The Далее night, the Beatles went back to the same pub and met their new girls again. Emily, May, Morag, and Natalya were perfectly charming, in their own chilly way, and the Beatles were еще Зачарованная than ever.
Neither Beatles nor women had seen any reporters around, but by the Далее day, everyone knew that the Beatles had found their new girlfriends. And all across England, the Фаны were distraught and furious.
“Why?” wailed Emma, staring at the newspaper in her hands at the breakfast table, hardly able to believe what she was reading. “Why would John go for this Emily instead of me? What has she got that I haven’t?”
Chris looked at her a moment, running her hand through her very short brown hair as she considered how to answer. “Emma,” she сказал(-а) after a pause, “you never actually met John, Ты know....”
“Yes, but I wrote to him,” Emma insisted, shaking her head, bushy brown curls bouncing. “He saw how perfect we are for each other. He knows how I understand him – I was the only one who told him not to marry me! Did – did this Emily use better reverse psychology than I did?”
Chris sighed. “Listen, Emma,” she began. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Ты never met John. Emily did, and John likes her. There are hundreds of girls like you; Ты can’t expect John to notice all of them.”
“But my letter....” protested Emma. “It was perfect! What did this Emily do to him?” Emma stared helplessly at the picture in the paper. “Does – does he like the way she looks so unpleasant here? Is that what attracted him, the way she looks like she’s barely interested? Should I have done that? Should I have” – her voice caught – “have pretended not to even be a fan??”
“I don’t think John is thinking like that,” Chris replied. “I don’t think –” She took a deep breath. “I don’t think John is very likely to pick a Фан for his girlfriend. He probably wants something deeper – and Ты are a bit young for him.”
“Young?” Emma stared at her sister. “But John's young, too!”
“You’re sixteen,” Chris reminded her patiently. “John’s twenty-three. He probably wants to дата someone his own age.”
“No!” cried Emma, shaking her curly head again. “He wants me, I know it. He would want me if this Emily hadn’t gotten in my way! She’s tricked him!”
Chris sighed.
“Ringo did what?!” cried Jenna.
She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it. Throwing down the newspaper, she ran into her bedroom and slammed the door, throwing herself on her постель, кровати and bursting into tears.
Ringo with another woman... Jenna couldn’t медведь it. After all she had done to try and make Ringo notice her... and now he was gone, Остаться в живых to this stuck-up redhead with an expression like she’d just eaten a lemon. Jenna hated everything about Natalya, from her haughty face to her stupid little hat, hated her for stealing her Ringo. She wanted to march right up to her and tell her to get away from him now или she’d sic Butch on her.... How could Ringo do this? How could he think Natalya was a good match for him? Couldn’t he see what a horrible, hateful, unpleasant person she was? Not to mention too old for him, too ugly....
There was a creaking sound at the door like someone was pushing it open, and Jenna felt a cold, wet nose pushing through her arms. She lifted her tearstained face to see Butch watching her. Butch gave a little whimper and licked at Jenna’s tears with his long tongue.
“Butch,” wailed Jenna, “Why doesn’t Ringo Любовь me?”
Butch just stared at his mistress unhappily. He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand anyone not loving Jenna. He loved her еще than anything.
Jenna put her arms around Butch’s neck and sobbed, and Butch set his large front paws on Jenna’s lap, knowing his mistress was sad, but not knowing what he could do to make it better.
Susan tried hard not to start crying again, as she began to draw yet another picture of her and Paul together. Her стол письменный, стол was littered with pictures like these, which she had been drawing all день since hearing the terrible news in the papers that morning. Drawing a world in which Paul was hers was the only way to deal with the pain, and even that could only help so much, especially when Susan noticed how much May looked like her. Same colour hair in the same hairstyle, anyway. Susan hoped she didn’t look too much like that horrible woman. To think of her precious Paul in the hands of someone else, especially someone like that – it was just too much.
“Susan?” There was a gentle knock on the door, and Susan’s mum came in. “Are Ты still in here? Did Ты skip school today?”
Susan looked up. “I couldn’t go, Mum,” she whispered. “I can’t... not when Paul....”
Susan’s mum sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed. “I thought that might be it. I saw where Ты left the morning paper. Susan, love, I don’t want your whole life to be affected by this.”
Susan sniffled and looked down. “Paul is my whole life,” she murmured.
“I know Ты feel that way,” her mum agreed. “But Ты must understand he doesn’t feel that way about you. He doesn’t know you. Oh, Susan,” her mum sighed, “I wish I’d paid a bit еще attention to your feelings about this. I know Ты like the Beatles, but Ты knew that one day, they were going to fall in Любовь and find other girlfriends, and you’ve got to be able to accept that.”
Susan shook her head. “I don’t like them, Mum,” she corrected quietly. “They’re the Beatles. I Любовь them all so much – especially Paul....” Her voice caught. “You don’t just like the Beatles,” she went on in a whisper. “They’re much too special for that. And she doesn’t see it,” finished Susan, the tears that had been threatening to fall the whole time trickling down her cheeks again. “May doesn’t see it.”
Susan’s mum stood up to give her daughter a hug. “I’m sure May does see it,” she сказал(-а) as she stroked Susan’s short brown hair. “I’m sure she loves Paul very much.”
Susan just shook her head, burying her face in her mother’s dress. “No,” she gasped between sobs. “No, she doesn’t. Ты don’t understand. I know.”
“I don’t believe this,” muttered Karen, shaking her head at the dreaded newspaper Статья as she stood behind the counter at the makeup store where she worked part-time. “I don’t believe this!”
The Beatles’ new girlfriends had been all that Karen and her co-worker Друзья had been talking about all day, and everyone had met the news with varying degrees of shock, sadness, and anger, but Karen had a special reason to be upset. “I warned them!” she exclaimed. “I told them they needed to be careful, I told George I’d go out with him, and what do they do? They let themselves get taken in by these sour-looking upstarts....”
“Are we sure it’s true?” a pink-cheeked makeup counter girl whose name was Maisie asked hopefully. “The press has been wrong before. And it’s hard to imagine any boy meeting Karen and then just going for another girl,” she added with a half-teasing, half-admiring look at Karen’s perfect hair, outfit, and makeup.
“No, it’s true,” Karen sighed. “I have Друзья who work at that pub they’re supposed to have met at. They were there together, all right.” Karen made a face.
“I still can’t believe,” a blonde makeup girl named Leslie put in, “that Ты actually got inside the Beatles’ hotel room and met them! How did Ты do it?! Ты might have brought some of us!”
Karen gave a roll of her pretty, dark blue eyes. “It really wasn’t that hard. Any of Ты could have done it. What bothers me is why it didn’t make any difference! Why didn’t they listen to me? How could George have – refused me for this Morag woman? I’ll bet she’s not pretty even when she is happy – which, I might add, she doesn’t look as if she knows how to be!”
“I know,” lamented a brunette makeup girl named Sarah. “What was George thinking? If George told me he wanted to дата me, I would be jumping up and down and grinning like a maniac – and I’d faint!”
“Exactly,” Karen agreed. “These girls can’t possibly Любовь the Beatles. They don’t act anything like fans. So why are they dating our Beatles? There’s something very wrong here....”
Neither Beatles nor women had seen any reporters around, but by the Далее day, everyone knew that the Beatles had found their new girlfriends. And all across England, the Фаны were distraught and furious.
“Why?” wailed Emma, staring at the newspaper in her hands at the breakfast table, hardly able to believe what she was reading. “Why would John go for this Emily instead of me? What has she got that I haven’t?”
Chris looked at her a moment, running her hand through her very short brown hair as she considered how to answer. “Emma,” she сказал(-а) after a pause, “you never actually met John, Ты know....”
“Yes, but I wrote to him,” Emma insisted, shaking her head, bushy brown curls bouncing. “He saw how perfect we are for each other. He knows how I understand him – I was the only one who told him not to marry me! Did – did this Emily use better reverse psychology than I did?”
Chris sighed. “Listen, Emma,” she began. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Ты never met John. Emily did, and John likes her. There are hundreds of girls like you; Ты can’t expect John to notice all of them.”
“But my letter....” protested Emma. “It was perfect! What did this Emily do to him?” Emma stared helplessly at the picture in the paper. “Does – does he like the way she looks so unpleasant here? Is that what attracted him, the way she looks like she’s barely interested? Should I have done that? Should I have” – her voice caught – “have pretended not to even be a fan??”
“I don’t think John is thinking like that,” Chris replied. “I don’t think –” She took a deep breath. “I don’t think John is very likely to pick a Фан for his girlfriend. He probably wants something deeper – and Ты are a bit young for him.”
“Young?” Emma stared at her sister. “But John's young, too!”
“You’re sixteen,” Chris reminded her patiently. “John’s twenty-three. He probably wants to дата someone his own age.”
“No!” cried Emma, shaking her curly head again. “He wants me, I know it. He would want me if this Emily hadn’t gotten in my way! She’s tricked him!”
Chris sighed.
“Ringo did what?!” cried Jenna.
She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it. Throwing down the newspaper, she ran into her bedroom and slammed the door, throwing herself on her постель, кровати and bursting into tears.
Ringo with another woman... Jenna couldn’t медведь it. After all she had done to try and make Ringo notice her... and now he was gone, Остаться в живых to this stuck-up redhead with an expression like she’d just eaten a lemon. Jenna hated everything about Natalya, from her haughty face to her stupid little hat, hated her for stealing her Ringo. She wanted to march right up to her and tell her to get away from him now или she’d sic Butch on her.... How could Ringo do this? How could he think Natalya was a good match for him? Couldn’t he see what a horrible, hateful, unpleasant person she was? Not to mention too old for him, too ugly....
There was a creaking sound at the door like someone was pushing it open, and Jenna felt a cold, wet nose pushing through her arms. She lifted her tearstained face to see Butch watching her. Butch gave a little whimper and licked at Jenna’s tears with his long tongue.
“Butch,” wailed Jenna, “Why doesn’t Ringo Любовь me?”
Butch just stared at his mistress unhappily. He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand anyone not loving Jenna. He loved her еще than anything.
Jenna put her arms around Butch’s neck and sobbed, and Butch set his large front paws on Jenna’s lap, knowing his mistress was sad, but not knowing what he could do to make it better.
Susan tried hard not to start crying again, as she began to draw yet another picture of her and Paul together. Her стол письменный, стол was littered with pictures like these, which she had been drawing all день since hearing the terrible news in the papers that morning. Drawing a world in which Paul was hers was the only way to deal with the pain, and even that could only help so much, especially when Susan noticed how much May looked like her. Same colour hair in the same hairstyle, anyway. Susan hoped she didn’t look too much like that horrible woman. To think of her precious Paul in the hands of someone else, especially someone like that – it was just too much.
“Susan?” There was a gentle knock on the door, and Susan’s mum came in. “Are Ты still in here? Did Ты skip school today?”
Susan looked up. “I couldn’t go, Mum,” she whispered. “I can’t... not when Paul....”
Susan’s mum sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed. “I thought that might be it. I saw where Ты left the morning paper. Susan, love, I don’t want your whole life to be affected by this.”
Susan sniffled and looked down. “Paul is my whole life,” she murmured.
“I know Ты feel that way,” her mum agreed. “But Ты must understand he doesn’t feel that way about you. He doesn’t know you. Oh, Susan,” her mum sighed, “I wish I’d paid a bit еще attention to your feelings about this. I know Ты like the Beatles, but Ты knew that one day, they were going to fall in Любовь and find other girlfriends, and you’ve got to be able to accept that.”
Susan shook her head. “I don’t like them, Mum,” she corrected quietly. “They’re the Beatles. I Любовь them all so much – especially Paul....” Her voice caught. “You don’t just like the Beatles,” she went on in a whisper. “They’re much too special for that. And she doesn’t see it,” finished Susan, the tears that had been threatening to fall the whole time trickling down her cheeks again. “May doesn’t see it.”
Susan’s mum stood up to give her daughter a hug. “I’m sure May does see it,” she сказал(-а) as she stroked Susan’s short brown hair. “I’m sure she loves Paul very much.”
Susan just shook her head, burying her face in her mother’s dress. “No,” she gasped between sobs. “No, she doesn’t. Ты don’t understand. I know.”
“I don’t believe this,” muttered Karen, shaking her head at the dreaded newspaper Статья as she stood behind the counter at the makeup store where she worked part-time. “I don’t believe this!”
The Beatles’ new girlfriends had been all that Karen and her co-worker Друзья had been talking about all day, and everyone had met the news with varying degrees of shock, sadness, and anger, but Karen had a special reason to be upset. “I warned them!” she exclaimed. “I told them they needed to be careful, I told George I’d go out with him, and what do they do? They let themselves get taken in by these sour-looking upstarts....”
“Are we sure it’s true?” a pink-cheeked makeup counter girl whose name was Maisie asked hopefully. “The press has been wrong before. And it’s hard to imagine any boy meeting Karen and then just going for another girl,” she added with a half-teasing, half-admiring look at Karen’s perfect hair, outfit, and makeup.
“No, it’s true,” Karen sighed. “I have Друзья who work at that pub they’re supposed to have met at. They were there together, all right.” Karen made a face.
“I still can’t believe,” a blonde makeup girl named Leslie put in, “that Ты actually got inside the Beatles’ hotel room and met them! How did Ты do it?! Ты might have brought some of us!”
Karen gave a roll of her pretty, dark blue eyes. “It really wasn’t that hard. Any of Ты could have done it. What bothers me is why it didn’t make any difference! Why didn’t they listen to me? How could George have – refused me for this Morag woman? I’ll bet she’s not pretty even when she is happy – which, I might add, she doesn’t look as if she knows how to be!”
“I know,” lamented a brunette makeup girl named Sarah. “What was George thinking? If George told me he wanted to дата me, I would be jumping up and down and grinning like a maniac – and I’d faint!”
“Exactly,” Karen agreed. “These girls can’t possibly Любовь the Beatles. They don’t act anything like fans. So why are they dating our Beatles? There’s something very wrong here....”