JCU

 

“Well, I’ll see you again next Monday, Marly.”  Professor Richard Pearson smiled as we walked out of his office.

“Thanks, Richard.  Have a good week.”  The professors at our university are very laid back, they like us to call them by their first names.  The other day in lectures I almost burst out laughing when one of the American students called out to Richard, ‘Professor Pearson!’  We parted ways.  I think he went to Rococo’s; I headed over to Cassie’s place.  Putting my headphones on I put my player on shuffle as I strolled past the Refect.  I hesitated at the ‘In’ door wondering if I should get something to eat; then I decided I’d probably be able to grab a cookie from Cassie and I continued on my way, humming along to BSB’s ‘Incomplete’. 

When I arrived at the Town House and knocked on her door Cassie opened it almost at exactly the same time so I ended up looking like a dork knocking at the air.

“Hey,” she smiled, “I thought you’d be here soon.  How was Richard?”

“He was in good form today; we went over the details of the project and he said I didn’t have to start on it till next week, but I have some reading to do.”

“Project?”

“Yes, didn’t I tell you?  I’m doing that Project’s in Animal Behaviour subject.  It’s a third year mini-research course.” I informed her.  She laughed.

“I forgot about that.  Heh, do you want a Coke?”

“Yeah, thanks.”  I opened her fridge and took out two cans offering one to Cassie.  “So, what are you doing?”

“I was checking to see who’s playing the Grand Final on Wednesday night.”

“It’s the Cowboys versus the Bulldogs.” I promptly supplied her with the score of the game on Saturday.  The final score had been 56-16; Jonathan Thurston had got the conversion. 

“Hey, Cass,” I thought of something then, “will we be taking the Simple Plan guys to the game?”

“Yes, that’s one of the events I’ve organized with management that they’ll get to go to.”

“Cool…God, I can’t wait…one sleep and…ah…” I sat on the edge of her bed.  Just the thought of meeting them was mind-boggling.  I wasn’t sure how I’d react tomorrow; hopefully I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. 

“Excited?” Cassie glanced over at me.

“Very…almost to the point that I feel sick to the stomach…but knowing me I’ll be absolutely fine tomorrow.”  I smoothed out the wrinkles of the blanket on the bed and then rubbed my hand on my pants absently.

“You should have an early night,” she suggested.  I nodded in agreement; then I changed the subject.

“You doing any marine subjects this semester?”

“Yes, I’m doing…the benthic marine one, aren’t you doing that as well?”

For the next few hours we chatted about classes, until I checked the clock: 4:00 PM; I had to get home. 

“See you tomorrow; I’ll pick you up and we’ll head down to the Swamp.”

 

I arrived home, hung my car keys on the hook and made my way to my bedroom.  I flopped down on my bed and stared at the posters on my wall:  Four Simple Plan, two of Pierre Bouvier, one Good Charlotte one.  I chuckled to myself then grabbed my CD player and pressed it on allowing the chords of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons wash over me. 

I added a new photo albuym with pics of my cousins and my brother and me

 

and here’s a pic of the visitors from canada with our family